Rare Lightning Travelling from Ground To Clouds In Slow Motion

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  • Опубліковано 16 сер 2020
  • We had some storms in the Bay Area over the weekend and I captured a slow motion video of a lightning strike, which I'm told is a rare case of lightning starting from the ground and travelling upwards to the clouds.
    This was recorded on a Sony RX100 Mk VII at 960FPS, ISO 80,000
    amzn.to/2QdUH0F
  • Наука та технологія

КОМЕНТАРІ • 1 тис.

  • @thelightninghunter23
    @thelightninghunter23 3 роки тому +600

    Lightning expert here.
    This is what's called "Lightning-triggered Upward Lightning". It's a bit different from common cloud-to-ground lightning where a downward leader attaches to an upward leader very close to the ground.
    The first thing you see is a brightening of the clouds. These are negative-polarity leaders discharging a positive charge layer inside the cloud. This discharging causes a sudden electric field change which induces an upward positive (not negative) leader from a tall structure over the horizon-- possibly the Golden Gate Bridge or a skyscraper or radio mast. This positive leader runs into a negative charge layer that's just below the clouds and meanders around, brightening as it finds pockets of more intense negative charge. Eventually the positive leaders start branching and this is when the fun begins. These branches are poorly ionized and there are fast bidirectional leaders that form around the tips of the decayed positive branches. They are called "recoil leaders" and these are the strobing channel segments that we see later on in the video.
    The bright event that you discuss throughout the video is actually quite interesting. I've looked at the footage multiple times and it looks like the brightening originates from the first branch point and progresses through the main branch. This tells me that there was current cutoff in the main branch near the branch point which suddenly became bridged, allowing much higher current to flow back to the tower and increasing electric potential at the leader tips.
    I record high-speed lightning video with the same model of camera (it's a Mark 5 instead of a 7, still records 960fps) and I upload the recordings to this channel so if anyone wants to see more high-speed lightning video then feel free to stop by!
    --Chris K

    • @jons2447
      @jons2447 3 роки тому +9

      COOL!

    • @u2mister17
      @u2mister17 3 роки тому +16

      So if electricity is flowing electrons what do you call flowing protons? Please explain how a grounded tower can have a positive charge. Personally I figure all the motion is electrons looking for positively charged ions and if the moving electron stream finds a better source of electrons
      (THE GROUND) that is when all positive space is nutralized.
      I was standing in my kitchen one day and The Longest Lasting (5 secs.) lightning bolt I witnessed in my 65 years in the midwest was using my 185 foot deep well head 30 feet away.
      My wife was standing in front of me and as my jaw was slowly dropping the light made her look like a skeletonized x-ray.

    • @thelightninghunter23
      @thelightninghunter23 3 роки тому +33

      @@u2mister17 Electricity is the movement of electrical charge-- this can involve free electrons and positive and negative ions.
      On a positive leader, negative charge moves away from the leader tip and the tip has a positive charge relative to its environment. If the electric field at the tip is strong enough, further electrical breakdown occurs where electrons are stripped from atoms which heats the air into a highly-conductive plasma state, thus growing the leader.
      The charge at ground level depends on the charges in the clouds above, and this determines the polarity of ground flashes. Generally the main cloud charge is negative and the ground becomes positively charged due to induction.

    • @bigphillAchtung
      @bigphillAchtung 3 роки тому +9

      @@thelightninghunter23 ive seen a lot of people try to describe this but you are by far the best Chris! Excellent job :)

    • @erinmcdonald7781
      @erinmcdonald7781 3 роки тому +6

      @@thelightninghunter23 Like your clear explanations...got a new subscriber ⚡😎

  • @Robb403
    @Robb403 3 роки тому +69

    That was probably from me. My parents always said I have a lot of potential.

    • @dyn12864
      @dyn12864 3 роки тому +4

      Nice one

    • @TEX-X
      @TEX-X 3 роки тому +1

      Pun master strikes again

    • @loops7624
      @loops7624 3 роки тому +1

      I like it

    • @teenstormchaser5543
      @teenstormchaser5543 2 роки тому +1

      I was there I’m the lightning he’s not lying

  • @tbirdland
    @tbirdland 3 роки тому +33

    I love so much that Scott has transitioned from video game youtuber to science uncle

  • @Olysk8er
    @Olysk8er 3 роки тому +18

    1.21 gigawatts!?! Great Scott!

  • @charlespiro6917
    @charlespiro6917 3 роки тому +94

    Suspicious Observers sent me Great catch.

    • @Moctipotili1
      @Moctipotili1 3 роки тому +5

      Eyes open, no fear, be safe everybody

    • @JustinWillisDevil240Z
      @JustinWillisDevil240Z 3 роки тому +1

      isn't that channel saying that man made climate change isn't real or some nonsense?

    • @charlespiro6917
      @charlespiro6917 3 роки тому +1

      @@JustinWillisDevil240Z i have never heard Ben say that.But CO2 is not pollution thats from me though so there you have it.

    • @lunakid12
      @lunakid12 3 роки тому +1

      @@charlespiro6917 What "pollution" is is a matter of (one's favorite) definition anyway, so what we call it is less relevant than actually dealing with it in some way or another.

    • @charlespiro6917
      @charlespiro6917 3 роки тому

      @David Shaw it sure is Sir.

