October 12, 2006 Santa Maria, California is hit by a severe lightning storm. This photography slideshow movie is from stills as Cathy L. Gregg photographed the incredible display from the inside of her car for almost 3 hours. In a 12 hour period this lightning storm produced almost 5,700 strikes of lightning. This area of California is not known for this type of lightning storm. It just happened to be the right conditions of cold and hot coming together and creating a wonderful show of lightning. This storm hardly produced any rain, a little hail and luckily no major damage.

All photographs © Cathy L. Gregg.

If you want to learn more about photographing lightning check this YouTube video out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiWy_zVHOwE but please remember to be safe out there! Don't stand outside with your camera and tripod shoot from some sort of shelter (like I photographed from inside my car). Safety First!

As for the song (many people have asked) it is on a cd called "Strung Out On U2: A String Quartet Tribute". The song is U2's "Bad" played by a group called "The Section". It is used on here with permission. The CD was produced by Vitamin Records and their website is http://www.vitaminrecords.com (less info)