Photo of the Day: Lightning Bolt Mid-Strike Hitting a Tree

As the sun set in Bartlesville, Oklahoma last night, photographer and storm chaser Chad Cowan sat in his car and watched a storm intensify so rapidly around him that he feared getting struck by lightning.

"The lightning was so intense that I set my camera up on a tripod and went and sat in my car, but I still was worried about getting struck and made sure not to touch any metal in the car. I've never experienced a lightning barrage like it in my 8 years of storm chasing," he said.

In today's Photo of the day, he captured a lightning bolt mid-strike – hitting a tree.

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