| CHASE ACCOUNTS OF 2006 SEASON Storm Photography by Martin Kucera (c) 2006 - FloridaLightning.com |
| September 4th - Stormy skies everywhere you looked. The beginning of September brought numerous days like this one. If you put the two pictures together it would make for a nice panorama shot. No severe weather that I know of occurred with these storms. |
| September 2nd - A strong thunderstorm over the waters of Florida Bay brought many intense lightning strikes before sunset. |
| August 22nd - A long lived persistent funnel cloud that had all visual clues of a waterspout formed over the Florida Bay about three miles north of Islamorada, FL and lasted for a bit more than ten minutes. |
| August 14th - An area of intense thunderstorms developed over the extreme south Florida and moved into the Florida Bay and the Keys at about 6pm. Although the intensity and lightning activity quickly diminished while the squall line was approaching the Upper Keys it was still quite a show to enjoy. It was one of the most photogenic shelf cloud formations I recently remember here in the Florida Keys. The squall line passage was followed by heavy rain and very gusty winds, of course. Unfortunately this squall cooled down the local area considerably so no more thunderstorms followed for the remainder of the night. For those I had to travel (successfully) to the Middle and Lower Keys where the storms were later ongoing for the rest of the evening and the night. Check the 2006 lightning accounts for more. |
| July 22nd - An amazing summer time thunderstorm formed over the waters of Florida Bay and produced plenty of magic. Bright and vivid daytime lighting bolt, some of them I noticed were positive and quite dangerous and constant thunder all accompanied this strong storm. Finally to my disappointment the thunderstorm went linear, eventually gusted out and dissipated. One of the best visuals of this year. |
| July 21st - A rainy day with a lot of moisture and haze in the air brought a nice waterspout and later even a stocky funnel cloud. The showers and thunderstorms were just everywhere you looked and the pick was not easy on what to follow. The skies cleared up nicely after midnight so I took the opportunity to shoot more starry night sky images. |
| July 19th - The past several days were quite frustrating. Being middle of July, one of the most active summer months there is not a whole lot I can write down here about thunderstorms, lightning or waterspouts. A lot of days with decent looking updrafts but the cloud bases just simply rain out minutes later. The action seems to be weak for now. Finally, after two days non-stop trips to the Lower Keys and Key West I was able to photograph was I would describe as the smallest waterspout I have ever seen. Nevertheless It was a beautiful, fully developed waterspout with a spray ring. The beauty of it was that the waterspout formed underneath the base of a single cell thunderstorm just north of Key West. It was the only thunderstorm in the area and it just kept building for long minutes while raining out at the same time. I kept starring intently underneath the base until I spotted a light colored slim funnel and a second later a beautiful spray ring on the surface. The waterspout's proximity to the heavy rain shaft next to it is amazing as well. The waterspout lasted only a couple of minutes. Several minutes later the thunderstorm matured and displayed many strong lightning strikes. Thunder literally shook the ground in nearby Key West. By sunset it was all over and I was on my way home again. The very first photo is not that of a waterspout single cell thunderstorm. It is a small but photogenic storm I was able to photograph on my way to Key West in the early afternoon. |
| Florida Keys Moonbow - What is a moonbow ? It's the interaction between the mist (in this case from a dissipating thunderstorm over the Atlantic ocean) refracting light from just the right angle of the moon. The basics are pretty much the same as with a rainbow except bright enough shinning moon replaces the Sun in this case. This is the second time I was able to observe a moonbow in the Florida Keys. |
| July 11th - A lot of moisture and low clouds in the area for most of the day. Some storms formed later at night but real surprise was a rare moonbow shortly before sunrise ! |
| July 10th - First photo shows a late sunset waterspout followed by a positive lightning strike over the same area of Florida Bay in the next photo. Later that night....an intense thunderstorm developed over the Middle Keys and persisted for more than an hour. It produced very frequent and vivid lightning bolts followed by anvil crawler later in the early morning. The mosquitoes are starting to be pretty bad. |
July 7th - A picture perfect midnight thunderstorms occurred right outside of my window. A thunderstorm supercharged with positive
lightning bolts. The lightness in the photos is caused by moonlight. These photos were taken using a very wide angle lens - the bolts were
blindingly close. The first photo is what I am looking for - the "blinking top" signalizes a well charged cloud top - most of the time followed
by an intense positive strike barrage just before the thunderstorm dissipates. The positive discharge usually marks the end of the storm.
