THUNDERSTORM AND LIGHTNING OVER DOWNTOWN PORTSMOUTH

May 2, 2007:

With daytime temps reaching the lower 90's for the first time in the Norfolk area in 2007, I knew we had a good chance at getting some storms in the area as a backdoor cold front approached the area from the north and northwest. I had to go to Nags Head, N.C. just after work earlier in the day to meet up with Mark Sudduth as he was out giving a presentation to the Coast Guard in Hatteras. We had a little business to take care of and after meeting for about 15 minutes, I headed back to Virginia as the storms were approaching. I reached the area a few minutes before the storms, or rain moved in. As the storms came into Norfolk and Portsmouth, they had gusted out and basically died. So I went home and thought that was it for the evening. I noticed I was seeing lightning increasing shortly after getting home so I decided to head back out. After searching for a place to shoot, I went downtown here in Portsmouth to shoot from the parking garage I have shot from many times before. I cell was developing over northern Suffolk to my west and was increasing with its lightning out put. Below are the photos and video of the lightning from that cell. It dies quickly after reaching downtown Norfolk.

VIDEO: Still to come 

All Images Copyright Jesse V. Bass III and VaStormphoto.com

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