The Storm Prediction Center's (SPC) outlooks for the state of Iowa early in the morning of Monday, April 28, 2025 seemed to indicate significant tornado, hail and wind areas (above).
I made the decision to leave home and target New Hampton, Iowa in Chickasaw County for a possible intercept, which was well within the posted SPC Moderate Risk zone. Storms had begun to fire up in far western Iowa, and I reasoned more storms would do the same near this location. Northbound on US Highway 63 just south of New Hampton at 3:06 pm CDT, a small storm cell to my west (above) displayed some promising convection, but it soon dissipated.
3:25 pm. Tornado Watch 181 (above) was issued for a large portion of northern Iowa. Another promising development. After about 30 minutes, however, it was becoming apparent no significant storm cells were developing near me in New Hampton, so I decided to pack up and head west toward Mason City on US Highway 18, where a line of severe warned storms was ongoing.
5:23 pm. Looking northwest at the line of severe warned storms as seen from the interchange of US Highway 18 and Interstate 35 near Clear Lake and just west of Mason City in Cerro Gordo County.
Radarscope image for 6:22 pm. My location is indicated by the blue target icon.
Radarscope image corresponding to the photo above it. Note the tornado warned polygon near the Albert Lea area of Minnesota. Storms were creeping closer to me but daylight was now waning fast and I was a long way from home.
7:44 pm. I was now heading back homeward, but the distant pursuing storm clouds were putting on a visual show, as this image looking west from near Waverly, Iowa in Bremer County attests.
8:13 pm. One last stop and look back: looking northwest at backlit storm clouds from the intersection of Reed Avenue (County Road V49, foreground) and Highway 3 (background) just north of Readlyn, Iowa in Bremer County. The capture of the distant cloud images was the best I could accomplish on this day, as severe weather never really materialized in eastern Iowa. In other words, the Moderate Risk was a bust here. Sunset was at 8:00 pm. Nikon Z6ii camera.
5:43 am CDT, Saturday, April 26, 2025. Looking east from south of Alburnett Road and Bowstring Drive in Marion, Iowa. At left is thin crescent moon, right of the moon toward center is the dim 0.46 magnitude planet Mercury. At upper right is the -4.24 magnitude planet Venus. Below and right of Venus is the 1.40 magnitude planet Saturn. Image is a 1/320 second exposure at f/7.1, ISO 4000, 56mm focal length. Air temperature was 40 degrees F. The previous evening the celestial bodies formed a "smiley face," but it was unfortunately cloudy. Nikon Z6ii camera.
Two severe warned storm cells were moving relentlessly east toward my home area in Iowa during the evening of Wednesday, April 23, 2025, so I quickly took up a spotting position to intercept it at the Linn Cooperative Oil Company facility on Burnett Station Road, just west of Highway 13, and about 3.3 miles east of Alburnett, Iowa. And wouldn't you know it, minutes later it weakened and the severe warning tag was dropped. The 7:27 pm CDT Radarscope image from above shows the severe warned polygon to my west (my location is the blue target icon), just before it ran out of steam.
A west facing view of the approaching storm from my location at 7:26 pm--corresponding to the radar image.
7:44 pm. Despite no longer being severe warned, this storm produced frequent lightning and prominent rain shafts (seen beneath its base). Nikon Z6ii camera.
Appearing prominently in the dwindling light of this image on the evening of Wednesday, April 2, 2025 was the -1.69 magnitude planet Jupiter (left), quarter-moon and a ghostly contrail from a high flying aircraft. This image looks west over Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and is a 1/25 second exposure at f/4.5, ISO 400, 70mm focal length. Air temperature was 54 degrees F. Nikon Z6ii camera.
A vacation for a family member's wedding near St. Augustine, Florida provided a more exotic foreground element setting than my Iowa location for the total lunar eclipse event early in the morning of Friday, March 14, 2025--the Castillo de San Marcos fort along the shores of St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest city in America. With warm overnight temperatures (60 degrees F at the time of capture), clear skies and minimal insect interference, the setting was ideal. The image above, which looks south, is a composite of the foreground element and separate shot of the moon. The foreground is a 10 second exposure at f/7.1, ISO 640, 24mm focal length. The moon, captured near totality at 2:54 am EDT, is a 1/10 second exposure at f/4.5, ISO 2500, 70mm focal length. The Castillo fort is a national monument and is illuminated at night.
Individual shot of the moon with nearby star at 2:35 am EDT--23 minutes before totality. Image is a 1/3 second exposure at f/4.5, ISO 800, 70mm focal length. Nikon Z6ii camera.
Right behind a system of heavy rain (and severe weather in states to the south) on Tuesday, March 4, 2025 came heavy and blowing snow on March 5--Ash Wednesday. The wintry system in eastern Iowa produced white-out and near blizzard conditions. All Nikon Z6ii camera images posted here were 1/320 exposures at f/7.1, ISO 100 and 24mm focal length. Air temperature was 31 degrees F. The image above looks southeast at 8:40 am CST, March 5 from a parking lot in Lowe Park near Marion, Iowa.