  • @TheWeatherbuff
    @TheWeatherbuff 3 роки тому +37

    Thank you Scott. On behalf of my fellow meteorologists, we thank you for the treat. Personally, I'm glad you caught this and shared it. I'll be referring my colleagues to this one. Much appreciated!

    • @kenycharles8600
      @kenycharles8600 3 роки тому +2

      Do you ever confer with some of the excellent meteorologists in Oklahoma?

    • @TheWeatherbuff
      @TheWeatherbuff 3 роки тому +3

      @@kenycharles8600 Quite often, yes. Mostly SPC and NOAA folks, but I also have a lot of friends in media all over the state. I am in Denver.

  • @jokerace8227
    @jokerace8227 3 роки тому +21

    It is amazing to watch the electrons trace a momentary path of least resistance in a dynamically changing 3D volume of vorticity and vapor.

    • @sleeptyper
      @sleeptyper 3 роки тому

      I guess the bright spots were coming from the bolt traveling horizontally towards (or away) from the camera.

    • @kirkc9643
      @kirkc9643 3 роки тому +1

      When the angry pixies escape..

  • @geraldhenrickson7472
    @geraldhenrickson7472 3 роки тому +37

    In college I was instructed most lightening is ground to cloud in the early stages of a strike. That was 20 years ago. Wonderful video. Thanks.

    • @educateer
      @educateer 3 роки тому +5

      I remember the Physics students at Uni 30 years ago telling me that lightening goes up and not down and showed me pictures from their textbooks showing it. So, not rare that it goes up but the path that lightening takes is amazing.

    • @rabidtarg
      @rabidtarg 3 роки тому +10

      Not the leader, though. The leader is usually from the cloud down and then the main bolt goes up. The leader is much harder to film. He thinks he's got a leader going up from the ground, which is less common, but does happen.

    • @charlesball6519
      @charlesball6519 3 роки тому +1

      Various weathermen have said that positive lighting is rare. Its what goes from ground to cloud. The most common is negative, which is cloud to ground.

    • @scottmanley
      @scottmanley  3 роки тому +17

      rabidtarg yeah the reason I believe this has to be a Leader is that the return is effectively instantaneous at these frame rates.

    • @Vodhin
      @Vodhin 3 роки тому +5

      @@scottmanley The earth has a much higher electrical potential (read: more free electrons) than the atmosphere does, and is why lightning almost always travels from the ground up to the sky. It is also why most lightning is seen forking downwards as these free electrons come together like streams feeding a river.
      It is also why you should always drop to the ground if your hair stands on end (well, _you_ may need a hairy friend nearby that you can monitor).

  • @michaelschoen9777
    @michaelschoen9777 3 роки тому +28

    I witnessed this event from my front porch in Fremont. Looking towards the south the display i saw from 5:20an too 6:15am Sunday morning was one of the most spectacular lighting events i have ever seen.

  • @Armuotas
    @Armuotas 3 роки тому +4

    "..when I wake up in the middle of the night by a lightning storm my first call is just to try and take photographs of it." Ahh, right in the feels!

  • @dmentedphotos
    @dmentedphotos 3 роки тому +5

    That was amazing to watch. I live in the southeast where storms like this can be an every evening occurence and have always been fascinated by taking (still) pictures of lightning. Back in the days of film cameras, I would burn the batteries so fast that I ended up buying a completely manual camera just for that purpose. I love finding nights like this and getting myself into a position where I can be beside the storm to try to capture the bolts that come from the top, outside the cloud, and have been very lucky quite a few times to get some pretty amazing shots. Thanks for sharing the slow motion shot as it was just amazing!

  • @alfredsutton7233
    @alfredsutton7233 3 роки тому +3

    Beautiful photography Scott, and a great explanation that follows. Another amazing gift you’ve given to all of us.

  • @rexmann1984
    @rexmann1984 3 роки тому +125

    Hey, you got featured by Suspicious Observers. I suggest you check out why this is actually happening so much this year. It's today's morning clip.

    • @harlankraft578
      @harlankraft578 3 роки тому +25

      Yeah Ben’s feature on S0 is how I found this video too. Great capture!!

    • @elliotness422
      @elliotness422 3 роки тому +14

      Me 4, and subbed Scott because :)

    • @crunchmunch5282
      @crunchmunch5282 3 роки тому +13

      @@harlankraft578 Me 5............... That was pretty impressive, I love lightning.

    • @paulajleal
      @paulajleal 3 роки тому +9

      Ditto

    • @matthewcooksey5411
      @matthewcooksey5411 3 роки тому +17

      Eyes open! No fear!

  • @yellowbrian
    @yellowbrian 3 роки тому +3

    This has been a very interesting few weeks here in the bay. The fires sparked are the worst part but the storms themselves have been great to watch. Thank you for capturing this video

  • @willrobbinson
    @willrobbinson 3 роки тому

    fantastic to watch the lightning stages all in a second or so , a lot is revealed in slow mo , thanks so much

  • @Horus9339
    @Horus9339 3 роки тому +6

    Sent over by Suspicious Observer, thank you for recording this. A 'shocking' slowmo. ;)

  • @LunDruid
    @LunDruid 3 роки тому +3

    I've lived in the Bay Area for (next month) 33 years. While fairly small lightning storms used to be more or less annual, usually one or two during the fall season back when we actually had a fall season, they've been far rarer since about 2006. And even still, I've never seen anything like what we got in my entire life.

