An impressive storm and the ensuing rainbow

Click for full panorama. | These shots are from a few weeks ago - Saturday, June 5 - when Brevard County was hit by a few strong thunderstorms. Since then, there hasn't been too much activity. I'm hoping that changes. Without lightning, Florida is a bore. The above is a panorama stitched together from 11 photos of a storm as it blew over the Pineda Causeway just north of Melbourne.

A boat motored under the causeway as I pulled to the roadside.

Heavy rain falls near downtown Melbourne. I was fortunate to avoid most of the rain on the northern end of the thunderstorm.

Most of these shots look westward toward the mainland.

The view down the Indian River toward Melbourne.

Lightning was striking near the bright portions of these photos. The bolts were shrouded by rain, though, and they didn't show up.

This is the solitary shot I took from the causeway that looks eastward at Merritt Island as the storm reaches the horizon.

A rolling cloud feature.

This three-image stitch shows the rat tail.

A little lightning. As the storm passed, I huddled under the boardwalk over a sand dune to the beach at Patrick Air Force Base, which is at the end of the Pineda Causeway.

Later in the day, conditions were perfect for a rainbow: sun low in the sky, dark background from the distant storm. Sure enough, one formed over the Atlantic.

The thing I like about rainbows is that the lighting is often just perfect for photos: The sun is always directly behind you, providing sufficient light for the foreground and the background.

Lightning was striking inside the storm behind the rainbow. But I wasn't fortunate enough to catch both weather phenomena in one shot.

Brown pelicans enjoy an oil-free Atlantic Ocean.