lightning bolts. The lightness in the photos is caused by moonlight. These photos were taken using a very wide angle lens - the bolts were
blindingly close. The first photo is what I am looking for - the "blinking top" signalizes a well charged cloud top - most of the time followed
by an intense positive strike barrage just before the thunderstorm dissipates. The positive discharge usually marks the end of the storm.
| July 6th - A quite photogenic shelf cloud moved NE over Middle and Upper Keys just before dark. The lighting conditions were not ideal but still what a great encounter for the Keys. Most of the great looking shelf clouds associated with cold front passages during winter months usually wash out over central Florida and hardly ever make it down here to the Keys. I was surprised how long the shelf cloud persisted for and it even got better after dark - I had a couple of very close encounters with nearby lightning strikes. So close you could see the "beads" falling on the road next to my car. Unfortunately very heavy rain prevented me from any photography attempts. |
| Later that night.... Moon came up while the shelf cloud was passing by my house followed by the lightning show. Several hours later the sky clear up so nicely you could see millions of stars. I don't ever recall seeing the night sky so bright and vivid. That was a long day..... |
| July 3rd - Another relaxing day around the water. Spent most of the day shark fishing (catch & release, of course) and watching the nearby storm over the Florida Bay. Later in the afternoon I made it to Marathon, FL following an outflow-dominant small storm. It died with sunset as the heating of the day was lost. An aggressive Black Tip Shark above left. |
| July 5th - Photographed a rare non-supercellular tornado over Everglades back-country. Could call it a landspout as well. Later in the afternoon a round of intense storms blew through Miami and surrounding areas. Small hail, frequent lightning and a lot of slow moving traffic. |
| July 1st - A very short but nice lightning show over the Florida Bay |
| July 4th - A surprising early morning large funnel over the Upper Keys. Bad visibility. |
| June 30th - A period of several non-significant weather days. Just drove around looking for interesting sights. These are the "tropical days" here in the Florida Keys when there are no storms. At least it is not so hot down here thanks to a nice daily ocean breeze. |
| June 26th - Widespread strong storms have been causing local flooding in the Keys and south Florida for several days now. I managed to capture a close lightning bolt over the Florida Bay. The larger photo is in the Lightning Images of 2006. |
| June 29th - Photographed a waterspout just north of Key West that developed ahead of some very strong thunderstorms that rolled right over downtown. This is going to be a great year for waterspout and lightning photography. |
| June 29th - Made a day trip to Key West and Zachary Taylor Beach. Observed a long lived cloud line although it was rather high-based. Later in the afternoon a strong storm developed over the Lower Keys and rolled through downtown Key West producing frequent lightning and a nice shelf cloud. We also photographed a single cell thunderstorm east of Key West during dust. Unfortunately only several lightning strikes occurred with it. |
| June 28th - A rather small but very interesting thunderstorm developed just off shore near Grassy Key. I zoomed in on it and photographed several nice features like a pileus cloud and strong repeating updrafts. The storm kept on going for nearly an hour before finally dissipating. It also produced a brief funnel that I observed from Curry Hammock State Park in Middle Keys. |
| June 22nd - A cloud line over the Seven Mile Bridge in the Middle Keys can be seen in the first photo. The second photo shows a well developed CB tower within a cloud line in a process of raining out. |
| June 25th - Another round of night storm - this time around Middle Keys. These storms moved in rapidly and brought quite a punch. |
| June 24th - First account of 2006 Florida Rainy season lightning - over the Atlantic ocean just south of the Upper Keys. |
| May 22nd - Multiple waterspouts near Middle Keys along an outflow boundary and a nicely developed cloud line lasted well into the evening. The boundary moved off of the Florida mainland and kept progressing south-westward triggering new updrafts and many waterspouts. I did not follow the boundary due to bad lighting and just stayed in one spot focusing on recording the event. |
