An excerpt of the notes transcribed from my notebooks (with help from a tape recorder). I've cleaned up typos and deleted one short passage of confidential information. “Chasing Lightning,” George Johnson, National Geographic, August 2012. [http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/08/chasing-lightning/johnson-text] "CG" means a cloud to ground lightning strike. They were just kidding about hoping for one to hit the cow. September 5, 2009 morning started with radar at home showing storms brewing sw of Socorro, yellow, orange, a dot of red meet up with Samaras at south Belen exit and head west on a side road that leads to Marble Quarry road or something like that -- dirt road to the rio Puerco. then stopped by gate to Isleta reservation and two no trespassing signs tribal cop drives past us slowly onto the reservation, parks and watches shotgun and other shells litter the ground nearby can hear gunshots. an automatic. machine gun just before reaching the dry muddy river someone picnicking with a tent (the kind on poles with just a roof for shade weird. like something from a Wim Wenders film afraid to venture onto the reservation so go back to I-25 planning to stop at Bernardo and catch a storm but that one fizzles so continue to Lemitar truckstop wait there for a couple of hours can see a storm  to the SW, black plumes there is another storm on the radar north of Albuquerque -- back where we came from the dilemma is whether to head west toward Magdalena and try to catch that storm -- but if it dissipates then we're "hosed" -- or go back toward Albuquerque Tim says it's coming off something he calls Baldy, but not the Baldy in the Magdalenas he fires up the generator in the back of the truck at 4:55 I see a big CG to the north (right) of Socorro Mountain Tim describes how in Colorado a few days earlier got the rare combination of factors -- an intense storm that is sitting still to fire up the Kahuna and then the power supply went out thunder 2 phantoms running now 5:05 all set up "So where are our CGs?" "area to the south becoming active too" cumulus development there are 4 tanks. two yellow. two tan storm is not amounting to much Carl and Tim are in truck looking at radar again "El Centro is getting hammered," Tim says also storms in Colorado "There's a nice storm over my house -- right over my house!" looking wistfully at the radar back in trailer: "This storm is dead" "big rainy mess over the central mountains putting out all this cold air -- killing the thunderstorms -- really unfortunate" Tim walking around with hands in pockets looking at clouds fizzling in every direction it's windy no uplift Carl explains how cold outflow from the fizzling storm is extinguishing everything. cold air instead of warm uplift. stable air Carl talks about all the things that have to go right for the Kahuna 2000 mm? lens covering just a tiny spot and in that spot need multiple strokes can have everything perfect and then a nearby strike triggers the camera too soon trying to photograph the point of attachment step leader descends and when it nears the ground fingers of positive reach up. they connect and then the return stroke all that seemed to be coming together in Colorado and then the power supply blew out "I think we had a good chance of getting it then" -- Carl 6:15 Tim walking with hands in pocket. "Unbelievable" "We've managed to kill every storm in New Mexico" head to Owl Cafe for dinner, get mind off storm and hope after sunset tops of clouds will cool and start updrafts again there are promising signs way to the south bumper sticker in parking lot: Wolves: Government-sponsored terrorists or something like that trying to trick the storm. make it think we're not watching. the explosion certificates on the wall of the Owl -- projects Tim has participated in dark mood at dinner. service is bad. food just ok. Tim been working on the lightning project for 4 years . . . he is taking six weeks unpaid for Lightning 2009 after dinner the air is still stable and we call it a night ***Sunday morning 9/6 breakfast room at Super 8 grey cloudy skies no good. cool air. no uplift hope is for clouds to break "we're praying for a ray of sunshine" Tim describes again all the things that have to go right to get the picture of the connection point between the stepped leader and dart leader and the leading edge of the return stroke some scientist thinks it is shaped like ??? Tim's instinct is that it is pointed "it's nearly impossible, as we all know now" last year? got one shot of a dart leader with the Phantoms the big camera takes 80 frames in a burst. so if it is running at a million frames per second that is 80 microseconds two of the tanks are compressed air to spin the camera helium is for higher speeds talks about all the things he'd do different next time -- if there is a next time ethernet instead of usb to increase download times now if sees through the view camera that he didn't get a stroke, he'll abort the file so as not to waste time downloading 20 minutes to download?? "My dream is to get that