As a meteorologist, that lightning bolt at 3:36 was likely less than 200 feet from you. If you listen close, you can actually hear the static discharge of the superheated air before the crack of the thunder hits. That was crazy.

14 years later, this is still the most amazing lightning storm on the internet. Never seen anything like it.

This particular storm was 6 times more potent than an average T storm in Chicago. Reason was extremely warm air with a huge CAPE index, meaning LOTS of energy. The lightning was mostly positive lightning, which is incredibly dangerous.

That particular storm surpasses south Texas lightning storms we usually have them at the vicinity of 500 lightning strikes and very rare over 1,500 strikes for 15 minutes. In McAllen, commonly we get top clouds up to 45,000 feet and once a year to 50,000 feet. If I’m guessing that Chicago storm must’ve been at around 60,000 feet tall thunderstorm. This thunderstorm is so epic.

I remember it also, the lighting was non-stop. The wether stations spent days trying to determine how much current was released by all the lighting. It was really impressive, I have never seen anything like it before or since then.

THAT was bloody FANTASTIC!!! The best storm I've seen here so far!! When the lightning hit the building and the smoke... just WOW!!!

For those meteorological folks: this particular storm was SIX times more powerful than a normal T storm. It was extremely powerful, very high towers of CN and EXTREME energy. I personally have never seen a storm like this EVER on KZfaq, even the tornado chasers have nothing like this.

One of my favourite thunderstorm videos. The thunder is awesome on it and the lightning pretty close.

Fantastic video, I am from Chicago and am an avid storm chaser, I film lightning storms at home all the time and this by far blows them all away. Amazing!!!

This was the scariest storm I’ve yet to experience. Tornados in Iowa, tropical storms-nothing was as scary as this one. I heard the tornado announcement after work, in a specialty cheese shop, and walked a mile home in the sun. When I returned to my sixth-floor condo, a guy friend called me, scared and crying, after 24 hours of incessant lightning. It went on forever, it seemed.

This is such an awesome video! I've seen many videos of this storm, but this has got to be one of the best. Loved it when the car alarms started going off!

I'm a former Chicagoan. That lightning at 2:13 was too close for comfort.

This is my 3rd time watching this. I lived in Chicago and the boonies for 24 years before moving to California. I've witnessed only one storm out here in the Desert once. It was Monsoon season, the weather was humid. Hubby and.I were in bed and we could hear a storm coming in. Thunder and l lightning are rare for us, so we opened the window to listen. Before we knew it, the storm was over us. Then the electric went out. I was the manager of an apartment complex and one of my duties would be to manually open the gate so people could get in and out. I was TERRIFIED! We are talking about impinging the gate and rope it to a Palm tree. I had to have hubby do it. The lightning was overhead and the thunder was deafening. I was standing in the doorway to my office, too frightened to go back to my apartment. Hubby wasn't going to wait for me, so I took off like a bat out of hell. While I love a rousing storm, they are better watched INSIDE rather than working with electronics and metal! Great footage!

Oh sweet mother of God! This is the most intense lighting storm I have ever watched and I have watched a lot. I love a good thunderstorm but I think if I had been in this one I would have been scared to death. Great video! Thank you for sharing

I remember this storm-a funnel passed over me and touched down a mile away in Bloomingdale (EF2), very wicked non-stop lightning!! Great video-nice job!

This was the day I moved to Chicago.

best Thunderstorm video of youtube in my opinion. I like the sound of it all and i cant suggest the best lightningstrike because there all pretty badass. You did a great job. I like by the way how te thunder never ends and getting louder at time. Keepup the good worx!

This storm contains a lot of high amperage lightning. Short and loud thunder explosions.

You must have nerves of steel.... I'd be jumping out of my skin.

Mega hit.Ekstremalnie silna burza!!!😍

It's really looks and sounds like a litteral warzone created by mother nature

I'm not afraid that much of storms but man...seeing this one I would literally cry

ahh yes i remember this storm.. the lightning was soo intense i could see it from 100 miles away over here in south bend, IN.. it eventually hit us too a couple hours later just as strong we actually had tornado around here that night!! incredible storm indeed!!

Yo you guys thunderstorms are incredible and insane

Unbelievable! thank you for sharing!

there are like the most coolest thunderstorms in chicago whenever its august 10,i love it

one of the most intense storms i've ever seen captured on video. totally awesome. 5*!!! would loved to have been there.

Probably my favourite storm vid, even on screen it's just a non-stop violent assault on the senses. Incredible!

