As I was driving home from my parents late last night I saw numerous lightning flashes off in the distant. It was one of the hottest and most humid days we have had this summer, so I couldn not help but think a great lightning storm was on the way. I live near a large hill with gives a decent (but still lacking, looking for a better place still) view of almost the entire horizon, so I drove up the hill and found a nice parking spot in a large empty lot. The storm was probably the most intense I have seen in my life, for some 45 minutes I saw an average of one or two sky crossing bolts every couple of seconds, with numerous strikes occurring simultaneously at some points. As the storm grew closer some of the bolts arced over my entire vertical field of view.
Concurrently, I have been listening to Bill Brysons "A Short History of Nearly Everything" One of the most enjoyable books I have yet read, and parked my car with the intention of relaxing, watching a great thunderstorm, and listening to an excellent science book on tape. The fates smiled on me and the section I happened to get to tonight was on lighting! What a treat, one of the most eloquent scientific descriptions of the phenomena of lightning feeding my brain while being treated visually to the most intense storm I have ever witnessed, while sitting securely in the faraday cage of my car. I watched three or four strikes in the period of just a few seconds as Brysons book spoke to the number of storms in the world, the frequency of strikes, the amount of energy involved in each burst, etc. Wonderful! … It was like a moment of Nirvana for a natural philosopher
