Intense lightning, a shelf cloud and another bridge

On July 24, I drove a short distance to the Ashley River, where the North Bridge connects Charleston and North Charleston. I set up by the river as a severe thunderstorm rolled through. The above shot is of the shelf cloud that it formed, and a crescent moon.

Even at night, the layers in the clouds were plain to see when lit by lightning.

The lightning was frequent, but I struggled to capture it without my rain-ruined Nikon, which is equipped with a remote control.

The precipitation seemed focused in the central section of the storm.

Lightning through the rain.

The lightning illuminated some nice structure underneath this storm. It was surprisingly healthy for a storm that formed after sunset and persisted in the nighttime hours.

The shelf cloud directly overhead.

I looked in the other direction and saw the shelf cloud pushing into Charleston.

A branching bolt extended from a low cloud.

It's electric.

A closeup.

After a bit, the rain became unbearable, and I took cover under the bridge, where people where casting nets for fish.

This shot represents four sequential strikes in the same column. Unlike anything I've heard, thunder actually rang out four distinct times. Deafening.