Ian Hutton
Ok.. where to start.. I’m a farmer from the UK and yesterday I had THE single scariest experience I’ve had in long time – that of nearly being struck by lightning – lots and lots of times, with nowhere safe to go to. This storm was the most violent storm I have ever experienced in this country, and topped several storms I’ve seen in the USA as well. What I would like if possible is some more information / a detailed analysis about this bizarre storm – it is a rare event in the uk, so what caused it to randomly form and be so violent? How much danger was I really in / (i.e how lucky am I to still be here!!) how severe was this storm and how would you guys rate it (e.g 1 very severe, 10 mild) compared to the storms you guys chase and what on earth was the weird cloud formation as it the storm approached? I.e some more technical/ish information would be great. What follows is my experience, take as much or as little info as you need….
Background: we had some weak storms the previous night, not too violent with rumbling thunder, none came right over and from what I could see mostly sheet lightning. We have a low pressure system over the uk at the moment that has stalled and is spiraling, I’m in the south east where temperatures peak at about 23 degrees during the day. On the morning of the event the area I’m in is on a severe weather warning from the UK met office for severe heavy rain and flash flooding, no mention of lightning though.
I got in the field about 9 am, and noticed that the clouds were banking very tall, much taller than usual. It was quite breezy with sunshine broken by scattered clouds, and expecting sunshine and showers thought nothing of it, but I do remember noticing how unusually tall these clouds were, they were like the normal “fluffy cotton wool†clouds we often get but with tall tops, pyramid shaped, and I watched carefully, they were growing, bubbling over at the top, but not very quickly.
About 10.50 it’s getting very dark in the direction the weather is coming from. I see one or two flashes in the clouds in the distance, and one bolt go from the cloud to the earth. The clouds are moving very quickly, and I hear a loud peel of thunder over the noise of the blackcurrant harvester. The harvester is made entirely of metal, and is open topped, so I switch off the machine and get towards the side of the field, not wanting to take any risks. I have no other vehicle in the field and because the crops needs irrigating the field is filled with metal water pipes about 6ft tall and 20m apart in the rows of blackcurrant bushes.
The cloud seems lighter underneath with an exceptionally dark rim at the front. Lightning is now hitting the ground each time with the flash to the bang about 10 seconds and getting less, and it’s doing so about once every 20 seconds. I now feel very scared, and realize the only thing I have to shelter in is a half tone plastic bin used to collect the blackcurrants at the side of the field. I turn it on its side and climb in, but at the same time keep peering over the top – I’m captivated by as well as scared by what’s going on.
It’s now about 11.05. I notice that a “normal†stormcloud (for the uk anyway) typically causes the wind to rise as it approaches, and has like a skirt of cloud around the bottom as it approaches with just grey behind it, where the rain, (and inevitably lightning) is. Also just before the skirt the clouds ahead of it are always very low but look like they’re being pushed upwards, looking like cloud cobble stones. This storms was different. The skirt was very low indeed – the lowest I’d ever seen it – about the height a light aircraft would fly at, and it was frothing violently and moving downwards. Lightning was all around by now, and hit the field I was in twice and the woods at the back of the field four times, then the rain started. There was no hale, only rain, but I could not see more than 3m in front of me. Lightning continued to ark about once every 15 seconds, but I couldn’t see where because of the rain. I cowered in my bin, flashes and bangs were instantaneous, my heart was thumping. About 5 minutes later it had passed, and about 7 minutes later the sun came out.
Take from this what you will, any comments / information / explanations would be most welcome.
Background: we had some weak storms the previous night, not too violent with rumbling thunder, none came right over and from what I could see mostly sheet lightning. We have a low pressure system over the uk at the moment that has stalled and is spiraling, I’m in the south east where temperatures peak at about 23 degrees during the day. On the morning of the event the area I’m in is on a severe weather warning from the UK met office for severe heavy rain and flash flooding, no mention of lightning though.
I got in the field about 9 am, and noticed that the clouds were banking very tall, much taller than usual. It was quite breezy with sunshine broken by scattered clouds, and expecting sunshine and showers thought nothing of it, but I do remember noticing how unusually tall these clouds were, they were like the normal “fluffy cotton wool†clouds we often get but with tall tops, pyramid shaped, and I watched carefully, they were growing, bubbling over at the top, but not very quickly.
About 10.50 it’s getting very dark in the direction the weather is coming from. I see one or two flashes in the clouds in the distance, and one bolt go from the cloud to the earth. The clouds are moving very quickly, and I hear a loud peel of thunder over the noise of the blackcurrant harvester. The harvester is made entirely of metal, and is open topped, so I switch off the machine and get towards the side of the field, not wanting to take any risks. I have no other vehicle in the field and because the crops needs irrigating the field is filled with metal water pipes about 6ft tall and 20m apart in the rows of blackcurrant bushes.
The cloud seems lighter underneath with an exceptionally dark rim at the front. Lightning is now hitting the ground each time with the flash to the bang about 10 seconds and getting less, and it’s doing so about once every 20 seconds. I now feel very scared, and realize the only thing I have to shelter in is a half tone plastic bin used to collect the blackcurrants at the side of the field. I turn it on its side and climb in, but at the same time keep peering over the top – I’m captivated by as well as scared by what’s going on.
It’s now about 11.05. I notice that a “normal†stormcloud (for the uk anyway) typically causes the wind to rise as it approaches, and has like a skirt of cloud around the bottom as it approaches with just grey behind it, where the rain, (and inevitably lightning) is. Also just before the skirt the clouds ahead of it are always very low but look like they’re being pushed upwards, looking like cloud cobble stones. This storms was different. The skirt was very low indeed – the lowest I’d ever seen it – about the height a light aircraft would fly at, and it was frothing violently and moving downwards. Lightning was all around by now, and hit the field I was in twice and the woods at the back of the field four times, then the rain started. There was no hale, only rain, but I could not see more than 3m in front of me. Lightning continued to ark about once every 15 seconds, but I couldn’t see where because of the rain. I cowered in my bin, flashes and bangs were instantaneous, my heart was thumping. About 5 minutes later it had passed, and about 7 minutes later the sun came out.
Take from this what you will, any comments / information / explanations would be most welcome.
