Driving home late last night, the mother of all storms was in progress. Both hands gripped to the steering wheel to keep the Prado from being blown off the road, mellowing to Triple-J on the radio.
There was no lighting that I noticed, until an almighty light turned the whole sky a brilliant turquoise colour, but with a difference in that the sky remained lit up for a good half to 1 second. At the same moment, the radio went to static. Trying other preset stations, there was nothing coming through at all. Over the space of the next thirty seconds or so, the stations started coming back on air. With Triple-J being the last. Within five or so seconds after the sky light, the street lights also went off.
Other things that may help. While there was still no broadcast radio reception, I was able to key up VK7RTC which at the top of Mt Wellington, broadcasts from the same location as JJJ.
Doing some research on the web today shows that the light could have been caused by a lightning strike hitting power equipment causing a secondary arc.
http://stormhighway.com/blue_green_glow_lightning.phpIt is not uncommon for lightning to strike electrical power equipment (power lines, transformers, etc.). When this happens, many times the lightning will cause a secondary arc. These arcs are usually referred to as power flashes. These power flashes are extremely bright and can easily light up the night sky. They can flicker like lightning, or glow for a second or two before the circuit breakers trip and turn off power to the line (see video clip below).
So this sounds about right to what I probably saw. What I don't understand is how that wiped out the broadcast band reception of my radio. Note I only tested FM, not AM.
Any ideas?
Lance
