Churning Clouds After Volatile Day

Churning storm clouds pass overhead in this view looking southeast from the parking lot at Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at 12:25 AM on June 18, 2010. This line of storms was a southern extension of a system that produced a very large tornado outbreak in southern Minnesota (around the Albert Lea area) hours earlier. The clouds are illuminated by the ambient light below. This capture was a 10-second exposure at f/6.3, 18mm focal length and an ISO rating of 200.

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Moon Math

Aircraft contrails form an isosceles triangle amid cirrus clouds and near a half-moon in the southwest sky as seen from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. This shot was taken around 8:40 AM on Saturday, October 30, 2010. The moon was in its waning stage.

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Forked Lightning

Cloud-to-cloud (CTC) lightning that has the appearance of retracing its path at upper left continues outward ending in many forks around 8:55 PM on Monday, September 6, 2010. The approaching thunderstorm (SW sky, directly ahead) was only minutes away. Note the small black cloud between the camera and the lightning bolt at top center. The building below is one of several units for Colton Circle Condominiums in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The tower in the background, owned by Century Communications LLC, appears to have been nearly struck by the bolt but in reality it was much closer to the observer than the lightning. This was a 10-second exposure at f/10, focal length of 18mm and an ISO of 200.

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Constellations On Parade

Several constellations appear on parade as they wheel across the northeast sky on Tuesday, October 26, 2010. At far left with bright star Capella is the constellation Auriga. Above and to the right of Auriga is Perseus. The two bright stars at upper right are part of Aries and the group of stars at far right make up part of Pisces. The tight cluster of stars at lower center is the Pleiades and the large bright spot behind the tree still bearing its leaves at lower left is a rising waning gibbous moon. The vividly recognizable Pleiades (Seven Sisters) was mentioned in Chinese literature around 2350 BC. It was also mentioned in the Bible three times and in Homer's Odyssey (circa 800 BC). This image was shot from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It is a 30-second exposure at f/4, 18mm focal length and 400 ISO.

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Parking Not Advised

Rising flood waters on the Cedar River in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa had nearly reached the lowest ramp level at the First Street Parkade (right) when this photo was taken just after noon on Wednesday, June 11, 2008. The Third Avenue bridge, where this photo was taken from, was closed less than an hour later. The Second Avenue bridge and City Hall are seen in the immediate background. Floods devastated much of the downtown area including the parkade. In September, 2010, plans by the city to demolish the parkade (citing high repair costs and structural obsolescence) were put on hold as FEMA and the State Historical Society concluded the parkade was eligible for a listing on the National Register of Historical Places.

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Moon 'n' Meteorology

A full moon shines through a small opening in the clouds at 9:20 PM on Friday, October 22, 2010. A formerly clear sky this night had only just been transformed to cloud cover. Standing out ghostly below the moon is a roof-mounted weather station. A flash provided its visual effect. The brightness of the moon was strong enough to still shine through much of the veil of clouds. This composite view looks east over Brentwood Drive NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

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Summer In Autumn

A cumulonimbus cloud billows from behind trees that have already dropped most of their leaves around 5:30 PM on Tuesday, October 12, 2010. The approaching thundershower, fueled by a cold front overrunning low-80-degree temperatures, created high winds, rain and some lightning. The radar signature of a long diagonal line of storms moving across the state of Iowa--of which this was a part--appeared very much summer-like. This view looks northwest from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids.

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Ray Gun

Rays shoot upward from a setting sun through altocumulus clouds around 5:45 PM on Friday, October 22, 2010. This view looks southwest from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The temperatures were warm at the time of this capture--in the middle 60s.

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"X" Marks The Spot

Crossing aircraft contrails form a huge "X" (lower right center) in a brilliant sunrise around 7:20 AM on Thursday, October 21, 2010. This capture was made from Progress Drive near the intersection of Marthas Way in Hiawatha, Iowa.

