About

Hi, I’m Jen!

I’m a photographer that happens to spend a lot of time photographing the fury of Mother Nature, Lightning. I have an unhealthy obsession with lightning, and while I may know how I will die some day, it’s all just to teach you how to be safe! I’m also a coin dealer and a complete nerd though you’d not much assume that in person! Call me a stay-at-home storm chaser. When I get bored, things get crazy. Code starts running, mad scientist ideas start flowing out, and I just can’t stop until there is an ending. Thankfully this ending happened to be a piece of software that many people and students find helpful. I have three bigger pieces of software in my portfolio, DeepTask, which is your heavy duty process manager, CoinScope Pro, for all my fellow coin nerds who over analyze coins at the cellular level, and now LightningWX. Somehow all obsessions end up with a piece of my own software because I get tired of no software being satisfying enough. Every weather app out there always has just something missing. I always want it all. So, if you have a feature request, I’m happy to oblige if it’s interesting and nerdy enough! Message me!

Lightning photograph by Jen (@lightninghunter): a brilliant bolt branches like a tree across a deep blue night sky above a tall pine silhouette and a row of low houses with one lit window. — Photo by Jen · @lightninghunter

Twelve Voices, One Keyboard

People who know me will tell you I contain multitudes. The photographer, the light scientist, the geek, the teacher, the skeptic, the mom and the redhead with opinions all chime in on every page I write. Don’t be like me and let all twelve talk at once before the coffee kicks in. You just read the part you need, and skip the rest.

Coding and All Things Geeky

I love writing code. I’m a huge Marvel and Deadpool fan, I’m secretly scientific and severely analytical, and if a feature has even a small chance of being useful, I want it in there. I write the software, break it, and write down what broke.

SKYWARN Storm Spotter

I’m a trained National Weather Service SKYWARN storm spotter. Spotters report what they see to the NWS so forecasters can issue better warnings. That part of my life is serious, and it’s why LightningWX always points you to official National Weather Service warnings and your local emergency officials.

NWS severe thunderstorm and flash flood warning polygons with the Active Alerts list — LightningWX always points you to the official NWS warnings.

The Human Lightning Rod

I photograph lightning, which means I’m the one standing outside when a storm rolls in. Call me the human lightning rod. I do it so you don’t have to: when thunder roars, go indoors, and watch the strikes from inside with LightningWX.

My lightning photographs live on Instagram at @lightninghunter. Every one of them was taken by someone who should have been indoors. Enjoy them from your couch.

Lightning photograph by Jen (@lightninghunter): bright branching lightning arcs sideways across a purple night sky in long, looping channels above silhouetted trees and a utility pole. — Photo by Jen · @lightninghunter

GenM Software

LightningWX is made by GenM Software. You can find the company and its other work at GenMSoft.com.

Gallery

From My Lens

Lightning photograph by Jen (@lightninghunter): a jagged violet bolt drops from the upper right of a dark, cloudy night sky, with faint branching channels at left and silhouetted treetops below. — Photo by Jen · @lightninghunter

Lightning photograph by Jen (@lightninghunter): a single bright lightning channel snakes in a wide S-curve across a hazy violet sky above dark tree silhouettes. — Photo by Jen · @lightninghunter

Lightning photograph by Jen (@lightninghunter): two thin violet lightning channels hang from the top of a dark night sky above tall tree silhouettes and low rooftops with a single porch light. — Photo by Jen · @lightninghunter

Credits

Meteorological inspiration and credit go to Ava C. Flavell. LightningWX also stands on public science: data from NOAA, the National Weather Service, NASA and USGS. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them.

— Jen