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With a mid and upper level low moving slowly east over New Mexico, north-northeasterly flow continued for the most part
in Arizona. Visible satellite showed cloud cover from Flagstaff southward, and northeastward toward the Four Corners
area. The north and northwest areas of Arizona were clear, and the forecast was for more clearing during the day, and
thunderstoms forming in southern Utah and moving south.
I left Flagstaff at 12:00pm AZT heading for Page, AZ. At the HW 89/HW 89L junction just north of Bitter Springs, AZ, a weak thunderstorm formed and moved slowly south. From my location up on the mesa to the east I had an outstanding view of the thunderstorm and a line of cumulus it had formed from. Arriving in Page, AZ I stopped at the public library to check radar and saw what NOAA WX radio had been reporting for the past hour: thunderstorms forming on a line SW and NE of Bryce Canyon National Park and moving south. I drove northwest on HW 89 towards the Utah border and only 10 miles into Utah I arrived at the line of storms. It was only 3:00pm so shooting the lightning was difficult, as there were few strikes with multiple return strokes. The beautiful desert landscape made up for the inconvience of daytime lightning as I was able to photograph the storms with thier anvils stretched overhead as they passed near the Glen Canyon Dam and over the many canyons in the area. Driving south again from Page after visiting the library one more time, I followed the line down to HW 64 which cuts across to the Grand Canyon. I went west on 64 for 10 miles and stopped along the side of the road. At this point the thunderstorms had blocked enough sunlight that I could begin shooting in bulb mode. To the west and to the south was a great display of lightning for a good 30-40 minutes. At about this time another thunderstorm formed to the north of my position, and was far enough away that lightning was visible both from its base and up in the top parts of the tower. The two photographs below were the results from this location. Later, I continued driving south on HW 89 and ended up at Wupakti National Monument at about 10:30pm AZT with thunderstorms in all directions, but with no rain falling where I was at that time. After about 30 minutes most activity had decreased enough when I had to give up shooting the storms. Still a good day with some good lightning. I slept in the truck that night, camped out in the parking lot of the National Monument. They don't particularily like people doing this, but when you're travelling alone it doesn't make much sense to spend $40 on a hotel room every night. I try to pay for a room every other night, cutting my costs in half. Night between hotel rooms are spent int he back of my truck, with a foam egg-crate and a sleeping bag. 
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