# what the heck is happening in this volcano storm photo? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 7, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-happening-in-this-volcano-storm-photo/452148 "2008-06-07T17:51:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![drhess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@drhess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drhess)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-happening-in-this-volcano-storm-photo/452148/1 "2008-06-07T17:51:04Z")
If you scrool down three or four photos on the page linked below, you will see several amazing shots of an electrical storm mixing with a volcano eruption. The caption says that explanations for this diverge, but anybody have a theory as to what causes? (Kind of looks like the end of the world, eh?) :eek: [http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/06/chaiten\_volcano\_still\_active.html](http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/06/chaiten_volcano_still_active.html) ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-happening-in-this-volcano-storm-photo/452148/2 "2008-06-07T17:57:33Z")
[QUOTE=drhess] If you scrool down three or four photos on the page linked below, you will see several amazing shots of an electrical storm mixing with a volcano eruption. The caption says that explanations for this diverge, but anybody have a theory as to what causes? (Kind of looks like the end of the world, eh?) :eek: [http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/06/chaiten\_volcano\_still\_active.html](http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/06/chaiten_volcano_still_active.html) [/QUOTE] I can’t answer the question, but those are awesome photos! Thank you for the link. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-happening-in-this-volcano-storm-photo/452148/3 "2008-06-07T17:58:00Z")
Lightning is frequently associated with violent ash eruptions. The leading theory posits that friction between ash particles causes the buildup of charge, although the precise mechanism of charge separation that leads to lightning is not well understood. Something causes more of one charge polarity to be lofted into the air than the other, otherwise there wouldn’t exist a strong potential difference between the ash cloud and the ground. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-happening-in-this-volcano-storm-photo/452148/4 "2008-06-07T18:17:08Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] Lightning is frequently associated with violent ash eruptions. The leading theory posits that friction between ash particles causes the buildup of charge, although the precise mechanism of charge separation that leads to lightning is not well understood. Something causes more of one charge polarity to be lofted into the air than the other, otherwise there wouldn’t exist a strong potential difference between the ash cloud and the ground. [/QUOTE] Just vacuum up a bunch of dust with a shopvac for a shocking illustration… ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-happening-in-this-volcano-storm-photo/452148/5 "2008-06-07T18:19:41Z")
Fires that have intense heat can creat their own weather, so it’s not a great leap that volcanos do the same. [news story](http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/state&id=5719024) > [@](#): > > Battalion chief Mark Neveau has fought many Southern California wildfires in his 28-year career. He says when so many massive fires are burning out of control; the heat generated from the flames can create its own weather pattern. [news story](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10154687) > [@](#): > > “When you see a plume like that, that’s actually creating its own weather, you get unpredictable fire behavior,” Birger said. “A lot of BTUs are being released and rising. It’s causing its own squirrelly winds.” I know these aren’t true cites, but I have read the science in one of my husband’s firefighting manuals from his academy days. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-happening-in-this-volcano-storm-photo/452148/6 "2008-06-07T18:25:49Z")
They look re-colored or at least touched-up to me. I’m not 100% sure they are because I’m not a photo expert, but I’d be very surprised to find out they weren’t. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-happening-in-this-volcano-storm-photo/452148/7 "2008-06-07T18:34:41Z")
[QUOTE=Cisco] They look re-colored or at least touched-up to me. [/QUOTE] [Reuters toughens rules after altered photo affair](http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL18678707) I expect the lightning shots are long exposures, but recoloring or adding bolts would probably get the photographer fired nowdays. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-happening-in-this-volcano-storm-photo/452148/8 "2008-06-07T18:37:18Z")
[QUOTE=Cisco] They look re-colored or at least touched-up to me. I’m not 100% sure they are because I’m not a photo expert, but I’d be very surprised to find out they weren’t. [/QUOTE] Being photographs of lightning, one would think they’d have to be time-lapse, which could make an already dramatic event look even more dramatic. ---
**Author:** ![drhess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@drhess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drhess)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-happening-in-this-volcano-storm-photo/452148/9 "2008-06-07T18:46:57Z")
[QUOTE=beowulff] Just vacuum up a bunch of dust with a shopvac for a shocking illustration… [/QUOTE] Ahh…yes, that does happen when I vaccum up “pet odor control” powder I sprinkle on the carpet!! Scared the hell out of me the first time, now just annoys the heck out of me. How can I prevent that? (If I can self-hijack my post.) ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-happening-in-this-volcano-storm-photo/452148/10 "2008-06-07T18:51:46Z")
[QUOTE=drhess] How can I prevent that? (If I can self-hijack my post.) [/QUOTE] Spray some Static Guard into the hose with the vacuum running before using it on the powder. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-happening-in-this-volcano-storm-photo/452148/11 "2008-06-07T21:30:49Z")
I assume you’re curious about the last photo. This was linked to earlier and that link explained that a severe storm was also occurring when that 4th photo was taken. That is why the lightening is occurring so far away from the volcano.