| The 2006 Tornado Alley Trip is completed. Click above for complete accounts and photographs. I guess I can say we took some loses and spent much time wondering why this year's severe weather pattern is that bad. I also hope that Florida's storm season (in progress) is going to offset the severe weather drought we experienced during this trip. |
| May 16th - The scenario did not work out the way it was expected. But that is a beauty of the nature. We had a tornado watch posted for much of south Florida and the Keys, a nice outflow boundary moved through here from the large thunderstorm complex in the Gulf but in the end the show was quite poor. The whole thing turned into a widespread rainy mess with minimum amount of lightning. Click above for photos. May 15th - Widespread strong thunderstorms moved through the south Florida and the Keys today and another round is expected tomorrow. I've been tracking these storms non-stop for 18 hours straight now and certainly will continue tomorrow. Update with photos to be added here no later than Wednesday. |
| April 25th - What a nice day off spent on a six hour kayaking trip exploring the Indian Key, pristine mangrove tunnels and photographing wildlife. Full report coming in couple days. |
| May 12th - Cold front passage brought several very nice looking updraft tower within a line of showers. The top middle photo shows a funnel cloud that persisted for couple minutes before dissipating. No lightning observed. Hazy condition provided for not so ideal contrast. |
| April 10th - The past three days brought persistent severe weather to south Florida along with much needed rainfall. I spent two days shooting lightning around the Florida Keys. I also witnesses one of the best lightning displays ever. |
Mid April of 2006 - East coast sea breeze is finally
starting to work it's magic. For the past several
afternoons I've been watching some very nice towers
go up over the Everglades. Today we've been even
treated to a nice single cell complete with an updraft
starting to work it's magic. For the past several
afternoons I've been watching some very nice towers
go up over the Everglades. Today we've been even
treated to a nice single cell complete with an updraft
| tower, sheared anvil and mammatus clouds. Other than that the weather is more vacation-like with beautiful blue sky and nice white puffy clouds... click the images above for larger preview. |
| April 9th - There is a slight chance for severe weather over south Florida today... Especially in the afternoon hours associated with a cold front passage. |
| April 6th - A three day trip to Key West, FL and surrounding sights brought a lot of interesting experience. It is getting quite hot down here and we could have a stormy weather episode once again on Sunday and perhaps Monday. Click above for sample images from Fort Jefferson National Park and a sunset sail trip. |
| March 16th - Unfortunately not a whole lot happening in south Florida as of right now. I remember some previous seasons much more active this time around - so far the cold front passages have been quite lame. Two years ago we had some small Supercells with tornado warnings all over the place in February and March as far as I recall. Worth noting is the Missouri tornado outbreak on March 12th. Poor storm spotters, chasers and residents in affected areas - the individual cells were moving at about 55-60 mph. I can imagine you would have a hard keeping up with them on the interstate. My heart goes out to those affected and lets all hope there is no fatalities to be reported the next time around. It is a really hard job to predict or warn people in a similar situation. Storm like these in early Spring literally rip though the communities without a decent chance to warn the people. There is ongoing plans for the annual Tornado Alley Expedition, of course. Depending on work plans we will end up going just around the end of May - for about two weeks this time around. And then, in July I hope I'll be able to go to Arizona for the first ever lightning trip during their monsoon season. That should be a very interesting trip - for about another two weeks where I'd be living in a tent with nightly travels to the peaks to observe and photograph lightning. Well next time here I believe I'll finally bring some fresh lightning photographs of 2006.... |
| March 23rd - A cold front brought a lot of severe weather tonight. Two tornadoes were reported near Ft. Lauderdale, FL shortly after 3pm. Key Largo had a severe T-storm with small hail and gusty winds. I was finally able to pull off a couple of decent lightning images. Most of the strikes were intra-cloud or obscured in heavy rain. |
