Storms over the Windy City (video)

June 28, 2010 8:55 PM

Last Wednesday, a series of thunderstorms rolled through downtown Chicago. At least once, the John Hancock Building, Trump International Hotel and Tower, and the Willis Sears Tower got struck simultaneously (vimeo).

More, choppier but rainbow infused footage of Chicago getting nailed here.

Still photo shot of Trump and What'chu Talkin' Bout Willis Tower from the Hancock skydeck via the Tribune.

posted by Ufez Jones (40 comments total)

Maybe someone with meteorological knowledge could explain why this happens - is it one humongous buildup of ions that happens to cover an arc above these towers, or what?
posted by Hardcore Poser at 9:08 PM on June 28, 2010

That was a hell of a storm. 77mph winds, and our building sent out a notice that we should leave work early to be safe.
posted by shakespeherian at 9:14 PM on June 28, 2010

Dr. Peter Venkman: This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.
Mayor: What do you mean, "biblical"?
Dr Ray Stantz: What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath of God type stuff.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Exactly.
Dr Ray Stantz: 15,000 lightning strikes coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas overflowing!
Dr. Egon Spengler: A few days or weeks of soggy darkness! Rain, and some more lightning...
Winston Zeddemore: The dead rising from the grave!
Dr. Peter Venkman: Human sacrifice, dogs and cats all getting wet... mass hysteria!
posted by filthy light thief at 9:18 PM on June 28, 2010 [7 favorites]

Neat! (And even better when muted!)
posted by Burhanistan at 9:25 PM on June 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

I was watching a fair bit of that from the upper level of some Navy Pier building that was all glass and afforded an impressive view. What I found most pleasing (and totally new to me) were the bright pink, spirally, corkscrew-shaped lightning tentacles, each appearing to be a few miles long -- I saw dozens of them. It was a lovely storm visually, and it really made up for the fact that I was at Navy Pier.
posted by heyho at 9:27 PM on June 28, 2010 [3 favorites]

Well it is clearly corpsetaker and a bit of Thaumaturgy.
posted by mrgroweler at 9:30 PM on June 28, 2010 [2 favorites]

Why are you denying Wesley Willis the tower that stands as a 110-story monument to his life and work?
posted by decagon at 9:33 PM on June 28, 2010 [14 favorites]

Rock over London, Rock on Chicago.
posted by avocet at 9:52 PM on June 28, 2010 [5 favorites]

My potential awe at the glory of this shot is ruined by my rage at the use of loathsome Vimeo to display a single freaking image.
posted by clarknova at 10:34 PM on June 28, 2010 [3 favorites]

I was on the brown line coming home from downtown when this storm hit. I thought the train was gonna get blown off the tracks. The rainbow appeared long after the brunt passed. I managed to get my own shot of it.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 10:46 PM on June 28, 2010

Directed filmed and edited by: Craig Shimala

I'm going to start tagging myself as the director, photographer, editor, uploader, and sharer of all of my photos. That'll show 'em.
posted by pkingdesign at 10:52 PM on June 28, 2010 [2 favorites]

Human sacrifice, dogs and cats all getting wet... mass hysteria!


Point of interest. I believe the line goes "Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!"

Pencildick.
posted by humannaire at 10:53 PM on June 28, 2010 [7 favorites]

Why are you denying Wesley Willis the tower that stands as a 110-story monument to his life and work?

Oh, c'mon. It's not like the Rock'N'Roll McDonald's got struck.
posted by mykescipark at 10:55 PM on June 28, 2010 [2 favorites]

Signals Officer: Sir, we're still trying to make out exactly what happened, but it appears that the shields came up at 0:14 in response to a surprise alien attack, went down at about 0:37, came back online briefly at about 1:30... but too late...

Captain: Bastards. Any escape pods detected?

Signals Officer: None, sir.
posted by pracowity at 11:08 PM on June 28, 2010

My potential awe at the glory of this shot is ruined by my rage at the use of loathsome Vimeo to display a single freaking image.
posted by clarknova at 10:34 PM on June 28 [+] [!]

Wait, what's wrong with Vimeo? It's great!
posted by GilloD at 11:09 PM on June 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

My potential awe at the glory of this shot is ruined by my rage at the use of loathsome Vimeo to display a single freaking image.

Uh, are you just looking at the static frame? It's a full video, and an awesome one at that. Click play.
posted by decagon at 11:23 PM on June 28, 2010

Wait, what's wrong with Vimeo?

Lots. I'm relieved to hear I'm not the only one having issues with it. It seems it takes forever to display, forever to load, and is unnecessarily difficult to control. Other video sites (YouTube, MetaCafe, MegaVideo, etc.) don't do that for me, not even for the HD videos.

I dread seeing a post that talks about a video I want to watch and then finding out it's on Vimeo. I usually end up looking to see if it's hosted elsewhere or just ripping the video off the web with a videodownloader and watching it from the local file.

I did get to see the video, BTW. Very impressive and beautiful from afar, but it must have really sucked to be caught underneath that storm.
posted by Avelwood at 11:32 PM on June 28, 2010 [2 favorites]

That was a beautiful storm.

