THUNDERSTORM T0021 Date: Thursday 29th October 1998 Time:
17:43 UTC Location:
Macclesfield, Cheshire UK Path: 3-5 miles north, moving ESE
Synoptics:
Polar maritime airmass with trough enhancement Duration: 20 minutes Type: Convergent/Open Cell Multicell Average lightning type: I-C with a Positive Flash Average discharge rate: 162 seconds
Footage Quality: VHS
Occurring later in the day after T0020 came this cell,
possibly now enhanced by an approaching trough feature running through the
polar maritime northwesterly flow as seen on satellite images below. It was quite distant to the north of Macclesfield giving a few
I-C (In-Cloud) discharges that lit the cloud up from within. There was no
rain present at Macclesfield at the time. The cloud base wasn’t obvious as
it was still a good few miles north, however out of the blue a gigantic flash
occurred and barely a few seconds later a tremendously loud and long thunder.
Judging by the nature of the thunder, the shadows on
the roof-tops and the fact the cell was a few miles north, this had to be a
"Bolt From The Blue", a positive flash, that had jumped to the side of the cell and
landing somewhere in Macclesfield. The storm proceeded to give a few more
distant I-Cs as it passed over the Pennines.