Shocking Mammatus

Norfolk, NE

Today's chase involved adventures in Nebraska. I got some amazing photos. There was no rotation on these storms, but we got to see some quarter sized hail. We took shelter at a bank in the little town of Bassett. Then, a resident invited us to a fundraser at a senior's center nearby, which was awesome. Super nice people. It was kind of surreal seeing a guy wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat. I was definitely in America's heartland.

Then we were off and we saw the most amazing mammatus I had ever witnessed. There was lightning in the distance, but none nearby. Everything was peaceful as I filmed a timelapse. Then, suddenly, Ray was like, "Your hair is standing up!" And I just asked, "Are you sure? It's probably just messy" and he's like, "there's electricity running through you, it's lifting up." I instantly thought, "Shit!, I'm about to be struck by lightning." I thought I should run back to the van.. But then I wanted to verify if that was indeed the case (I.e. I needed to take a photo). I could see other people's hair standing up a bit too. I checked my arm hairs but then remembered that I recently waxed my arms. No one seemed to be panicking.. So I just kept taking selfies and videos, even though, in the back of my mind, I kind of felt like I was playing with fire. I remember as a kid going to the Ontario Science Center and touching that big static orb that makes your hair stand up and I used to purposely rub my shoes on the carpet and shock people. Electricity always fascinated me. I am literally like a moth to a flame when it comes to this kind of stuff. My curiosity and fascination overrode any sense of personal safety. I guess I also just figured that if no one else is freaking out, then why should I? I also thought it might have been something else and not lightning, since it was happening to everyone and not just me and there was no lightning nearby. Though, after speaking to another chaser and doing some Googling, I learned that we probably were in the danger zone.



Here are a few of the selfies.

 

Despite the lightning danger, the mammatus we saw that night was absolutely breathtaking. 

There was A LOT of lightning on this storm so we were out late taking photos.