lightning

Eastie waterfront goes boom

adamg — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 11:00:34 +0000

David Chau was in the right place and time to capture a lightning bolt hitting the East Boston waterfront during yesterday afternoon's storm.

More lightning over Boston.

By the Garden, 5 p.m.

adamg — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 21:35:19 +0000

Cat took this photo as the storm barreled in.

Direct hit on the Pru

adamg — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 12:04:05 +0000

Commish96 shot this last night. Lightning strikes on the Pru are actually relatively common, but always dramatic.

Bolts over Boston

adamg — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 02:28:00 +0000

Historygradguy titled his photo of the Back Bay OMFG (see it large). Nathanael Hevelone captured some lightning over Allston at the height of the storm:

Meanwhile, the mayor's office reports about 3,000 customers lost power in the storm, concentrated in Dorchester, West Roxbury and Brighton.

Supercell over Nahant.

Top photo copyright Historygradguy. Hevelone's photo posted under this Creative Commons license and in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

Man hit by lightning on Castle Island causeway

adamg — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 03:34:18 +0000

NECN reports on a lightning strike at the "Sugar Bowl" off Castle Island:

Separately, Channel 5 reports a West Roxbury man was injured by flying debris when lightning hit his house at 55 Sanborn Ave.

Spotters, activate!

adamg — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:29:15 +0000

The National Weather Service concludes its cataclysmic forecast for this afternoon ("AN ISOLATED TORNADO OR WATERSPOUT IS POSSIBLE") with

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED TODAY

Our very own Kaz ponders this:

I imagine something like Power Rangers. "Spotters, ACTIVATE!"

Ben Jackson, who actually is a weather spotter, reveals some of the secrets:

No helmets, spandex, or decoder rings, but we do get a hotline to the NWS office and a spotter ID code.

William Ricker alerts us that Twitter users can tweet damage to @wx1box.

Oh, and about that forecast. NECN's Matt Noyes concludes a technical overview of the impending doom with:

Due to the rapid speed of these storms, it's imperative that the meteorological community prepare the public to be ready to take shelter immediately upon hearing thunder, and keeping an eye to the western horizon. We don't often see such fast moving storms here in New England, and this will be a defining characteristic. Regardless of damage done, my concern is that we have folks understanding "dark sky" to storm on top of you may be a very short period of time Thursday afternoon.

Ed. question: Why does the National Weather Service still CAPITALIZE EVERYTHING? Are they still sending out alerts via telegraph?

Weeping for a willow

adamg — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 15:21:16 +0000

Susan Labandibar mourns the loss of a giant willow tree at Columbia Road and Day Boulevard, struck by lightning yesterday:

... It shaded and cooled us, and it was a haven for birds. It gave me a jolt of pleasure every morning I ran by it. I marveled at its gracefully twisting trunk and deeply veined bark and at the grace of its boughs festooned with thousands of strands of willow leaves. ...

And now she wonders why the city is insisting on removing another large tree in Andrew Square:

... While the project does provide for planting new trees, these trees will simply join the ranks of the hundreds of others that the city has planted that wither, die back, and then die over the next few years. I am not aware of any money provided for maintenance and no money provided for replacement if the trees die.

So close and yet so far

adamg — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:00:05 +0000

iMatthew watched last night as the bolt tried so hard to take out the Pru.

Copyright iMatthew. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

Quite the show overhead

adamg — Sat, 29 May 2010 23:11:31 +0000

Laura Scannell was in the right spot at the right time in Roslindale three days ago. Tim Treacy avoided immolation with this shot from today's storm.

Copyright Laura Scannell. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

Steeple zapped in Medway

adamg — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:35:36 +0000

Paul Keleher photographed the Medway Community Church after it got struck by lightning this morning. Before photo.

Posted under this Creative Commons license and tagged as universalhub on Flickr.

Zap - ouch!

adamg — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 03:09:18 +0000

The Globe reports:

Ten soccer game spectators were injured — four of them critically — in Dorchester today when they sought refuge under a gigantic tree that was struck by lightning during a flash storm

I like how the Globe follows that with:

The victims, all males, had burns consistent with lightning strikes, authorities said.

Because you know how people in Dorchester love to make up stories about getting hit by lightning.

Lightning also knocked out Green Line service between Harvard Avenue and Packard's Corner. In fact, it hit a trolley. Amazingly, nobody hurt.