Incredible footage shared Friday by Emmy-winning filmmaker and professional storm chaser Mike Olbinski will give you a whole new level of respect for Mother Nature.
If there were awards for the most visually stunning videos ever shared on social media, Olbinski would probably win them all for his sensational timelapse of a microburst Thursday night over Phoenix, Arizona. I’ve seen some stunning and jaw-dropping footage of weather events here at the Daily Caller (and a few too many in real life, too), but nothing like this has ever graced my screens before.
Time-lapse of the microburst over Phoenix yesterday evening! Hopefully X doesn’t destroy the quality completely. #azwx #monsoon pic.twitter.com/5mB7naTBj5
— Mike Olbinski (@MikeOlbinski) August 23, 2024
Stills taken of the storm and shared publicly via Twitter by Olbinski are just as incredible. Like in the footage, he managed to capture a rainbow as it danced down onto the desert city. (RELATED: ‘Twisters IRL’ Trailer Will Make Time Stand Still Around You)
Other locals seem to have captured the system too, showing it dump rain and hurl dust into the air over residential neighborhoods. One Twitter user shared a video of thick hail blanketing the ground as monsoonal rain systems hit Arizona.
Wow huge storm over Phoenix right now! #azwx pic.twitter.com/8lS5tHhvYp
— Mike Olbinski (@MikeOlbinski) August 22, 2024
@MikeOlbinski @azfamily @JorgeTWeather gilbert pic.twitter.com/9e3fmYUPoq
— VLo 919 to 602 (@Vanessa_J_NC) August 22, 2024
Hail storm got followed by a microburst that took down one of our trees, and partially uprooted another#Phoenix #monsoon2024 pic.twitter.com/qQGrwFNg6Z
— Sam Stone (@SamThePol) August 23, 2024
But it really is Olbinski’s video that takes the cake here. Watching such an enormous event occur, right above our heads, should remind us all of the sheer power of Mother Nature. And the next time you’re feeling powerful or in control, please remember that humanity has never been able to replicate our weather systems. They’re so complex, so intricate. We could never. (RELATED: Monsoon Dust Storm Causes Pandemonium In Phoenix, Arizona)
Thankfully, temperatures in Phoenix were an easy 84 degrees Friday morning, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). More storms are expected as the afternoon rolls around, bringing potentially high winds, dust and localized heavy rainfall for parts of southeast Arizona and east of the city.