{"id":23120,"date":"2019-03-05T00:00:55","date_gmt":"2019-03-05T08:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/?p=23120"},"modified":"2019-04-03T19:41:14","modified_gmt":"2019-04-04T03:41:14","slug":"march-5-2019-lightning-on-santa-monica-bay-from-malibu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/2019\/03\/05\/march-5-2019-lightning-on-santa-monica-bay-from-malibu\/","title":{"rendered":"March 5, 2019 Lightning on Santa Monica Bay from Malibu!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Today was VERY COOL! \u00a0As you probably know, thunderstorms in the Los Angeles area are infrequent. \u00a0And, thunderstorms that produce vivid lightning displays are very<\/strong> rare around here. \u00a0These higher-end displays are much more likely during the late summer and early fall, when monsoon moisture from the south is around. \u00a0Even rarer is being ready with the camera and able to venture out to photograph such an event! \u00a0I hope that I am making myself clear when I say that it is difficult to obtain decent local lightning images for an L.A.-area photographer!<\/p>\n

So on this particular date, as a winter-type system from the Pacific Ocean approached Southern California, I was not really thinking about lightning photography. \u00a0There was a chance of thunderstorms in the forecast, and during the daytime a couple of areas offshore and near the Central California coast showed storm cells with lightning strikes. \u00a0Fast-moving (elevated) thunderstorm cells were approaching Malibu and the Point Mugu area (to my south and southwest) as I prepared a dinner meal for myself. \u00a0There were reports of thunder in Moorpark, just 15 minutes away. \u00a0Some thunder rolled above my house in Westlake Village. \u00a0YES! \u00a0I went outside to check out the sky, and almost immediately a huge, wonderfully-branched CG (cloud-to-ground) strike flashed to my southwest, just a few miles away! \u00a0WOW! \u00a0That just does not happen around here! \u00a0The cloud base was quite high for a winter storm system. \u00a0This activity was in front of (east of) the closed system offshore. \u00a0Typically, cool-season thunderstorm activity is associated with the cold air behind the front. \u00a0This stuff was in front of the front. \u00a0It was certainly weird.<\/p>\n

Darn. \u00a0My dinner food was ready to eat, and I wanted to grab my camera bag and get out to shoot this. \u00a0I gulped down a few bites and headed out. \u00a0One mile down the road, near the Ventura Freeway, a bolt and a crash of thunder rocked the Xterra and set off car alarms. \u00a0YES again! \u00a0I needed to get to a high spot FAST. \u00a0A couple of minutes later I was on top of a hill with a good view to the south, but the dumb storm was moving so fast, it was now to my north. \u00a0A couple of good flashes in that direction were behind hills.<\/p>\n

Well, that particular cell was done. \u00a0It was a little after sunset and the light was nice, but it would be dark soon. \u00a0Should I go back home and finish my meal? \u00a0My phone radar showed additional activity approaching the Malibu coastline. \u00a0There is a great viewpoint or two in the hills above Malibu (to my south). \u00a0I have frequently thought about how awesome it would be to set the tripod up at one of these elevated viewpoints and to photograph lightning over the ocean. \u00a0 I elected to give myself a chance and to head to Malibu via Decker and Encinal roads. \u00a0If a great lightning display is going to occur, then I need to be ready when it happens. \u00a0I can’t sit at home and shoot lightning over the ocean!<\/p>\n

Thirty minutes later, I was at one of the viewpoints above Malibu (along Encinal Canyon Road). \u00a0Not much was happening, except for a band of activity with a lot of lightning well to my west, near Oxnard. \u00a0This was about 30 minutes away. \u00a0With nothing else approaching Malibu, I decided to head west on PCH. \u00a0I reached Point Mugu, and saw some flashes in the distance to my west. \u00a0These were really nice, but still too far away. \u00a0Meanwhile, a new cell was now over the water and approaching the area that I had just left. \u00a0UGH! \u00a0It was to my southeast, and I raced back east on PCH. \u00a0Another 20 minutes or so of driving back to the east, and I was back up on Encinal Canyon with my great view of the ocean and Point Dume. \u00a0A cell was out over the water to my south, and moving to the northeast. \u00a0The lightning was infrequent, though, and now it was raining on me. \u00a0I think I managed a couple of mediocre shots. \u00a0This wasn’t really working out as I had hoped, and I put the tripod into the Xterra. \u00a0Another flash offshore was pretty good, though! \u00a0I set the camera back onto the tripod and tried my luck again. \u00a0Again, not much luck. \u00a0The best activity seemed to be too far away to the southeast, and a little too infrequent with the CGs.<\/p>\n

I packed up again, and this time started driving home. \u00a0I went about 8 miles (about 1\/3 of the way home), and noticed an additional bright flash or two behind me. \u00a0UGH. \u00a0I think my iPhone battery was dead by now, so I had no radar to look at. \u00a0But with new activity to my south, I needed to be back up on my hill with a view! \u00a0I turned around.<\/p>\n

Back at my spot, with a great view to the southeast of Point Dume and Santa Monica Bay, things were looking better! \u00a0A storm cell was sparking to my south, and then SSE and SE, as it moved to the northeast into Santa Monica Bay. \u00a0I got some decent images with this one as it was perhaps 10-15 miles away. \u00a0I could hear thunder with it. \u00a0Another cell or two followed it into the bay and towards LAX and vicinity, with a few flashes each minute. \u00a0My longer (70-200mm) lens was required to capture the CGs, with some nice ones behind Point Dume. \u00a0The lightning was a little more distant than I would have preferred, but one should not complain about any decent lightning display here in coastal Southern California! \u00a0I had finally managed to get my “lightning-over-the ocean” shots from Malibu. \u00a0(About 18 months earlier I had an even better display from San Nicolas Island.)<\/a><\/p>\n

The show eventually moved more inland to my east and northeast, and I got back home after 11 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\t\t