From my perspective, it looked a little different. It lasted three hours; at its height, lightning strikes were happening 4 – 6 times a minute; I had an unimpeded view of all the clouds across a 180 degree arc; the closest to where I was standing on Mike’s 14th floor balcony was a thousand meters, possibly less (an air strike and that was the point I squeaked the Lord’s name in vain and booked it back into the living room); Mike recorded the second hour or so before his camera battery packed it in.
I grew up in Ontario so I am pretty blas̩ about thunderstorms. This one was completely different, spectactularly beautiful Рlike, MYTHIC Рand very very quiet. There were only two or three loud cracks. Often times spectacular strikes, less than a couple of miles away, would be accompanied by no sound.
We saw a lightning strike hit the cement plant. There were a number of ground strikes in Surrey, and the lightning strikes over downtown were pretty much continuous around 10 pm – right when the fireworks were supposed to start.
As Mike remarked, who needs the fireworks downtown when we can drink beer on the balcony and avoid the rush? And happy birthday to you, Mike, and a spectacular start to your new year!
Anyway I’m sitting on my own back deck right now in the beautiful fresh breeze and having coffee and full fat yogurt with Tom’s delish blackberry jelly mixed in for breakfast. The cats seem to have withstood being alone for the worst of it with no probs.
