Welcome puddles

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Nature's alarm clock woke us up this morning. Brilliant lightning flashes and cracks of thunder greeted the metro before 6 am. Only a quarter of an inch of rain fell at the Weather Lab this morning, but the puddles are welcome.

Today's rain breaks a stretch of 14 days without measureable rain in the metro. It will likely also prevent us from having the driest State Fair run in history. In 1968 the Fairgrounds recorded only .08" of rain.

Though our morning thunderstorms were pretty much garden variety, it is interesting to note that lightning strikes occurred in rain free air 10 to 20 miles ahead of the storms. My discussions over the years with lightning researchers like Ron Holle from Vaisala, Inc. in Tucson tell me that this is not at all unusual. There are documented instances of lightning going out sideways from storms and striking the ground over 35 miles form thunderstorms. These so called "bolts from the blue" have blown people out of their running shoes on Florida beaches under sunny blue skies. It's a good late season reminder that lightning is a threat even if a storm is not right on top of you.

The slow moving cold front that triggered this morning's rain will linger through tonight. Another upper air disturbance will reinforce the chance of rain later today and again Thursday. Some "lucky" farms, lawns and gardens will pick up an inch of much needed rainfall in the next 36 hours.

Here's hoping that rain falls at your house!

PH