Dan Robinson
I spent some time going through the tower lightning video from yesterday in more detail, and found more images of upward lightning leaders.
This was a second leader that occured in conjunction with an in-cloud flash above the tower. As with the previously posted example, this one also did not connect to full discharge. It is considerably shorter than the previous example - approximately 10 to 15 feet in length based on the estimated size of the tower tip. Cameras #1 and #2 both caught this leader:
From camera #1 (extreme telephoto):
From camera #2 (telephoto):
The video frames before and after this leader show no visible lightning or leader channel. Unlike the 200-300 foot example posted yesterday, there was no audible sound associated with this smaller leader. Again, this image is not a video 'ghost channel' anomaly - note that the leader is in the correct position, is connected to the tower tip, is identical in both camera views, and is not followed by a full lightning discharge in subsequent frames.
The following is an image of leader initiation from camera #1 (the extreme telephoto view). I had already posted camera #2's view of this yesterday:
This leader did go on to complete a full discharge connection as pictured here:
Full page with photos and video clips:
http://wvlightning.com/july42006.shtml
This was a second leader that occured in conjunction with an in-cloud flash above the tower. As with the previously posted example, this one also did not connect to full discharge. It is considerably shorter than the previous example - approximately 10 to 15 feet in length based on the estimated size of the tower tip. Cameras #1 and #2 both caught this leader:
From camera #1 (extreme telephoto):
From camera #2 (telephoto):
The video frames before and after this leader show no visible lightning or leader channel. Unlike the 200-300 foot example posted yesterday, there was no audible sound associated with this smaller leader. Again, this image is not a video 'ghost channel' anomaly - note that the leader is in the correct position, is connected to the tower tip, is identical in both camera views, and is not followed by a full lightning discharge in subsequent frames.
The following is an image of leader initiation from camera #1 (the extreme telephoto view). I had already posted camera #2's view of this yesterday:
This leader did go on to complete a full discharge connection as pictured here:
Full page with photos and video clips:
http://wvlightning.com/july42006.shtml
