Lightning

One of the pleasures of UK winter is the usual absence of thunder and lightning. In the UK they can occur, but they are far more common in the summer. 

Although I know the chances of a direct strike are low, they do occur. I know of 2 friends who had this. One of the more common things is a power surge as storms approach.

What I tend to do is keep a watchful eye on approaching storms. If there is any danger, I disconnect everything: antennas, mains plugs etc.. I have no idea if this is the correct strategy. My view is it is better to be safe than sorry.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/other-amateur-radio/lightning-maps .

No operation until at least the afternoon

As we have thunderstorms at the moment and these could last until well after lunch, everything will remain disconnected until all risks have gone. So, no operation until later. 

UPDATE 0945z:   Although it is still raining here (good), the thunder and lightning seem to have passed. If the lightning map confirms this, I may go on later this morning. It appears to confirm the storms have gone.

Storm risks

At the moment, all storm activity seems to the north and missing us. As this can change, I am watching the lightning maps "just in case" things alter. It feels very humid.

UPDATE 1544z:  All the storms seem to be clustered about 60 kilometres north of us. At the moment, this still looks encouraging.

Thunderstorms - NOT amateur radio

Last night we had a brief thunderstorm. More could happen later today. All my appliances and antennas remain disconnected. 

See https://www.lightningmaps.org/ .

Lightning

Thankfully, thunderstorms are infrequent in the UK in winter. In the more risky months I disconnect  antennas and PSUs to avoid the risk of power surges. A direct strike is probably going to totally ruin things.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/other-amateur-radio/lightning-maps

Thunderstorms? - NOT amateur radio

The last few days have been very hot and humid. It has been almost unbearable. Later, we may have thunderstorms.

See https://www.lightningmaps.org/?lang=en#m=oss;t=3;s=0;o=0;b=;ts=0;y=44.621;x=8.4747;z=4;d=2;dl=2;dc=0;

UPDATE 1548z:  Although the nearest thunderstorms are about 100km away, i think there are distant rumbles.

Rain stopped play?

This is a familiar phrase heard by cricketers in the UK.

Well, in my case not rain (yet) but thunder. For the first time this year my radio kit has been switched off and everything unplugged. At the moment, I think we will (just) miss the worst, but it is quite close. I shall consult the maps!

See https://www.lightningmaps.org/?lang=en

UPDATE 1548z: At the moment, the storms seem to be passing south of us.

UPDATE 1604z: As the storm seems to have passed, I have reconnected rigs and antennas.

UPDATE 1800z: No further DX spots on 10m FT8 RX, but things will be running for a few hours yet, so still a chance of South Americans. This, of course, assumes the storms don't return. F1ABL (963km) spotted very recently.

Thunder - QRT!

There is some thunder about, so I have gone QRT and disconnected everything.

See https://www.lightningmaps.org/?lang=en#m=sat;r=0;t=3;s=0;o=0;b=;n=0;y=53.9231;x=-12.5879;z=5;d=2;dl=2;dc=0;

Thunder, so QRT

With thunder clearly audible and now rain, I have decided to go QRT and disconnect all antennas, rigs and PC including unplugging the power plugs. I shall stay off the air until all danger has passed. I do not like storms! Thankfully we do not get many.

UPDATE 2152z:  Storm has passed through, but remaining off-air overnight. The rain will do the garden some good!

Thunderstorms?

Although we are having a spell of warm, dry, days (31deg C yesterday) and the grass is starting to turn brown in places, we have thunderstorms forecast for tomorrow.  A radio silence with rigs, antennas and PC disconnected will be needed. I do not like storms nearby. Once the danger has passed, I shall be active again.

See http://www.lightningmaps.org/?lang=en .

More storms?

At the moment there are thunderstorms in the UK, but these seem to be out to the west and in the Oxford area according to http://www.lightningmaps.org . I shall remain on 10m WSPR and 6m WSPR,but if they get nearer I shall go QRT.

They seem to be moving this way - maybe disconnect everything in a few hours?

http://www.lightningmaps.org

Unlike weather forecasts these are actual storms. At this time of year especially, it is worth going to the linked maps to keep an eye on storm progress.

UPDATE 1857z:  At the moment the storms seem to be going in the Chelmsford and Corby directions and not coming towards us.

Storms in the UK and maps

Apart from in N.Ireland, the threat of thunderstorms seems to have receded with the UK largely free from thunder and lightning. It is always useful to check the maps at this time of the year.

See https://www.lightningmaps.org .

