Monday, May 24, 2010 - 9:05PM CDT   
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May 24-25 southwestern Illinois storms
Update Tuesday 3:01AM CDT: Storms lasted through the night, mainly well to the north of here. However, one advantage of living in Plains-like terrain is the ability to see and photograph storms at great distances - with considerable fuel savings! This lightning was about 35-40 miles northeast of New Baden, shot from just up the road from my apartment with the 75-300mm lens.
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And to make the night a little more interesting, as I drove back home from shooting a round of lightning, a bright meteor fireball streaked across the southern sky. My dashcam caught the tail end of it.
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Original post: Monday 9:05PM CDT: Despite being under a ridge, strong instability allowed for thunderstorms to fire across Illinois on Monday. The lack of upper support meant that the storms could only reach severe levels in short pulses. However, they put on a visual show across the prairies east of St. Louis.
Near Breese:
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Microburst near Venedy:
Near Hamel (tried unsuccessfully here for a rainbow/lightning combo):
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At sunset near Marine:
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Near Lebanon:
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Lightning video captures from various spots throughout the day:
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Split-channel CG flash - note the common channel at the top:
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click to enlarge
