I'm Dreaming of a (WHAT?) Christmas

Probably the best Christmas ever (weatherwise) for me! On this day in Cedar Rapids, Iowa the temperature topped out at 59 degrees F, an all-time record by one degree. Records indicated it was even warmer than the previous Mother's Day! Above, the sun shines over a rural Shueyville, Iowa pond at 12:30 pm on Wednesday, December 25, 2019. Despite the warmth, the pond still had some five-inch-thick ice covering it.

Similar capture at the same time. iPhone 6-Plus camera.

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Moon and Planets on Frosty Night

A full moon is shown rising from behind Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at 5:21 pm CST, Wednesday, December 11, 2019. This image is a 1/40 second exposure at f/5.6, ISO 400 and 55mm focal length. The moon was rated 99.9% full at this moment.

In the southwest sky, two minutes later, the planets Venus and Saturn were positioned within two degrees of one another. The brighter Venus gleamed at magnitude -3.95 while the fainter Saturn shown at magnitude 0.57. This image is a 1/40 second exposure at f/5.6, ISO 1250 and 55mm focal length. Air temperature was a frosty 15 degrees F. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Cold Front Creates a "Snow Squall Warning"

A sudden burst of falling snow officially became a "Snow Squall Warning" in Cedar Rapids, Iowa during the early afternoon of Monday, December 9, 2019. A Radarscope capture from 12:39 pm CST, complete with a blue polygon is shown above, indicating a very thin but intense line of precipitation moving east.

Meanwhile, on the ground, this was the view looking west toward Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids during the snow squall. The above image was captured at 12:35 pm.

This image, and the one below it were 12:37 pm captures. Air temperature was at 28 degrees F, falling from 41 degrees just a few hours before. Air temperature would continue to fall to 16 degrees by day's end. Snow squalls are sometimes accompanied by gusty winds and whiteout conditions, and are in essence a winter version of a severe thunderstorm warning from warmer months. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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