Tuesday, 15 September 2015

It's Definitely Working

A while ago I mentioned I now have a system which could detect lightning strikes but until last night there had been no opportunity to see how well it works. All that changed as an area of heavy rain and electrical storms swept through this area.

It counts the strikes and works out how far away they are. It also displays whether they are approaching:

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or moving away from me.

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I really must get round to finding out why the rain gauge on this system stopped working. Probably some small item lodged in the tipping bucket.

Wow, did the rain come down. My main weather system recorded 20mm (3/4 inch) of rain in 14 minutes - no wonder my lane looked more like a fast flowing river at the time.

As for photographic opportunities. That was a wash out. All I saw was sheet lightning, cloud to cloud above the lowest layer of clouds.  There must have been some cloud to ground strikes as we lost electric power for a short while. Probably a strike on the overhead lines which cross the Lincolnshire Wolds.

The unit used is the Ventus W266 weather station.
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8 comments:

  1. ADRIAN15 September 2015 at 07:03

    I have a half built lightning trigger but have never really had the chance to try it in anger. It works if I fire a strobe at it so perhaps I could tidy all the wiring and pop it in a box.
    It will be spiders....They seem to think my rain gauge is a hotel.

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    1. Midmarsh John15 September 2015 at 08:56

      Adrian: I have a trigger but have not tried it as yet. Either spiders or some needles blown from a nearby pine tree.

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  2. mick15 September 2015 at 07:19

    That rain almost sounds like an Aussie storm! I like those gauges - and the system sounds great, Is it of your own making or bought somewhere?

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    1. Midmarsh John15 September 2015 at 08:53

      Mick: It was some of the heaviest rain I've seen. I like tinkering with electronics but I'm not up to designing and building something like that ;) It's a commercial set up. It's the cheapest one which includes lightning detection and goes under the name Ventus W266 here. Not as sensitive as the expensive detectors but does the job.

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  3. Simon Douglas Thompson15 September 2015 at 14:24

    When I was out trooting / walking yesterday I detected lightning strikes by seeing them. And as for the rain...

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  4. Wilma15 September 2015 at 15:58

    Could have used this night before last during our big storm. The lightning was phenomenal. We got 3.6 inches of rain, but I don't know the time frame.

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  5. Glo15 September 2015 at 18:46

    What a lot of detailed weather info on that gizmo ~ and what a storm you must have had with that tremendous downpour. Your pond must have been refilled more than once ;) I have been enjoying your posts, and was so pleased to know that I brought a smile with my crow video. Now I'm on the lookout for more of the silly things, and wondering what they are discussing. I hope I'm not losing the plot ..;)

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  6. The Weaver of Grass15 September 2015 at 18:49

    We rarely get storms up here but Lincolnshire got plenty when we lived there.
    Your mention of the Wolds brought back many happy memories - my uncle farmed there.

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Thank you for visiting. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Any comment, or correction to any information or identification I get wrong, is most welcome. John

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