Mare's Tail Sunset

Mare's tail clouds (cirrus uncinus) are illuminated by the setting sun in this view of the northwest sky around 8:45 PM on June 12, 2010. I shot this image from a Sam's Club gas station on Blairs Ferry Road in Cedar Rapids, Iowa following a visit to the town of West Union earlier in the day. Cirrus uncinus is derived from Latin meaning "curly hooks." This type of cloud occurs at very high altitudes in cold and unstable layers and usually heralds the approach of precipitation--in this case from a thunderstorm--two days later.

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Fire Sky

What looks here like a raging forest fire on the western horizon was in reality just clouds brilliantly illuminated by the setting sun--truly a "red sky at night, sailor's delight" setting. This image looks toward the southwest from the grounds of Northbrook Baptist Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in September, 1998.

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All Focused On The Comet

This Celestron 60mm refractor telescope provided extra magnification power for the viewing of the comet Hale-Bopp (center) hanging low in the northwest sky at 8:00 PM on March 19, 1997. This view looks out over the grounds of Northbrook Baptist Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The constellation Cassiopeia is seen above the comet at top. The bright star to the left of Hale-Bopp is Mirach, in the constellation Andromeda.

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Lumpy Sky

The underside of an approaching cumulonimbus anvil contained this formation of mammatus clouds just after 6:00 PM on July 24, 2009. The spectacle preceded a thunderstorm by about an hour. Mammatus usually form in a very moist and unstable middle or upper level of the atmosphere, overlying a drier layer below the anvil. The elements of this type of cloud represent inverse convection--instability in the downward direction rather than upward. This view looks west toward Bowman Woods Park from Brentwood Drive NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The very pronounced formations lasted for about 15 minutes.

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Nebulous Cloud

This remnant cloud from a departing storm system that included dangerous CTG lightning on the evening of June 18, 2010 is brilliantly illuminated by direct beams from a very low setting sun. Because of the circumstances, several individual clouds had the appearance of generating their own illumination. This view looks west from the eastern boundary of Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa just after 8:30 PM. The sky had this look for about 20-30 minutes before the sun completely disappeared below the horizon.

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No Volleyball Today

Inundation from Dry Run Creek flowed all the way to the Bowman Woods neighborhood recreation area on Thursday afternoon, June 12, 2008. The volleyball court stands under water at left. Untouched was the tennis courts and swimming pool. The recreation area is located just east of the Boyson Road/Brentwood Drive NE intersection and just west of the boundary between the cities of Cedar Rapids and Marion, Iowa. Significant flooding began on this day in the metro area after several days of heavy rainfall, much of it coming downstream from the north. Especially hit hard was the downtown area of Cedar Rapids.

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Moonglow

A just-past full moon sets over the C Avenue NE area of Cedar Rapids, Iowa around 5:20 AM, Wednesday, August 25, 2010. This composite photo was taken from the grounds at Christ Community United Methodist Church in neighboring Marion using a 55-200 mm lens. The main image was a four-second exposure at f/5.6 with an ISO rating of 200. The moon, which at this moment was actually just out of the image frame at top, was shot separately at 1/2000 second at f/5.6 and a 200 ISO. The transmitter tower seen at distant right is operated by Century Communications LLC, and is located along Boyson Road NE, just west of C Avenue.

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First Of Two

A shelf cloud approaches the city of Hiawatha, Iowa just after noon on Friday, June 18, 2010. The immense front stretched across the entire western sky, bringing with it rain, lightning and high wind. This was the first of two such storms that rolled through the Cedar Rapids metro area on this day. In the foreground of this picture is the Fay Clark Park pavilion and parking area in Hiawatha. In the background at right is KCRG TV9's 1,000-foot transmitter tower, located along Interstate 380.

