Now that’s a bolt of lightning!  Thursday evening, thunderstorms ripped through the Western New York area, discharging a frenzy of powerful lightning, high-speed winds, and a measurable amount of water.  Rain gauges for the storm have added up to a whopping two tenths of an inch – and to illustrate just how much that is, that’s less than an inch.  Scary claps of thunder also disturbed residents area-wide, sending an untold multitude of unsuspecting people under the covers for safety.

      We obtained this photo of a super-charged mega-zap from Jake Silco, who told us that he was not among the frightened last night.  In fact, as soon as Jake heard the National Weather Service advisory, he knew that his grueling day of work would be the last thing he’d remember about this hot and humid day.  Once the storm moved in and Jake started snapping photos, the sky began to explode in all directions, and a chaotic race ensued to capture as many lightning bolts as possible.

     As you can see, the picture above clearly defines a close call – no question about it – but that didn’t stop Jake’s camera shutter from firing away.  With the storm settling into the area, explosions of electric mayhem intensified dramatically as the storm still blew closer and closer with lightning speed.  If you’ve ever wondered just how fast lightning speed really is, Jake describes it as the time it took him to realize this next sky stinger (below) was a little too close for comfort.

     The proximity of that last chimney-grazer made it clear that the stakes had just been raised, but as he headed for the cover of his garage, Jake decided that he still wanted more.  So with camera still in-hand, and now a dry place for his equipment, Jake turned his camera lens on the storm one more time.

     By capturing this final near-miss jolt of insanity, Jake Silco’s quick reflexes once again outsmarted an electrical annihilation just waiting to happen.  Reflecting on last night’s storm, Jake says “the storm’s magnitude was more intense than any electrical storm I’ve seen, with the highest concentration strikes.”  As for the experience, Jake says it was one of those opportunities awaited for years.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Jacob Silco is an amateur photographer living in Penfield, a suburb of Rochester, NY.  His photography interests include landscape photography, extreme weather and atmospheric optics, but he is always exploring new opportunities.  
Photos taken with Nikon D7000; Nikor 18-105mm.  
Settings top: F/11, 250 ISO, 15 sec.  
Settings middle: F/8, 200 ISO, 20 sec.  
Settings bottom: F/6,  320 ISO, 20 sec.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Below are a few more photos that were added on 5/16/2012, courtesy of Jake.  Thanks again to Jake for sharing this!

[superb cats=8]