Certainly here in the UK, we have had a fine, settled period this week after some very cold weather. Last week there was an E-W split with fine weather in the west but cold, miserable weather further east. We are now moving back to more changeable weather.

Storms - gone QRT for now

We have just had a second hail storm and thunder, so I have disconnected all my amateur radio gear for now. The photo was taken through the window. It feels more like February than nearly May! According to the map, the storms are passing right over us.

See https://www.lightningmaps.org/realtime?lang=en .

UPDATE 1513z: The storms seem to be moving away, but I shall probably stay off the air for a few hours, then return to 472kHz WSPR.

UPDATE 1534z:  An internet friend has reported 5cm of snow in Vermont, USA.  I should stop moaning about the UK weather. :-)

Thunder and lightning - NOT amateur radio

For the last 20 minutes we have had thunder and lightning here. According to the time between the lightning and thunder it was about 1 mile away. My radios and PC will remain disconnected. Looking at the map linked below it seems to be tracking NW the worst may now have passed. It remains very dark outside and we can still hear thunder.

See http://www.lightningmaps.org/realtime?lang=en

UPDATE 1830z:  Although the storm risk seems to have passed today, more storms are possible tomorrow, so I may leave things disconnected. 

Lightning maps

See http://www.lightningmaps.org/realtime?lang=en .

I find these maps very useful as they give advanced warnings of approaching storms. Even when storms are some way away you can get surges that can damage equipment. With approaching storms I tend to disconnect radios and PCs and unplug antennas and mains connectors.

Years ago, a friend at work got struck (his house) and I have always been a bit wary since. Thunder and lightning can be very nasty.

Thunder later?

I plan to stop TXing and RXing on 10m WSPR later this afternoon. Thunder was forecast and as a matter of course I prefer to disconnect things to minimise risks. At the moment, no thunder is shown on the forecasts, but I prefer to edge on the side of caution. 10m WSPR can be done at any time, so I'll not miss much.

No storms here - yet

Well the weather is very hot for the UK and temperatures here are around 30 deg C again today. No sign of the promised thunderstorms, which are still a long way away.  According to the map, the nearest are in SE France and S Germany.

See http://www.lightningmaps.org/realtime?lang=en.

It certainly feels like we are due a storm. The weather has all the signs, although there are no thunder clouds building yet. Give it a few hours maybe? If feels close and muggy as if the air needs to be cleared. For now, I shall leave rigs and antennas connected to the 10m and 6m WSPR kit, but I shall be watching those maps carefully.

UPDATE 1548z:  At the moment all the storms are missing us.

Thunder?

So far the weather here in East Anglia has been good today.  I managed to cut both lawns this morning. It has just started to rain and there is a risk of thunder, although at the moment the storms are well east of this QTH. If the storm risk persists, I shall disconnect rigs and the PC.  The rain is, of course, Sod's Law as I just erected the hose to water the grass later!

See http://www.lightningmaps.org/realtime?lang=en .

UPDATE 1445z:  The sun is now shining again.

UPDATE 1706z:   Thunder and lightning appeared here at 1645z, so I have closed down on both 10m and 6m, disconnected the antennas and the PC. According to the thunder maps, the storm was about 2 miles or less to the west. I'll monitor the maps and return to 10m and 6m WSPR when the storm has passed.

UPDATE 1810z:  It looks like the storm has passed, so I have recommenced 10m and 6m WSPR.

Thunderstorms

According to the Met Office (by the way, time you bought new seaweed as a piece of wet seaweed would be nearly as good as your super-computers I think) we are due to get thunderstorms in south east England on Friday.  Very useful maps for tracking thunderstorms are available at http://www.blitzortung.org/Webpages/index.php?lang=en&page=1 . Last year, I used these maps to help me with early warnings of thunderstorms in the UK that required me to safeguard rigs.

Closed down station - thunder storms close

As there is thunder/lightning around, I have decided to disconnect antennas and switch off the rigs. The storms are getting closer according to http://www.lightningmaps.org/realtime?lang=en .  As much as I'd like to continue to monitor on 6m, I think to go QRT is the right decision tonight. There will be plenty of other times to monitor 6m and 10m.

UPDATE 2110z:  The worst of the storms missed us.  However, there is a lot of storm activity around still, so the rigs and antennas will remain off tonight.   Meanwhile I am watching Brazil getting beaten by Holland. Current score Brazil 0  Holland 2. Unless Brazil create some magic, they are doomed.

UPDATE 2207z: Would not like to be in the Brazilian national football team this evening.