Sunday 20 December 2009

Two videos of the storm

Thankfully it seems the storm of the last couple of days has passed. One victim is my camera which is broken due to some nearby lightning strikes and wish I had it for my drive between Puna and Hilo yesterday evening (Saturday 19th Dec) because the rain and lightning is something I won't forget.

This morning Kona experienced the storms and a particularly powerful-looking water spout. I've seen a few of these on the east side of the island over the years but nothing as big as this one.

Big Island Video News - water spout.

The same site published another video which is pretty much what I saw on my drive except I saw a lot more lightning and plenty of ground strikes. At one point I was at a junction waiting to turn onto the highway and I must have seen three or four bolts of lightning hit the ground within a few hundred yards. It was actually quite scary. A couple of houses were set on fire by the lightning and I'm surprised there weren't more. It's not always paradise in paradise...

Big Island Video News - Puna storm.

PS. Guess I should make it three videos. The following is from Hawaii 24/7. Watch the top video, especially just after 1-minute as it shows a lightning strike. That was the sort of thing I saw several times on my drive and some very close to me.

Hawaii 24/7 - Puna gets pounded[...]

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree with Hilary... WOW !!
Thanks for sharing. In Indiana we are having snow and ice. Must leave soon here for work.. hope you have a great day!
The Bach

Devany said...

I am ever so glad that storm is over! It was dramatic and certainly a change of pace, but I am ready for the sunshine again!

Did you investigate doing a hard reset on your camera? I would like to try doing that on mine before I buy the new one.

Tom said...

Hilary - that's an apt description!

Bachelor - the storm actually brought some snow and ice to the summit of Mauna Kea, but not too much it seems.

Devany - too right, the nature show was special but it's definitely nice to get back to some sunshine again. It's also been so cold at night!

The camera's had it. Took it into work and we had closer look - some of the circuitry inside the camera is fused/melted and is just not worth trying to fix or replace - it's not an expensive camera. I've a new one on the way.

I think my phone has gone the same way - the handsets have relatively new batteries in them but will no longer charge. This is similar to the storm of a few years ago when all the cheap electronics were fried but fortunately the more expensive stuff survived.

Tom

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