Supacell

Same here. Other than some distant thunder last Friday afternoon there have been no thunderstorms over Derby as yet during this thundery spell. However, I have seen lots of thunderstorms and some absolute belters, all of which are from chasing. I have done some horrendous miles in the last month, including an overnight stay sleeping in the car and a 2am get home last night before waking up at 6am for work. All worth it though, the videos I have recorded are now there for me to look back on at anytime. I can happily spend an entire evening just watching thunderstorms and chase footage I have filmed over the last 12/13 years.

Looks like I am well placed today. I am at work though so i won't be chasing again. I am a bit wiped out too after yesterday. It would be nice to get one come to me today, but hold off until after 6pm.

Just grabbed this from a quick scan of yesterdays footage

I went out chasing again yesterday. Initially intercepted the Midlands cells as they approached and moved over Rugby and then headed south down the M1 chasing storms all the way from Northampton to Essex! Some fantastic lightning on offer again, not to the frequency as those this past Tuesday but every bit as photogenic. I stood for around half an hour near to Epping Forest watching IC crawler lightning to the east against a black/red sky and a rainbow (the sun was setting behind me as the storm moved away). Some particularly intense lightning observed to the south of Bedford once more, there must be something about that place this week One thing that was not so much fun was the water on the roads. Some of the flooding was a bit hair raising and it was clear that these storms were dumping a lot of water. I have not had chance to read any reports but I would not be surprised to hear about problems around the southern Midlands and the Home Counties/London today. Now I have to be up in 4 and a half hours for work so best get to bed. At least I have another large dose of video to edit, I can't wait to see how my shots of IC lightning in front of the rainbow come out. Also have a mixture of daytime and night lightning thanks to the cell that tracked along the northern portion of the M25 and on into Essex. I have to say, I am rather impressed by June so far. I have not seen one so active by this point, not even 2014 which was very good between the 6th and the 10th. Considering we have another week of thunderstorm potential this month is pretty impressive. EDIT: Just read the reports regarding rotation on the MK cell. Unfortunately I was behind this particular storm and so was unable to get a good view of the front of it and was stuck filming it on the dash cam due to heavy traffic on the M1. However, I will check back through my footage when I get to edit it and see if there were any signs of rotation.

A lot of strikes being detected around Ledbury.

As I thought, the relentless rain over the NW has lead to flooding problems. Things across parts of Cheshire are looking rather worrying with breaking news on BBC saying police are advising people to not leave their houses and head upstairs as they deal with a major flooding incident.

It's been dry here today but a lot of heavy showers to the north of here and I expect some flooding in parts as they have been relentless. I am liking the look of tomorrow on the GFS though.

Thanks Nick. I have never been, but have definitely considered and thought a lot about chasing in the USA. It is actually my life long dream to do it! Chasing in the UK does have its rewards but I am well aware that even the best storms here do not rival what the storms that occur over the pond. Problem is affording it. I would need to discipline myself to save more and even then it may be difficult. I wouldn't feel as comfortable going it alone like I do here as there are obvious dangers and so would need a tour group. I will get there one day, I will make sure of it. Edit: Hazy sunshine appearing here, bodes well for later.

Finally I have finished editing the footage from the 7th June when I was out chasing near to and eventually in Bedford. Overall I have over 2 hours of video which I condensed down to around 1hr 40 for my own video files. However, for the purpose of broadcasting on YouTube I have cut it down further to half an hour. I originally heard this storm in the distance from the village of Ampthill and then chased it east where I stopped near the village of Houghton Conquest (around 5 miles south of Bedford). Most of the footage on this video is taken from stop off in the same position, braving the rain to get some lightning footage. Luckily the rain was not that heavy where I was. After filming for around half an hour I headed into Bedford. Once in Bedford I got stuck in heavy traffic caused by a combination of it being rush hour and the weather. The core of the storm and the heaviest of the rainfall remained just to my west as I headed through Bedford. Once I got through (took around an hour) I headed towards Kettering and then Northampton. I haven't published the footage of this as it was basically just torrential rainfall with the odd flash of lightning every couple of minutes, nothing like what I saw around Bedford itself. Apologies about the length, but it was hard to cut it down any further. If you can sit through half an hour of storm footage then enjoy

I think today looks quite similar to yesterday, the caveat being a little more cloud which may subdue the development of storms somewhat. As you say the greatest threat will be rainfall though. Some areas have already had a deluge and so the ground is saturated in parts.

