Lightning off coast

[wecelli]

Anyone hear thunder???

[randomq]

Amazing show, but all quiet up here in HA...

[macuu222]

Great show. Been going on for over an hour here in HPP. Brilliant light strikes with no sound out over the ocean.

[kander]

Its hundreds of miles away from the coast. Gives an idea of the scale of those lightning bolts.
https://www.lightningmaps.org/#m=oss;t=3...;dl=2;dc=0;

[TomK]

"Its hundreds of miles away from the coast. Gives an idea of the scale of those lightning bolts.
https://www.lightningmaps.org/#m=oss;t=3...;dl=2;dc=0;"

No, the storms that produced the lightning we could see were a few miles north of the Hilo and Puna coast - I would estimate 2-miles at closest approach given the timing between lightning and the sound of thunder. Firstly you could not possibly see lightning a few hundred miles from the coast and secondly the thunder could be heard from Hilo (I'm not so sure about Puna). NWS radar had the storms just off our coast.

The low pressure "Kona Low" system is a few hundred miles from us, but not the thunderstorms, which are nearby. You can't see lightning from near sea-level hundreds of miles away unless the earth is flat.

[randomq]

quote:

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Originally posted by TomK

... the earth is flat.

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Finally, confirmation! From a scientist with a telescope!

[kander]

Tom
The detector at the time of post showed the activity over 100 miles from the coast. And yes, you can see hundreds of miles out there. The earth need not be flat. I thought for sure you knew that.

c = f * ( sqrt a + sqrt b )
The unit of f is 1000 * sqrt m

f = sqrt 2R
R = mean Earth radius in 1000 km, 6.371.
atmospheric refraction, as R is taken the mean apparent Earth radius of 7.68.

If the clouds are easily 15,000ft ASL (4500M)
and if your at 1000ft ASL (305M)someone sitting in HA watching
that means you can see over 200miles (330Km) pretty easy. Most thunderheads can go up 30,000 ft.
And nobody is going to hear the thunder. not even in Hilo.

Edit: changed UNII square root symbol to sqrt nomenclature.

[Obie]

My wife and I could clearly hear the thunder from lower Makuu.

[kander]

interesting obie. we listened for 45 minutes while the lightning was going on at the rate of 1 strike about every half second or so. It was quite the show but not one rumble from it was heard in HA.
I pulled out the camera to record it it was that impressive.

[Obie]

Here is a picture.Clearly not a hundred miles out.

https://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p640x640/83984628_10222044311762519_5160602045949935616_o.jpg?_nc_cat=109&_nc_ohc=rL2QiaKNbbMAX_ooTra&_nc_ht=scontent-lax3-1.xx&_nc_tp=6&oh=8cbc8e1c80e1b4aad89cbe8a6b137c42&oe=5EC25CD1