chrisbell-nottheweatherman

It's been suggested to me that it may have been a +ve CG from the anvil, hence why it was closer that all the other lightning, and it would explain the brightness, volume and pressure wave.

Thanks - I did consider a +ve CG, but thought they were unlikely during summer - more of an autumn/spring phenomenon? It certainly would fit our observations - my room isn't totally dark at night by any means, yet, even with my eyes closed, the flash was surprisingly bright. Regarding the 4.00 am stuff, the final cell was around 20-25 miles away, and, as you suggested, light high cloud left-over from the cold front might have reflected it.

Reposting my post from Severe Weather board: What a night! We heard our first thunder around 11.30, from the first of the line of cells passing to our west, plus (possibly) from a rapidly-developing cell to our east. This didn't last long, and there was a fair gap during which all was quiet. Just as I was getting ready to settle down, another cell arrived from our south, rapidly developing and electrifying, with what seemed like mostly IC lightning and readily-audible intermittent thunder. Around a minute after I closed my eyes, there was a terrific flash; very bright even behind closed eyelids. My immediate response was to open my eyes, and, as I did, there was one of (if not the) loudest crack(s) of thunder I've ever heard - no rumble, just a crack and a sound like a huge explosion. My response was to shout (I think) "Bloody hell, that was close!", in reply to which my dad (a usually unflappable man not given to hyperbole) came into the room with his eyes out on stalks. It turned-out that, the reason it was so loud was that he had to front door open (bungalow) and was standing in the doorway calling the cat to come in. He thinks he saw the bolt rather than just the all-encompassing flash, but the immediacy of the event left him unsure. What he did find was that his hair stood on end with the static field, and, as the sound of the thunder arrived, he felt a push on his chest from the pressure wave which forced the air out of his lungs. Based on what happened, we think the CG strike had to have been no more than 1/2 a mile away, possibly more like 1/3 of a mile. After a few more flashes and rumbles, that storm moved away, and, after the adrenaline had subsided, I got off to sleep. Dad reported this morning that, around 2.15-ish, there were two elevated storms visible (on to the west, the other to the north-west), but no audible thunder. Strangely, at 4.00 am, he was awoken by the cat wanting to be let out again, and reported faint flickering high up in the atmosphere. On checking the radar, the final cell was around 20-25 miles to our north-west, but I doubt this was the source. Any ideas as to what he might have seen?

What a night! We heard our first thunder around 11.30, from the first of the line of cells passing to our west, plus (possibly) from a rapidly-developing cell to our east. This didn't last long, and there was a fair gap during which all was quiet. Just as I was getting ready to settle down, another cell arrived from our south, rapidly developing and electrifying, with what seemed like mostly IC lightning and readily-audible intermittent thunder. Around a minute after I closed my eyes, there was a terrific flash; very bright even behind closed eyelids. My immediate response was to open my eyes, and, as I did, there was one of (if not the) loudest crack(s) of thunder I've ever heard - no rumble, just a crack and a sound like a huge explosion. My response was to shout (I think) "Bloody hell, that was close!", in reply to which my dad (a usually unflappable man not given to hyperbole) came into the room with his eyes out on stalks. It turned-out that, the reason it was so loud was that he had to front door open (bungalow) and was standing in the doorway calling the cat to come in. He thinks he saw the bolt rather than just the all-encompassing flash, but the immediacy of the event left him unsure. What he did find was that his hair stood on end with the static field, and, as the sound of the thunder arrived, he felt a push on his chest from the pressure wave which forced the air out of his lungs. Based on what happened, we think the CG strike had to have been no more than 1/2 a mile away, possibly more like 1/3 of a mile. After a few more flashes and rumbles, that storm moved away, and, after the adrenaline had subsided, I got off to sleep. Dad reported this morning that, around 2.15-ish, there were two elevated storms visible (on to the west, the other to the north-west), but no audible thunder. Strangely, at 4.00 am, he was awoken by the cat wanting to be let out again, and reported faint flickering high up in the atmosphere. On checking the radar, the final cell was around 20-25 miles to our north-west, but I doubt this was the source. Any ideas as to what he might have seen?

Nothing showing on real-time lightning map for Suffolk.

NW radar showing cell to my north-west. Certainly pretty cloudy in that direction.

AcCas here now.

Clouds jut now appearing, and getting more humid.

Indeed - it's been pretty glorious so far.

Incredibly, I slept through it, though we also had less thunder than you'd get from storms with a lower base and more CG strikes. I did hear a few faint rumbles later-on (around dawn) after I did wake up, but that was very much the tail end. My father reckons there was IC lightning all round us, with constant rumbling and around 4 slightly louder crashes (and around 2 CG strikes). Rather disappointed I missed it, actually. Current conditions sunny and hot - local amateur station showing 28.2C, DP 19C and 60% humidity.

Showers appearing on radar in E. Midlands & W. Cambridgeshire.

Getting more humid here now with a veil of high cloud. Local station showing 22.6C and 58% humidity.

Cheers.

Good to know how it appears on radar.

24.6C and 51% humidity at my nearest amateur weather station.

Similar here, though a bit sunnier by he sound of it.

I remember that one - we had a storm to our SW and another to the NE, which, between them, generated almost continual T&L for an hour.

Nice cooling breeze here - gorgeous day, in fact. I think I'm going to reserve judgement on the chances of storms tonight in this part of the region.

Light shower on the way according to NW radar. EDIT: Came to nothing.

Wow!

Cloud here has dropped the temperature just below 30C, though the humidity is up. Fortunately, a light breeze has appeared to reduce the oppressive feel.

Don't know, but, in his war memoirs from North Africa, Spike Milligan recalls his artillery battery being given a few day's leave near the end of the North African theatre of war which they spent by the Med. Someone spotted a shark fin around 20 yards offshore, at which their CO suggested shooting said shark it and having it for dinner. As Spike wrote, for an group of battle-hardened artillery troops, they were useless shots with .303 rifles, but they eventually killed it and handed the resulting shark steaks to the cooks, who dished it up to great anticipation, given that they'd been surviving on Army rations for weeks. It was an anticlimax, then, when they tried it - as Spike wrote, it tasted of old newspapers boiled in linnament (think Olbas Oil or similar decongestant)! Humidity increased here as the veil of high cloud has arrived.

Thanks!

Well, we don't get Great Whites here, so I doubt it's that dangerous. Might be a summer visitor, according to the British Shark Trust site, but most of those, like the Shortfinned Mako or Blue Shark stay in deeper, offshore waters. If it's close-in to shore, it's almost certainly a native, harmless species, like a Dogfish or Basking Shark.

Probably a harmless basking shark.