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Thunderstorms moved through the Flagstaff area on Saturday, July 20. I set up a camera to shoot a time lapse movie of the lightning.
7:41 PM: As the thundercell moved past about three miles away, this bolt struck just one mile away.
Lightning Flagstaff July 20 2013: Lightning strikes about one mile away during a monsoon thunderstorm near Flagstaff, Arizona on July 20, 2013.
7:42 PM: Most of the lightning strikes were farther away.
7:51 PM
8:07 PM: The storm moved southwest toward Flagstaff.
8:33 PM: Some cloud-to-cloud lightning directly overhead lit up the entire neighborhood.
8:47 PM: Another thundercell on the far side of the San Francisco Peaks was illuminated by flashes of lightning every few seconds. Old Caves Cinder Cone was silhouetted by the flashes.
8:49 PM
8:55 PM
9:22 PM
Time lapse movie of a brief but very active lightning storm that blew through Scottsdale from 1:25 to 2:18 on the morning of August 23, 2012.. The speed of the action has been increased by a factor of 27.5.
Time lapse of three thunderstorms near Pioneer Valley on July 21, 23 and 24, 2012. A thundercell drifted by about three miles away just after sunset on July 21. A massive cumulonimbus system a few dozen miles to the south flashed with lightning every few seconds for about an hour the evening of July 23. Early in the morning on July 24, an active thunderstorm raged over the plains to the north of the San Francisco Peaks. Another thunderstorm over the peaks flashed brightly every few minutes. Rain from the foreground thunderstorm obscured the storm in the background on the left side of the image. The lights of Flagstaff lent a slight red glow to the rain from the storm. The peaks stand a mile above the surrounding plain and those clouds in the distance were eight miles tall. The speed of the action has been increased by a factor of 27.5.
8:14 PM: After sunset, a rainshower approaches from the East.
8:17 PM: Lightning illumiates the falling rain under a cumulonimbus cell.
8:22 PM: The storm spawned large cloud-to ground lightning bolts.
8:24 PM: Lightning.
8:27 PM: Lightning.
8:28 PM: Lightning.
8:30 PM: Lightning.
8:39 PM: Lightning.
8:24-8:57 PM: Composite image of lightning strikes was assembled from ten exposures made from 8:24 to 8:57 PM.
Lightning Over Pioneer Valley, Arizona on July 21, 2012: You can buy this photo as prints as large as 16" x 24".
8:24-8:57 PM: Grayscale version of the image above.Composite image of lightning strikes was assembled from ten exposures made from 8:24 to 8:57 PM.
9:39-9:52 PM: A massive cumulonimbus system flashes with lightning every few seconds for about an hour. Most of these images were assembled from multiple four-second exposures to create images of the entire system.
9:52-9:56 PM: Composite image of a giant cumulonimbus system.
9:57-10:09 PM: Composite image of a giant cumulonimbus system.
10:13-10:17 PM: Composite image of a giant cumulonimbus system.
10:18-10:21 PM: Composite image of a giant cumulonimbus system.
10:19 PM: A single four second exposure reveals nearly the entire cumulonimbus system lit up at once.
Lightning Over Flagstaff, Arizona on July 23, 2012: You can buy this photo as prints as large as 16" x 24".
10:19 PM: Grayscale version of the image above. A single four second exposure reveals nearly the entire cumulonimbus system lit up at once.
10:25-10:36 PM: Composite image of a giant cumulonimbus system.
10:28-10:36 PM: Composite image of a giant cumulonimbus system.
2:33 AM: An active thunderstorm rages over the plains to the north of the San Francisco Peaks. Another thunderstorm over the peaks flashes brightly every few minutes. Rain from the foreground thunderstorm obscures the storm in the background on the left side of the image. The lights of Flagstaff lend a slight red glow to the rain from the storm.
2:37 AM: Lightning over the plains to the north of the San Francisco Peaks.
2:45 AM: Lightning over the plains to the north of the San Francisco Peaks.
2:48 AM: Lightning over the San Francisco Peaks.
2:51 AM: Lightning over the plains to the north of the San Francisco Peaks.
2:52 AM: Lightning over the plains to the north of the San Francisco Peaks.
2:53 AM: Lightning over the plains to the north of the San Francisco Peaks.
2:53 AM: Lightning over the San Francisco Peaks.
2:56 AM: Lightning over the plains to the north of the San Francisco Peaks.
3:03 AM: Lightning over the plains to the north of the San Francisco Peaks.
3:04 AM: Lightning over the plains to the north of the San Francisco Peaks.
3:09 AM: Lightning over the plains to the north of the San Francisco Peaks.
3:17 AM: Lightning over the San Francisco Peaks.
3:19 AM: Lightning over the San Francisco Peaks.
3:26 AM: Lightning over the San Francisco Peaks.
3:32 AM: Lightning over the plains to the north of the San Francisco Peaks.
3:33 AM: Lightning over the San Francisco Peaks.
3:44 AM: Lightning over the plains to the north of the San Francisco Peaks.
3:46 AM: Lightning over the San Francisco Peaks.
