Mountain Thunder
I've lost more than $1 million to copyright infringement in the last 15 years, and it's finally brought an end to my professional storm chasing operation. This page is a detailed account of the biggest threat to my photography and video operation that I had to battle daily to just barely survive, and eventually could not overcome. It's a problem facing all of my colleagues as well. |
Lightning from Kanawha Baptist Temple church mountain, Big Chimney, WV. View is looking south (toward Charleston) on Monday, September 7, 1998 (Labor Day)
I thought storm season was over by this time of year. Boy I was wrong. I saw an enormous storm approaching on radar and drove to a place I had always wanted to shoot from- At Big Chimney, WV (about 6 miles north of Charleston) at the top of the mountain
where the Kanawha Baptist Temple church overlooks the Elk River. From the church parking lot, there is a breathtaking view of the valley below toward the west. I was hoping to be able to set up facing that way, possibly getting a lightning flash with the scenic view. However, the storm's gust front followed by torrential rains blowing in hard from the - you guessed it - west prevented me from setting up facing the valley. After giving up and driving around some more, I ended back up on top of the hill and set up facing south, where a smaller cell was putting on a show. I was out of the rain, so I set up the tripod on the hood of the car and captured these flashes, which are my first-ever photos taken during the month of September.
GO: Home | Storm Chase Logs | Photography | Extreme Weather Library | Stock Footage | Blog
Featured Weather Library Article:
|