Unusually powerful lightning/thunder

[tornado33]

Howdy
Earlier thisarvo we got a nasty thunderstorm, medium sized hail and incredibly heavy rain, some lightning and thunder. But it was later on that things went odd. Another line of storms came through, but the BOM Radar showed them to be quite weak, hardly any red, more like medium rain areas only, and sure enough thats what we got, however in amongst distant rumbles of thunder, my room would light up as if from a bright camera flash, a few seconds later incredibly LOUD thunder, producing deep loud booms that could be felt as well as heard. Even when the time delay was some seconds , meaning at least a Km or more away the thunder was unbelievably loud. I can only assume the amperage /duration of the lightning strokes was much higher then usual. I wonder why the earlier visious storm never did this, and why did a weak storm cell do so?
Scott

[iceman (Mike)]

We got both lots of storms too.. I finally got out there with my camera to try and take some lightning shots, and of course it all stopped as soon as I was ready with the remote in my hand.

[I.C.D (Ian)]

Have any of you tryed the Elders weather site not a bad site

[Lee]

It was near crystal clear at 0130.... I was only up to let the pooches out for their business.... but nice and clear all the same!

[§AB]

same story here yesterday. That thunder, oh lord! Surprised I've still got my hearing!

[goober (Doug)]

Originally Posted by tornado33

Howdy
Earlier thisarvo we got a nasty thunderstorm, medium sized hail and incredibly heavy rain, some lightning and thunder. But it was later on that things went odd. Another line of storms came through, but the BOM Radar showed them to be quite weak, hardly any red, more like medium rain areas only, and sure enough thats what we got, however in amongst distant rumbles of thunder, my room would light up as if from a bright camera flash, a few seconds later incredibly LOUD thunder, producing deep loud booms that could be felt as well as heard.

Yesterday was pretty wild - they even rolled into Eastern suburban Melbourne.

The BoM radar page shows radar reflectivity data, which is an echo of rainfall. So, probably tons of electrical activity, but not a lot was falling. Some of our lightning sensors record intensity of the strikes, but they're mainly deployed around airports.

[tornado33]

Thanks Ian, yes Elders is good, I like their full Australia radar map
Scott

[sailormoon]

yeah i was observing them yesterday while waiting for my brother to meet up with me. gez those loud buggers!!