Southwest Ionia county. Luckily I didn’t drive into a tornado. It was worse to my north. There were a lot of trees across the roads on the drive back. It took 2 hours for what would normally be 35 minutes.

Yea. Thanks. One of the rare amazing storms in this area. I miss storms like this. 😕 This May has been PATHETIC! I suppose it could be worse, i.e cold, but I really hate this boring drought weather. Absolutely nothing to upload since April 20.

@@marshallsweatherhiking1820 oh I know man I miss the heavy rain I love heavy rain that lightly floods the roads

I live west of Milwaukee in Lake Country. I saw a storm born over my house start to rain strengthen all the way to Holland MI across the lake and it was a baby storm so cool

I shoot everything at 60 fps on my DSLR camera. For slow motion lightning I just slow to 15 or 30 fps and blend frames. Every once in a while I attempt to use my gopro or i-phone 14 to get super slow motion lightning as they can shoot at 240 fps. The problem is the sensor gets hotter and the quality gets worse with time, and the battery also runs down quickly. I’m usually not very successful. In this video I didn’t include any phone or gopro footage except for the driving clips. For the accurate cloud colors and non-grainy cloudscapes I really prefer the DSLR even though it can’t shoot faster than 60 fps.

@@marshallsweatherhiking1820 Great! Then there is a chance to get a cheap mirrorless camera which can shoot at 120FPS progressively or switching it into 100FPS at lower bitrate to keep the camera's processing slower for less camera body heat. I have some thunderstorm videos if you're interested which are processed between 50FPS & 60FPS 👍

@@aliultimate009 My gopro is version 7, so its not the newest. They may have solved the overheating and fast battery drain problem in newer versions. The problem with the phone is it doesn’t have manual settings and the sound is bad. Good thunder sound is important for me! Sorry I’m not an expert on the latest cameras. I have been using my Canon EOS 6D Mark II for many years, and I use for photography as well as video. I don’t have a designated camcorder other than gopro and phone.

@@marshallsweatherhiking1820 Keep the older versions of Gopros with you better since the newer once needs you to connect to the internet in order to activate the camera. Also, about your main camera ( Canon ) it's ok if you don't have enough information about other cameras since you're not taking it as a business - more like just a hobby 👍 The thing is - if you want me to recommend you for an excellent camera for long recording times - get a new Sony FDR AX-33 Camcorder ( it does have a fan cooling system ) just make sure on not to use it's 4K recording format for long records other than it's XAVC-S recording format ( if you get it's large battery which you can equip it with - at full charge will give you around 4 hours of continuous recording at good room temperature - just make sure on not to let the camera battery completely drain after recording or you'll lose your recording file ) you can record at 50FPS or 60FPS depending on the version that is available for you, or get a used Sony A7C with a Multi Battery Adaptor ( NPA-MQZ1K ) which can hold 4 batteries at once ( And get this - if all batteries are charged - you should guarantee over 12 hours of a continuous recording 🤣, just make sure not to use it's NTSC 120FPS recording format on long records since it'll overheat at warm room temperature, for better use it at PAL setting at 100FPS on 60Mb or 100Mb if you want a better quality - just make sure the room temperature is cool at least ) but it needs to be very close to the camera since the cable length is short but easily solvable if you have tripod to fix it's position on the tripod head as long as they're close to each other ( Camera & battery adapter ) so you can make a combination of using multiple cameras - one for using it handheld and the other is stationary 👍

I would love to get a higher end camcorder, but I’d have to save up probably. I have used my DSLR for low-light photography and the video mode works pretty well, though it has to be restarted every 30 minutes. I can get over an hour with each battery and I have four. The problem with storms is the water. My DSLR is resistant enough that light rain doesn’t hurt it, but it can’t get totally soaked like a gopro. I’ve even had problems with steam occurring inside the camera if I’ve been driving with the AC on and suddenly open the window and let 75 degree dewpoint air inside. I think something small thats easy to shelter from the elements but records great audio, high speed, and low light would be the best for storms. I’d really like to be able to quickly detach it from the tripod, throw it in a waterproof bag, and run. The big bulky DSLR is somewhat dangerous to run with. I already bent a part of my $1000 lens slightly by falling with it, though thankfully it didn’t harm anything critical. The zoom is just a little more sticky. Having something that is unlikely to get hurt from being dropped in the grass would be the best. Now I usually just roll down the passenger side window and put a tripod on the car seat.

The lightning was crazy and dangerous with this storm, but other than that it was super calm. Very little wind, rain came straight down. Storms are all different.

