Rave Sky Reviews

Being at work since 6:30 am on Friday, December 30, 2016, many co-workers arriving later raved about the brilliant sky they experienced on their way to work. This finally prompted me to take a look and I beheld this beautiful mackerel (altocumulus) sky. A rising sun at 7:30 am CST created the fiery red effect over the blue background, as seen from Progress Drive in Hiawatha, Iowa. A mackerel sky gets its name from its undulating, rippling pattern, similar to fish scales and is caused by high-altitude atmospheric waves. iPhone 6-Plus camera.

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Last Supermoon of 2016

The last "Supermoon" of 2016 sets in the west sky behind the AirFX sports facility in Hiawatha, Iowa at 6:17 am CST on Tuesday, December 13, 2016. The rising plume of steam seen behind and to the right of the facility is emanating from the Duane Arnold Energy Center near Palo. Air temperature was a frigid 3 degrees F. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Efex Effects

These four posted images were created from Silver Efex Pro 2, part of the Nik Collection plug-in. The images were captured on Sunday afternoon, December 4, 2016 from Boyson Park in Marion, Iowa, near the Cedar Rapids border. Snow was still falling at this time and would accumulate to a depth of four inches. Temperature was 32 degrees F, and the wet snow stuck to branches, creating beautiful winter photo opportunities. The bottom image is a panorama. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Late Season Severe Weather Event A Surpriser

Glancing at an AccuWeather alert on my cell phone just before noon on Monday, November 28, 2016, it indicated "strong thunderstorms and half-inch hail," and left me thinking, "wait, what??" Tornado reports began coming in a couple of hours later, and I almost forgot about what time of the season it was! The thin line of severe weather was plodding along at 18 mph at 4:00 pm CST between Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, and I knew the likelihood of it holding up or even being able to see funnels in the growing darkness was very slim, so I stayed put in Cedar Rapids. After one solitary loud crack of thunder, I captured the panorama shown above. The line of storms, now considerably weakened, had finally arrived. Image looks northwest over Bowman Woods Park at 6:11 pm CST. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

The upper radar image above shows four tornado-warned cells at 4:08 pm. These cells would produce five confirmed (EF0) twisters. The lower radar image shows the line of storms corresponding to the top photograph. Air temperature was 50 degrees F, dew point 50 degrees, humidity 100%, and the wind was from the south. Prior to 3:30 pm, the wind was from the SSE.

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Morning Reflectors

Altocumulus clouds situated in the right position in the sky on the morning of Sunday, November 20, 2016 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa reflected the rising sun with spectacular color. Both images posted here were captured at 6:57 am CST from Brentwood Drive NE. Air temperature was 19 degrees F. Actual sunrise was 7:03 am. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Super Harvest Moon

Super Moon. Harvest Moon. Beaver Moon. Frosty Moon. Take your pick. Conditions were very good for viewing the moon's rising on Monday, November 14, 2016 north of Marion, Iowa. Above, the moon peaks over the horizon and through some haze at 5:32 pm CST, about 8 minutes after official moonrise, with farmers still harvesting crops in their fields. The location for these four images was Ross Veterinary Clinic on North Marion Road, about .1-mile north of County Home Road.

5:37 pm. The moon and a farm combine.

5:39 pm. Vertical orientation of the same theme. Air temperature was 48 degrees F.

Supermoon close-up (300mm lens), captured at 5:34 pm. The enlarged, oblate appearance of the moon near the horizon is an optical illusion. Not an illusion is the fact that the moon is closer to the earth than it has been in 69 years (221,525 miles), and won't be this close again until November 25, 2034.  At this moment, the moon was actually waning, as it had reached technical fullness earlier in the day at 7:52 am CST. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Serious Cirrus

With very little cloud cover in other parts of the sky, this line of cirrus (fibratus) stood out spectacularly in the afternoon skies of Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Saturday, November 5, 2016. The panoramic image above, captured at 4:38 pm CDT, looks west over Bowman Woods Park.

Similar capture at 4:41 pm.

Closer shot of the soaring cirrus fibratus tendrils at 4:41 pm, with a forming circumzenithal arc (center).

The circumzenithal arc has now become more pronounced at 4:45 pm. These parhelia phenomena are created by sunlight refracted through a 22-degree angle by horizontally oriented hexagonal ice-crystal plates. The circumzenithal arc is one of the most colorful of the ice crystal phenomena and is always seen high in the sky when the sun is within 18-26 degrees of the horizon. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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My Andromeda Strain

I strained hard to find the galaxy Andromeda (M31) in my camera's viewfinder, and I strained to get a good sharp focus. Using a 70-300mm lens zoomed all the in, the galaxy appears in the upper left portion of the top image. A successful focus was achieved by focusing to infinity in manual, then tweaking it back just a bit. The image, captured from Brentwood Drive NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at 9:05 pm CDT, Friday, November 4, 2016, is a 6 second exposure at f/5.6, 5000 ISO and 300mm focal length. Andromeda was shining at apparent magnitude 4.5 and was 70 degrees above the horizon.

