February Snow Scenes

 

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.

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More January Winter Sky Splendors

The planets Venus and Saturn were doing a close dance around each other in the late January skies. In this view looking southwest from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at 7:17 pm CST on the evening of Sunday, January 26, 2025, the -4.54 magnitude planet Venus is above the 1.14 magnitude planet Saturn. Image is a 1.6 second exposure at f/4, ISO 400, 34mm focal length.

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.

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Sunsets and Conjunctions

5:08 pm CST, Wednesday, January 15, 2025. Air was cold, sky was hot. Brilliant sunset looking southwest as seen from the parking lot at Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. iPhone 11 camera.

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.

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Planetary Parade

 

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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Not Quite White-Knuckle Driving, but Close...

 

The return home from a family Christmas gathering in Des Moines, Iowa on Saturday, December 14, 2024 was not a recommended one for most drivers--temperatures hovering around 33-32 degree F with freezing rain falling, at times heavy. The above image from 2:34 pm, shows an icicle-draped speed limit sign while eastbound on US Highway 30, in eastern Benton County.

2:35 pm. A closeup of iced highway signs in Benton County.

2:41 pm. Entering Linn County along US Highway 30.

2:45 pm Radarscope capture, showing heavier precipitation behind us. We were fortunate to stay ahead of it.

2:47 pm. Electronic sign warning of snowplows in use on the highway.

2:49 pm. ADM plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa shrouded in freezing rain and its own emissions as seen from US Highway 30. We would make it home safely, but not without our share of stress! Nikon Z6ii camera.

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The Year in Review: The Best of 2024

 

The year 2024 offered me some significant photo opportunities, and the following list, in my opinion, stood out for review. The year's events started with the above picture of a sundog seen from Marion, Iowa on Sunday, January 14. Air temperature was -16 F.

Not wanting to drive solo farther south and east to witness the second total solar eclipse in 7 years, I instead chose a location for a partial eclipse near Mount Union, Iowa on Monday, April 8. The above image is a sequential composite of the eclipse at that location.

This rapidly rotating EF3 tornado northwest of Harlan, Iowa on Friday, April 26 was one of 8 tornadoes we personally witnessed that day out of the total of 25 that spun up in the states of Nebraska and Iowa.

A G4-rated geomagnetic storm produced aurora like that seen in this image northeast of Marion, Iowa on the evening of Friday, May 10.

An intense severe-warned storm approached this truck stop location near Toddville, Iowa from the southwest during the evening of Tuesday, May 21.

A shelf cloud with a QLCS tornado at its leading edge blew through Linn County north of Marion, Iowa during the afternoon of Monday, May 27.

The core of the Milky Way glowed spectacularly from Cottonwood Camp in the Grand Canyon, Arizona during the early hours of Monday, June 17. The image was captured during our group's four-day backpacking hike from the North to the South Rim.

A gust front shelf cloud kicked up dirt and debris as it blew through this truck stop near Ainsworth, Iowa during the evening of Tuesday, July 2.

The blue lights of the High Trestle Bridge over the Des Moines River in Boone County contrasted well with a colorful sunset during the evening hours of Friday, August 16.

The rare combination of a partial lunar eclipse with a Supermoon was striking as it shone over the reflective Cedar River in downtown Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, September 17.

A powerful G4-G5 geomagnetic solar storm produced vivid red and green aurora such as those seen in this view from northeast of Marion, Iowa on Thursday evening, October 10.

One of the brightest comets in several years (Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas 3) made its appearance in October, with this view of the icy celestial visitor in the western sky near Marion, Iowa during the evening of Sunday, October 13. Nikon Z6ii camera.

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Mammatus? Well, Close.

A line of showers was approaching the Cedar Rapids, Iowa metro area on the afternoon of Wednesday, November 13, 2024, and there were turbulent winds aloft associated with it. The above view, looking northwest from the Interstate 380 off-ramp at Boyson Road in Hiawatha, Iowa at 3:06 pm CST, shows the approaching quasi-mammatus clouds over a construction site located there. iPhone 11 camera.

3:32 pm. Looking west from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids.

3:37 pm. Another view looking west. The spine-like formations reminded me of a giant trilobite fossil in the sky!

Radarscope image of the line of clouds.

3:39 pm. Looking north. The clouds in this area are very turbulent. Not what you usually see in the skies of Iowa in November! Nikon Z6ii camera.

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