Lightning Slams SF-Oakland Bay Bridge

By Friday April 13, 2012

As reported in the Daily Mail. I was out watching the storm and never saw this. The flashes were very momentary.



40 Comments
  1. sg says:
    4/13/2012 at 12:45 pm

    “The flashes were very momentary.”

    Well,…. DUH!!!!

    Reply
    • John C Dvorak says:
      4/13/2012 at 3:29 pm

      No..I mean momentary. If you’ve ever been in a Texas gully washer or New Mexico and compared the strikes to this, then you’d know what I meant. Instead of just being snarky.

      Reply
      • msbpodcast says:
        4/14/2012 at 2:11 pm

        Its called a photographic after-image. (Something like it is the inverted retinal after-image cause by phophenes persisting after the initial triggering.[which is why you watch movies instead of 24 frames per second with slightly different poses on them.])

        What a person perceives as a series of lightning strikes, a photograph records as single image.

        Reply
      • Glenn E. says:
        4/14/2012 at 11:14 pm

        I’m pretty sure this is a long exposure, as the bright yellow light trail from car headlights, streaking across the bridge, basically gives away. This camera had its lens aperture open for more than a few seconds. For all the lights to burn into a single horizontal line. So if more than one exposure was being taken. Then it was intended to capture multiple lightning strikes. Which could have happen all at once, or over some time.

        Reply
  2. bobbo, the junior culture critic says:
    4/13/2012 at 12:58 pm

    Where and when in the USA is a good place to observe lightning? Its been years since I have seen a good bolt.

    There is a place in South America that gets them every evening for several months in the wet seasons. Great fantastic panoramas of lightning. I need to google that too. In the USA–hard to google more than Florida but they don’t get specific as to when….or I quit too soon. West Coast at all?

    Reply
    • pedro says:
      4/13/2012 at 1:21 pm

      That’d be venezuela. The Catatumbo lightning http://bit.ly/pdwY0

      A pic here http://bit.ly/HJbX35

      Reply
      • bobbo, the junior culture critic says:
        4/13/2012 at 1:30 pm

        Right you are Pedro. I thought it was a river entering a bay or on the ocean. I think there was a 15 minute segment on it on a Nature show of some kind.

        I still remember years ago hiking near the summit of a Mtn in Kings Canyon in Ca and a lightning strike about 100 yards away–the reverberation in my lungs, the smell of ozone, the smell of burned earth or air==exhilarating.

        Venezuela–one of the few places I have missed with what appears to be a bucket type experience. Should I wait on Carl Pinkerton or go myself? Wanted to see Angel Falls too. Venezuela for a two-fer?

        Thanks.

        Reply
        • pedro says:
          4/13/2012 at 1:59 pm

          Indeed. Is the Catatumbo river entering the Maracaibo Lake which opens up and makes the Venezuelan gulf.

          Right now, stay away if you value you life.

          Reply
        • ugly, constipated, and mean says:
          4/13/2012 at 2:02 pm

          Angel Falls is a grueling trip. Not for average tourists. (Not saying you are, but don’t plan on including granny.)

          If you go to venezuela hire a guide who can steer you away from the, uh, colorful parts of town. When you make people poor enough they can get very dangerous.

          Reply
          • pedro says:
            4/13/2012 at 2:48 pm

            Did you go by DC3 or helicopter?

          • bobbo, the junior culture critic says:
            4/13/2012 at 4:24 pm

            I used to eschew being the average tourist, but truthfully, sitting on the bus is becoming almost acceptable.

            Routine: package trip with 1-2 weeks free at the end. Package introduces me to the place, make contacts and plans, then I do my own thing at the end.

            I’d think a specialty tourist/guide group would be the ticket for Angel’s Falls. Figuring out the best way to do it always helps give the vacation/travel a bit more of a purpose.

            I was thinking a jet pack to the top? Overnight camping. Milk a few frogs, collect some ferns. You know – normal stuff.

    • John C Dvorak says:
      4/13/2012 at 3:29 pm

      Santa Fe New Mexico

      Reply
    • kerpow says:
      4/13/2012 at 3:58 pm

      Phoenix AZ during their monsoon season, basically now. I’ve never seen lightning or heard thunder like that. you could feel the electricity in the air, it was awesome. In the true sense of the word.

      Reply
    • bobbo, the junior culture critic says:
      4/13/2012 at 4:44 pm

      Thanks All. I did this search a few years ago and didn’t get much but the WWW offers more and more each year. Just now I googled (lightning map USA) and found this nice website I’ll spend some time on.

      http://intellicast.com/Storm/Severe/Lightning.aspx

      Reply
    • CrankyGeeksFan says:
      4/14/2012 at 11:16 pm

      The Tampa Bay area of Florida in particular.

      Reply
  3. The0ne says:
    4/13/2012 at 1:05 pm

    Love lightning, that is one awesome photo.