The image above was exposed with the same settings as the image at top, but cropped closer in post-processing. The Andromeda Galaxy is the most distant object that can be seen with the naked eye. It resides some 2.5 million light years from Earth, but is predicted to be on a collision course with the Milky Way in about 4 billion years. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Only The Shadows Know

A vibrant twilight seen from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids on Thursday, October 27, 2016 created contrasty shadows in the foreground trees. This panoramic image was captured at 6:23 pm CDT. Actual sunset was 6:06 pm. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Triple Floaters

This photo opportunity "nudged me right on the shoulder": I began hearing the distinctive sound of a hot air balloon burner, so I naturally went outside to catch a glimpse of it. Not one, not two, but three balloons were clustered together with a beautiful altocumulus background sky to boot on Friday evening, October 21, 2016. The three images shown here look SW from Brentwood Drive NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa near Bowman Woods Park.  Top image was captured at 4:55 pm, middle at 4:56 pm and bottom at 4:58 pm. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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October Sunset

Contrasty stratus clouds seem to emanate from the setting sun and stretch across the sky in this panorama image, captured at 5:55 pm CDT, Wednesday, October 19, 2016. The photograph was made from the grounds at Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Sign From Heaven?

Resembling an Aurora Borealis display in the daytime, or a sign from Heaven (I'm not sure what the sign might be for--it can't be for the Cubs going to the World Series), a long-lived crepuscular ray display graced the skies over Cedar Rapids and Hiawatha Iowa around midday on Wednesday, October 19, 2016. The display persisted over a few hours. The above image looks south from a US Bank location on Council Street in Cedar Rapids at 11:35 am CDT.

11:42 am. From the intersection of Boyson Road and Robins Road in Hiawatha.

11:44 am. From the intersection of Boyson Road and North Center Point Road in Hiawatha.

11:47 am. From North 20th Avenue in Hiawatha, just north of Boyson Road.

11:49 am. From North 18th Avenue, just north of Progress Drive in Hiawatha.

11:49 am. Panorama from same location and time as the previous image. iPhone 6-Plus camera.

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May 16, 2016 Storm Chase Leftovers

From my excess files. Strengthening supercell with inflow cloud (right) looking northeast at 4:45 pm CDT while eastbound on US Highway 56/64, near Felt, Oklahoma.

Similar shot a minute later.

4:47 pm. Close up of supercell's hail core.

4:52 pm. Wall cloud with clear slot (left), looking north from US Highway 56/64, just east of Felt, Oklahoma.

5:22 pm. RFD cut from approaching supercell (right), seen from alongside US Highway 385, just south of the Texas/Oklahoma border. Image looks southwest. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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More Palisades Kepler Flood Pics

Despite the clear and sunny conditions, water was creeping higher in the Cedar River when these images at Palisades Kepler State Park, southeast of Cedar Rapids, Iowa were captured on Monday, September 26, 2016. Image above was photographed at 4:31pm CDT. The parking lot was blocked off from vehicles from the right of this image to the background.

4:32 pm. Flood waters move quickly from right-to-left in this image from the parking lot area temporarily accessible only by foot.

4:43 pm. Submerged park bench, which once overlooked an extensive beach area along the Cedar River at Palisades Kepler. The Cedar River crested at 21.97 feet in downtown Cedar Rapids at 10:30 am on Tuesday, September 27. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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More Palo Flood Pics

One day before flood crest, I was parked alongside Blairs Ferry Road (E36), seen here at 3:39 pm CDT, Monday, September 26, 2016. Image looks west toward the town of Palo, Iowa. Water is nearly up to the road level.

3:43 pm. Turned back around and headed eastbound toward Cedar Rapids. This image looks north at the swollen Cedar River from a bridge just over a mile east of Palo.

Same moment, but looking the opposite direction on the bridge. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Flood Waters In Linn County

Major accumulations of rain from southern Minnesota and northern Iowa in the previous weeks
began flowing into the Linn County Iowa area early on Monday, September 26, 2016. Inundation began by midday. The above image looks northwest at 3:41 pm CDT from Blairs Ferry Road (E36) just east of the town of Palo. The stone in the water in the background bears the name of the town.

A minute later, and now looking southwest toward the Palo Mini Mart, located on 1st Street, which is surrounded by water.

With water levels around 21.5 feet, fast moving water from the Cedar River flows through Palisades Kepler State Park around 4:40 pm.

A park bench once located along the grassy shore of the Cedar River at Palisades Kepler State Park now sits half submerged in flood waters at 4:43 pm. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Sunset Following The Storm

On an afternoon/evening that featured two severe-warned storm cells in Iowa--one north and one south, and a tornado watch to boot, in between were spectacular sunsets. In the image above, captured at 6:24 pm CDT, Monday, September 19, 2016, the sun is behind the ADM plant south of Cedar Rapids while I was northbound on Interstate 380.

Still northbound on I-380, this view looks west over Cedar Lake in Cedar Rapids at 6:29 pm. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Thundershower Arrival

A thundershower, complete with heavy rain and lightning was minutes away when captured here at Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The image looks west over Bowman Woods Elementary School at 5:12 pm CDT, Thursday, September 22, 2016. A training of rain with thunderstorms followed this cell through the night, adding to expected Cedar River flooding conditions for the weekend. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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