September Storm over Grand Portage Bay

Last night the sight of lightning flashes outside the bedroom window woke me at 1:30 AM. I laid in bed for a while watching the lightning as it flashed over the summit of Mt. Josephine. After several minutes I decided I couldn't pass up this opportunity and headed outside to make some photographs. When I got out in the yard I looked up and saw a HUGE cloud with a very defined edge starting on the western horizon and jutting straight up into the sky. On the right side of this edge was a massive storm cloud with lightning flashing inside it every few seconds. On the left side of this edge was clear blue sky with several stars visible. I decided to head over to Hat Point Marina and photograph the storm from the ferry dock. For the next 45 minutes I watched as the lightning flashed up in the clouds. Other than the lightning and the occasional rumble of thunder, the night was incredibly calm. No wind whatsoever, and only a few light drops of rain fell from the clouds. Storms like this don't happen very often so when do it sure is nice to be able to sit and watch them like I did last night.

After the lightning storm had passed over Grand Portage Bay, I decided to drive south and see if another storm might be working its way towards us. As I drove towards Grand Marais I started to see faint flashes of light out over Lake Superior and the further south I drove, the closer those flashes seemed to be. I thought it might be perfect in Grand Marais, so I made my destination the Grand Marais Harbor, hoping to catch lightning behind the lighthouse. By the time I made it there, however, the storm that I had been watching all along the way had moved further out over the lake and was no longer a good candidate for lightning shots over the harbor. The clouds, however, were still beautiful and the moon was peeking in and out from behind them. I waited until the moon was out in the open to make this shot. The sailboats are lit from the stray light coming from the street lamps. It sure was a sublime night on the harbor, not a ripple on the water despite the passing storms earlier in the night.