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Updated February 21st 2020
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After storm Ciara it wasn't long before a new storm arrived in the form of Dennis on February 16th 2020 which would bring gales and convective potential. Roisin and I got up early and went chasing for the day with the intention of targeting unstable skies to the NW. We arrived on Benone Strand where we got treated to a very dynamic ocean with beautiful swells and rolling waves crashing close to shore in nice light. Many people came to watch the sea, several got trapped in the sand (including us) with several tidal surges and an ocean thunderstorm. Later from Gortmore we experienced +70mph winds from a severe squall with hail which shook the van so badly we thought we were going to tip over, a very exciting day indeed. One page report with 17 images and 2 video clips. - REPORT.
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Detailed image report beginning with a moonlit shoot at Swatragh Church then evolving into three days and two nights of Winter chasing during the cold unstable air mass behind storm Ciara from Feb 10th to Feb 13th 2020. During this busy period I chased both inland and at the coast, I experienced snow and hail showers, severe squalls, ocean lightning, superb Winter convection, damaged live power lines, photogenic Cbs over the ocean during twilight with stars and wonderful aerial scenes of snow on Benbradagh by drone. One page report with 33 images and 4 video clips. - REPORT.
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Report covering three photo shoots on January 11th, 17th and 28th 2020. The report opens with a night at Ballintoy Harbour shooting time lapse of moonlit waves and testing the night video on the Canon 5D Mark IV. Observing Orion with fading Betelgeuse, checking out the new Dark Sky Observatory in Davagh Forest testing star shots then a snow chase where I ended up at Gortin Glen Forest within the heart of the Sperrins to document the first snowfall of the season by drone. One page report with 13 images and 3 video clips. - REPORT.
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On January 19th 2020 I was chilling out after Sunday dinner when I casually glanced out the window and was astonished by a remarkable sunset skyscape taking place. I drove out the road into the countryside and launched my drone to get a better perspective and got treated to the best sunset sky show I have ever experienced in my life. The horizon was burning with an intense yellow afterglow while sections of highly structured mid level cloud were painted an intense red colour which lasted for a long time after sunset, during one glorious moment I could see overhead stars while the sky was on fire. The view of this stunning sky over the distant lights of Cookstown made for a magical memory. One page report with 7 images and 1 video clip. - REPORT.
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My first photo shoot of 2020, on three different nights I was joined by mates to shoot the night sky at Sperrin View Glamping located near Beaghmore Stone circles within the Sperrins. With only two weeks until this new venture officially opened to the public we were given permission to document the site during several frosty nights in January. We shot starscapes, star trails and time lapse over the four glamping pods and large communal hub while allowed access to the facility to take shelter when needed. As a result we got a behind the scenes experience at this location under the stars complimented by Orion the Hunter with Betelgeuse undergoing a record breaking dimming event. A wonderful experience and a great shoot to get the new year underway. One page report with 29 images and 1 video clip. - REPORT.
My 2019 end of year video presentation featuring my video and time lapse highlights showcasing various storm, weather, winter and atmospheric optics scenes all captured from N. Ireland this year. This is a combination of DSLR video, DSLR time lapse cinematography, Go Pro, Mavic 2 Pro drone and even mobile phone footage. 2019 was a strange year, much like 2018, it was fairly quiet during both winters and there were less thunderstorms and clear nights, also a lack of any aurora displays for me and I didn't get any funnel clouds on video despite chasing as much as I could or experience any proper night lightning or blizzards.
That being said 2019 still had its moments such as the beautiful snowfall earlier in the year which I documented over Binevenagh by drone and the late March thundersnow storm with shelf cloud at Benbradagh not to mention the Lough Neagh distant multicell thunderstorm convection time lapsed at sunset which was a nice moment. The NLCs or Noctilucent Clouds were superb with several exceptional specimens time lapsed from Cookstown and over Mussenden Temple. The video features other phenomena too such a 22 degree moon halo, lenticular cloud stacks and even an nocturnal storm surge which swamped my van within seconds.
I spent a considerable amount of time and effort to chase as much natural phenomena as I could and I'm certain that 2019 was my most active period for time lapse photography to date, often using two DSLRs at the same time. If only I could work out the hours, diesel and images taken to do justice to the amount of time I've spent out in nature to get this material, however it was always time very well spent, either solo or with good friends, and always in the company of Mother Nature. This video is really about those special memories. I hope you enjoy the video and I look forward to seeing what 2020 will bring. You can view the images and my write ups about the 2019 season on my website storm chase reports below...
http://www.nightskyhunter.com/Storm%20Chasing%202019.html
Thanks very much for watching and a happy new year to all my followers!
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Astronomy is not the only subject I'm interested in, check out my N. Ireland Storm Chasing section and view the chase reports and images which detail not only storms but other phenomena such as a moonbows, noctilucent clouds, aurora displays and exciting nature related photo shoots.
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Martin McKenna
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