Stunning Shelf Cloud Over Ballyronan - N. Ireland!

[2958456739]

When you use abbreviations on your website e.g. 'c-gs', always tell the reader what it means, because a quick Google search did not provide the definition. I still don't know what it means.

[asteroid42531mckenna]

@2958456739 c-g stands for cloud to ground lightning....

[hnoss13]

LMAO. Now I wanna go to Ireland.

[BrOkEnCyDebitchh]

heheheheeh i like the accent ^_^

[zoomerlawns]

Who would have thought that there would be a bar in a video shot in Ireland?

3:00

[asteroid42531mckenna]

@zoomerlawns lol - shocking isn't it :)

[Metalhed09]

Nice video. Was hoping for some today but they all passed North of me in Bangor.

[asteroid42531mckenna]

@Metalhed09 I messed up badly today - missed those amazing storms and went to Glenshane - heard 3 rumbles but was unaware of the major action to the south - i'm gutted

[Metalhed09]

@asteroid42531mckenna

do you chase? I'm an amateur forecaster in the Bangor area. I use Netweather alot. Hopefuly off to a Stormchase in USA next year. Central and Antrim areas where always going to fair best today what with having the higher cape and lif index.

[asteroid42531mckenna]

@Metalhed09 yes I do indeed, just back from Ballyronan, very powerful cells with torrential cores passed over causing flooding on the roads. Seen major inflow motion and convergence all the way home.

[Metalhed09]

@asteroid42531mckenna yes, wind speed and direction models showed a convergence line from wsw - ene across the country....closest cell to me was still taking alot of inflow during early evening, and got a few pictures of the inflow band.

[asteroid42531mckenna]

@Metalhed09 Sounds fantastic, glad you got images of the inflow band, I saw strong inflow at the back of the convergence line in the latet evening, it was quite nuts for a while, and convergence zone looked amazing. Was at Glenshane earlier and heard rumbles from away over the Lough, great outflowly boundary arrived from the S.

[infoseeker229]

Hopefully we will get some decent thunderstorms+tornadoes in Ireland this summer!

[asteroid42531mckenna]

@infoseeker229 Cheers, I certainly hope so, it has been a very quiet year for storms so far but you never know...

[svenXDsven]

omg big one

[Racecars721]

These come from Supercell thunderstorms right? I heard that supercells were rare in Ireland. They're sooo common where I live though, well the whole country anyway, just not the part of it I live in. I live in the US.

[Racecars721]

@Racecars721 Sorry I meant to say N. Ireland.

[asteroid42531mckenna]

@Racecars721 Thanks for the comment. Shelf clouds form on most thunderstorms, however they can be more spectacular on organised severe thunderstorms or squall lines. They don't need to be supercells, however the best form on those kinds of supes. Supes are rare in Ireland. Cheers

[infoseeker229]

I find the best time to get multicells and the uncommon supercell in Ireland is in winter,

we get loads of lined-up thunderstorms from the Atlantic then

[asteroid42531mckenna]

@infoseeker229 They tend to be only in coastal areas though, unless you get a very good cold front moving through with plenty of instability, lift, shear, then the chances are there for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. I hope this Autumn and Winter produces some of those beauties!

[infoseeker229]

Ah,well i live 30KM from the W. coast,so that's why

[asteroid42531mckenna]

@infoseeker229 that explains it :), you are in an excellent location for those Autumn and Winter storms, I always wanted to drive up there to watch them. We usually get multicells here inland during the Summer. It's been very quiet this year so far.

[infoseeker229]

F0s and F1s are common to get with very strong thunderstorms in Ireland,but i've

never heard of a shelf cloud or supercell over Ireland,they must be pretty rare

[vector5030]

You could have possibly mistaken this for a wall cloud.

Fantastic footage mckenna

[asteroid42531mckenna]

Thanks Vector, definitely a shelf cloud though, wrong place for a wall cloud. Hoping to see some more action this Summer. Best of luck!

[7whiskers]

Stunning hay

[asteroid42531mckenna]

Thanks Whiskers

[123perrin]

where i live , yesterday it was 47 degrees celcius. lastnight a lightning front came through, we had to keep an eye out for bushfires. but i sat on the front porch and had a cpl of beers, and watched mother nature doin her thing. she put on an awesome show, best ive seen in years. makes me wish i had filmed it.. anyway, nice vid, ireland is soo green compared to where i live. its spring, and 47 degrees.. lookin forward to summer lol. anyway, cheers from Port Pirie, South Australia =)

[asteroid42531mckenna]

Thanks Perrin for the comment and info on the Australian weather, sounds like you had a good time watching the show with the beers. Such contrast here, UK has just had a 1/1000 year severe flood event which has already killed a Police Officer. A wet and wild weekend is ahead.

