Pic(k) of the week 35: The mother of all thunderstorms, Northern Pakistan

As pilots we develop a healthy respect for weather; being winter conditions with fog, snow or freezing rain or thunderstorms which come with their own challenges...

Over my +20 years of airline flying, I've come across a large variety of storm clouds, but the one below, over Northern Pakistan was one for the record books.  It was relatively isolated which makes it easy to circumnavigate, but was extremely active. 

This mother of all thunderstorms was first spotted about 250NM (460km) away. Extending to more than 50.000 feet, which is well above the maximum altitude airliners fly, it clearly showed the power of nature with lightning going on non-stop. Lighting up the dark moonless sky and the city of Peshawar in Northern Pakistan.

Thunderstorm over Northern Pakistan

Image details:
Fujifilm X-T10 with the XF 16 f1.4 lens
ISO 4000, f1.4, 1sec shutter speed (handheld)
RAW development in Lightroom CC
Nik ColorEfex Pro 4 for optimal contrast

A few more images of the same scene can be found here.

Remember: "After the storm comes the calm"

BJORN



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