  • @deusexaethera
    @deusexaethera 3 роки тому +11

    Lightning ALWAYS grows from both endpoints at once. Tendrils of opposite-charge ions extend up from the ground and down from the clouds until they meet somewhere in the middle; this is why people often report they feel their hair standing on-end a few seconds before they get hit by lightning. The path the lightning _appears_ to take is the result of whether the path branches more near the ground or near the clouds, because the end with fewer branching paths has to conduct more amperage and thus the ionized air gets excited to the point of phosphorescence faster.

    • @salparadise1220
      @salparadise1220 3 роки тому +1

      Maybe, but in this case, no.
      As the earth's magnetic field weakens, more energy gets through to the earth, which leads to instances where the earth's potential is higher than the atmosphere above it, so we get earth discharges.
      At least 10 so far this year and 3 within the last 2 days.
      This will only increase in the coming months and years.
      Something big is coming.

    • @stargazer7644
      @stargazer7644 3 роки тому

      Your hair stands on end before a lightning stroke because of the large positive static charge that is attracted in the ground under the cloud.

    • @stargazer7644
      @stargazer7644 3 роки тому

      Sal Paradise this has nothing to do with the earths magnetic field.

    • @salparadise1220
      @salparadise1220 3 роки тому +2

      @@stargazer7644 Of course it does. The earth is an electromagnetic system, connected to the solar electromagnetic system, that's connected to the galactic electromagnetic system, and so on, up through as many levels as you like, and all the way down to the subatomic.

    • @DavidLindes
      @DavidLindes 3 роки тому +1

      @@salparadise1220 I gotta say... your description _sounds_ a bit like pseudo-science (not saying it is, just that that's how it's coming across, at least for me). I mean, sure, electromagnetic systems influence each other, to varying degrees... and the sun's electromagnetic situation can certainly influence things closer to earth (the auroras are a well-known example of this)... however, you seem to be talking about something... well, you're making claims that sound grand, without being very specific. Could you post some links to discussions of what you're referring to?

  • @andrewparker318
    @andrewparker318 3 роки тому +2

    I live in Orinda which is right near Walnut Creek, and it was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen! I’ve never seen lightning here in the Bay Area and I was up all morning watching it

  • @Michael-jl9ne
    @Michael-jl9ne 3 роки тому +1

    The lightning woke us up too, it was quite a show! Very interesting to see how the lightning travels!

  • @olliea6052
    @olliea6052 3 роки тому +68

    Anyone remember the big lightning storm in Ireland in the 80's? It started around 6pm and didn't stop till the early hours next morning. It practically didn't get dark the whole night and if my parents description is right, there was st elmos fire arcing off the barn and lightning arcing along the floods of water washing down our lane by the house. I was young then and scared to stick my head out from under the duvet. I wish i looked at some of it now. 😔

    • @RIXRADvidz
      @RIXRADvidz 3 роки тому +4

      I was scared of TnL early too, but I was told it was God and the Saints Bowling, the flash was a Strike by God, the thunder and rumbling was the balls going down the alley, I then began to watch the storms, and still do. I sit on my patio in my rocker watching as the clouds cast flashes and booms.

    • @sawspitfire422
      @sawspitfire422 3 роки тому +3

      There was a pretty massive thunderstorm in England last week, nothing like that but it was constant lightning for an hour or so, you could see like it was dusk even though it was midnight and cloudy. It destroyed our internet router, evidently some static travelling up the cable. The whole house shook and my desk was rattled a few times by the closer strikes. Never seen anything like it in this country

    • @Tstorms
      @Tstorms 3 роки тому

      25th July 1985?

  • @jerry3790
    @jerry3790 3 роки тому +6

    I’m almost jealous of where Scott Manley lives. Right next to San Francisco, rocket launches from Vandenberg, perfect California weather most of the time, lots of pretty scenery. Must be nice

    • @3000gtwelder
      @3000gtwelder 3 роки тому

      LOL! Kalifornistan, yeah it's awesome! Newsome Pelosi 2020 haha!

  • @terlinguabay
    @terlinguabay 3 роки тому

    Beautiful, Scott. Thanks!

  • @ryanwalker3453
    @ryanwalker3453 3 роки тому +1

    That was the best I've seen in years! Thank you!

  • @TheExoplanetsChannel
    @TheExoplanetsChannel 3 роки тому +70

    Intriguing. It reminds me of how aliens descended in the movie 'War of the Worlds', but backwards.

    • @alexandermartin1837
      @alexandermartin1837 3 роки тому +5

      I enjoyed your collab with Isaac Arthur :)

    • @BeardyBaldyBob
      @BeardyBaldyBob 3 роки тому +2

      God that movie sucked!
      Such a disappointment. 🙁

    • @c182SkylaneRG
      @c182SkylaneRG 3 роки тому +2

      @@BeardyBaldyBob The original was SO much better!!

    • @UltraNoobian
      @UltraNoobian 3 роки тому +2

      Aliens be like, We outta here

    • @hevi2866
      @hevi2866 3 роки тому

      Just watched it yesterday again :)

  • @Dinkum_Aussie
    @Dinkum_Aussie 3 роки тому +4

    My god! I used to take time exposure lighting pictures with my 35 mm Nikon this is a whole other level! Absolutely amazing! Thank you for sharing! From the ground up demonstrated beautifully Nikolai Tesla would be impressed ! 😎👍

  • @desertsongsworship459
    @desertsongsworship459 3 роки тому +1

    Thank You! So glad Suspicious Observers featured your vid, subscribed today...wonderful look and great info 👍🏻

  • @FEBC23
    @FEBC23 3 роки тому

    I have never seen anything like this, it is just amazing and fun to learn science with you, Scott! Thank you!

