I’ve organized the information below into storm chasing confessions, which are similar to storm stories but with a more personal touch. I have included some interesting chasing experiences, a few funny moments and I explain what went wrong with my chase of the infamous derecho in June 2012.

Confession No. 1: My primary storm chasing goal is to photograph lightning striking the Washington Monument.

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To me, the Washington Monument looks like a giant lightning rod. In my early years of photographing storms, I expected lightning to hit the monument fairly frequently, but I have found it doesn’t happen a lot, at least when I’m running a camera.

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In my 16 years of storm chasing, I’ve only photographed lightning striking the Washington Monument once. The thunderstorm that produced the lightning strike was miles away, to the north, creating distant lightning flashes with no thunder. Then suddenly, a massive lightning bolt struck the side of the Washington Monument. The streamer from the top of the monument never connected the circuit with the main bolt but is visible in the photo.

I was in the Jefferson Memorial at the time, and I had just started shooting my camera. The lightning strike was a surprise to me and the tourists around me. The thunder was very loud!

My lightning strike photo has been included in two weather books and is displayed on a wall at the top of the Washington Monument, near the down elevators.

Confession No. 2: I’ve spent time in the back of a police cruiser during a storm chase.

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It’s not as bad as it sounds. Back in 2003, I got to know a few U.S. Park Police officers while storm chasing along Constitution Avenue. During a chase on Aug. 16, 2003, an officer pulled up next to me and asked how I was doing. I was photographing from inside my truck for lightning safety reasons, and I complained to the officer that all of the lightning was behind me, and I had not photographed a single bolt.

The officer told me to get in the back of the cruiser, and we drove across the grass to the other side of the Washington Monument. This was before the security barricades were placed around the Washington Monument and before the grass restoration efforts had started on the Mall.

I took the above photo with my tripod rested on the back seat of the police cruiser and with my camera pointing out of the window. We were parked on the grass, just below the monument. That was the last time I was in the back of a police cruiser, but I’d be happy to try it again for another storm chase.

Confession No. 3: Bigger is better.

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Bigger is better when photographing storms. Supercell thunderstorms, which tend to be the most intense, produce frequent lightning, towering cloud tops and tornadoes. We’re fortunate that the D.C. area does not receive the magnitude of severe weather and storm damage that occurs in the Midwest.

I have never photographed a tornado, and I hope I don’t while chasing in Washington, but I like to photograph big lightning displays.

In the above photo, a line of thunderstorms was departing to the east of Washington as a massive lightning flash traversed along the backside of the thunderstorms, moving quickly from south to north. Because the lightning traversed a very long distance across the sky, probably dozens of miles, rolling thunder was produced that lasted for many seconds.

Confession No. 4: The Jefferson Memorial is my favorite.

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If lightning is not going to strike the Washington Monument, I love to photograph the Jefferson Memorial. Whether I’m shooting cherry blossoms, thunderstorms or snowstorms, the Jefferson Memorial has always been my favorite memorial in the District. I’m a little biased because I attended the University of Virginia, Mr. Jefferson’s university.

In the photo above, the thunderstorm was 10 miles to the west of Washington, located over Fairfax County. Visibility was good, which allowed me to photograph the distant lightning from the edge of the Tidal Basin.

Confession No. 5: Tourists often block my shots.

Tourists frequently walk in front of my camera while I’m shooting storms. But when one walks in front of my camera during a lightning flash, they resemble a giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in my photo.

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This occurs because a lightning flash acts like a giant flashbulb for the camera which creates a silhouette of the person who is standing in front of the camera. If the person is close to the camera, the silhouette is huge compared with the objects in the background.

And because I’m running long, timed exposures, clouds will also appear inside the silhouette of the person when he or she walks away, which will then make the person look rather puffy. So, unfortunately, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man will make occasional appearances in my storm photos.

Confession No. 6: I rarely photograph storm damage, but when I do, I shoot a row of Don’s Johns blown over in a storm.

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After the June 2012 derecho, every road heading home was blocked by fallen trees. Storm damage was extensive, and it took me several hours to finally return home from the District.

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During the trek home that night, I was cold, tired and rain-soaked. I didn’t feel like stopping to shoot any storm damage photos. But when I saw a row of Don’s Johns blown over on their sides, I couldn’t resist stopping, unpacking my camera gear, and taking a photo. It’s one of my favorite derecho photos.

The Don’s Johns in the photo had been set out for the District’s Fourth of July celebration, which was scheduled to occur the following week. I doubt many had been used at that point, so it wasn’t quite as gross as it would be if the storm had occurred after the holiday.

Confession No. 7: I love stacking lightning bolts.

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If the camera and tripod are not moved when shooting lightning, the photos can be stacked on top of one another to form a single image with all of the lightning bolts pulled to the top of the stack. Adobe Photoshop makes this possible by displaying the brightest pixels in each layer on top of the stack. It’s very easy to do.

In the image above, 34 lightning photos from a 2011 storm were stacked together with all of the lightning displayed. The stacked image represents a 40-minute period while the storm moved east of Washington.

