Amazing Lightning Show Over Toronto
That's some amazing lighting we're seeing out there tonight. Since dusk, a very active thunderstorm has been ripping through the Toronto area, bringing torrents of rain (and even knocking out power to part of Pearson Airport). But it's also bringing visually stunning bolts of lighting at a frequency and scope not often seen.
blogTO readers are already submitting some great photos to the blogTO Flickr pool, some of which are included below.
UPDATE: also see some incredible amateur videos of the storm.
Photos (in order of appearance) by dave_in_t_o, travisdavidwood, Toronto Paul, Somewhere In Toronto, wvs, slightly awkward, markosaar, Robert Bava, and dilligafftw (2), dpnsan, Dave Tran, mattjiggins, --Steve--, thru_the_night, Jeff-C-C, IzzyNomad, w1n9zr0, and johncavacas.
Comments (45)
Man, that last pic looks like an explosion of eletricity... or the Ark Of The Convenant being opened up.
The lightning was non-stop! I've never seend SO many flashes.
I was on the CN tower tonight.... most intense CN Tower experience. The wind was so strong that it ripped open one of the emergency exit doors.
there was a moment when those thick black clouds were moving south across the whole GTA... but the edge of the clouds were so defined and dark and thick that it was like a blanket being pulled over the GTA... something right out of one of those scary movies where evil things are about to happen!
Rocker - you mean like this? http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2568/3806503164_ae4196125c.jpg - taken at yonge and sheppard.
Amazing shots. We were hammered in hamilton as well.. wasn't brave enough to go out to take pics.
with that top photo, all you need to do is add a howling wolf's head with photo shop and you would have a sick t-shirt.
Easily one of the most intense storms I've ever witnessed. Thanks for using one of my photos too :D-
Those are just incredible...some very talented photographers catching stills of an equally talented night sky. The clouds had something to say last night, that was for sure!
The clouds were moving too rapidly to get out my tripod so its a bit blurry but here's a shot of that blanket! King West facing south. It was like something out of Ghostbusters!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2544/3807913642_6cc865242d_b.jpg
I'd like one of those once a week.
Perfect background to sit by the window and read a horror/mystery novel.
I was in Centennial Park as that cloud overtook it, it was amazing as the wind picked up and the storm moved in. All the sports games picked up and ran for it. Unfortunately no camera!
Wow the blanket of clouds is crazy. I sort of wish I hadn't stayed huddled inside my basement...
That was an intense storm last night. I have never seen so much lightening before.
Wonderful shots everyone! I too, did not brave going outside with my camera... It was bad enough we were driving home in it.
It was such a surreal night! We were driving north on Pape towards the Danforth and it got blacker by the second; you could see the line of clouds racing down towards us. People were running south from the Taste of the Danforth....it honestly looked like the apocolypse was on its way!
I heard on 680 News there were reports of Saucers ( yes as in flying saucers ) spotted over the city around 5 PM yesterday too. Weird.
My boyfriend is a pilot for WestJet and landed right before they shut down the airport - they flew through some pretty intense hail. He said that it went from normal to dark, like the end of the world was coming. I see what he means now. lol!
I was out on lake Ontario sailing south from Pickering to St Catherines when the "blanket" came over us, it looked like it had fingers clawing its way across the sky. I've never seen that much lightning in one storm or that close to me either.
I was driving from Markham to Brampton in that weather and I swore it was the end of the world! That Armageddon-ish storm was crazy! Hail in August?! Lightening coming from every direction?! Rain seeming to flood the 401?! Wow...
wow, Some really great photos here. I think my fav is the one that was edited to look like HDR, number 5.
Why don't you see more photos like this on the walls of public places in the city instead of the tripe you often have to pretend to enjoy. haha.
I was amazed by the changes in the colours in the sky as I walked home just as the storm was coming in. These photos reflect those remarkable colours.
Amazing photos! Is anyone willing to send me high res versions for personal use? goldjeff at hotmail.
thanks!
Most ferocious Thunderstorm and heavy down pour we saw last night
causing so much of damage to property and even one casualty which i just saw on TV. This year the heavy rains and thunderstoms have really shaken the whole of GTA. No real Summer yet, the season is like Fall.
Here's some I took last night over the the Lake
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63798313@N00/sets/72157621870360435/
We were caught in this craziness on the 401 for more than 2 harrowing hours, coming from Belleville. Scariest, freakiest lightning I'll ever see. I saw hundreds of strikes, all around us. And I mean close. More than I've seen in the rest of my life combined. Literally every few seconds. Lightning that crawled across the entire horizon, so far you couldn't believe your eyes. Some of it directly overhead. Others that shot down right next to the highway. There were a number of times that everywhere you looked was lightning.
I thought Woodstock had it bad, but looks like Toronto got much worse than us. Our big thing ws the flooding, but the light show wasn't bad.
Amazing photos! I just LOVE lightning shots and know how hard they can be to capture.
Speaking of photographs...I'm an amateur photographer from central Georgia. I just graduated and have my BA in art. Below is a link to my photo. You don't have to log in or sign up to vote. Just click the little green vote button on the scholarship/contest page. Thanks in advance!
http://www.brickfish.com/Pages/PhotosAlbums/PhotoView.aspx?qsi=17298504
-Danielle
We were at the NIckleback concert, un-believable we were evacuated to the bridge of the cinisphere then evacuated to lower grounds after getting soaked and blowen around they tried to wait out the storm but of course this night had to be the most longest and intense lightening storm of the century. They announced at 10:30 that Nickleback would have to cancel. Very scary standing in the middle of the lawn with a umbrella and the water surronding....
It was the first time in my life I have ever seen a tree fall down due to high winds.
While watching the lightning, suddenly it was like an invisible force dragged the tree sideways and dropped it.
The storm broke the tree in two.
I have to agree that was an INTENSE storm. I've been fascinated by storms since I was a kid, and have never seen nor experienced anything like this in the GTA before. I was at work downtown, took the lift to the 10th floor in time to catch what looked like "The Finger of God" strike down in the west and it lit up the entire area clear as day - I could see clear to the horizon. Later found out it was around 401/410 as we had lost many client circuits after that.
and I ROFL'd at the comment "no Dana, only Zuul" WOW! old skool flash back!
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