  • @keco185
    @keco185 3 роки тому +183

    Lightning is the OG gradient descent calculator

    • @duffman7674
      @duffman7674 3 роки тому +18

      Too bad that charge levels in the atmosphere are not convex, so the lightning will only find local extrema.

    • @jerryli821
      @jerryli821 3 роки тому

      huh? OG gradient descent calculator?

    • @keco185
      @keco185 3 роки тому +9

      Jerry Li OG means original. Gradient descent is a method of finding a local minimum or maximum by looking at the “slope” or “gradient” of the values around you. For example, a ball does gradient descent as it rolls down a hill. It moves in the directly the hill is most quickly going down

    • @jerryli821
      @jerryli821 3 роки тому

      @@keco185 - never heard of it or is it just an imagined concept?

    • @keco185
      @keco185 3 роки тому +4

      Jerry Li it’s used a lot in machine learning to train neural nets

  • @jeruvy
    @jeruvy 3 роки тому +4

    Its great one of my favorite scientists refers me to watch another great space informant. Thanks for both S0 for the referral and thanks Scott for talking about this.

  • @soulsofpresentgracethompso5990
    @soulsofpresentgracethompso5990 3 роки тому

    Electrifying material Scott. Thank U!

  • @angelmtv
    @angelmtv 3 роки тому

    This is incredible! I slept through it! Love your explanation. Thank you for sharing.

  • @pirobot668beta
    @pirobot668beta 3 роки тому +24

    So the 'anchor' for the lightning was passing current for almost 2/3 second? Youch!

    • @richard--s
      @richard--s 3 роки тому

      Yes, with varying intensities, but yes, there was quite some energy flow... (high currencies and high voltages over some amount of time...)

  • @sparkyprojects
    @sparkyprojects 3 роки тому +3

    There's a few videos showing upward lightning, some even show the leader from the cloud, then several 'fingers' from the ground reaching up (like the animation, but more than one finger), then one of the fingers connect.
    There's also research groups that fire rockets into the sky with a thin wire attached so they can capture lightning, one of the groups even brought the wire down to a sand container to produce 'fulgarites'
    Search for 'rocket triggered lightning' as well as lightning research.

  • @Mr.Deleterious
    @Mr.Deleterious 3 роки тому +1

    The first lighting bolt with RCS thrusters. The fact that it hit a quick 90° angle to the right gives it away 😉👍🏻

  • @porkchop1948
    @porkchop1948 3 роки тому +1

    NICE! Great capture. Featured on S0. Sent us here to see the entire video. So cool!

  • @hebl47
    @hebl47 3 роки тому +57

    1:02 that's some weird Travelling salesman algorhythm nature was running!

    • @danieljensen2626
      @danieljensen2626 3 роки тому +14

      It's fairly common that the electric field near the tip is way stronger than the background field between the cloud and ground, so lightning will get "lost" and basically just start doing a random walk. Loops are even fairly common (not closed loops of course, although they may look that way from some angles).

    • @-danR
      @-danR 3 роки тому +1

      Exactly what I was thinking. Maybe lightning could be exploited to solve some gnarly least-distance problems.

    • @-danR
      @-danR 3 роки тому +4

      @@danieljensen2626
      I don't think it's genuinely random, in some Brownian sense, but sniffing out the least-potential-barrier and the greatest pre-ionized patch stepping stone directly in front of its nose

    • @ozzymandius666
      @ozzymandius666 3 роки тому +1

      San Francisco: Where even lightening doesn't know which way to go.

    • @OCinneide
      @OCinneide 3 роки тому +1

      @@-danR Seeing as the clouds could be modeled as a liquid with a changing magnetic field it is technically random but it's following the path of least resistance through the clouds.

  • @michawaszak9531
    @michawaszak9531 3 роки тому +19

    actually amazed by quality of video at this dark with such good frames per second using off market camera

  • @g.a.c.4139
    @g.a.c.4139 3 роки тому

    Just too cool Scott! Thanks

  • @kevinj5989
    @kevinj5989 3 роки тому

    Wonderful video! Thank you!

  • @shawnlondon953
    @shawnlondon953 3 роки тому +18

    Popped in from SuspiciousObserver after seeing a couple frames of your capture.
    Glad I came to watch your whole vid!
    Keep up the Great work, will definitely be back again Scott !!! 👍🙂

  • @julese7790
    @julese7790 3 роки тому +12

    Hahah, very interesting Mr Manley. So I'm not the only one waking up to see lightning during storms :)

  • @handsanitizermk.268
    @handsanitizermk.268 3 роки тому

    Beautiful. Thanks

  • @Aericm
    @Aericm 3 роки тому

    Congrats Scott! That's an incredible piece of footage.

  • @lubricatedgoat
    @lubricatedgoat 3 роки тому +3

    Strange timing. Had a large lightning storm in my part of Western Canada last night. Very rare.