Confession No. 8: I’m a subway storm chaser.

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While storm chasers in the Midwestern states are driving 70-plus mph down country roads, tracking down supercell thunderstorms, I’m thumping along Metro’s Orange line, counting the stops and trying not to fall asleep.

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My storm chasing rule is if a thunderstorm occurs during rush hour, I take Metro. Even fair-weather cumulus clouds can outrun cars in D.C.-area rush-hour traffic. If a thunderstorm occurs later in the evening, however, I drive into town.

In the photo above, I was returning late one evening from a storm chase on Metro. A group of young women sitting in the seats in front of me may have had a drink or two before boarding the train — I’m not really sure — but I photographed the scene as they laughed and flipped upside down on the ceiling hand rails. I’ve posted this photo a couple of times on our blog without anyone commenting to say, “Hey, that’s me.”

A video of the Derecho shot from inside the Jefferson Memorial, June 29, 2012. (Kevin Ambrose)

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Confession No. 9: The derecho of 2012 caught me off guard.

There was something wrong with the way the derecho of 2012 approached. There was no thunder, no distant lightning flashes, and there was not even a breeze before the storm. It was perfectly calm and silent as a grave until the moment the storm struck.

I was storm chasing with Ian Livingston that night, and we let our guard down. We should have been closely tracking the storm on radar but we were chatting instead. It wasn’t until we saw dozens of transformers blowing up across the Potomac River, in Arlington, that we knew we were in trouble. We had a long walk around the Tidal Basin to seek cover in the Jefferson Memorial and very short time to get there.

The wind went from zero to 70 mph in seconds when we were less than half of the way to the Jefferson. It was a difficult task to walk the rest of the way around the Tidal Basin with the strong wind and blinding rain.

Ian and I got beat up pretty bad by the storm. I lost a camera, and Ian lost a lens. Check out the above video and imagine being outside that night in the storm. It still gives me the shivers to think about it.

Confession No. 10: Chasing a rainbow is hard.

Rainbows can be predicted using radar and satellite data. If radar shows a sharp line of showers or thunderstorms moving east during the late afternoon, and satellite imagery shows clear skies behind the line of storms, a rainbow will often occur.

But it only takes one cloud to block the sunlight and spoil a rainbow. That’s why it’s challenging and frustrating to chase rainbows. There are a lot of potential spoilers in the sky.

I’ve been successful a few times in predicting a rainbow, driving to a desired location, then watching the rainbow appear while taking photos. It’s a fun experience. My favorite rainbow from storm chasing, which is displayed in the photo above, was just luck. I was hoping to photograph lightning but was treated to a rainbow instead.

A roll cloud in time-lapse rolls over Washington, May 14, 2016. (Kevin Ambrose)

Confession No. 11: Roll clouds are really cool.

I never thought much of roll clouds until I shot a video of one rolling across the sky over Washington. They look very cool in time-lapse.

Well-defined roll clouds are kind of rare, at least in my experience. This is the only roll cloud I have photographed during my storm chases, but I’ve seen a few before I started photographing storms.

Confession No. 12: I’m very serious about lightning safety.

I always try to photograph thunderstorms from under a roof or inside a vehicle. I venture out in the open only when I feel the storm is a safe distance away. But it’s difficult for many people in the District to make a good judgment call about lightning safety when there are dozens of tourists walking about in the storm, giving the illusion that it’s safe to venture out. That happens with almost every thunderstorm I photograph.

Occasionally, thunderstorms form directly overhead, and lightning strikes nearby, without warning. Those are a few of the occasions I’ve been caught out in the open with lightning. That is what happened when I shot the Lincoln lightning photo above. I took the photo as I walked up the steps of the Lincoln to take cover.

Confession No. 13: Snowstorms are my first love, thunderstorms are second.

I love chasing thunderstorms and taking lightning photos, but it all started with my love of snowstorms back when I was in grade school. I’ll always prefer a snowstorm over a thunderstorm.

And when we have a really big snowstorm in the forecast, like we did back in January 2016, I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas morning. I never get that feeling with thunderstorms. Perhaps I’ll do a snowstorm chasing post in the future. I photographed dozens of snowstorms in Washington, starting with the blizzard of 1996.

Confession No. 14: My scariest D.C. storm story involves rats. (no photo)

Two summers ago, I was shooting a thunderstorm, and I put my glasses down on terrace of the Lincoln Memorial, next to my tripod. A wind gust, during the height of the storm, blew my glasses off the terrace into the darkness below.

After the storm was over, I went searching for my glasses. I couldn’t find them in the grass below but noticed there was a trash can directly below the terrace.

I bent down low and peered into the trash can, hoping to see my glasses. What I saw instead were several huge rats. And those rats made a huge commotion and jumped up directly at my face. One rat came a few inches from my nose as I jumped back.

Let me tell you that was terrifying! I’ll never do that again. And, if you’re wondering, I never found my glasses but didn’t really care after my rat scare.

Below find some more of my favorite photos from storm chasing in the District...