One of the most spectacular lightning strikes we have ever seen

[bigtree]

tweeted by, US Dept of Interior ‏@Interior 6 May
One of the most spectacular #lightning strikes we have ever seen. Near the South Rim @GrandCanyonNPS. pic.twitter.com/QGLIw0l87j

US Dept of Interior@Interior 6 May
@BeachcomberNC Photog is Travis Roe and we list them on our Instagram account here: http://www.instagram.com/USInterior

[bigwillq]

1. Cool pic (nt)

[awoke_in_2003]

23. +1000. nt

[gateley]

2. Gorgeous! I saw one in North Carolina that lit up the sky

so brightly I had to shield my eyes (like Katherine Hepburn walking out into the sunshine while hungover in Philadelphia Story
The sky was FULL of THOUSANDS of veins of light -- like shattered glass. I'd never seen anything like it, and haven't since.

[Cha]

3. Gorgeous shot of Mother Nature..

thanks bigtree~

[defacto7]

4. I read yesterday on PhysOrg

that there is new evidence for the theory that lightning is partially the product of interstellar cosmic radiation. In the experiment massive amounts of radio waves are present a split second before lightning strikes earth. The other part of the equation is the collision of hydrobolides (hail) in the thunderhead. But when the radio waves are present which are an indication of cosmic radiation, the ionization of the cloud's water causes the extra ions (+) in the cloud to strike the earth (-).

There must have been a lot of cosmic radiation passing through that thunderhead for that depicted strike.

Wow.

[siligut]

9. Well, thanks for this little tidbit

Interesting.

[lob1]

10. Lightning rarely, but sometimes travels up from the cloud towards space.

http://www.livescience.com/10572-gigantic-lightning-jets-shoot-clouds-space.html

[defacto7]

13. Very nice article!

is says:

Electric charge is of course built up in clouds by the motions of water and ice particles. Lightning moves these charges around. But why some lightning goes up and other bolts go down isn't known.

Actually, no one knows why either types are put into motion. It one of those elusive natural occurrences that is still a mystery. But the idea of cosmic rays being involved is interesting. It may give insight into the upward as well as downward motion. Now that the experiments have shown positive results, it could lead to a lot of answered questions. It's an amazing thought if true... cosmic rays from exploding massive stars and black hole emissions making such powerful signatures on our planet.. as lightning!

[azbillyboy]

16. Lightning ALWAYS travels from GROUND to CLOUD

Actually it goes both ways

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jetstream/lightning/lightning_faq.htm#6

Does lightning travel from the cloud to the ground, or from the ground to the cloud?
An entire lightning strike employs both upward and downward moving forces. However, the return stroke of a lightning bolt travels FROM THE GROUND INTO THE CLOUD and accounts for more that 99% of the luminosity of a lightning strike. What we SEE as lightning does indeed travel from the ground into the cloud.

[sheshe2]

5. That is truly an amazing sight! nt

[freshwest]

12. It is! Very evocative image. I've also seen lightning that goes horizontal a long ways. IDK why?

[motocicleta2]

6. ai yi yi

words fail. Thanks, bigtree.

[burrowowl]

7. Beautiful and Amazing!

[amerikat]

8. Desert View Watchtower I think.

Very cool structure.

[NYC_SKP]

20. Yes. That's the place. Here's a daytime pic from similar POV:

[bigtree]

28. that is one impressive structure

history?

[NYC_SKP]

30. Built in 1932, undergoing restorations now, serves as a gift shop and observatory!

Yet it looks like a pioneer or native american ruin!

http://www.nps.gov/grca/parknews/news_2010-1-11_watchtower.htm

[bigtree]

31. thanks Skip!

. . . that makes it ever so much more interesting!

[amerikat]

33. A sacred place for me.

I was there with about a brazillian other tourists and the thing that struck me was
how serene it was. A bee hive of activity yet total solitude. I also remember the quality of the light
in such a closed structure. It's very rare when man and nature come together and are more than the sum
total of the parts.

[JimDandy]

11. Spectacular! n/t

[Left Coast2020]

14. Spectacular Yes.

Not so spectacular if you're working at a radio station and a bolt hits the tower which is 300 feet behind the station.....and you're inside the building when it hits.

You can fill in the four letter expletive yourself.

[johnp3907]

15. It's Alive!!!!

[LittleBlue]

17. Wrath of God looking

Zeus is angry

[Warpy]

18. Worst storm I ever saw was in eastern Mass.

The lightning was so constant I could read the newspaper, I know because I did it. The thunder noise was also steady, with occasional claps and roars.

Oddly enough, that one didn't produce any hail. Most storms here in NM do, although the storms are smaller and the effects more localized.

That storm in Mass. was associated with a big front.

[liindy]

19. Absolutely amazing!

[ZRT2209]

21. wow

[rl6214]

22. Wow, that is spectacular.

[Warren DeMontague]

24. Wow.

Just Wow.

[Skittles]

25. SWEEEEEEET

[krispos42]

26. Okay, that is very very very awesome!

[MFM008]

27. when I was a kid

No i didn't see Mt Vesuvius erupt...............maybe...........................
but my Dad was stationed in southern Illinois, I was 7, and I saw a tornado.
We were always having tornado drills.
The thunder and lightening storms were pretty wow to,
I would have to put a pillow over my head. I wondered how my parents could sleep though that noise.

[a kennedy]

29. This is beautiful, that I made it my desktop picture.....

wow. A W E S O M E.

[Ikonoklast]

32. Just another typical evening in Mordor.