Nightskyhunter

08/06/2026

I didn't like the clouds earlier today (June 8th) so I decided to wait until the evening time when the trough moved in closer to aid with lift. By early evening I intercepted a big thunderstorm over Glenshane Pass. I pulled in at the Moyola River outside Maghera and got the drone in the air.

The storm was very dark and that lowering to the lower right formed rapidly into a shelf cloud viewed from the side. I found out later Colleen Webb was on the north side of the storm and got a great view of the rounded shelf cloud from a better position. The storm looked mean over the lush green countryside after all the recent rain.

Several more cells with gust fronts were captured later in the evening also. Good to see storms fired today after all, it just look a little while to get going.

07/06/2026

New website chase report covering the June 1st huge multicelll thunderstorm which we chased over the Glens Of Antrim which had plenty of updraught thunder and a huge flanking line...

http://www.nightskyhunter.com/Glens%20Of%20Antrim%20Multicell%20Storm%20-%20June%201st%202026.html

06/06/2026

Very sad news today. I just learned of the passing of Alan-Hale. For anyone who doesn't know Alan is the co-discoverer of great comet Hale-Bopp (1997) and a legendary visual comet observer who set incredible standards with his ability to find and observe many faint comets. He has contributed countless comet observations over the years and has been an inspiration to many people, myself included.

Alan and I often chatted online over the years, first via emails and then messenger. In recent times we discussed a lot about bright comets, especially T-ATLAS. I found Alan to be entirely down to earth, honest, and extremely knowledgeable and passionate about comets and he was always willing to offer his advice and help to others.

A true legend who has made a big impact within the Astronomical community. Alan will never be forgotten and his passion and words of wisdom will always live on through us comet observers and his life will always be remembered when any new bright comet comes our way. RIP Alan!

06/06/2026

This is the NIEUW STATENDAM, at almost 300m in length she's the largest vessel to ever grace Lough Foyle so I wanted to be there today to see her and experience a part of Foyle history.

I was lucky to capture her between the heavy showers today, at the time she was anchored near Greencastle with tenders busy going back and forth from vessel to harbour. Definitely one for the records.

Flag: Netherlands, Gross Tonnage: 99500t

04/06/2026

Vlog from our chase on June 1st to catch the big multicell storm over the Glens of Antrim. Wish I had documented the scenic mountain driving scenes but no time, however I got drone footage of the motion of the flanking updraught region of that mighty storm, which looked to have low level rotation...

Biggest storm in N. Ireland of 2026 so far, producing lightning for...

04/06/2026

The following images were taken by Colleen Webb and used with permission.

Colleen captured what appears to be a low topped but very clear transient supercell from Portglenone during the evening of June 3rd. It's worth viewing her video here (link below) to view the impressive form and motion of this cell.

Tilted updraught, clear low level mesocyclone, entire base rotating with rotating lowering/wall cloud, RFD (rear flank downdraught) evident and even inflow cloud/band feeding in. These are all the visual traits of a supercell, and to see them all at once in great visibility and light is a rare thing in N. Ireland. A truly lovely cell with rare structure born from strong low level shear.

Congratulations to Colleen on this photogenic catch on a day of active storms which were far from photogenic earlier in the day. Make sure to check out the video...

https://youtu.be/_Y_9hW5ZEk8?si=JpXGGKDxV0w_asej

I missed it by going home a different direction along the coast instead of inland however I did see the tops of the cell to the east after 18.00 and knew they looked good.

03/06/2026

The late afternoon thunderstorm, June 3rd, near Ballymoney, Co. Antrim. This was a big cluster with red and white cores on radar. Three of us where chasing and got into position to watch the storm approach.

It was producing active lightning however we never seen any, however we did get to enjoy rumbles of thunder booming over the countryside. No structure today and many of the storms were high precipitation in nature.

03/06/2026

Two storms encountered today (June 3rd), this was the later second storm approx 18.30, miles off the north coast over the sea behind the Skerries. Watched this one build when towers came into view with a pileus cap so knew it had potential.

It then developed into a storm, could hear the thunder rumbling across the sea in the moody light. Sky was very dark at the time, just wish it had been a little closer, still nice to see.

02/06/2026

A few more images of the long lived warm sector highly sheared thunderstorm along the Antrim coast on Monday evening (June 1st). The storm was the largest in N. Ireland of the season so far and was producing lightning for hours.

At one stage it took on supercellular traits then lined out into an enormous multicell storm. We got a visual on it from the Glens Of Antrim then in a mad dash drove N and E to get ahead of it and placed ourselves to the E of the updraught region. We succeeded at a location called Cargin.

It was quite a chase with a lot of driving along country roads and mountains, it was the Irish version of the Great Plains, very scenic with horses and sheep on the roads while dodging tractors. The flanking line and associated updraught bases came into view with new towers rumbling away with thunder over the silent landscape.

Unfortunately the light wasn't great due to the cirrus shield turning the sky grey however there wasn't anything we could do about that. Good chase, brilliant storm, it must have been a great sight from the NE coast.