Co. Antrim Thunderstorms - July 21st

[Martinastro]

Thought I would post a few images from the chase I did on July 21st in Co. Antrim at the NE side of Lough Neagh where I intercepted a number of thunderstorms on a convergence zone in the area. It was a very good day with strong heat, humidity, torrential rain, pea sized hail, thunder and the best explosive convection of the year so far. A huge cell formed out from the convergence line and turned out to be the biggest and most photogenic I've seen this year so far with bright white cloud tops, black base/precip core - all contrasting with the beautiful sunlit fields. The updraught towers and calvus tops were unreal, literally looking at the zenith with head tilted 90 degrees back to see the tops. An enormous thick anvil formed from the cell which I watched all the way home between Antrim and Toome, there was solid mammatus on the edge, I couldn't believe the height of them, must have been well over 30,000ft!, quite a spectacular day. Here's a link to more images and a chase account (2 pages) if anyone is interested.

http://www.nightskyhunter.com/Antrim%20Thunderstorms%20-%20July%2021st%202010%20-%20Page%201.html

[Danny Power]

WOW. Martin you have gone and done it again mate. Blew me away with the impressive account and the images are awesome pal. Looks like you had a very productive day. When you mentioned about the bull giving you the look just as the loud rumble came- well what did the bull do after the rumble (random question I know, I just wanted to know if it stayed standing tall or crapped itself lol)

Keep up the good work pal, dont let anyone knock what you do, sooner or later you will prove them all wrong when you get that 'tornado' shot, thats when they will all want to see your work and comment about how lucky you are 

[Martinastro]

Thanks very much for the reply Danny!, it sure was a good day and certainly the most photogenic storms of the Summer so far, I had a great time. After the thunder the Bull just continued chewing grass while giving me that 'look' lol so I stayed clear of him. Looking forward to the next storm whenever that may be.

[Sean Benneyworth]

Fantastic shots Martin! Looks like it was a great day! And kudos on capturing the Mammatus under the anvil - it's such an awesome site! I had a few pics from when I saw them one time, not sure what happened to the pictures though :/

[Martinastro]

Thanks very much for the reply Sean  , first proper cells I've seen this year, tops well over 30,000ft I'm sure, the hail was good too. I missed the big funnel clouds further SE but was happy with the storm structure I saw in Antrim. The mammatus on the anvil on the way home was a great way to end the day.

[Sean Benneyworth]

Structure really does look awesome - rock-hard cauliflower cumulus! No flat, wispy, placcid, weak stuff! Bet the mammatus really was the perfect end to the day. Would love to see a display like can be found at sunset in the USA - must be breathtaking. Hail sounds awesome. And >30k feet sounds perfectly reasonable at this time of year I'm sure. Wish I was there!

[Martinastro]

Cheers Sean, it was the best structure day of the year so far, I'm glad I positioned myself in a good place E of the Lough in Antrim - exactly in TORRO's risk box that day for storms and tornadoes. The convergence line in that area was fantastic, towers, cb calvus and cb incus just exploded to life during the afternoon on the CZ line when the trough moved through, storm solidity was just how I love it in Summer -  rock hard, crisp, expanding by the sec, convection was top class and the low bases of the cells made them look even more nasty, I'm shocked I didn't get a funnel from that large cell, but it's beauty was what made the day a success. The last time I seen colourful mammatus at sunset was probably 2006 or so...

http://www.nightskyhunter.com/Mammatus%20-%20Dec%201st%202006.html

Haven't seen a decent display in conjunction with that warm light since, I hope to do so again. I did see one in 2007 however the mamma bags were not pronounced, but they looked great at low level behind a cold front.

http://www.nightskyhunter.com/Mammatus%20Clouds%20-%20Oct%2028th%2007.html

Would love to see those mammatus images you got, thanks again Sean for the response. I can't wait for the next event, but with HP around it may be a long wait.