There was chasing lightning

Sorry. :( Hope you didn't have too much damage, or have insurance coverage. More than one northbound vehicle on M-37, coming from Hastings, had major windshield damage. I didn't even see the worst, which was a little south and east on M-37. People on the road said they were up to baseball sized. I'm so lucky I was smart enough to stop where I did as it doesn't look like there are other places to shelter farther down the road.

it only broke windows screen

Thank you. This was one of those warm fronts that never actually made it through, but we still got the thunder on the cold side of the front. The first thunder of 2023 was actually a thundersnow event on March 6. It was just one soft rumble though. I had some big noisy thunderstorms during the early morning of of April 5, but I was just too sleepy to set up the camera. I did drive into a crazy hail storm about 30 minutes from my house in the evening on April 4. I luckily found a gas station canopy to park under and watch. Hopefully more storms come your way this spring. Warmer weather is coming next week, though it will start out dry. Still expect April has thunder on the way for both of us.

So good to hear, Marshall TYSVVVM.... I hear you on weighing the likes and dislikes for those nocturnal Tstorms..on whether to sacrifice a good night's sleep for some real RU-vid-worthy Tstorm-videoings..or stay in the sack..I know the feeling on how having a good night's sleep means so much for even the avid-Tstorm-enthrallist...Yikes on the large HAIL you had on 4/4/23....and glad you found refuge in a gas station canopy to protect your car form shattered glass....Well..Marhsall...on 4/9/80...exactly 43 years ago today...just mere weeks before your own time..I was stuck at my phone clerk job at the taxi company...disastrously missing my loud Tstorm-tapings on audio cassette...and was it a downright disaster for me..as I was reduced to tears from the missed-taped loud Tstorms...but 5/12/80 and especially 6/2/80..I audiotaped some nice nice Tstorms...and still have the tapes today... anyways....hope later this month..after 4/17((I got a scheduled doctor's appointment))..we both will get more Tstorms at our place..and maybe I would have ordered a new camcorder with Tommythunderhead's own help.... Much fondness...James

@@LuvsTstormTapes Yea. I also really really hate missing video-worthy t-storms. My problem on the 5th was I was awake until 2:00 AM looking at severe weather outlooks. After I finally fell asleep it was hard to wake up only 3 hours later to record a storm at 5:00 am. I just couldn't keep my eyes open. Always happens when there is possible severe weather. I get overexcited and can't sleep the night before, then end up suffering the consequences of being overly sleepy later on. Funny thing is 3:00-6:00 am is a pretty common time for t-storms here. Wee morning is usually the best time to record too because it's so quiet (other than the thunder crashes) and the natural sounds really stand out. You can tell this particular video was only around 9:00 pm as the little kids across the street are still up. Seems they love storms too.

I do feel your own such excruciating pain, Marshall on the such inopportuned-timed Tstorms you had at your own place from 5 days ago....as I guess despite the flashy/loudness of those Tstorms from 4/5/23... your sleepy eyes would not let you catapult right out of bed to videotape....I would, myself..audio/videotape anything , thunder-wise....regardless of lack of sleep I had...Anyways....during your awesomed 3/31/23-Tstorm video..I did hear the youngsters out there having a jamboree out in the streets....wonder if they too were also videoing the same Tstorm, heeheee....Anyways......the 2023-Tstorm is still very young..and not sure when I will get my own first one of the season here..but hope NOT on MON 4/17 at 8am..since I do have a scheduled doctor's appointment and thus the risk of missing the audio/videoing of them........but if they can wait till after 10am that same day......that'll be wonderful.... Fondly, James

Good thing he was running as it was about to get worse. :(

Well, the core of first storm is 30 km away, but the thunder that can be heard is much closer. There were other weaker storms in the area closer to me and some lightning was traveling horizontally almost straight overhead. I usually can’t hear thunder more than 10 km away because there is a lot of traffic noise in my area. In more rural areas or on the coast of a large body of water I have heard thunder from storms 35 km away. Its a very faint low pitch rumble that isn’t easy to hear unless its very quiet (no traffic nearby).

There is a broadcast tower exactly 450m away according to google earth. It also got hit at the end of my video from April 15 2012. I got a strike 200m away on a lake on August 21 2011, but it didn’t seem as loud because the bolt was less powerful. I also captured the sound of two very close and also powerful strikes on August 27 2018. My videos are organized by date in the playlist. Actual date is in the title always. Upload date is often later due to move from old channel.