shot, and I'm going to continue pursuing it. I just don't know how" another worry: that it will be anticlimactic "What if the shot is boring? Nobody knows what it's going to look like. We spent all this money for that?" *** September 6 after a night at the Super 8 in Socorro we go to Magdalena Charles Infeld Co. Wholesaler of Everything as approach Magdalena clouds billowing to SW, tall, sloping, cauliflower we head S in Magdalena on a Forest Service Road Tim pulls off the road, fires up the generator clouds 360 degrees around us Carl: "Ah, more CGs. We've had three in the last three minutes." the cameras in back of the trailer are pointing N (left side of forest road) as we face in that direction Ladron is the right, east thunder 1:10 pm muhly grass and something else in clumps. grama? but seeds look like buffalo grass carl: "beautiful CG right in the field of view." beep. "I'd say 7 miles juniper, cholla false beeps triggered maybe by sheet lighting Tim: It would be wonderful if we could sit out here for 2 hours carl: "Beautiful CG!" 1:15 can see plumes thunder I ask Carl why they picked this storm instead of the ones to the north: the road network and the intensifying cell TS: I think something is developing over the Magdalena mountains TS: "Lightning popping up everywhere" "It's a near ideal storm if we can get repetitive lighting up on that hill" a whole line of plumes to the north TS to Carsten: flash beeps. after you fire there is about 20 seconds when I can't use the camera. activity is so low that I hate to miss anything 1:30 pm raindrops moves cameras a little NE warms up the Kahuna hiss of the compressed air more raindrops pattering on roof of trailer Carl: CG beep TS looking at storm: 7 to 10 miles away goes to check radar storm moving toward us and another is behind us 1:32 Carl: Thunder to our NW thunder to NW 1:42 [I just took 4 panorama shots in case I need to describe the scene from NW to NE] Carl "Armed and ready. Let's get some cgs strike! "Ah, I think we got it." 1:47 re aims trailer slightly NW storm keeps moving closer carl: Come on baby rain picking up lighter plumes now over Ladron. it was clear before and sunny CG! but to the NW left count 50 seconds "A few fresh strikes over Magdalena mtns behind us and this storm developing above us" CG! but east rt of trailer, looking North "pop and drops" storm we're looking at probably a good 10 miles away CG! CG! all to side -- east -- of trailer as we leave I notice that the front license plate on carsten's rental car has fallen off. I retrieve it for him ------- 2:25 we've gone back through Magdalena toward Socorro and have stopped right across US 60 from the Water Canyon turnoff to Langmuir. Olguin Road lightning flashing over Magdalenas. we're looking back toward Magdalena and a little north. Carl: "Let's arm the Kahuna" can hear the hiss of the Kahuna and, I think, a whining turbine sound. Carl" "CG right over that farmhouse." Tim in back of trailer looking at Kahuna screens "5,4,3,2,1,0" Carl: OK, we got a beautiful CG. Oh man. Just off to the lefthand part of the fence (1:29 on tape) can still hear the hiss of the Kahuna Tim: "OK I'm just to the right of that farmhouse" (215 on tape) Carl: "Cmon baby, cmon. Make it happen" Kahuna self triggers? Carl says there was nothing Tim: "let it go through its download, just in case" Carl: How long are we going to have to wait? Tim: 20 minutes more conversation on the tape . . . Tim confirms to me that the Kahuna indeed self-triggered. wants to download anyway just to make sure that works. been awhile since used the camera . . . flash overhead. then quickly thunder thunder again flash over Magdalena. huge CG. in front of Magdalena but that's not where the camera/trailer is pointed. it's pointed back toward the town of Magdelena at that same storm we were watching before from the forest road 2:40 pm "oh yeah" Tim moves trailer CG again over Mag mtns trailer facing that way now carl: "Beautiful CGs all over the place" struck down in three places next tape T: "OK, we're ready. C: Ok, excellent T: "I'm targeting a cow over there" it's a black one. where the hell is it? . . . hissing then high pitched whine of turbine? Tim is at the controls below the oscilloscope. CG but off to the right. thunder T: "OK, we're finally hot" [148 on tape] "Hit the cow! cmon, hit the cow!" "Hit the cow. hit him. 9, 8, 7, 6 -- OK, we triggered. whine pitch goes lower as camera spins down Carl: ok you got a lightning strike up from the mountain on the righthand part of the cow . . . starts downloading. 20 minutes comes out to look at mountain from tailgate of trailer. more talk about which cow while downloading a strike right over the cow! "shit!" decides to dump the file "Here we go" hiss, whine oh! huge strike to left of cow Carl: "Tell me when you're hot" . . . Tim: "We're hot. We're hot. We're about 200,000. 10 9 8 7 6 5432 -- I got a trigger Carl: Nothing. dumps the data to try again double parallel CG. maybe a triple. too fast to tell "OK we're hot" about 209K 6, 5, 4 2 1. . . has to let camera cool. (6:37 on tape).