    Reply
  4. BigBoyBC says:
    4/13/2012 at 1:58 pm

    I’m down here in Carson California, about a hour ago we had a lightning strike, the resulting noise was horrendous. Looks like California is getting some interesting weather for a Friday the 13th…

    Reply
  5. ugly, constipated, and mean says:
    4/13/2012 at 2:04 pm

    I’m in the Florida panhandle. We get so much lightning here that abortion clinics spontaneously combust.

    Reply
  6. deowll says:
    4/13/2012 at 3:25 pm

    I can remember setting on a front porch during a lightening storm and not having any trouble seeing it. The problem is modern homes block out the view as well as providing better protection.

    A lot of locations including half dome tend be extra scenic during the right kind of weather. Most large suspension bridges are going to get hit pretty regularly as do most ultra tall buildings.

    Reply
    • Dr_wally says:
      4/13/2012 at 7:28 pm

      ‘Course people regularly get killed when trapped in a t-storm on half done. I’m not quite up for that level of excitement…

      Reply
  7. Gorgo says:
    4/13/2012 at 4:47 pm

    The bottom of the Grand Canyon. The thunder reverberates up and down the canyon. Tremendous.

    Reply
  8. Ken in Berkeley says:
    4/13/2012 at 5:11 pm

    I was home with my family during the thunder and lightning storm. My oldest boy (6) counted 40 separate lightning flashes over an hour period which is a lot for around here.

    Reply
  9. B. Dog says:
    4/13/2012 at 5:15 pm

    That’s a lucky photo.

    There is plenty of lightning in this video:

    http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120305.html

    Reply
  10. Dr_wally says:
    4/13/2012 at 7:37 pm

    I was standing just inside off my deck enjoying a good t-storm when lightning struck a pine tree 10 feet off the deck. It exploded, showering the deck (and me!) with bits of steaming wood. Quite loud. Was home, so a quick shower and underwear change wasn’t a problem….hearing loss was a bother for a few hours.

    Reply
  11. thecstandsforsenile says:
    4/13/2012 at 8:48 pm

    It was a long exposure. You wouldn’t see this all at one instant.

    The article starts out saying lightning never strikes twice but
    high structures like the empire state building are hit again and again.

    Reply
  12. Anonymous says:
    4/14/2012 at 5:44 am

    Must be something in the water. Even the bridges seem to be either “flaming” or “sparkling.”

    ;-)

    Reply
  13. Annoying Pedant says:
    4/14/2012 at 6:02 am

    someone built a bridge to Oakland?
    hard to believe.

    Reply
  14. Mr Windows says:
    4/14/2012 at 6:57 am

    My buddy lives in Tucson, AZ; he sells stock video footage on Pond5.com. He has lots of lightning clips. Search for vadervideo.

    Reply
  15. sargasso_c says:
    4/14/2012 at 8:33 am

    Tha Bay photo is interesting from an engineering perspective. It supports the “inverted cone” model. The large tower “shields” areas just below and surrounding it by attracting most of the ground strikes. But further away, outside the field of the tower’s ground “cone”, lamp posts are hit.

    Reply
    • CrankyGeeksFan says:
      4/14/2012 at 10:07 pm

      It’s a 20 second exposure according to the photographer’s, Phil McGrew, Flickr site. I knew it had to be a long exposure because there are no vehicle headlights visible and the deck of the bridge has a uniform glow that is the same color as the deck lights. It wasn’t a “split-second moment” of time as quoted in the article.

      sargasso_c: Notice how the strikes that hit the lamp posts are almost equidistant from both towers. Also, the bolts at the towers are brighter and thicker than the bolts that strike the posts in the middle of the towers.

      Reply
  16. Uncle Patso says:
    4/14/2012 at 8:59 am

    A few years back while visiting friends in Albuquerque, New Mexico, one of the guys and I took an afternoon hike up Sandia Peak. About halfway up, we sheltered with a dozen or so people in a little cave or grotto while a storm passed overhead. Lightning hit the mountain above us about a half-dozen times and each time the mountain gave out a very basso groan. The sound came not through the air, but from the very rocks surrounding us. It was an interesting experience. Quite bracing.

    Reply
  17. msbpodcast says:
    4/14/2012 at 2:16 pm

    Back Igor, back… <maniacal laughter> Its alive. Its alive! Ha ha ha ha a haaa.

    Reply
  18. Glenn E. says:
    4/14/2012 at 11:27 pm

    I can just imagine the drivers, seeing this on the bridge, up close and personal, are saying something like, “Holy Sh*t!”

    Reply
  19. Buzz Mega says:
    4/15/2012 at 4:20 pm

    Keep the shutter open long enough and every square inch of the bridge will get hit by lightning.

    Reply
  20. Richard Williams says:
    8/23/2012 at 6:22 am

    Holy! Is that a real picture that was captured or is is Photoshoped? If it’s real, man…….. Speechless..

    Reply

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