Stormspotting is the thrilling art of spotting storms. What makes it particularly challenging is recording bolts of lightning on video (or in my case, the pathetic Nokia7360).
Disclaimer: stormspotters are in no way related to trainspotters!
It takes few things to stormspot:
- Storm season
- Shelter from the rain
- A wide field of vision
- Something to record with
- Patience & luck
Many thanks to our dorm balcony for the shelter and altitude and 180 degree view for top-notch stormspotting.
The idea is simple:
You point your recording device at a fixed spot in general direction of the storm, wait until the right moment, then start recording! (If you have a good camera handy of course it is best to take long exposure photos instead of fussing around with video.) Get it right, and a streak of lightning will be captured on your screen within 15 seconds. Sounds really easy, but it is a major feat if all you have is a lousy cell phone recorder that takes seconds to respond...in such cases, to stormspot, you had better...
Know your target:
- Which direction is the storm coming from? According to my experience, the best time to record is when the action centre is within 10km~3km radius. Too far and the clouds get in the way, too near and lightning bolts go off on all sides: you'll be tempted to turn away from your "spot". Over here, storms usually close in from the south or northwest. I've yet to see a storm coming from the east.
- How far apart are the lightning bolts? During peak times it's usually 10~30 seconds. It takes all my resolution to wait those 10 seconds before recording again! (Which is necessary because my Nokia7360 has only 4mb of space so every second is precious.)
- How long will it take for the storm to pass/rage itself out? I make an educated guess based on wind speed and cloud cover. This gives an idea of how long the stormspotting session is going to last, since there is no point in stormspotting after the chances have dropped too low...
And trust your senses:
- Pick a spot and stick to it. Once I've decided on "the spot", I try very hard not to wander. Being distracted by will waste valuable time and opportunities. Keep in mind that you are very very unlikely to outrun lightning!
- Crying over spilt milk is...well, pointless. There are countless times that I missed the most magnificent bolt by seconds. The stormspotter's bane...grrrr. You'll just have to trust that you will capture "The One" sometime, somehow. Probably with lots of practice. Stormspotting sure is character building stuff!