  • @blueredbrick
    @blueredbrick 3 роки тому +23

    Lately I've been using my AM radio in my car to listen to my car internal electrical signals, still an ice car, and its fun. Also electrical fences for liveststock can be heard from a long way as well as traffic detection loops and more.
    When a few day back a fat thunderstorm was rolling over my city. Every channel was overwhelmed with signals from the thunderstorm. Not merely the actual discharge events are audible, but also the many many attempts (the failed streamers lets say) are very audible. I had much fun in my faraday cage on wheels, parked somewhere with the engine off. Best quility news broadcoasting in almost real time in a while if you ask me, It put a big grin on my face and yelled *H%#%%$5 when "my" near streamer won (I managed to spot a few a them with my eyes. Nerdy, nah not at all ;) :)
    Your ground to cloud gem is awesome. Im kinda glad it was not a ground to cloud one I observed, sitting in my flimsy faraday cage knowing that the energies involved apparently are magnitudes of order larger than the more common ones.
    Cool footage.

    • @stargazer7644
      @stargazer7644 3 роки тому +5

      Tune to the top of the am radio band above where most stations are and it is quiet and you can listen to storms a thousand miles away.

    • @rorydakin8048
      @rorydakin8048 3 роки тому

      I had an old satellite TV dish with a 20-30 foot coil of COAX cable right next to my patio at a house I lived in, during storms I noticed I could hear a "buzzing" that would get louder and louder coming from the cable, eventually culminating in a "pop" or "click" sort of noise the exact moment a lightning bolt flash occurred. It ended up being a very good predictor of lightning strikes, to the point where I could notice buzzing and popping long before I could even see or hear any signs of a storm.
      Lightning has some unbelievable power, it's absolutely insane!

    • @blueredbrick
      @blueredbrick 3 роки тому

      @@rorydakin8048 cool !

  • @anguswombat
    @anguswombat 3 роки тому

    Great job!! Thank you Scott!

  • @LoanwordEggcorn
    @LoanwordEggcorn 3 роки тому

    Phenomenal photography! Thanks Scott!

  • @kingmanspiritsandwine8291
    @kingmanspiritsandwine8291 3 роки тому +5

    Suspicious0bservers brought me here.

  • @luetner
    @luetner 3 роки тому +17

    Scott, working 30 Yrs. for the best aircraft company in the world, providing paths for lightning current through an airplane was one of my assignments. It was a very interesting job. We had a world class lightning lab. My group once had a inquiry from an airline that asked , "what do we do different from the other airline company about lightning protection". Well it seems that things fall off when struck by lightning on the other guys airplanes. My company designed protection to protect from a 200K Amp strike. I have a book I used, I am now retired, I would like to share with you.
    luetner at hot-----

    • @baxtercat5462
      @baxtercat5462 3 роки тому +2

      luetner - do you work for Boeing by any chance? I’d love to learn more about his topic because I am currently studying for a 737 type.

    • @luetner
      @luetner 3 роки тому

      @@baxtercat5462 Yes it was Boeing, 30 + years, last 10 was in the bonding and grounding group. Making sure there was no sparks in a flammable zone, no shock hazard to people and lightning current could travel through the airplane without damage. It was a very interesting area to work in. I was a consultant to design engineers, finding ways to meet bond and grounding requirements with new design and material methods.We designed the lightning zone strike areas to take a 200K amp strike without damage on all of our models. Since I had been involved in many previous new model design I declined to get involved in the composite 787.
      All in all, working on airplanes one learns something new every day. My thirty years there, I became a better person, a better engineer and learned a lot. I had a great career at Boeing.

    • @baxtercat5462
      @baxtercat5462 3 роки тому

      luetner - That’s awesome man! That definitely does seem like a very challenging yet rewarding area of expertise- especially when working for the greatest aircraft company in the world! I have a relative who was involved with 787 production in the window development area. I find it amusing to think about all the different engineers who designed/developed stuff that seems insignificant at first glance, but it actually so important to safe flight operations when examined further. Thank you for your hard work and dedication that made Boeing the leader in new technology.

  • @andrewparkin4036
    @andrewparkin4036 3 роки тому

    Great slow Mo vid, gotta love nature's display of power and lighting is always great to watch. Thanks.

  • @DavidLindes
    @DavidLindes 3 роки тому

    Thanks for sharing. Super cool footage!

  • @Shaden0040
    @Shaden0040 3 роки тому +7

    All Lightning starts from the ground as a leader, which meets a charge coming down from the clouds to complete the circuit. This is only in the case of ground to cloud lightning and doesn't include cloud to cloud or cloud to space (sprites and jets)

  • @copixel37
    @copixel37 3 роки тому +36

    Scott: Im not a lighting expert
    Me: I've learned more about lightning than I'll ever need to know in 5 minutes

  • @jocelyncloutier
    @jocelyncloutier 3 роки тому

    Fascinating! thank for posting.

  • @mwmacklin
    @mwmacklin 3 роки тому +1

    I stayed up all night watching that storm, too! So fantastic! :D

  • @KermitFrazierdotcom
    @KermitFrazierdotcom 3 роки тому +18

    I've had this happen 50 feet from my apartment while working in the Forest Service & it made the strangest whooshing sound as it crackled further up.
    The next day the Forested found that the tree had instantly been killed & dry rotted when he dropped it.