[SonicGeneration]

@123perrin sorry sucks to be u :(

[pytlfamly]

My gosh, that shelf was HUGE! I agree with your description - very STUNNING! Love the storm lightning, too. Glad you stayed safe. Greetings from Illinois (USA).

[asteroid42531mckenna]

Thanks Pytlfamly, and thanks for the comments. Greetings from N. Ireland!

[howiej103]

Ah, I remember this! It was huge. . The thunder and lightning after was immense, over here in Ballymena

[asteroid42531mckenna]

Glad to hear from someone else who seen this storm Howie!. The shelf cloud on it was enormous wasn't it, like something from the US.

[howiej103]

lol, you a bit of an obsessor for the weather too then!? NI weather just isn't exciting enough for me!

[asteroid42531mckenna]

LOL, I sure am obsessive, I never stop looking at the GFS charts hoping for the slightest hint for instability and storms. It's great fun.

I've found N. Ireland to be very exciting in 2009, there's been a ton of thunderstorms and funnel clouds, even severe multicells and a possible supercell and some of the most powerful convection I've ever seen. 2008 was rubbish but 2007 was what got me started, that was a good storm year. What about you?

[howiej103]

Lol, well I was in the States all this summer and some of the storms there were impressive but ones we've had have been just as good I think! I remember back in 2006, the heatwave, and there was flashy lightning and thunder all night. THOSE are the storms I wish we had more of...

So are you a geographer or anything or just interested in the weather?

[asteroid42531mckenna]

That's awesome that you were in the States, that must have been a great experience. I hope to get out there some day specially to chase.

You are absolutey rite - 2005 and 2006 were amazing years for night time storms here, those were bloody nasty. Haven't seen storms of that caliber since. I'm an astronomer but also have a great interest in atmospheric optics and severe weather. Cheers.

[howiej103]

Yeah America is awesome! I hope you get there, cos if you wanna see severe weather, that's the place to go! ;-) My brother lives in Kansas and he's had to shelter from tornadoes on occasions in the past!

Well keep videoing, I look forward to seeing what the Atlantic will throw at us as we go into the autumn next...!

[asteroid42531mckenna]

That's awesome that your brother lives in Kanas within tornado alley - I'm jealous already lol. Must get over sometime with one of the chase tours. Let's see what Autumn and Winter bring for us, I'm not a fan of high pressure, the only thing photogenic from it are sunsets and fogscenes, would love gales and severe cold fronts like the way Autumn used to be...cheers.

[lilbrownbunny]

What a beautiful catch! Here in Missouri (USA) if we see a cloud like that, it's time to dart indoors and get in the basement, even before the sirens go off. I kept waiting for a funnel to form. Five stars to be sure. Thanks for putting it up there.

[asteroid42531mckenna]

Thanks very much for your comment Lilbrownbunny. Hope to see more before the Summer is gone. Cheers.

[stormspinner1]

That was our sky, June 19 - that is massive! A beautiful capture! 5/5 stars and an add to my "StormChase" playlist!

[asteroid42531mckenna]

Thanks very much Stormspinner for your great comment. Cheers.

[Tornado903]

thats a huge shelfcloud

[matthewsmith465]

Very little lightning for such an impressive looking storm.

[asteroid42531mckenna]

Hi Matthew, there was actually alot of lightning from this storm it was going for hours, with up to 3 or 4 bolts per sec or so. The lightning was spectacular, pure pink. It just wasn't constant lightning and I never caught the best of it on video thanks to the country roads blocked by trees.

[drowzy721]

ive been loving the wetaher weve been having in NI the past few weeks. i live down in carrick and the lightning in the lough is great to watch!

[stormforceirleland]

sweet

[theforce1979]

Very impressive catch mate. Something I would have appreciated also, 5*****S

[thewhiteroom23]

Great footage. That shelf cloud is pretty special.

[SkylineTechnology]

Awesome, nice structure

[783078307830]

The sort of thing you'd expect to see in the midwest of America but not UK! Fantastic footage mate 5*'s

[SipCob1]

Awesome video. Most of the storms have missed us here in Belfast the past couple of days :(. Only a few rumbles here and there.

[foleyd7]

That is a fantastic capture man!! Great stuff! =)

[m43991]

We had a thunderstorm two days ago in donegal it was awesome

[NaturalScienceFan]

Awesome!!!

[Krun2k]

I really enjoyed that! We had thunder last week but it was just electrical. WIth a few cg's. I may upload the video but I didn't get any great cloud pics like you did!! AWESOME!!!