Tornadic Storms in Eastern Indiana/Western Ohio June 30,2005

[michaelwmoss]

Check out some of our footage of a supercell/comma head storm we got in Delaware County, IN a storm that we would eventually track into a squall line into Western Ohio:

http://www.radio.nhcwx.net/zina/index.php?...6f25cabf9a057ac

 

[Kurt Hulst]

That video was rather humorus. "good night" "zzzzzzzziiiiiiiit" Some close strikes it was hard to make out there funnel though.

 

[michaelwmoss]

The funnels were briefly visible but most of the time they were rain wrapped. This storm developed very quickly (Within 30 minutes)

Near Parker City, IN (Which we were about 2 miles from on those really close strikes) There was confirmed damage of trees and a barn that was completely destroyed.

 

[Kurt Hulst]

I really liked the close lightning, i have had a few close calls this year as well. Jusdt two days ago I was in IL and a lightning bolt struck a power pole 100 feet infront of me. then a few other close ones that would make anyones butt pucker .

But wow I didnt know about the damage.

Thanks for shareing

 

[michaelwmoss]

That one strike were I let out that "OOOOHHHH HO HO HO" (It was a back-seat shot and I was the bald headed guy on the right) You will see that Extremely Bright Flash. That stuck about 30 ft away

Some of the lightning was so close and quick that the video tape couldn't even catch it on tape!

 

[Matthew K. Hartman]

Some of the lightning was so close and quick that the video tape couldn't even catch it on tape!

How is that possible?

 

[michaelwmoss]

It is very possible. Sometimes the camera doesn't always pick up the lightning. Also at times the lightning appears to be "Ghostlike" on the film as well.

Remember lightning is incredibly quick. Sometimes even our own eyes don't see the strike clearly either

 

[Kurt Hulst]

It may not pick up the bolt becuase as was said the bolt is to quick for the fram rate the camera maybe taping at.

 

[michaelwmoss]

Exactly!

 

[Matthew K. Hartman]

Not sure how to argue both of your points, but any lightning I've ever been shooting, I can 'at least' see a flash - OTOH, I don't necessarily shoot much lightning during the day.

Also, can you adjust white balancing on your camera? Even playing with the brightness/contrast in windows media player its difficult to make out much structure. What are you referring to as the funnel here? I see a couple areas of scud - one behind a grove of trees - another under what appears (as far as I can make out) the FFD - I see precip *behind* it.

 

[Jeff Wear]

It all depends on whether or not there are any return strokes. Most video runs 30 frames per second - and a single lightning flash without any return strokes can last less than 1/30 second, so there can be instances where the lightning flash occurs in between frames.

The Mulvane tornado produced a lot of lightning with no return strokes. In fact I seem to recall that a couple of chasers who synced up each others video noticed that some lightning flashes that showed up on one video didn't show up on the other.

 

[michaelwmoss]

Could very well be.

The 2nd tornado that we saw, we don't have the video on the web just yet.

The funnel is not clearly visible but there was tornado damage near our location, though it was very isolated. It was from the same t-storm base that we were looking at in Delaware County and Randolph County.

We also had a compass with us. The magnetic signature on the compass was moving wildly even though we were going the same direction

 

[Matthew K. Hartman]

Maybe I'm not understanding this correctly. I realize there are limitations as to what cameras can or cannot see - the sensors, aperature, exposure setting, and frame rate all relate to limitations. But, even if the initial lightning channel isn't seen, wouldn't any kind of refraction or scattering of the light - due to cloud material create a diffusion of the flash - and as a result be detected on film (video or still)? I would think so...

As I stated before, I very rarely film lightning during daylight hours unless, of course, convective cloud cover is limiting daylight to begin with...

In addition, Jeff were these two video's taken from the exact location? I would think, even if the photos/video were taken a mile apart - that the vantage could be totally different. You could possibly have all types of different light/contrast/obscuration issues to deal with, I would assume.

 

[Dan Robinson]

I could be wrong, but the lightning should be there. Analog video is notorious for 'hiding' lightning. Most analog playback/capture devices have trouble displaying single-frame events like lightning. The lightning should be in there somewhere, it's just a matter of 'coaxing' it out.

A couple of ways to find the 'missing bolts' are to:

- Copy the video to VHS tape on a 4-head VCR. Try both normal and slow playback on the camera. Then, capture it into the computer using the 4-head VCR via RCA cables, instead of directly from the camera. Capture at normal speed and at the VCR's slow-motion speed.

- Copy the video to a digital video camera using direct RCA hookup, then capture the video in with the digital camera via firewire or USB.

I had a lot of old video on VHS-C with missing lightning bolts that I 'found' using this method. Mainly I just used a VCR (with a VHS-C to VHS cassette adapter) and RCA cables to transfer the video over to one of my Mini-DV cameras, then captured it in digitally via Firewire. In every case I found the 'missing lightning'.

If the source video is digital, sometimes interlacing will make this happen. Interlaced video frames contain two images 'woven' together in alternating horizontal lines one pixel high. Many video cameras, VCRs and video editing software will only display one half of an interlaced frame on playback. Lightning strokes often times only occupy one half of an interlaced frame, and sometimes it's not on the one that is displayed on the camera/video editor.

For instance, Pinnacle Studio is troublesome for viewing lightning video because it's freeze-frame capture will only grab one half of the interlaced frame. If your bolt is on the other half, you'll need to use other software (Premiere) to extract it.

 

[Ben Cotton]

So I watched the video again, and I still don't see anything that I would be comfortable calling a funnel. In the first segment, it looks like the video is shot from the forward part of the storm - i.e. outflow instead of updraft. I don't see any obvious rotation there, although some stable video would help - I suggest using a tripod next time. There were no tornado reports, only wind damage. There's nothing in the video, or in LSRs or PNSs from IND to suggest to me the possibility of a tornado.

Edit:
From IND: "We have heard of no tornadoes and have had no reports of damage from county officials on 30 June."


Ben