I think I was 14 years old before I saw my first bolt of lightning in Alaska. Thunderstorms were something we heard about, but they only happened in the “lower 48”. Recently Alaska has seen more and more afternoon cumulous build-up and today it did not even wait until noon. It was 11:45 AM when I saw the first bolt of lightning hit the hill above the landing strip I was headed for. The wind was nearly calm, but I could see the sheets of rain headed down the side of the mountain. I got on the ground and had just begun off-loading when the wind, hail, rain and thunder began to pummel the 185. The thunder was heard almost simultaneously with the flashes of light. I jumped inside the cockpit soaked to my underwear, and enjoyed God’s violent display in nature followed by blue skies and sun. I was grounded for nearly an hour as hail piled a couple inches thick on the north side of all obstructions. I love extreme weather events and I thoroughly enjoyed today’s little storm. This was no Tennessee tornado, but for Alaska … it was pretty intense.
