Phil Ejercito
Lightning over the lake
Today's image is titled Lightning over the lake and was photographed by Phil Ejercito.
A wicked howler of a storm blew through southern Wisconsin on Thursday evening, caressing the region with straight-line winds in excess of 70 mph, along with torrential downpours and scattered hail. Though brief in tenure, this summer squall was intense, cutting power and blowing down scores of trees throughout the region, including dozens in Madison. Sidewalks throughout the city are littered with leaves and smaller branches sheared off by the wind, meanwhile. And as with most big storms, there was a lightning show too. This photo captures a bolt striking north of Lake Mendota, as seen from its shores along the isthmus. More shots of the electrical storm shot by Ejercito can be viewed in this .
Now property owners and municipal governments are dealing with cleaning up the mess created by the Thursday evening winds, as well as by another round of storms that hit town on Friday morning. As noted in a press release issued by the city:
The City of Madison has crews from the Engineering, Forestry, and Streets Divisions responding to problems associated with the wind and rain that battered the City on Thursday night and Friday morning.
"We are mobilizing all necessary resources to ensure public safety and clean up damage from the storm," Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said.
The biggest concern has been downed trees and limbs. Forestry has all available crews working to keep streets clear. Forestry is responsible for clearing up damage to street trees and will respond to remove damaged limbs hanging from trees on the terrace.
"Broken branches are not always apparent," City Forester Marla Eddy said. "We are asking residents to check their street trees for damaged branches that may be hanging and did not fall to the ground."
Some street flooding in low-lying areas was also reported, and city crews are working to clear storm sewers. Street sweepers will follow to finish the job.
More thunderstorms are forecast for Friday night and early Saturday morning, but the rest of the weekend looks like it will be pleasant and sunny.
This is the latest entry of Madison Snaps: photos of Madison-area events and locations. The send a message. There is no compensation for Madison Snaps photos, which are © to the respective photographers.