{"id":17907,"date":"2017-09-10T00:00:39","date_gmt":"2017-09-10T08:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/?p=17907"},"modified":"2017-09-11T17:12:41","modified_gmt":"2017-09-12T01:12:41","slug":"september-10-2017-san-nicolas-island-electrical-display","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/2017\/09\/10\/september-10-2017-san-nicolas-island-electrical-display\/","title":{"rendered":"September 10, 2017 San Nicolas Island Electrical Display"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I have had sporadic luck through the years photographing lightning locally in the Los Angeles area. \u00a0The best displays are typically at night, from elevated thunderstorms. \u00a0My best night with the camera might have been at LAX<\/a>, during a weather observing shift, nine years ago. \u00a0These spectacular events might occur only once or twice every few years, though. \u00a0And when they do, it is often after midnight and I sleep through them. \u00a0I have made numerous 30-minute drives from home to Malibu in the hopes of shooting lightning from a hillside above the ocean, but with no luck. \u00a0Now that I work at San Nicolas Island half of the time, I have been hoping for a chance to shoot lightning over the coastal waters from there. \u00a0There are nice vantage points of the ocean on the north side of the island, near Nicktown. \u00a0I have my tripod stored in the room, ready to go!<\/p>\n

And so on Sunday, September 10, there was a chance of showers over the coastal waters (Santa Monica Bay and vicinity) for the evening hours especially. \u00a0A cut-off upper-level low, west of Los Angeles, would provide the lift necessary on the mid-level moisture. \u00a0 The atmosphere was unstable enough above the shallow (and stable) marine layer to promote storms. \u00a0A weak storm above the island mid-afternoon rumbled once, and this was a harbinger of bigger and better storms later! \u00a0By 5 or 6 p.m., the radar showed development near San Clemente Island, to the southeast. \u00a0The storms would move this way and through the coastal waters between Catalina and Santa Cruz Island. \u00a0Best of all, the timing was great with regard to photography: \u00a0near sunset and into the evening.<\/p>\n

The images below are from lightningmaps.org<\/a>, and these show the detected lightning strikes mid-evening, around 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. PDT. \u00a0And, the maps serve as a nice reference to see where San Nicolas Island is with regard to the other islands and the Southern California coastline.<\/p>\n

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