9 replies to this topic

[IstanbulWhiteboy]

I went to sleep at 4am this morning, and for some reason I don't recall requesting a 7am wake-up call this morning...






These pics were taken from my balcony this morning. The first strike happened outside my south-facing bedroom window (at 7am) and they moved quickly overhead and then slightly west (the direction I'm facing with the camera) and to the north from there. I can't even begin to describe how incredibly loud it was! Only a small fraction of a second delay between the lightning and thunder, so yeah, it was close!

[Quinn]

WOW!!!! That is friggin' scary!!!!

I'm used to lightning shows over here, but really, I don't think I've seen anything like that. I wonder if there was damage to that building in the second photo? Can you imagine living in the top floor?!?

[Aston]

Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is lightning that does the work.
Mark Twain

Brilliant photos

[IstanbulWhiteboy]

Actually it's that row of buildings in the background that took the hits in both pictures, but the big hit in the second picture was directly behind the near building, so it looks like it took it. Still, quite a show either way. The first strike (not pictured, the one that woke me up) must've hit about the same distance away out my bedroom window; the flash was just as responsible as the thunder crack for waking me up. Needless to say, not a pleasant wake up call after only 3hrs sleep, but the first thought through my head was "grab the camera!"; the next two (also not pictured) were directly overhead, and I think one might've hit us, b/c the cable was out for about a half hour afterward.

[sunny]

Scary!

[Abi]

Great photo's, when I was living in a beach house on the Black Sea I used to see some spectacular lightning shows. Did you have a lot of rain?

[IstanbulWhiteboy]

actually the whole storm passed in about 10 minutes with very little rain. it kicked up again in the afternoon for another 20 minutes, but with a much darker sky, more wind and rain and not nearly as spectacular a light show.

by the way, all of the taller buildings in the area have what appear to be lightning rods on the rooftops, so i have a feeling this is going to be a regular thing every summer. I remember similar storms last summer, but unfortunately no pics then.

[samanthaozkara]

Oh my god IWB!! those pictures are amazing but very very scary! Your wouldnt have found me taking pics during those storms I would have been hiding like the big baby I am x

[Ken]

That had to be LOUD. I'm glad you thought to grab your camera, thanks for posting those.

[IstanbulWhiteboy]

That had to be LOUD. I'm glad you thought to grab your camera, thanks for posting those.

Put it this way: when I was in class taking the CELTA exam, we were less than a kilometer away from the Akmerkez AVM when it was bombed last May (2011). That blast shook the building we were in... but it was like a pin drop compared to the noise of this.