Unfortunately, it was also responsible for myself (and many, many others) spending a rough night sleeping on the benches at O'Hare airport, which was not beautiful.
posted by HighTechUnderpants at 12:10 AM on June 29, 2010

This was a fun day at the office. I had two deadlines and then was prompted to evacuate down the stairs at Sears Tower (never gonna stop calling it that). Luckily I'm only on the fourth floor.
posted by ziadbc at 12:22 AM on June 29, 2010

humannaire - you're joking, yes?
posted by tzikeh at 12:24 AM on June 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

Point of interest. I believe the line goes "Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!"

Also, I don't think there was anything about lightning.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 12:43 AM on June 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

Point of interest. I believe the line goes "Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!"

Pencildick.

Isn't it "dickless"? Serious question. I searched and found both but I'm standing by mine. Any argument is pointless.
posted by hal9k at 3:14 AM on June 29, 2010

Isn't it "dickless"? Serious question.

The mayor cuts Venkman off after his comments. The dickless comment comes earlier in the scene and is made by Ray.

I, errr... don't think humannaire intended the pencildick comment to be read as part of the movie quote.
posted by Avelwood at 3:50 AM on June 29, 2010

Yes, that is correct. This man has no dick.
posted by nevercalm at 4:10 AM on June 29, 2010 [2 favorites]

Point of interest. I believe the line goes "Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!"

Right you are, Ken.

The supposed lightning from the skies part is actually "fire and brimstone."
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:20 AM on June 29, 2010

ZUUL!
posted by Servo5678 at 5:17 AM on June 29, 2010

for the record, i prefer vimeo to youtube, generally.
posted by empath at 5:53 AM on June 29, 2010

Is it Ghostbusters 2?
posted by flabdablet at 6:30 AM on June 29, 2010 [2 favorites]

I would really enjoy those shots if it weren't for the fact that those storms knocked out power at O'Hare and caused me to have to reroute my flights which included having to change departure airports and a harrowing, frantic cab drive at rush hour with my three-year-old strapped down in a cheap airline loaner car seat.
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 6:48 AM on June 29, 2010

Beautiful, powerful images...

I just returned from Connecticut, where folks are still shaking their heads over the Bridgeport tornado. Is it just me, is it just better reporting, or does it seem as though really savage weather is increasingly the norm? If it isn't a twister it's a flood. Add the occasional earthquake (we had one here in Central New York recently) and it seems the earth and its systems are getting mighty cranky.

I think the planet is getting ready to shake us off, the way a terrier shakes the snow off its coat. And sadly, we'll deserve it.
posted by kinnakeet at 6:49 AM on June 29, 2010

I'm pretty sure Harry Dresden is involved somehow.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 7:05 AM on June 29, 2010

A truly seriously question: Would people present when the buildings were struck have any possibility of being afflicted with frizzy hair, static-y clothing, or the like? Or are these buildings built such that they completely dissipate current before it would ever have any kind of effect on inhabitants? (I tend to think the latter, but just curious.)
posted by GnomeChompsky at 7:20 AM on June 29, 2010

They have grounded lightning rods, so no, no effect.
posted by empath at 7:45 AM on June 29, 2010

This was from the tail end of a series of storms that beat the hell out of the area for a couple of days. On Monday, my neighborhood got nailed and we were without power for something like 18 hours.

It was the suck.

Still, when presented with the majesty of it all, there is only one thing I can think to say; "That's a big Twinkie"
posted by quin at 11:50 AM on June 29, 2010

ZUUL!

ZEUS!
posted by homunculus at 11:53 AM on June 29, 2010

ZUUL!

ZEUS!

ZAIUS!

(What were we talking about?)
posted by Sys Rq at 12:21 PM on June 29, 2010

I think "pencildick" was a Cool World thing, not in any way related to Ghostbusters...?
posted by Jpfed at 12:41 PM on June 29, 2010

Wow, people hate vimeo now? I always liked it 5 times more than youtube. Mostly for the quality of the videos, though, not their resolution.
posted by tehloki at 3:01 PM on June 29, 2010

I was in Chicago a couple years ago, and at some point was outside just as a thunderstorm was blowing itself out...but it still had enough steam for a single bolt to strike the top of the Sears Tower, just as I was glancing up at it.

Left me utterly awestruck. It's the only time I've seen a thunderbolt that close. And I swear I saw the top of the tower smoking afterward.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:12 PM on June 29, 2010

I searched and found both but I'm standing by mine. Any argument is pointless.

One of the many benefits of having several terabytes of movies and music at my fingertips is that I can confirm quotes in a matter of seconds.

Ray: Everything was fine with our system until the power grid was shut off by dickless here.
Walter Peck: THEY caused an explosion!
Mayor: Is this true?
Venkman: Yes, it's true. This man has no dick.
---
Mayor: What do you mean, "biblical"?
Ray: What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor.
Venkman: Yes.
Ray: Real wrath of God type stuff.
Venkman: Exactly.
Ray: Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling!
Egon: 40 years of darkness! Earthquakes! Volcanoes!
Winston: The dead, rising from the grave!
Venkman: Human sacrifice! Dogs and cats, living together... MASS HYSTERIA!
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:54 AM on June 30, 2010