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Cul-de-sac Comet

A testament to Hale-Bopp being one of the brightest comets of the 20th century, the icy object shines brightly in the northwest sky despite the camera's close proximity to ambient street light pollution on Inwood Court NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Hale-Bopp was shining at a robust -1.79 apparent magnitude when this five-minute exposure was taken just before 7:30 PM on Sunday, March 30, 1997. The comet was located within the constellation Andromeda during this time. Cassiopeia is to the upper right. The faint fuzzy blob nearly between the roof peak at left and the chimney at center is M31, the Andromeda galaxy.

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Ripple Effect

Three groupings of Cirrocumulus undulatus clouds appear to be stacked on top of each other in the northeast sky around 5:20 PM on October 19, 2010. This capture was made from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The characteristic ripples of undulatus are formed by atmospheric waves generated by wind shear. The clouds, existing above 16,500 feet, occur when a large area of moist air reaches saturation and forms ice crystals with instability. Also a result of ice crystals in the opposite direction of the sky at this same moment was a sun halo.

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Comet, No...Meteor, Yes!

Attempting to locate, let alone clearly photograph Comet Hartley 2 (formally designated as Comet 103P/Hartley), in the northeast sky on the night of Tuesday, October 19, 2010, I shot this 30-second exposure in the direction of its charted position. 30 seconds produced only a vague and extremely faint spot (yellow arrow), but during the exposure, an unexpected meteor (red arrow) streaked from near the comet's origin point over my head. From the camera's perspective, the meteor travels upward in the photograph. The meteor was part of the Orionid shower, two days ahead of its peak time. Some websites declared that Comet Hartley 2 would be visible to the naked eye on October 20, but even a close scrutinization of the area with binoculars produced nothing obvious to me. Clouds and a three-quarter moon were also a constant interference. The bright star at center is the 0.06 magnitude Capella, in the constellation Auriga. The meteor streak appears to nearly bisect Capella in its flight. Shot at 10:50 PM at Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (f/3.8, 500 ISO, 22mm focal length).

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Autumn Aura

A southwest view from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa produced this nice sun halo and aircraft contrail sight at 5:30 PM on Tuesday, October 19, 2010. Sun haloes are caused by refracted light passing through ice crystals in cirriform clouds that lie between the observer and the light source. Less common are moon haloes.

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Midnight Mover

A squall line approaches the observer just before midnight on June 25, 2010 at Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. This 12-second exposure looks northwest toward 74th Street NE. The capture was shot at f/6.3 with an ISO rating of 200.

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Autumn Sunrise

An autumn sun rises over the horizon into a clear sky just after 7:30 AM behind a harvested soybean field in Marion, Iowa--near Marion's border with Cedar Rapids. An aircraft contrail streaks the sky in the background at right. The trees at right flank a nature trail connecting two city parks. This capture was made on Saturday, October 16, 2010.

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Rooftop Rotations

This 40-minute star trail exposure was taken from my rooftop on the night of Wednesday, October 13, 2010 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The exposure, aimed at Polaris, the North Star, was started at 8:40 PM. The effect of circular star trails such as this are created as a result of the rotation of the Earth. Polaris appears fixed in the sky as it is nearly in line with Earth's polar axis. This photograph was shot at f/8, with an 18mm focal length and 640 ISO.

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Every Cloud Has A Silver (er, Gold) Lining...

Backlit by the setting sun, this line of clouds had a golden lining. The clouds were part of an unusual summer-like line of thunderstorms that moved through the Cedar Rapids, Iowa area on the evening of Tuesday, October 12, 2010. This view looks southwest over Chatham Road NE from Bowman Woods Park.

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Dark Trail

A waxing crescent moon shines feebly in the southwest sky as it sets over a darkened nature trail in Marion, Iowa--near the city's border with Cedar Rapids--after 8:00 PM on Monday, October 11, 2010. The trail connects Boyson Park on Boyson Road with Thomas Park in Marion. Just beyond the nature trail is Parkview Drive. This four-second exposure was shot at f/9, using a 55 mm focal length and an ISO rating of 640.

