Fall thunderstorms bring end to heat: October 9, 2007

ABOVE: Lightning near Alum Creek along Route 119 on Tuesday.

EXPEDITION VIDEO: Lightning over fall foliage along Route 119: Watch Video

CHARLESTON, WV - In what was likely the last thunderstorm event of the season, the Charleston area saw a few moderate storms move through during the midday hours. The storms were associated with a cold frontal passage that brought an end to the unusually warm summer-like temperatures that the area has seen in recent weeks.

If you've been visiting this site anytime in the past couple of months, you have seen that the 'latest chase' listed was back on August 10. That's not because I haven't been updating the site, it's because I haven't actually been out chasing since then! The last storm event I saw - and the first one since August 10 - was way back on September 14, the day of my brother's wedding rehearsal dinner. The wedding events precluded any getting out to cover the storms that day, hence the long gap in this site's chase log updates.

Today was a marginal storm day, but a nice chance to get back into the weatherwise swing of things. I have been trying for years to get a shot of lightning with fall foliage, and today I was finally blessed with success in that regard. I headed south on Route 119 to Alum Creek, the spot that the last radar animation at home suggested the storms were moving to. I was observing 'blind', without any radar data, since I deactivated my WxWorx subscription for the winter. A 'gentleman's chase', as it is known - leaving the high-tech gadgets at home and hitting the road with only a camera.

Gusty winds from Tuesday's storms jump-started the leaf-shedding process for some trees, meaning that many Charleston residents will need to break out the rakes tomorrow.