8:46 am. Looking south from the roundabout at Tower Terrace and Alburnett roads in Marion.
8:47 am. Southbound on Alburnett Road near 29th Avenue in Marion. Despite the dangerous energy of the storm, only a few inches fell here, and the snow base began melting in 40 degree F temperatures the following day (March 6).
Radarscope image for 8:37 am, Wednesday, March 5, 2025. Snow system in progress. The white target icon is my position.
7:07 pm CST, Saturday, March 1, 2025. Looking west at the beautiful crescent moon and -4.72 magnitude planet Venus over the illuminated Chatham Road NE neighborhood as seen from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Earthshine on the moon is very apparent. Air temperature was 21 degrees F. 1/3 second exposure at f/4.5, ISO 1000, 49mm focal length. Nikon Z6ii camera.
6:41 pm. Realizing opportunity was lost for a Saturn and Mercury sighting, fingers frozen, it was time to head for home. But one last vision presented itself for camera capture: this view of the internally illuminated Lowe Park greenhouse with city lights and the mighty Venus shining over it. 1.6 second exposure at f/7.1, ISO 125, 24mm focal length. Air temperature was 17 degrees F. Nikon Z6ii camera.
I hiked to an area of Boyson Park with a natural spring bubbling up from the ground during the afternoon of Wednesday, February 12, 2025. The area is located in Marion, Iowa--a place where in days gone by the town's water works was located. The spring water isn't particularly warm when emerges from the ground here, but is apparently warm enough to keep nearby submerged vegetation green all year long. The image above, which shows the bubbly spring at center, was captured at 1:28 pm CST.
Similar image captured at 1:29 pm. A winter snowfall was in progress during this time, and would eventually dump about 7.5 inches of the white stuff.
1:30 pm. Similar image. Nikon Z6ii camera.
1:53 pm CST, Friday, February 14, 2025. On a walk along Boyson Road in Marion, Iowa. This image looks west from near the intersection of Geode Street and shows advancing snow bands before another snowfall (but less potent) event. iPhone 11 camera.
Corresponding Radarscope image of the approaching snow system. The target icon is my location.
7:20 pm. Looking toward the southeast sky. The bright object at left is the -1.18 magnitude planet Mars. With Mars are the bright stars in the constellation Gemini--Castor (upper, magnitude 1.56) and Pollux (magnitude 1.15). The bright planet Jupiter is at upper right (magnitude -2.56). With Jupiter in the constellation Taurus is the 0.84 magnitude star Aldebaran. The lone bright star at lower center is Procyon (magnitude 0.37) in the constellation Canis Minor. 4 second exposure at f/4, ISO 400, 24mm focal length.
7:28 pm. A front and center look at the constellation Orion, looking southeast. The bright star at upper left is the 0.43 magnitude Betelgeuse, at center top is 1.62 magnitude Bellatrix, and at right center is 0.15 Rigel. The very bright star at lower left is -1.47 magnitude Sirius, the brightest star in our skies and situated in the constellation Canis Major. Air temperature was 18 degrees F. Nikon Z6ii camera.
Fast forward one day and a blazing sunset nearly eluded me because of its fast change in lighting. The spectacle was nearly gone when I captured this iPhone 11 camera image of it at 5:20 pm CST, Monday, January 27, 2025 from the parking lot at Noelridge Christian Church. Air temperature was 44 degrees F.
5:46 pm CST, Saturday, January 18, 2025. The planets Saturn and Venus were in conjunction (top in image). This image looks southwest from the Klopfenstein Amphitheater in Lowe Park, north of Marion, Iowa and is a 0.6 second exposure at f/4, ISO 250 and 24mm focal length. Prolonged exposure in the 16 degree F temperature with sub-zero wind chills may have given my numb fingers a mild frostbite--at one point I could no longer press my Nikon Z6ii camera's buttons!
Close up of the 1.13 magnitude planet Saturn (left) and the -4.64 magnitude planet Venus.
The evening on Monday, January 13, 2025 was clear and cold (15 degrees F), perfect for viewing the special planetary alignment visible that night. The following images were captured at 5:47 pm CST from the back grounds at Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The image above looks southwest (the fading sunset light is at lower right), with two of the planets at upper right. 1.12 magnitude Saturn is left of -4.39 magnitude Venus. The constellation Aquarius is at center.
View looking east. All images were 1 second exposures at f/4, ISO 400, 24mm focal length. In this image, the -1.38 magnitude planet Mars is just below and left of the full moon. The -2.66 magnitude planet Jupiter at visible at upper right. Right of Jupiter is the constellation Taurus, and below Taurus just above the tree line is the constellation Orion.
An eight-image stitch creating a panorama of all celestial players. Left is east, center is south and right is west. I left my warm car running and hustled back to it when I was finished! Nikon Z6ii camera.
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