Striking not only twice, but twenty times

It has been raining leopards and hyenas here lately (our version of cats and dogs). At one point last week, the lightning was so near that the thunder shook the ground beneath me, and cloud-to-cloud lightening coursed through the clouds above our office. Overall, it is an awesome and humbling experience, and not totally benign. I heard of two tragic cases last week in which lives were lost: one was a pair of young boys, apparently in town, the other two adults in a neighboring village.

What a pity that taking shelter under a tree can seem such a logical thing to do in a rainstorm.

It made me wonder, how many of the thunderbolts flying above end-up touching down? I found this at Wikipedia:

According to this analysis of NASA data, Kigoma is struck by about 20-30 bolts per square kilometer per year. Some of them from storms which move at breakneck pace toward the lake, while others hover and block the view of even the closest peninsula close across the bay. There are two forms: dry lightning (which hints of rain but never does) and wet lightening, the storms of which can pour.

Wet lightening or dry, I am usually inside when the storms hit, but I caught this dwindling storm last year and wanted to share the images with you:

The real power of a storm is naturally in its motion, which is difficult to render with still images, but unless you come visit me, this is probably the best I can do.