It's been an active start to summer with some good thunderstorms to see us into June. This past week has been characterised by a lot of warm, humid, sunny weather and an almost daily scattering of thunderstorms, some of which have been disruptive. It looks like more to come through this weekend and into next week too. Again we are probably looking at a daily supply of them. Of course much like last week some of us will see them and some of us will not. Either way, summer 2016 has opened with a bang for a few of us. The old thread can be seen here. Some useful posts and thoughts in here relating to the upcoming convective weather. Please continue on and good luck to all those that want the storms. The upcoming period is likely to be busy and this thread is likely to build up quickly, please therefore try to keep your posts on topic

I am locking this thread shortly and starting a new one for the coming weekend and beyond.

A few angry rumbles to the SE of Derby being heard.

Lots of strikes to the north and east of Derby. It looks like a line of storms may be developing along the forecast convergence zone. I am hoping the gap in the middle fills in soon

Sferics being detected 5-6 miles to my north, unfortunately as the heavy shower that was over me moves away. A promising start to the afternoon though.

Yes CC, I may have to rethink my original post. There does appear to be a risk of some thunderstorms across the N Midlands with some half decent CAPE showing up on the NMM MUCAPE charts along with numerous convergence zones. Some interest at least.

I'm sorry William but there does not look much chance of storms tonight or tomorrow in the SW. NMM keeps the instability out in the Channel and GFS builds just a small amount of CAPE further north around the Midlands tomorrow, but even here it is very little and wouldn't likely lead to much thundery activity. Best chances look to be from Sunday onwards now.

That is a rather impressive radar signature, like a miniature hurricane.

Single sferic just north of Ashbourne whilst the gap in the line of showers heads towards Derby

I don't need a storm here as I saw enough yesterday but the air does, it is so warm and muggy here. From watching the cells that were between Macclesfield and Stoke earlier it appears they are moving very gradually eastwards rather than westwards.The heavy showers that were near Leek about 2 hours ago are now approaching Ashbourne as drizzly rain.

The line of showers can be clearly seen on satellite pictures. It is only a stones throw to the west of me (Stoke/Leek) so if it fires up I may go out with camera in hand once more. Currently editing yesterdays storm footage. You know you have seen a good one when there is no boring bits to edit out!

Looking at the satellite/radar images from yesterday and having been sat under the storm that tracked across Bedford/Milton Keynes it appears very much like the storm was an MCS. This just goes to show that you can get organised severe thunderstorms without wind shear if there are enough of the other ingredients. CAPE values were very high yesterday. Today CAPE forecast is lower than yesterday, but still very reasonable. There is also the addition today of some 30knts of deep layer shear which is a new addition over what we have had on previous days. Working against this their is a stronger ridge in place again, much like there was over the weekend and on Monday. My take on this is that storms that do develop will be more isolated than those yesterday, and will probably not have the same level of intensity, but they will have more longevity than the storms over the weekend and on Monday. Most places will remain dry today but storms that do form will likely contain a lot of lightning, a lot of rain and will likely last some time before pulsing out. Met Office once again shows a small trough running from the far NW of England into CS England by early afternoon. Could be an interesting day for a few of us.

Nothing in Derby either, although i got my fix elsewhere. Still a chance today, although most models favour areas to the west of the Pennines. Thundery showers look possible most days next week too.

Just a taster. I am not editing yet but just skimming through

Back home now from chasing that storm. I first met it just near to Ampthill where there was a gorgeous wall cloud with bright flashes of lightning and bolts. I finally managed to stop south of Bedford and film the storm for a good 20-30 minutes as the heaviest rain avoided me but the lightning was immense. I have hours of footage to edit and at one point was holding a camcorder pointing at the storm and also filming the opposite direction with my GoPro. There were bolts firing all around me and bright flashes all around so it is possible I have caught some bolts I didn't even see as I was watching the storm. I don't remember witnessing a storm with such powerful lightning with such frequency. I then chased the storm into Bedford but then got stuck in rush hour traffic. No problem though as I was still able to film the bright flashes and bolts raining onto the city as I was sitting in my car (using a GoPro dash cam, not holding a camcorder whilst driving). When I eventually got through I chased the storm towards Kettering, then Northampton and eventually left it behind as I headed home up the M1. By the time I got to Kettering it had lost a lot of its power but even then was still more powerful than 75% of the storms I see in this country. I am so happy I decided to target MK/Bedford, it looks like I got myself in the right place at the right time. Back in Derby it is bone dry, 22c and stiflingly humid. There are still cells out there and every chance more could fire up as these storms are not giving up for a few hours yet. I don't mind if I see a storm or not, but I wouldn't say no if one was offered.