Great night time video of this storm. Made a few myself in the Chicago suburbs. Subscribed

This is possibly the greatest lightning video on youtube! Also, the sound of the thunder between 1:28 and 1:43 sounds like it came straight outta of a movie and the close strikes near the end are fantastic. A truly incredible thunderstorm!

This is the craziest lightning I've ever seen.. and I'm from Florida!

Awesome! forgot until now why, as a child in Morton Grove (a suburb) I was so scared of thunderstorms, Fifty years of rationality later, this video brings back all the fear! Too bad it never gets this intense in Seattle. Or maybe I just figured out why I chose to live out hrere

We had a similar severe thunderstorm like that in Milwaukee on the night of June 14, 2009. The forecast called for a hot and humid day with strong to severe thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening..nothing happened...at least I thought ...I was just leaving work from my job a little after 11:00 pm it was Crystal clear, stars and moon was easily seen, but as I started to walk home I notice extreme convection towards our west as lightning began to flicker from a patch of cummulonimbus. And the closer I got towards my home the more frequent the flashes became. And once I finally got in the flashes became very frequent cloud to ground lightning strikes. That scared the hell out of me! Lbvs I turned on my tv to the weather channel and there it was, a massive severe thunderstorm complex that literally exploded right over us. It just shows how the latent heat of the day can ignite these monsters even after sun set!

Simply amazing!!!! How often do you see a storm this severe?

All car alarm on :O that was amazing thanks for sharing

I was only four years old at this day. I was living in the southside of Chicago, probably in Ford City. I remember sleeping with my dad on his car in the parking lot of our apartments. He tried to call my grandma because she had the keys of the house, but didnt pick up, so thats why,

cool!i love the sound of the thunders n the scary lightnings.in my whole entire life,i had never ever dare 2 record this type of storm.

I was at Wrigley when this storm came in. The Tornado siren came on and half the crowd went inside and the other half cheered and ordered more beer. Awesome storm, best of my lifetime!

Was there, survived it, got the traumatic experience. That was the most intense, most violent, most electrifying storm I have ever experienced in my life.

I actually heard about this strom before, this storm was insane lots of cloud to ground lightning strikes in the Chicago area. Man, August of 2008 I was 10 years old at the time, now I'm 26 years old and seeing this video brings me noglastia

Absolutely unbelievable storm/lightning. Wow

You really were at the right place and time for this video. Great footage.

I never saw someting more awsome then this! Incredible!!

1 of the best vids ive seen in a long while wooow

My favorite thunderstorm's video on the net

I think I would have been in a car parked in a storm shelter with ear plugs and ear muffs on. Geez. I find it hard to believe that the charge for all this lighting could have come from the clouds. I suspect there was an electrical connection into spaceplanet via the clouds. If I'm not mistaken when lightning was triggered on purpose it wasn't understood how the amount of charge required (especially these bolts) could be replenished so quickly by the water drops rubbing together theory. I think there is lots we still do not know.

I Admid.. This is my favorite video on KZfaq. I love lightning and thunder, i like the sound and the amazing lights. The best thunder was for me 2:30 because it sticks for a couple of seconds and thats realy cool. The thunderclaps are very nice.

Epic Lightning storm. Wish I could have been there to see it in person.

Amazing video!

I LOVE the thunder in this! Seems it was loud enough to trip the shock sensor as I heard 4 car alarms throughout this video. This would make a wonderful soundscape for a stormy night themed map in a game.

Amazing. You did a great job!

You know its a big ass storm when even the car alarms are cheering!

First thing I said when I saw this, and I just watched the Neverending Story as well.. ''Its....the Nothing!!''

Wow! A very powerful electrical storm

The most terrifying and unbelievable thunderstorm I’ve ever seen. Hardly seems it could be real. Gets your attention.

I'm not yet half way through but thinking, Wow what a storm!! Wow!

I’ve never seen a worse storm than this, that would have been terrifying to witness, I’m totally fascinated by storms but that would have been very scary🙂

oh my god thats a crazy lichtning storm man! how many guardian angels do you have? YOU ARE ONE VERY LUCKY GUY that you don,t GET HIT by lightningstrikes! (best lightningstorm ever!!!) very well filmed!

It was incredible. Some minor tornados touched down there.

I am 28 years old. To date I have never experienced another storm like this one, in terms of electrical energy and how much wind damage was in it. I am still from the area and kind of want another storm like this lol. This video should have more views, a top 10 video for downtown lightning storms on KZfaq.

check the right upper corner , from 4.00 , it looks like a funnel there!! Awsome move really incredibel!