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Bonfire By The Pale Moonlight

Smoke from a blazing bonfire rises into the night sky alongside a privately-owned pond in rural Shueyville, Iowa at 9:20 PM on Saturday, August 21, 2010. A waxing gibbous moon shines above the scene. Stars making up part of the constellation Sagittarius can be seen at upper right. The bonfire was set for the enjoyment of a group of family and friends gathered at the residence seen at right. This is a composite image in that the main picture (short time exposure) and the moon (1/2000 sec) were shot separately for better moon detail clarity, then added together later. This view looks east.

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Everything Was Just Fine At Rockwell Collins

Although at first glance it appeared as though a titanic explosion had occurred at Rockwell Collins' engineering office building #130 along C Avenue NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on July 7, 2008, in reality it was the tremendous updraft of a billowing cumulonimbus cloud much farther in the background. I was on my way to play some tennis around 5:40 PM when this scene, looking southeast, caught my attention. At left in this image is the antenna farm for Rockwell Collins, a major communication and aviation electronics company in Cedar Rapids.

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Upward Discharge

This upward cloud-to-cloud lightning discharge took place in an approaching thunderstorm in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at 10:15 PM on July 23, 2010. The 1,000-foot transmitter tower visible in the distance at lower left is operated by KCRG-TV9 and is located in northwest Hiawatha. CTC lightning is the most common type of lightning. In this scenario, lightning travels from the negatively charged base of one cloud to the positively charged top of another. Lightning can travel at speeds of up to 130,000 mph.

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Heavenly Portal

This storm cell--whose earlier radar signature on Monday, June 14, 2010 gave it the potential to become severe west of Cedar Rapids, Iowa--quickly broke up, but soon created this opening in its churning mass that allowed sunbeams to burst through over houses on White Ivy Place NE in Cedar Rapids. The opening, seen here looking west from the grounds of Noelridge Christian Church at 5:50 PM, looked to me like the portal to heaven itself.

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Capturing The Great Hunter

The constellation Orion (right) hangs in the southwest sky at 8:10 PM on March 30, 1997. Orion was actually playing second fiddle to the comet Hale-Bopp, which was wowing skywatchers at the same time in the northwest sky. In Greek mythology, Orion was a giant or a great hunter. The bright star at top in Orion is the red giant Betelgeuse, right and below Betelgeuse is the blue giant Bellatrix. Also a blue giant is Rigel, the lowest bright star. The very bright star left of the tree is Sirius--the brightest star in our skies. Sirius is part of the constellation Canis Major (the Great Dog), who was said to have attended Orion in Greek mythology. This capture looks over Northbrook Baptist Church toward Boyson Road NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Orion dominates the western sky on March evenings. By mid-April the constellation begins to dip, then disappear behind the horizon.

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In A Fog

Heavy morning fog on February 23, 2008 reduced trees at Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to ghostly sentinels. This view looks southeast from near Boyson Road NE and was taken just before 7:30 AM. By mid-morning the fog finally burned off to reveal a clear sky. In winter, when a warm air mass blows over a cold surface (snow or ice), advection fog is formed. At this time the temperature of the air is lowered to its dew point, saturation occurs, producing fog.

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Sky Stampede

We were returning home to Cedar Rapids from a wedding in West Union, Iowa on Saturday, June 12, 2010, when we were treated to this sky filled with high-level Cirrus Uncinus (mare's tail) clouds over a low-level bank of cumulus. This image, taken around 8:20 PM, looks west along Highway 150, south of Independence. Mare's tails are often indicators of a change to a more active weather situation, and in this case stormy weather arrived in the area two days later.

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Conjunction Junction

An infrequent conjunction (close clustering) of all the naked-eye planets and the moon made their appearance in our night skies on May 14, 2002. Shown in this view looking west over the grounds of Northbrook Baptist Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa is a waxing crescent moon (brightest object, center), the planet Venus (immediately to the right of the moon) and the planet Mars (just below and right of Venus). Not shown in this image but located in an upper left-to-lower right diagonal line from the others is the planet Jupiter (toward upper left) and planets Saturn and Mercury (behind the tree line, below and right of Mars). This short time exposure was taken at 9:45 PM.

