Lightning

[Dennis Dennison]

With all these post on Lightnig and lightning strikes, I began to think I should post a little on lightning, I am certain you are all familiar with the stuff I am about to say.

We all see lightnig stike the ground or cloud to cloud. We see many forks in and around a single maim bolt.
the true danger in lightning is not so much being strck by the main energy bolt, nor the associated bolts that travel with it.
This is because this is usually directed towards the highest object, or some area of high electrical discharge.
The danger for chasers lies in leaders stips that are present just before, during and after a strike such as can be seen here

in the next two images you can see a leader bolt hit the hood of the car

and then the true bolt strike ahead of the car just after

 

[David Mayhew]

I'll have to take your word that that is a leader since it appears to be taken from a video. It does look suspicious though as the bolt stops exactly at the edge of the road and looks like it could be a reflection on the wet surface.

None-the-less the leader discussion is one that appeals. Here is a 17 second shot of lightning in Chicago on Aug 4th. The close-ups are what I believe to be leaders coming off the Sears Tower and some cranes. It could also be that they were full bolts but weaker and so the aperture used was not enough to capture them and they may have disappeared in the rain. That said I do believe they are leaders.

Hopefully the images load up well enough to see. Let me know if anyone wants increased contrast to see them clearer.