Well, that was a lightshow

Posted on 06/09/2007 by Meryl Yourish

Worst. Lightning storm. Ever.

There was some wild weather south of Baltimore tonight, and it hit, well, right about the time I was driving south of Baltimore. It started looking really dicey, so I called Sarah, and she checked online and discovered high wind, lightning, and hail warnings. I have the soft top on the Jeep. I decided to find shelter and wait out the worst of the storm. I found a gas station and parked the Jeep next to a pump, deciding that even if the attendants wanted me to move it, it was staying until the storm passed.

I saw twinned forked lightning. Big. Close. Less than two miles from the gas station. I saw horizontal lightning. I saw backwards loop-the-loop lightning. I saw a Tetris lightning. Really. It was the sideways “L,” facing down. I even saw lightning make a rounded, squiggly rectangle in the sky.

Lucky for me, no hail. But I got some rain. By the time I got to Richmond, it was pouring. The last forty minutes were pretty crappy, especially because the trucks never really slow down enough when it rains. And get on your ass even if you’re in the right lane. Which I was, as I was now tired.

I am heading to bed. Bar Mitzvah tomorrow morning. The last one for a while, I think.

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4 Responses to Well, that was a lightshow

  1. Paul says:
    06/09/2007 at 7:12 am

    Stay safe Meryl. Lightning does not play.

  2. Lil Mamzer says:
    06/09/2007 at 9:56 am

    Meryl, saw the same lightning here in Bethesda and Silver Spring, too!

    Never seen such an atmospheirc light show – it was spectacular.

    Heading down to the pro-Israel counter-rally to shadow the creepy anti-Zionist pro-Palestine march on the Mall this afternoon.

    Will try to stop at the flag store in Union Station and get an Israeli flag on the way down.

  3. Kim says:
    06/09/2007 at 7:04 pm

    Smart lady, pulling over. It sounds like quite a show. You might never see the like again.

  4. David Charlap says:
    06/11/2007 at 11:22 am

    Storms like this hit the DC area infrequently, but often enough that you will almost certainly see a few more if you don’t move away first.

    I remember one such storm (IIRC, in 1998) driving home from work on the Dulles Toll Road. Fortunately, there was nobody else on the road so I could drive slowly and enjoy the show.

    I think I know where Stephen Spielberg gets some of his ideas. :)

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