Adelaide man films 'spider lightning' racing across Adelaide sky

Forget New Year’s Eve fireworks, mother nature has provided its own show in Adelaide.

Adelaide man Caleb Travis filmed a spectacular seaside display of “spider lightning” as storms raced across the city on Monday evening.

Weatherzone meteorologist Brett Dutschke told nine.com.au “spider lightning” was a known weather phenomenon but not all that common.

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“Whilst lightning that occurs within the cloud is common, this type of lightning is less common because it’s not just lightning staying in the cloud but it’s travelling across the base of the cloud,” Mr Dutschke said.

“It typically occurs in low level clouds and this appears to be the case in the video.”

“It has the effect of looking like a spider web, so that’s why some people call it that.”

The Bureau of Meteorology recorded two lines of thunderstorms travelling across Adelaide on Monday night and more than 280,000 lightning strikes.