My Meager Captures
Last night was looking good for reasonable thunderstorms in our area. Actually, the whole south half of the province. They looked to not be full of hail and ridiculous winds but news reports said there were some exceptions where smaller areas got hit hard. However, I got it in my head to go storm chasing as I watched, via radar, a system coming our way since before I began preparing supper.
After we were done eating I packed up my gear and headed to a satellite located place south of us just outside the city. The system appeared when I estimated from the radar but dissipated just before reaching me. Another was visible to the west so I drove about 7kms toward the river and directly under this unbelievable, beautiful, cloud bank.
I threw my camera on the tripod, prepared myself for the onslaught of mosquitoes and opened the side door. The whine in the air was no longer just from the typical ringing in my ears. It grew in volume and pitch as a myriad of mosquitoes swarmed in. I fired off frame after frame just hoping the milliseconds between photos would not be the time that bolt would jump between the ground and cloud. I was ready to give up as my insanity slipped closer to the edge all the while saying to myself, “Just one strike. Suck it up. Just one.” Finally, I caught a bolt, shut the door, put my camera in my bag, tossed the tripod on the back seat and fired up the van. In less than 2 minutes I got about 12 mosquito bites all for the mediocre photo below. Good thing there’s an entertaining story to go with it. 
Both windows down, side windows open, vent fan on full, I hurried back mostly on the roads I took west to until I found the city and got home. The whole drive home, and even getting into the house from the still infested van, I felt like John Candy running from the bald bear.
Tags: great outdoors, john candy, lightning, saskatoon, storm
I love the first picture. The blue is so vibrant and the cloud looks very ominous.
Also, we should watch The Great Outdoors sometime.
Thanks! It was a sight to see. Driving only the few kilometers that I did and watching that bank move nearly over my head. Low clouds that evening.
I might still have it downloaded. If not, I’ll need to see if our VCR still works & if we still have the tape.