| February 26th - yet another cold front moved through here today but this one was not as strong as the last one. Only widespread showers occurred this time. No lightning or hail to report. |
| February 4th - A strong cold front made it's way all the way down here to the Keys bringing very gusty winds, frequent lightning and heavy downpours. |
| January 13th - The first quite interesting cold front of 2006 just passed through bringing heavy downpours and some distant lightning activity. Click on the pictures above. |
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| October 23rd - Cold Front Passage Photos. Click above for more... |
| August 20th - Incredible lightning show happened tonight and I'd certainly say it was the one of the best as far back as I can remember. For more detailed account - click on the image above. |
| A weak and this year's only notable tropical storm Ernesto passed directly over the Upper Keys. Quite uninteresting system added nothing exciting to this awful storm chasing year. Click above for complete account and photographs. |
| Sept 5th - The beginning of September brought widespread showers and thunderstorm to the most of southern Florida. Not much in a way of severe weather but rather a long and persistent rainy episode. |
| September 11th - Numerous funnel clouds occurred within cloud lines surrounding the Upper Keys. Filmed about six funnels and two unconfirmed waterspouts. Click above for more... |
| September 16th - Unreal lightning experience again tonight over the Atlantic ocean just south of the upper Florida Keys. |
| September 19th - A weak "pre-season" cold front is passing through the Florida peninsula this evening, bringing along some nice lightning, rough seas, gusty winds and heavy downpours. |
| September 22nd - A tornado outbreak in Missouri and Illinois. Waves of supercell thunderstorms developed across Missouri and Illinois during the afternoon and early evening hours. Numerous reports of tornadoes and large hail were relayed by public and trained spotters (yet have to see the photographs). I made a short trip to Illinois myself and can report heavy traffic and a very bad road network in the outbreak area. That has got to be the worst part of the central U.S. to chase thunderstorms and tornadoes. But it is well known already... the storms were a messy and disorganized bunch, except for a gorgeous supercell (picture above) south of St. Louis, MO, which lasted till sunset and provided for an excellent photo opportunity. --------------------------------------------------- September 23rd - The overall severe pattern looked lame this morning so I paid Chicago, IL a visit and ended up on top of the Sears Tower. While up there, an intense looking frontal boundary moved through downtown Chicago and swallowed the Tower whole. People up there seemed to be freaked out a bit... Flying back home to Florida tonight... |
| November 15th - Cold front brought an amazing lightning show... A barrage of five positive lightning superbolts happened at the end of it all. Click above to see more photos at the bottom of the 2006 Lightning Gallery |
| December 17th - A funnel cloud formed within fast moving showers today - almost over the islands. It dissipated only minutes later. |
| December 25 - A strong cold front brought intense thunderstorms, heavy downpours and frequent lightning strikes after a longer period of unusual warmth here in south Florida. We intercepted the pre-frontal squall line in Key West, FL and kept on with it all the way back to the Upper Keys. |
| A year full of surprises, ups and downs is finally over. The 2006 spring season brought plenty of good severe weather to the Florida Keys. I spent many days photographing vivid lightning displays into late morning hours. One of the most notable events occurred during the second week of April. The month of May brought the only interesting waterspout event to the Upper and Middle Keys. An outflow boundary progressed south-west triggering numerous waterspouts along the way. As for the annual Midwest trip this year - it was a total and a complete let down. No notable events occurred even after we extended the trip to nearly three weeks in length. Only the great supercell of June 10th in north-east Colorado made the trip at least partially worthwhile. And the hurricane season of 2006 brought a Tropical storm Ernesto as the only notable but incredibly weak tropical system as far as I am concerned. Overall, 2006 was not a good year at all. |