lightning pix from volcano in Chile

[Menno van der Haven]

With the risk that these incredible pix were already posted (I wasn't online for some time, but couldn't find it on the StormTrack forum, so I just post them):

Source: img.dailymail.co.uk

I have to admit: this is better than a supercell.....

 

[John Peters]

WOW, thanks for posting these. I must say they are among the most spectacular photographs i've ever seen.

 

[Terry Tyler]

that is the most wild stuff ive ever seen...

are you sure they are real???

that second one looks like its got a big old anvil and an updraft that could be a phallic symbol...

 

[D. Hayes]

Those are some of the coolest pics I have ever seen. Are there more?

 

[Chad Cowan]

Here are the rest:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/li...ews.html?in_article_id=563975&in_page_id=1811

I found this one to be quite drool worthy:

 

[Maggie Kahman]

Here are the rest:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/li...ews.html?in_article_id=563975&in_page_id=1811

I found this one to be quite drool worthy:

That is absolutly breathtaking!!

 

[fplowman]

That is absolutly breathtaking!!

I'm sure you wait around there a little while at the time and where that pic was taken you could say that quite literally. lol

 

[Evan Bookbinder]

The repeated white/orange cloud to cloud fragments covering the outer wall of the pyrocumulus updraft as well as the aqua colored bolt in the second image both piqued my interest. Since lightning's color is attributed to what its vaporizing (and any alteration from scattering/haze from our line of sight), it would be interesting to do a quick chemistry lesson and what hues are expected with sulphur and the other compounds that would be abundant in this amazing structure.

Evan

 

[Chris Wilburn]

I didn't think I would see this picture again. The morning after the Picher tornado I went back to look at some of the damage. The second picture on the post is the one I am referring to. A OHP office said a resident of Picher gave him this picture of the tornado he took as it was just getting ready to approach Picher. Of course I knew it wasn't but bit my tongue and didn't say a word. It is absolutely getting unreal how blatant people are getting with digital pictures.

 

[Mike Peregrine]

Here's a question for the lightning buffs among us (I know you're lurking out there) ... according to the general explanation for causation of lightning:

Updrafts and downdrafts within a thunderstorm allow ice, water, and supercooled water (water that remains in liquid form below freezing) interact and collide deep within thunderstorms.

As these particles collide, small electrical charges are 'deposited' on the various particles. They then separate and move to different parts of the cloud, depending on teh updrafts and downdrafts, as well as the weight of the particles.

I've always understood this to be the general explanation, the separation of charges due to water/ice particle collision. But in a volcano, I wouldn't think water/ice particles are at the foundation of the process. We're dealing with ash and crystalline particulates. Or are water droplets condensing on these, and then forming an electric charge? Just wondered what the ideas were on causation when volcanic ash is involved. Thanks!

 

[Jim Saueressig]

Here's a question for the lightning buffs among us (I know you're lurking out there) ...

There are now more than 150 recorded cases of vicious electrical storms breaking out directly above craters of erupting volcanos, dating back several centuries. The 1980 eruption of Mount St Helens in Washington state, one of the most studied eruptions in recent times, produced a lightning bolt every second. The electrical activity does not pose the same hazard as a volcano's boiling lava, choking dust clouds and drowning mud slides - though there are reports of people and animals being struck as they fled - but it sets a spectacular seal on mother nature's most awesome display of destruction.

Awesome, but not really understood. Exactly what causes volcanic lightning is still hidden in the clouds spewed from the crater. Most volcanologists seem happy with the vague notion that ash particles thrown into the air rub against each other and generate enough static charge to trigger sparks. It's the boiling lava, choking dust clouds and drowning mud slides that really concern them - particularly if they are close to the action.

There is more to the lightning than shock and awe. A better understanding of processes that cause it deep within eruption debris could help predict how the giant clouds will behave. Airlines have long feared the way volcanos can suddenly fill the sky with hazardous vertical smoke columns several miles high that rise at speeds up to 400 metres per second.

Now, an intriguing new idea that could explain volcanic lightning has emerged. Earle Williams of MIT and Stephen McNutt at the University of Alaska, say it might simply be caused by a build up of ice. Because thunder and lightning in conventional storms are down to ice and water, the two claim that large volcanic eruptions are nothing more than dirty thunderstorms.

Check out the Full Article for an explanation.

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

Maybe a dumb question, but how long do these things typically erupt with that much intensity? Never thought about it before, but noticed if it looks like at least mid-afternoon in the one image....and still going strong well after dark.

 

[Cstok]

One day (after the kids are on their own), I will go volcano chasing.

 

[Damon Scott Hynes]

Maybe a dumb question, but how long do these things typically erupt with that much intensity? Never thought about it before, but noticed if it looks like at least mid-afternoon in the one image....and still going strong well after dark.

This particular volcano has been erupting non-stop, with not much variation in intensity, since the 2nd of May.

 

[Damon Scott Hynes]

Here's a question for the lightning buffs among us (I know you're lurking out there) ... according to the general explanation for causation of lightning:



I've always understood this to be the general explanation, the separation of charges due to water/ice particle collision. But in a volcano, I wouldn't think water/ice particles are at the foundation of the process. We're dealing with ash and crystalline particulates. Or are water droplets condensing on these, and then forming an electric charge? Just wondered what the ideas were on causation when volcanic ash is involved. Thanks!

I'm sure that ice particles come into play, but just like everything else (how many ways can tornadoes form?) there are probably many causes. The reason I say this is because lightning has been noted in steam clouds no more than 100 ft high when Kilauea lava flows enter the ocean.

http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanowatch/1998/98_06_11.html