There was a thunderstorm moving across the upper Eastern Shore this (Monday) evening. With the setting sun on it, it was a terrific photo op. Here (above) is how it looked from my front window, in Cockeysville. Below is a detail.
Eric the Red, our contributing meteorologist from Baltimore, shot a similar picture with his Droid phone. He sent the following commentary:
"Even though the sun had already set at ground level, the reflection from the storm was so bright that it was casting shadows. You can also see the the beginning of 'mammatus,' which are the bubbly elements protruding down from the top of the cloud... almost look like hanging grapes ... They got more pronounced, but it also got too dark to really see them clearly. They are indicative of a strong thunderstorm... one with very strong updrafts."
Speaking of thunderstorms, there was plenty of damage late Sunday night and early Monday morning from storms moving south of Baltimore, in Ellicott City, Glen Burnie and Eastport, among other communities. On the link above, be sure to click on earlier versions for more damage reports. The storm produced gusts in excess of 70 mph at BWI-Marshall.
Here's how Monday evening's storm looked from Parkville. Thanks to Jamie Myers:
I asked the folks at Sterling to check the radar returns from the storm and help us understand better what we were looking at.
Matt Kramar checked the radar images and described the storm this way: