Time Lapses: Storms

Supercell storm. Image Source: Wiki.

Rarely do we see the big picture, unless we condense time. This is what makes time lapse films so compelling. Time lapse films of storms take us from the normal and everyday to apocalyptic within moments.  Films like these clips by Michael Laca, which show Hurricane Igor sweeping into Bermuda in 2010 (here and here), show us the power of our natural environment in a nutshell. See some storm time lapse videos below the jump.

Time lapse of driving through isolated snow squall, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Video Source: Youtube.

Blizzard time lapse. South Elgin, Illinois, USA. Video Source: Youtube.

Blizzard time lapse (2010). Video Source: Youtube.

Time lapse tornado chase, South Dakota, USA (2010). Video Source: Youtube.

Hail storm in Dachau district, Bavaria, Germany. Video Source: Youtube.

Time lapse lightning storm, Tampa Bay, Florida, USA. Video Source: Youtube.

Barceloneta Beach time lapse rainbow and thunderstorms, Barcelona, Spain. Video Source: Youtube.

Supercell storm, Poland (June 2009). Video Source: Youtube.

Not a time lapse - but inspires nail biting. A Lufthansa plane attempts to land in Hamburg, Germany during Windstorm Emma (2008). Video Source: Youtube.

Caption from Youtube: Someone else shot this video of a Lufthansa Airbus A320 on a flight from Munich to Hamburg which hits the left wingtip and almost drags the right engine on runway 33 during extreme weather and gusting crosswinds caused by storm Emma. ... Aircraft are certified to land in steady crosswinds (around 30 knots/55 km per hour) and crews are trained for this and do practice maximum crosswind landings in the simulator several times per year. The crosswind component at the time was around 20 to 25 knots which is within the croswind limitation of the aircraft.

Storms like this one called "Emma" on the 1st of March 2008 with high winds and gusts are however very demanding on the crew.

Initially they had the required crab angle but during the transition from crab to slip (upwind wing has to be low) the pilot did not get enough right wing down and caught a severe gust during the touchdown maneuver. The gust then lifted the wing which is why the aircraft rolled to the left and drifted across the runway. They are lucky they didn't cartwheel.

The only correct option at this point was to go around. They landed about 20 minutes later on a different runway without further incident. Over 70 flights were canceled in Frankfurt due to the storm Emma on 1st of March 2008.

Not a time lapse - but beyond surreal. Broken Hill Dust storm, Australia. Video Source: Youtube.

For my other posts on time lapse films, go here, here and here.