    • @adamroodog1718
      @adamroodog1718 3 роки тому +8

      I was in a thunderstorm in Melbourne Australia just a month or two ago and got that roaring whoosh from a fairly close strike. About a second maybe a touch more of the whooshing roar straight into a pearl of thunder. Ive never heard it before or even of it.
      I used to be a trawlerman in the southern ocean south of Tasmania and deliver yachts around Australia for rich people, im no stranger to lightning. I tried to search it but i didnt have the language to explain it to the search engine. Unsurprisingly the rushing, roaring, whooshy sound lightning makes before the thunderclap just seemed to confuse google.
      Best of luck to you and your dog

    • @paulajleal
      @paulajleal 3 роки тому +1

      When the Suspicious0bservers site started showing and explaining this process I asked if anyone had ever been close to a release like this. On the day I asked no one had. So I’m really pleased to hear these accounts... @paradigm respawn thanks

  • @ahaveland
    @ahaveland 3 роки тому +12

    I know how difficult and frustrating it can be to get a good shot of lightning, so well done on a great capture!

  • @roccov3614
    @roccov3614 3 роки тому

    Congrats Scott on that capture. Very nice.

  • @Teck_1015
    @Teck_1015 3 роки тому

    Fascinating. Thanks for sharing Scott.

  • @Gandergray
    @Gandergray 3 роки тому +6

    The entire NOAA presentation on the science of lightning can be viewed here: www.weather.gov/media/safety/Dr_Lightning_Guide-science.ppsx . According to the presentation, the most common cloud to ground lightning consists of (1) stepped leader (2) return stroke (3) dart leaders (4) return strokes. The visible flash is called a return stroke, and according to the presentation, occurs from the ground to the cloud. The illustration indicates cascading from the ground to the cloud.

    • @stargazer7644
      @stargazer7644 3 роки тому +1

      That is the most common form of lightning, what they call negative strokes. But there are also rarer positive strokes that go the other way.

    • @DrWhom
      @DrWhom 3 роки тому

      @@stargazer7644 it's the positive strokes that make you come

  • @a64738
    @a64738 3 роки тому +9

    This is one of the best videos I have seen of lightning.

  • @Echo5Mike
    @Echo5Mike 3 роки тому +2

    Directed here from Suspicious0bservers. Thank you for this rare capture and opportunity for learning from your channel.

  • @bradenwoods1111
    @bradenwoods1111 3 роки тому

    Epic! Thanks for sharing and explaining!

  • @Aengus42
    @Aengus42 3 роки тому +3

    I've got an app on my android phone called "Lightning Camera" that has a buffer & records when you hit the button just as you describe.
    It only gives you stills but if you can't afford a high speed camera it's way better than nothing. I've got quite a few shots now of lightning. Great fun!

    • @Cirrus4000
      @Cirrus4000 3 роки тому

      Thanks for the tip. I'll take a look at that. Always fascinated by lightning.

    • @Aengus42
      @Aengus42 3 роки тому

      @@Cirrus4000 I checked & it's called "Lightning Camera - Fast Burst Camera".

    • @Cirrus4000
      @Cirrus4000 3 роки тому

      @@Aengus42 Great, thanks :)

  • @randomnickify
    @randomnickify 3 роки тому +37

    Wait...I was always taught that lightning always goes from bottom to top, we simply usually do not see a leading strike, just the later discharges.🤔
    Edit: apparently it depends from terrain, terrain with lot of tall objects (like trees) tend to have more bottom to top lightnings.

    • @davidf2281
      @davidf2281 3 роки тому +2

      Me too. Another example of facts from the 80s and 90s that are facts no longer?

    • @Boobashoob
      @Boobashoob 3 роки тому

      Me too. I’ve always been taught this.

    • @RobFeldkamp
      @RobFeldkamp 3 роки тому

      @@Boobashoob Me too, Perhaps Scot is mistaken, in stead of 90's facts.

    • @timgooding2448
      @timgooding2448 3 роки тому +4

      All depends on the charge of clouds v clouds v ground.

    • @photonicpizza1466
      @photonicpizza1466 3 роки тому

      @@RobFeldkamp Don't conflate what your teacher has told you with fact, especially if it's high-school level and lower. Doubly true if you've received American education. Meteorology and the physics of lightning are active areas of research, not something that can be summed up in a couple of sentences. It's far from this simple.

  • @alekseev1986
    @alekseev1986 3 роки тому +1

    1:07 lightning on the background draws a HEART

  • @anthoneyking6572
    @anthoneyking6572 3 роки тому

    OMG Scott that was awesome I never knew lighting could go up thank you I'm stunned by that revelation and I love watching thunderstorms

  • @leejohnson3209
    @leejohnson3209 3 роки тому +285

    My grandad told me lightning can sometimes go up from the ground when I was a kid. None of my mates believed me, even my teacher in school told me not to be so silly. Grandad was right...

    • @AttilaTheHun333333
      @AttilaTheHun333333 3 роки тому +45

      your teacher was an idiot

    • @TechyBen
      @TechyBen 3 роки тому +8

      AFAIK every bolt has a second and third bolt to go with it. Along with the first one we know of, another one goes up from its source from the cloud to space, the third comes up from the ground. I guess the "rare" bit is the "leader" (as Scott calls it in the video) reaches the cloud, instead of just a few feet off the ground.