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Shelter From The Storm?

No, the deck umbrella at left wasn't really being hit by lightning in this September, 1977 photo. In reality, this strike during an afternoon thunderstorm occurred much farther back in the picture. The short time exposure seen here looks west over Tama Street SE, just south of 30th Street Drive in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The image is a duotone created from an original black and white print.

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Illuminated By Lightning

Lightning from an approaching thunderstorm provided an array of light intensities and colors in this short time exposure just before 10:00 PM on August 13, 2010. A single CTG lightning bolt is seen on the horizon at left, while CTC lightning illuminates the clouds at right. This view looks west from the grounds at Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. As the storm system pushed through, heavy rain caused minor flooding along city streets in the area, with storm sewers being unable to handle the load from previous downpours earlier in the day.

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Predawn Perseid

A meteor streaks earthward (lower right), away from its radiant located in the area of the constellation Perseus (top center) just before 4:00 AM on August 12, 2010. I captured this "shooting star" in a 30-second exposure at f/4.5 and 200 ISO in the eastern sky despite distractions from mosquitos buzzing in my ears, noises from unseen animals in the tall weeds around me and intermittent rolling ground fog. Left of the meteor streak is the constellation Auriga. Above the streak is the star cluster Pleiades, The Seven Sisters. At right is the bright star Aldebaran in the constellation Taurus. This photo was taken one day before peak Perseid shower intensity from the grounds at Echo Hill Presbyterian Church in Marion, Iowa.

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Sunset Silhouettes

It was one of those summer evenings in Cedar Rapids, Iowa when you could tell the sky was spectacular without really having to step outside of your house to check. The sky at sunset had a special cast to it that was quite evident even inside. This silhouetted view of trees in Bowman Woods Park from the park's eastern boundary around 8:50 PM on July 24, 2010 was part of that special scene.

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Not What It Seems

What looked like a descending funnel cloud alongside Grain Lane at the entrance of Rydell Chevrolet in Center Point, Iowa on Friday, June 18, 2010 was actually just an odd-looking scud cloud. I had initially set up a storm-spotting position at Echo Hill Presbyterian Church in Marion, 10 miles to the southeast. After learning of "better" storm potential in the Center Point area, I engaged in a "mini" chase north and ended up at the car dealership south of town. Standing just outside my car amid the flashes of lightning and the crashes of thunder, I watched this curious looking cloud with great interest until I was finally convinced it was only scud. There was no visible rotation above it and the structure eventually began to dramatically bow out and break up. This view looks northeast at 5:45 PM. The scud cloud moved from left to right in this image.

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Sky Filler

This immense storm system stretched low on the horizon all the way from directly west to directly north around 4:50 PM on Friday, June 18, 2010. The unimpeded view of the spectacle was short-lived however. Within minutes, low-level clouds moving east from between the horizon and the storm cell began to drift over and obscure it. The cell was actually located 60-70 miles away in Grundy County, where a severe thunderstorm warning had been issued. This view looks northwest from the grounds at Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

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Great (Big) Bear (Dipper)

Circumpolar constellation Ursa Major wheels low in the northwest sky in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on the evening of October 7, 1974. The seven brightest stars of Ursa Major, the Great Bear, make up the familiar asterism "Big Dipper." The ancient Greeks and Native Americans saw the Dipper as a bear, but other cultures saw it--among other things--as a hippopotamus, river boat, wagon, pulling plough, drinking gourd and bushel measure. Seen above the Dipper in this picture are three stars that make up a section of the constellation Draco, the Dragon. This 15-minute time exposure, shot along 30th Street Drive SE just east of Tama Street, was begun around 8:30 PM. Today's posting is a created duotone from an original black and white photo.

