Wasn’t really expecting anything on March 3rd 2009. The ground had a decent amount of snow on it and I wasnt all that sure that convection could get going. Well the overnight low previous to this day was around 40 degrees. Thats about a 15+ degree difference. I woke up early this day and felt the warmth and could see a very faint flash every once in awhile.
Keep in mind I havent seen a thunderstorm since Mid October 2008. I ran indoors and loaded Stormlab 4.0 and could see some convective cells to the southeast of me. I waited for about an hour to see if they had enough to make it further towards me. They died and I went back to sleep.
Woke up later in the day and could definetely tell that there was some instability and looked Southeast and could see an advancing area of precipitation. I went inside and again loaded stormlab 4.0 and could see plenty of cells yet not much of a lightning maker.
After a few minutes of checking other websites I heard a rumble of thunder and went outside to enjoy the first thunderstorm of the 2009 season.
The video doesnt show much except for snow on the ground and you can hear the hail and rain falling along with a rumble every 20 seconds. It was very exciting and I can only hope for a active 2009 spring and summer. Last year wasnt all that active for my area. Crossing my fingers.
Happy Chasing everyone and good luck this year…..
-gerrit gulden
http://www.severeidaho.com