    • @keco185
      @keco185 3 роки тому +27

      I had a teacher in first grade that thought gravity was caused by the earth’s rotation

    • @livethefuture2492
      @livethefuture2492 3 роки тому +6

      lightning can go in any direction, wherever it finds the charge.

    • @TheMisleadingWoodpecker
      @TheMisleadingWoodpecker 3 роки тому +6

      70% of all teachers are not up to date on whatever they are trying to teach. 10% of them knows a whole lot more than they need to teach you. Now you can guess what the last 20% is all about

  • @timgooding2448
    @timgooding2448 3 роки тому +9

    Pecos Hank
    Has some great shots as well. Underrated channel.

    • @thirstfast1025
      @thirstfast1025 3 роки тому

      I agree! Those sprites are amazing!

    • @timgooding2448
      @timgooding2448 3 роки тому +1

      @@thirstfast1025 Blue jets, sprites and elves. Great stuff.

  • @desmondmcmillan9428
    @desmondmcmillan9428 3 роки тому

    Really nice thanks Scott.

  • @sjsharksfan
    @sjsharksfan 3 роки тому

    One of the best lightning bolt catches I've seen, great shot Scott!

  • @wdavis6814
    @wdavis6814 3 роки тому +12

    It was just Iroh redirecting lighting.

    • @robertlinke2666
      @robertlinke2666 3 роки тому +1

      okay, so i was not the only one thinking that, thank you

    • @feha92
      @feha92 3 роки тому +1

      Ah, I see, so the bridge he mentions is made of iroh. Which means that between the bridge and the cloud, there is nothing but angh (air, very forced pun :p)

  • @iOPTIMUSPRIME
    @iOPTIMUSPRIME 8 місяців тому +4

    Rj sir❤

  • @Matt-re8bt
    @Matt-re8bt 3 роки тому

    Thanks. It's one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

  • @infinitytec
    @infinitytec 3 роки тому

    Back in 2013 I was at the National Scout Jamboree in West Virginia.
    One night a massive lightning bolt lit up nearly half the sky. It was really impressive. So impressive that several hundred people cheered and clapped for the great show.

  • @mykulpierce
    @mykulpierce 3 роки тому +4

    It's pretty fun if you are not familiar that electron flow is typically from ground to cloud in the majority of lightning strikes. The human eye typically doesn't register the direction.

    • @scottmanley
      @scottmanley  3 роки тому

      It’s the reverse.

    • @mykulpierce
      @mykulpierce 3 роки тому

      @@scottmanleyon a fair weather day the typical disparity between the atmosphere and the Earth is where the Earth is negatively charged and the atmosphere has up to +300, 000 kv. This disparity grows larger during thunderstorms as particles of water droplets build charge through triboelectric effect. The contact and separation A falling water creates a disparity of charge in pockets. Of course depending on which literature you read on atmospheric physics will get you a different answer since it's still a simple yet debated issue.

  • @MalcolmCooks
    @MalcolmCooks 3 роки тому +268

    in soviet bay area, lightning strikes cloud!

    • @sladewilson9741
      @sladewilson9741 3 роки тому +29

      You win on so many levels.

    • @NoName-zn1sb
      @NoName-zn1sb 3 роки тому +22

      Peoples Republic of Berkeley

    • @DeKrampus
      @DeKrampus 3 роки тому +5

      Thanks... Now, I have to use my phone and let my laptop dry out! That was funny, though.
      It sucks, that I had a mouth full of coffee when I read it.

    • @scottmanley
      @scottmanley  3 роки тому +55

      If the Bay Area is communist then why are several of the worlds largest corporations based here?

    • @Balthorium
      @Balthorium 3 роки тому +14

      Splendid Mendax I live here and many communists do too. They had a big march a few years ago to Alamo Square where they waved numerous red and USSR flags.

  • @joetaylor486
    @joetaylor486 3 роки тому +1

    Absolutely enthralling! Just watching that is a physics lesson and an art lesson at the same time.

  • @pdloder
    @pdloder 2 місяці тому

    That's the best lighting footage I've ever seen. Nice work

  • @andrewmetasov
    @andrewmetasov 3 роки тому +4

    It's very possible that golden bridge "started" this, cause ground-to-cloud lightning usually starts from high man-made objects

  • @MikeBourdages
    @MikeBourdages 3 роки тому +4

    Earths weakening magnetic field allows earths core to charge up more easily from space particles, intern you get these earth discharges.

  • @pigeonpallz1733
    @pigeonpallz1733 3 роки тому

    Beautiful !

  • @Dankalank
    @Dankalank 3 роки тому +15

    Hi Scott! I think we're practically neighbors in relative terms :] We had a great view from here in Montara, just north of HMB. Thanks for sharing your footage :D

  • @Readyplayer11
    @Readyplayer11 3 роки тому +25

    You guys were probably freaking out like Atlanta in a snow storm.

    • @mclarkson78
      @mclarkson78 3 роки тому +2

      Sir, you are not wrong.

    • @benjaminsmith4058
      @benjaminsmith4058 3 роки тому +1

      Me and my housemates were totally excited. At best we get one distant roll of thunder per year, and this was a legit continuous thunderstorm.

    • @jacksonsneed7689
      @jacksonsneed7689 3 роки тому

      HEY, that's not fair!! Buying all of the milk, frozen pizza, & batteries in a panicked dash is our natural response to snow; we can't help it!! (To be fair, we ATLiens do tend to panic even when there MIGHT be a snowstorm; so you're not wrong . . please don't tell anyone 🤫)

    • @Blubb5000
      @Blubb5000 3 роки тому

      Hey, one moment. We’re not freaking out. We’re completely stuck and hunker down like a baby at the first dusting.