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Funnel Take

This particular severe weather spotter's setup produced a capture of a small and brief funnel (center), formed amid turbulent storm clouds. The fast-moving and gusty weather system was moving from front to back in this image looking east. This scene was shot from the parking lot at Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at 4:30 PM on June 23, 2009.

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Blacksmith Shop Of Clouds

A grouping of several anvil-topped cumulonimbus clouds dominate the eastern horizon as seen from along Boyson Road in Marion, Iowa just after 7:00 PM on August 13, 2008. I had been walking our family dog that evening and quickly noticed the structures, so I hurried home to get my camera before the sun went down. This shot was taken from the south side of Boyson Road across from Timber Oak Court, west of Alburnett Road. The nearest cumulonimbus cloud at center still shows signs of vertical growth despite the lateness of the day.

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Echo Hill Squall Line

Resembling rising smoke, a squall line overtakes Echo Hill Presbyterian Church in Marion, Iowa just before 7:00 PM on June 5, 2010. I had taken up a spotter's position on the grounds and waited as the storm approached from the northwest. The classic gust front produced 30-plus mph winds, lightning and heavy rain after it passed over the church. This view looks east.

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Waiting For Aurora Borealis and All I Got Was Ursa Major

The Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) that left the sun on August 1, 2010 promised a possible show of Northern Lights on the nights of August 3rd & 4th, as far south as the state of Iowa, and indeed aurora were seen in Little Sioux, Iowa on August 3. I waited with high expectations on the night of August 4th from the grounds at Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, but nothing presented itself other than this view of the constellation Ursa Major (aka Big Dipper). Seen at extreme upper right is bright Polaris, the north star, along with part of Ursa Minor (Little Dipper). Shot at 10:50 PM, this photo was a 30-second time exposure at f/4.5 with an ISO rating of 200.

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Bridge Over Troubled Water

Flood waters from heavy rainfall rush downstream toward the Second Avenue bridge in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa on the morning of June 11, 2008. In this view looking southeast from the First Avenue bridge, the Second Avenue bridge spans the east bank of the Cedar River (left center) across to May's Island. Before work that Wednesday, I took this picture around 6:50 AM, then swung two blocks down to take several more from the Third Avenue bridge. The water level was 19.6 feet at this time and by noon the Third Avenue bridge was closed. The First, Second and Third avenue bridges would eventually be submerged from flood waters reaching an astounding 31.3 feet on Friday, June 13.

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Going, Going...

A storm cell recedes from my observation position--seen here at 8:15 PM from the eastern boundary of Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa--on June 25, 2008. The frayed anvil top indicates the cumulonimbus cloud is in its dissipating stage. The lower part of the cloud reflects the setting sun. This view looks south.

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Hail, Hail, The Gang's All Here

Our carload of weary backpackers found themselves pelted by golf ball-sized hail from beneath an isolated cumulonimbus cell south of Pueblo, Colorado on May 30, 1982. We were on our way back home to Iowa from the Durango area when a huge mushroom cloud loomed in front of us south of Pueblo. It was dumb luck that we got loosed-upon as there were no other clouds in the sky other than the big one we had to drive into! The hail forced us to pull over to the side of the road and wait the storm out--with our windshield intact.

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Rise And Shine, Hale-Bopp

The comet Hale-Bopp rises in the northeastern sky of Cedar Rapids, Iowa at 4:15 AM on Wednesday, March 26, 1997. Hale-Bopp last visited the skies of Earth in 2213 BC. It was a unique comet in that it actually sported three tails--one an ion tail, one a dust tail and one a sodium atom tail. Ion tails show up as blue in color. This short time-exposure view looks over houses on Brookdale Drive NE in the Northbrook II residential development. The constellation above and left of Hale-Bopp is Cassiopeia. The top object of a faint triangular shape of objects below and to the right of Hale-Bopp (just left of the trees at right) is M31, the Andromeda Galaxy.

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