3:51 AM: Lightning over the San Francisco Peaks.
3:55 AM: Lightning over the San Francisco Peaks.
3:57 AM: Lightning over the San Francisco Peaks.
3:33-3:57 AM: Old Caves Cinder Cone is silhouetted against rain from a storm over the San Francisco Peaks, which are silhouetted against other lightning storms in the distance. The peaks stand a mile above the surrounding plain and those clouds in the distance are eight miles tall. Composite of six exposures.
Lightning Over San Francisco Peaks, Arizona on July 24, 2012: You can buy this photo as prints as large as 16" x 24".
3:33-3:57 AM: Grayscale version of the image above.
Time lapse movies of lightning storms in Santa Barbara County on August 30, 2007 and Phoenix on September 10, 2011. The speed of the action has been increased by a factor of 27.5.
Cumulonimbus clouds drift across the east valley bringing rain, lightning, and thunder on September 10, 2011. The speed of the action in this time lapse movie has been increased by a factor of 120 during the day and 150 after sunsset.
Several thundercells blew across Santa Barbara County early in the morning of August 30. I drove up to San Marcos Pass to photograph the lightning from the crest of the Santa Ynez Mountains.
Time lapse: the speed of the action has been increased by 60x.
Electric Eye: Different perspective of the lightning storm.
A thundercell drifted down the Santa Barbara
Channel on the evening of November 12, 2003. I drove west to
Gaviota to a turnout off of Highway 101 overlooking the channel.
The two lights are a pair of oil production platforms.Phoenix Thunderstorm Time Lapse Movie, September 10, 2011
This image was assembled from 22 exposures taken between 7:42 PM and 7:54 PM.
Santa Ynez Valley Lightning
August 30, 2007
Lightning strikes on the far side of San Rafael Peak over a span of 28 minutes.
You can buy framed prints of this photograph.
Another thundercell blew across Lompoc.
The Eye of Sauron.
Santa Barbara Channel, November 12, 2003
A streamer reached upward toward the sky from
the platform on the right, but failed to connect with a lightning
bolt.
The thundercell drifted out of the channel and
into the open ocean.Phoenix, Arizona, July 1999
Lightning from a monsoon storm in Phoenix, Arizona in July 1999.
Santa Barbara Channel, September 2, 1997
At three in the morning on September 2, 1997, a lightning storm
drifted down the Santa Barbara Channel. I went out to the cliff
in Isla Vista to shoot some pictures. The lightning was striking
several miles offshore when I arrived. Directly overhead I could
see the stars shining. 
The lightning strikes moved quickly to my right and the time
between the strikes and the thunder got down to just a couple of
seconds. Sometimes the thunder could be heard ripping the sky
directly overhead. Some of the bolts were so bright that my
vision shut down completely for a couple of seconds except for
the purple afterimage of the bolt. 
This lightning bolt convinced me to get back to the car. Note how
lightning is entering the picture at several points along the top
as well as from the right. The foreground is lit up from the
front, so some of the lightning passed directly overhead. I only
had to wait a couple of seconds to hear the thunder ripping the
sky over my head after the bolt struck. This is the most
foolishly dangerous picture I ever shot. You can buy framed prints or greeting cards of this photo.
The rain arrived fast. I packed up my equipment and headed for the car. Before I got to my car, lightning struck the ground beyond it. It was hitting all around at that point.
I headed up the coast a few miles and shot some
more pictures of the lightning over Ellwood Pier. Then the rain
came again, so I headed for home.
The rain had already stopped when I got home
about five minutes later, but the lightning was still striking
between my house and the mountains. I set up the camera in the
back yard and got some shots of the cumulonimbus illuminated from
inside by lightning.
After several minutes, the storm had gone over
the mountains into the Santa Ynez Valley. It was too far away to
hear the thunder anymore. Occasionally, a bolt would arc out of
the cloud and down a few miles to the ground. One bolt shot out
of the cloud up toward space.
This was taken at an elevation of about 9,000 feet in the Inyo
Mountains. The Sierra Nevada is visible on the far side of Owens
Valley. The lightning was striking at the bottom of the valley,
over a mile below. The multiple strike bolts lasted long enough
for me to catch this daytime lightning photo.
A thundercell drifted down the Santa Barbara Channel on the evening of October 11, 1991. I drove west to Gaviota to a turnout off of Highway 101 overlooking the channel. The two lights are a pair of oil production platforms.
You can buy framed prints or greeting cards of this photograph.
An
enormous lightning bolt struck a peak in the Saline Range above
my Saline Valley campsite in April 1988. The storm came directly
through camp. For a long time the sound of thunder did not stop.
Another bolt struck before the thunder from the last bolt had
ended.
This was taken just south of Mono Lake, looking toward Tioiga
Pass. The small hill in the foreground was hit by numerous
lightning strikes. The multiple strike lightning bolts lasted
long enough to photograph in daytime.
This
was taken from my bedroom window.
Whenever I see the flash of lightning outside, I grab my camera and a tripod and go out in the rain.
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