This puts most Arizona lightning storms to shame! This is lightning, Florida-style!

Veľmi prekrásne video 😇😇😇😇s búrkou a bleskami 🌧️🌧️🌧️🌧️⛈️⛈️⛈️⛈️🌩️🌩️🌩️🌩️. Perfektné , super 😇😇😇😇. Len tak ďalej 😇😇😇. Srdečne pozdravujem zo Slovenska 🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰.

BTW, 2:02 its not a tornado. Its a smudge on the window, possibly a fingerprint

Lordy how I miss Chicago thunderstorms!

Some of the thunderclaps sounded like paper being torn apart

we get storms like that everyday here in the gold coast, australia

Amazing ligthning storm. Very close 3:36

If you had storms like this in the south on a regular basis,you wouldn't be able to live there,it would be a F5 tornado disaster area. It only takes a storm half as bad to be an outbreak.

Give that person a cigar..... Filming that without retreating... .? I would have fucked off well away from the window...... Maybe in the cellar of the building they was in.... . Well done big balls. You have videoed , i think the best rapid thunderstorm.

this is incredibleee!! just amazing!! and veryy scaryy!!

Amazing !!!!

Man, such a beefy lightning storm. Sadly, these kind of storms rarely appear on my end (the Netherlands) I hope to witness something like this even it is scary and dangerous. But I love lightning, the beauty, the power of mother nature.

Yikes! Great video.

What time of night was this?

Wow!! I watch a lot of storm videos and I would have to put this one up with the best!! OMG!! If we got this in Oregon, we would definitely think the end is here.. I think you could sell this to Hollywood.. ⚡🤗⛈️

Whoa! The one lightning bolt was right in front of that building! Way too close!

perfect place at the perfect time

That is the most violent storm I have ever seen! How often do you get a storm like that! :)

I remember I was seven when this happened and hah I was so scared. I knew it was gonna happen cause my neighbor warned me but I was so scared because it was the first time I heard the sirens go off. And my parents wouldn't let me go to the basement to sleep with them so I was stuck in my room in the attic crying xD and my dad was like "don't be a wimp this storm is weak" as he marches outside to stop the flooding in my house xD

Des coup de foudre ultra puissant et un Tonnerre bien lourd en air sec ou avec un peu , bref ; L'orage di siècle !! un grand respect a celui qui a filmé ce monstre DU TRES LOURD !!!!!

Incredible.... I live in California - I miss thunderstorms like this. What kept you from crapping your pants?

I even remember this storm, idk why but this storm was so demonic

Wow. I'd like so much to experience a thunderstorm in the windy city 🤤

still INSANE.

Two storms rolled through that evening, one at about 7pm, the other around 11:20pm. I assume this is the latter. I was working in the Loop that night at the Apparel Center and I was outside for both Storms. This was far and away the most intense lightning I've ever experienced in my life. Where was this video taken?

Wow!

@PositivelyBored yeah, i commented before i swa it ;D badass storm!! Dont get any of these in Norway :(

Amazing video. :D It almost is like the world is about to be eat alive by all of the lightning!

Fun fact: I turned 1 when this happened, because my birthday is August 4

Very dangerous lightning 🌩️🌩️🌩️

Some of the lightning appeared to strike pretty close to you. Hope you weren't in any danger.

When I was living on the Atlantic Ocean for a month in the summer we had the lightning storm of all lightning storms. I was out on the road with my Dad and sister. We got home, the neighbours house was on fire from a lightning strike and my mother was in the closet.

I believe lightning storms like this happen in South/South East USA, mostly in Florida and Texas !!! They also happen in Oklahoma state especially tornadic SUPERCELLS... Chicago rarely gets hit by very electric thunderstorms like that despite all avaliable conditions such humidity, heat and mixed layer cape...

1:14 You can see the glow of the transformer that bolt hit.

This is what happens when Thor gets drunk.

1.35 and 1.50 scary and epic!!! Amazing video, best i've seen from the Chicago storm! Great work mate!

This is a good vid of a mayhem storm. Hats off to matey filming it, coz i would have come well away from the window after the first close strike. Not even a moment of panic either. I would have fucking taken cover and hoped for the best. Still.... each to their own

LOL Thunder so loud that the ground vibrates and sets car alarms off!

Очень сильная и опасная гроза! В начале одна из молний подожгла дом! Но гром, в отличие от прежних времён, вовсе глухой.