Back on September 22nd, a photographer in New York named Jay Fine caught a spectacular lightning photo that shows a huge cloud-to-ground lightning stroke and a few thinner branches, apparently behind the Statue of Liberty. While the statue is struck directly several times per year, this particular image seems to show a strike that either terminates on the land area just above the other side of the harbor, or possibly (but less likely) somewhere on the far side of the statue itself.
Either way, it is a really nice lightning photo - thanks to viewer Bob Ayers for bringing our attention to it! The two images you see here, while reproduced in many locations around the web, come from a photography blog that I've included a link to. In addition, that same blog has put together a nice slide show with several other really impressive lightning shots from around the world, which I've included as the second link.
Speaking of lightning, there is a very slender chance of a thundershower in spots over eastern NC today, but we appear more likely to see just a few scattered sprinkles and light showers, with some of us simply remaining dry despite a front in the vicinity and an upper level trough swinging through. After that, it's back to bright skies and very dry air as we finish the week and head into the weekend.
Something else to watch for later this week is the release of NOAA's winter outlook for the United States. It seems very likely, given that the current La Nina pattern in the Pacific is forecast to continue into next spring, that the winter outlook will reflect this by showing central NC with a good chance of averaging a little warmer and drier than normal for the winter, while an area just northwest of us over the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys would be expected to have greater than normal precipitation.
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