THUNDER BAY — Mother Nature's light show over Thunder Bay early Monday morning gave local photographers an opportunity to capture some impressive images.
Environment Canada's monitoring station at the Thunder Bay Airport recorded almost 700 lightning strikes within a 50-kilometre radius.
These included both cloud-to-ground strikes and in-cloud strikes.
Meteorologist Steven Flisfeder said "If you were considering lightning strikes outside that 50-kilometre radius, it was a very bright night for sure, with literally thousands of strikes across Northwestern Ontario."
DZ Photography posted several images showing lightning bolts illuminating prominent landmarks such as Mount McKay and the Sleeping Giant.
"I lucked out big time. Enough wind to blow the bugs away but calm enough to not knock over my tripod. The stars even came out with the lightning," photographer Dave Zahodnik wrote in a social media message.
He told Newswatch the photos were taken from the Mountdale Ave. boat launch between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. Monday, but the photo showing the Sleeping Giant was taken during a previous storm.
"Fabulous...Cool....Awesome....Amazing" were typical comments posted by individuals visiting Zahodnik's Facebook page.
He said he's glad to hear from people appreciating his efforts.
"I love it because most people work a regular 9-to-5 job. I work as a photographer, so I kind of set my own schedule. Everyone else is asleep at that time. Everybody misses the action, so I'm happy to stay up late, get the shots, and post them."
Zahodnik follows thunderstorms very closely.
His weather app was initially predicting this one would arrive between midnight and 1:00 a.m., but it slowly started to change.
"I was following a lightning strike map, and it was lining up with what my other app was saying. So by about three o'clock, I drove to the location (the Mountdale Ave. boat launch) and luckily caught it right when the storm was passing by Mount McKay."