  • @JohnMGibby
    @JohnMGibby 3 роки тому

    That is awesome video Scott. Fly Safe!

  • @k7iq
    @k7iq 3 роки тому

    Fantastic capture !

  • @oldmech619
    @oldmech619 3 роки тому +10

    Lightning in the South Bay, is rare. A few years ago, we had one hit in the middle of the night. People call 911 thinking it was a plane crash. PS. I thought it was as well

  • @PonyCraft
    @PonyCraft 3 роки тому +4

    Doesn't MOST lightning have a return stroke up like this?

    • @PonyCraft
      @PonyCraft 3 роки тому

      @HangGlideTube that was my understanding that most lightning strikes, if not all had the primary stoke going g-t-c

    • @PonyCraft
      @PonyCraft 3 роки тому

      @HangGlideTube holy fuck that's terrifying

  • @RDDPro
    @RDDPro 3 роки тому

    Great capture Scott! Cool to see Ben pick this up also. Us great minds and all.

  • @thirstfast1025
    @thirstfast1025 3 роки тому +1

    Great capture!

  • @jannegrey593
    @jannegrey593 3 роки тому +9

    I thought that many lightning strikes happen from ground up. Okay, it seems I have to read more on that. Although it might have been only about lightning from/to large metallic objects.

  • @slartybarfastb3648
    @slartybarfastb3648 3 роки тому +26

    Take a trip to Florida in July-August. You'll have hundreds of these shots within a couple of weeks. Probably not as good as this one most of the time. Florida has an over abundance of lightning occuring daily in summer months.

    • @johnmiller8884
      @johnmiller8884 3 роки тому +3

      I used to work in Yellowstone Park during summers. You could set your watch by the 4:30 thunderstorms. You could also pick out the Californians. While everyone else was heading for the visitor's center and gift shop, we would be the ones out on the board walk pointing at the pretty lightning.

    • @MarkiusFox
      @MarkiusFox 3 роки тому +2

      Central Florida specifically. The battling sea breezes in the afternoon are like clockwork.

    • @johnsummers172
      @johnsummers172 3 роки тому +1

      @@MarkiusFox just passed

  • @richardgracews6
    @richardgracews6 3 роки тому

    Very cool thanks for the video!

  • @lohphat
    @lohphat 3 роки тому +1

    I used to live in SF and lightning is very rare since most storms are strataform from the Gulf of Alaska. Now I'm in NYC and almost all summer storms are thunderstorms. It's sooo cool to step outside and watch the lightning (from the street there's low risk as there are much taller buildings in the area for the lightning to find an easier path to ground).

  • @Seeraphyn
    @Seeraphyn 3 роки тому +11

    I'm quite sure that one day I saw a lightning bolt going from cloud to cloud and not hitting the ground. Is is even possible?

    • @YossiRafelson
      @YossiRafelson 3 роки тому +14

      Yes. Quite common

    • @MalcolmCooks
      @MalcolmCooks 3 роки тому +16

      actually more common than cloud-to-ground lightning.

    • @keco185
      @keco185 3 роки тому +8

      Almost all lightning is cloud to cloud

    • @override7486
      @override7486 3 роки тому +2

      All the time. Even without thunderstorm. When you take off your sweater in the winter, you can see, feel and hear LOADS of charge. Same happen in the clouds etc.

    • @scottmanley
      @scottmanley  3 роки тому +13

      It’s the most common type of lightning

  • @jerry3790
    @jerry3790 3 роки тому +3

    Ground to cloud strikes tend to be much more dangerous. Glad it was in a fairly empty valley

    • @JamesHardaker
      @JamesHardaker 3 роки тому +3

      is that where you get a lightning bolt up the arse?

    • @Keldor314
      @Keldor314 3 роки тому

      Scott suspected the ground source was coming from/through the Golden Gate Bridge. Still, though, the entire structure is a gigantic lightning rod, where the electricity flows through the metal rather than anyone standing on it, steel being more conductive than humans, and thus the path of least resistance. Unless of course the human were standing on the highest point. Though I'd argue that anyone standing on top of the Golden Gate Bridge towers, in the middle of the night, during a thunderstorm, probably had it coming e.e

  • @davidg5369
    @davidg5369 3 роки тому

    Very cool get! One of the best slo-mos I've ever seen!

  • @aiden2992
    @aiden2992 3 роки тому +1

    Dude I love your videos!!!!!!!!! It’s so interesting how that works

  • @12Q46HPRN
    @12Q46HPRN 3 роки тому +9

    "I'm no lightning expert"
    *gets 73k views within 24 hours

    • @richard--s
      @richard--s 3 роки тому +4

      He is able to analyze and explain things in great details. When he releases a video about an interesting topic, we users know that it's going to be worth watching it.
      And I was not disappointed. I was even surprised about the high speed camera video of that lightning with all the searching branches... Something we would only see in professional 45 minute documentaries on TV, but not on a UA-cam video... except on Scott Manley's channel of course ;-)

    • @12Q46HPRN
      @12Q46HPRN 3 роки тому +1

      @@richard--s I agree - regardless of topic, Scott's videos rock!