Stormy, stormy night.... totally orageuse!!

We knew it was coming...

This was the Carte de Vigilance

This was Meteo60's animation last evening... the red is the heavy rain!

so, after unplugging all the internet connections,...
and with cold-water-bottles in hand...
we went to bed!


Then... around 3:10AM...

FLASH, BANG, WALLOP!!

...it hit!!

This is the longére... lit by "flash"... the double images are movement over a 10 second exposure.

Strikes over Chevernay way... looking toward Petit Pressigny

Strike above La Jarrie / Grandmont / La Borde...

The trees were bent at a crazy angle as they thrashed in the wind...
the rain hammered down...
we can't be accurate about it, as there has been something jamming the rocker mechanism in the rain gauge...
but suddenly it started recording...
the problem had been flushed away!!

[Could have been a spider's web... or a potter wasp pot... we've had both!!]
It finished at 3.3mm...
however, the fizzical gauge, which was at around 15 or 16mm...
now is reading over 40mm! [Scale stops at 40!!]
Much closer to what we observed...
We waited until the electrical activity had stopped and reconnected the internet and took a look...

This is what the Level Orange Storm Warning said:

Bulletin de vigilance Régional.
CENTRE METEOROLOGIQUE INTERREGIONAL DE RENNES
Numéro:2607O02   
Emis le : vendredi 26 juillet 2013 à 04h00
par : Météo-France Rennes
Date et heure du prochain message : au plus tard le vendredi 26 juillet 2013 à 06h00
   
   
   
Type de phénomène
Orages.
Phénomène en cours.
Fin de phénomène prévue le vendredi 26 juillet 2013 à 09h00

It actually finished around 6:50AM here and we now [7:12] have broken cloud and blue bits!!   
      
Localisation
       
Début de suivi pour :
Aucun département
Maintien de suivi pour :
Eure-et-Loir (28), Loir-et-Cher (41), Loiret (45), Indre-et-Loire (37), Indre (36) et Cher (18).
Fin de suivi pour :
Aucun département
   
Description
       
Qualification du phénomène :
Situation fortement orageuse d'été qui nécessite une vigilance particulière dans la mesure où il existe un risque fort de phénomènes violents.
Faits nouveaux :
Confirmation de la prévision. Les orages ont gagné notre région, des rafales de vent proches de 90 km/h sont relevées à Blois, ainsi qu'une lame d'eau proche de 10 mm localement. De la grêle a été observée dans le Loiret.
Situation actuelle :
Les pluies orageuses couvrent une moitié ouest de la région Centre.
Le département du Cher est pour l'instant peu touché.
[but we could see a bulge in the storm heading that way....
look at the animations below!!]
And see Walt's post for the 26th July 2013....

Evolution prévue :
La zone orageuse traverse la région Centre du sud-ouest au nord-est. Les orages pourront s'organiser en lignes et être forts. Ils pourront s'accompagner de précipitations soutenues, de grêle ainsi que de rafales de vent pouvant atteindre 80 à 90 km/h, voire les dépasser ponctuellement.
[No hail (grêle) here... fortunately!!]
Quelques foyers orageux pourront déborder ponctuellement sur les départements limitrophes au nord (entre le sud-Anjou et le Perche en cette fin de nuit).
Cette zone pluvio-orageuse s'évacuera vers le nord-nord-est au lever du jour.
    
Conséquences possibles
       
Orages/Orange
* Violents orages susceptibles de provoquer localement des dégâts importants.
* Des dégâts importants sont localement à craindre sur l'habitat léger et les installations provisoires.
* Des inondations de caves et points bas peuvent se produire très rapidement.
* Quelques départs de feux peuvent être enregistrés en forêt suite à des impacts de foudre non accompagnés de précipitations.
   
   
Conseils de comportement
       
Orages/Orange
* A l'approche d'un orage, prenez les précautions d'usage pour mettre à l'abri les objets sensibles au vent.
* Ne vous abritez pas sous les arbres. [No ess-aitch-one-tee Sherlock!!]
* Evitez les promenades en forêts. [As above!]
* Evitez d'utiliser le téléphone et les appareils électriques. [If they are still working!!]
* Signalez sans attendre les départs de feux dont vous pourriez être témoins.

And here we have some animations for you...

This is the same map as above... but from 1:45AM to 4:45 AM

This shows rain that is too light to be felt....
however, these...
from...
show a more narrowed band of detail...
and, in the last one, the lightning!!

This is the rain picture...

and this is the lightning [each yellow cross!]

Have a nice day!!

"It's life Jim... but not as we know it!!"

We have plenty of the alien Harlequin Ladybirds [Harmonia axyridis] Coccinelle asiatique around here...

This ladybird was brought in, originally, to control aphids in commercial greenhouses.
[it is also known as the Asian Harlequin]

Not as tricky as it seems with "velcro" feet!

The male is a "two-spot" variation of the Harlequin.

But it soon escaped and is increasing uncontrollably across Europe...
and at the same time apparently causing a massive decline in our native species.
Scientists say the alien is winning because its body fluid contains a parasite toxic to other insects.

There is a lot of information on the web about them... just look up Harlequin Ladybird!
So I'll not repeat it here... but Auntie Beeb had this article recently...

"Invasive ladybirds wage 'biological war' on natives."

on some new research published in Nature

A selection of the colourways...
you will see that all the "multi-spot varieties have one thing in common...
the four central spots form an oval...
none of the native varieties do this.

It would appear, from the article, that the larvae and eggs are infected with a fungus...
to which they are immune...
but, if any other insect eats the larvae or eggs, they are infected with a fungus for which they have no natural immunity ...
Susan of Loire Valley Nature is shortly going to be publishing a deal more on this subject.

Two different colourways of the same pattern on a pair of  Harlequins.

All but the first two of these pictures were taken in Leeds, on a wall just outside our front door....
I have put a goodly selection up as it shows just how numerous and variable they are...
these had all dropped from the Sycamore above the wall.

Looking damaged on hatching... this Harlequin looks the closest to the colour of a human harlequin!!

Please note...
early reports spoke of the Harlequins causing the decline by eating all the native ladybird larvae...
ladybirds are carnivores... all ladybirds will eat others of any soft-bodied creature...
including their own larvae... if aphids are scarce...
and by soft-bodied... I include Man...
as anyone who was in North Norfolk in 1976 will testify.
The bites of a large number of hungry ladybirds hurt!!
The bite of one hungry ladybird hurts!!

There is a You-Tube video of them here...
and a report on the 2009 invasion in the Daily Wail here...

"Plague of ladybirds puts families to flight! Holidaymakers overrun by tens of millions of bugs."

But as the Wail says... despite the numbers, it was a good news story as both the invading species were the native 2-spot and 7-spot varieties...
giving a welcome boost to the declining populations.

Perhaps not the best picture...
but these are two colour versions of the Two-Spot Ladybird...
much smaller and a different leg colour.

Norfolk, Suffolk and the South Coast resorts get the worst attacks as they are closer to the continent...
but the 2009 invasion moved in a wave across the country from the East coast landing points!
The 1976 one must have done too....
as this blog entry states, it hit the Wirral...
but I was too busy nursing the bites to care about reading papers!!