Pittsburgh lightning chase: June 13, 2007
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PITTSBURGH, PA - An upper air disturbance, cold air aloft and warm, moist air at the surface came together to create favorable conditions for severe storms across the Central Appalachian region on Wednesday. As I was already in the Pittsburgh area visiting family, I decided to head downtown to film any storm that happened to move across the city.
An approaching cluster of storms rapidly intensified just before arriving in Pittsburgh. A gust front developed quickly and rushed across the city, lofting any exposed dirt into the air in large dust clouds.
The storms developed into an inverted u-shaped line, literally surrounding the city but somehow sparing downtown a direct hit from a core of heavy rain and hail. This allowed me to stay at my vantage point for an extended time to shoot the lightning that skirted all around downtown.
![](/2007/june13et.jpg) ![](/2007/june13ft.jpg)
Back at the house, a strong thunderstorm's core was passing directly overhead. Matt grabbed his camera and shot some video of the small hail beginning to cover the deck:
![](/2007/june13hail2t.jpg) Copyright 2007 Matt Robinson, raleighskyline.com
A close lightning strike near the house knocked out power to part of the neighborhood for about an hour. I contemplated following the storms southward on I-79 to Charleston, but decided to save the gas money for another time - a good choice as it turned out, as the storms moved west of I-79 and weakened long before reaching Charleston.
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