By the Light of the Silvery (and Frigid) Moon

A full moon during the early morning hours of Thursday, January 28, 2021 provided ample light and long shadows to our backyard. The image above was captured at 5:13 am CST and is a 6 second exposure at f/5.6, ISO 200, 24mm focal length.

5:13 am. Although picturesque in the moonlight, conditions were anything but--with temperatures at this moment at 2 degrees F. Have a seat? 6 second exposure at f/5.6, ISO 200, 46mm focal length. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Not As Predicted, and We Are Grateful

Meteorologists and weather services were forecasting the coming snowstorm of January 25-26, 2021 as "the storm of the year." Snowfall predictions were anywhere from 6 to 12 inches in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa metro area. Emotions were running high with anticipation, but in the end Cedar Rapids received only about 5 inches... (sigh of relief). The storm still packed a powerful punch however, with wind speeds gusting to 30 mph, and streets and roads becoming treacherously slippery. In the image above, I am westbound on Boyson Road just east of Rolling Creek Drive NE in Cedar Rapids at 5:20 am CST, Tuesday, January 26, 2021. Air temperature was 20 degrees F, winds were out of the northeast at 20 mph, and humidity was 90%. iPhone 6-Plus camera.

Radar image corresponding to the time of the image above it. The target icon shows my location.

5:44 am. Looking northeast from 33rd Avenue SW at 12th Street in Cedar Rapids. iPhone 6-Plus camera.

Skies cleared in the afternoon as the storm passed. With clear skies comes frigid temperatures. The image above looks east at the moon at 4:59 pm from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids. Air temperature was 20 degrees F and dropping rapidly. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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No Sign of Triple Conjunction Here

Saturday, January 9 and Sunday, January 10 were to be optimum evenings just after sunset to view a rare Jupiter-Saturn-Mercury planetary conjunction, low in the southwest sky. Unfortunately for me, both evenings were clouded-over. On the evening of Monday, January 11, 2021, skies were mostly clear (except for scattered clouds on the horizon where the planets would most likely be), and I made one last attempt at a conjunction observation. Naked eye, binoculars and long camera exposures, however, would produce nothing. The above image of the evening's sunset was my lone consolation. Tinkling of tiny ice shards slid downslope with each step I took in the snow, and air temperatures were 35 degrees F with winds out of the southwest at 10-15 mph. Image looks west toward Alburnett Road in the Bowman Meadows housing development of Marion, Iowa. It is a 2 second exposure at f/6.3, ISO 125 and 22mm focal length. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Flocked, Frosted, Fogged and Fallen

Foggy conditions and chilly temperatures created fanciful flocked appearances in trees and shrubs to start off the new year. Above, an example of flocked trees is shown in Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Sunday, January 3, 2021.

The remaining images were captured on Monday, January 4, 2021 from Boyson Park, at or near the Cedar Rapids/Marion city border, and include Dry Run Creek. Snow from a recent storm, flocked twigs and branches from fog, and fallen and shattered trees from last year's derecho storm are shown. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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