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More Like A Summer Storm

Towering cumulus clouds approach Bowman Woods Park from the northwest in Cedar Rapids, Iowa around 5:20 PM on Tuesday, October 12, 2010. A very long line of storms, of which this was a part of, began firing up across the state in a diagonal fashion--from southwest Iowa to northeast--before 5:00 PM Tuesday. The storms were triggered by a cold front moving through unseasonably warm weather with temperatures in the low 80s. Though the storms did not turn severe, a very summer-like effect of high winds, lightning and rain occurred as it reached this location around 6:00 PM.

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Red Sky At Night

Sun reflection off the trailing edge of a storm system appeared to set its clouds ablaze at 7:50 PM on Thursday, September 2, 2010. This storm system was moving quickly eastward, revealing clear skies in the background of this photo. Not only did the sun inflame the clouds in brilliant fashion, but also produced a parhelic mock image of itself, seen at center. This capture was made from the grounds of Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

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Starry Starry Night

The northeast sky is captured in this 20-second exposure around 9:10 PM on October 5, 2010. This photo was shot from the Bowman Woods neighborhood of Cedar Rapids, Iowa at f/5.6, 640 ISO and an 18mm focal length. The constellation Cassiopeia is seen at center. The close group of stars below Cassiopeia and just above the tree tops are the open clusters NGC 869 and NGC 884. The fuzzy blob at right center is M31--the Andromeda Galaxy.

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Flat Tops

An unusual grouping of anvil-topped cumulonimbus clouds, illuminated by the setting sun, stretch across the eastern horizon beyond a soybean field just after 7:00 PM on August 13, 2008. At left is Boyson Road in Marion, Iowa, about a third of a mile west of Alburnett Road.

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Parhelia Dusk

My original intent was to photograph the planets Venus, Mars and a crescent moon all stacked in a vertical line low in the southwest sky just after sundown. Cirrostratus clouds on the horizon precluded that desire, but a consolation prize was this sunset sky with double mock suns (parhelia) and interspersed aircraft contrails. This image was shot with an 18mm focal length in automatic mode with no flash. The capture was taken from Christ Community Methodist Church in Marion, Iowa around 6:25 PM on Saturday, October 9, 2010, and looks over the Newcastle Road neighborhood area.

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High Up The Wall At City Hall

Water creeps up the river wall outside City Hall (foreground, right) on May's Island in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at 6:48 AM, June 11, 2008. The Cedar River was about 19.6 feet at this time and would crest at an unbelievable 31.3 feet two days later. At left is the nearly-inundated Second Avenue bridge and in the background at center is the Linn County Courthouse. All buildings on May's Island would become completely flooded and displaced during this disastrous flood of 2008.

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Stormy Weather Ahead

I had intended to set up a storm spotting position at Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on the evening of April 6, 2010 after storms began brewing to the northwest. But as I turned my vehicle north on C Avenue NE just a couple of blocks from the church, conditions ahead of me at once became a lot more promising. This view, just a block up from Noelridge Church, shows the churning sky in the distance. My mini-chase ended about a mile north of this spot as I finally stopped to watch an unusual low hanging scud cloud, mistaken by many in the area as a funnel cloud and prompting sirens to sound, drift by me. This photo was taken at 7:15 PM.

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October Star Trails

Star trails were created in this image by aiming the camera's lens toward Polaris, the North Star, and leaving the shutter open for 12.5 minutes. Originally intended as a 20-minute exposure, an unexpected meteor streaked downward nearly across Polaris, causing me to disengage the shot. The faint diagonal streak can be viewed by zooming in on Polaris at the center of this picture. The night was crisp, clear and dry, producing good visibility. The dark area at upper right is the underside of our house's roof gutter. The two very bright streaks at lower left are part of Ursa Major. Captured from the Bowman Woods neighborhood of Cedar Rapids, Iowa and started at 9:20 PM, October 5, 2010, this image was shot at f/8 with an 18mm focal length and an ISO rating of 640.

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Calm Before The Storm

The western sky had this appearance just under two hours before a squall line arrived at Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, bringing thunderstorms to the area. This photograph was taken around 6:20 PM on June 1, 2010.

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Take Cover!

Dry conditions at Fay Clark Park in Hiawatha, Iowa were soon to change as a gust front quickly advanced on the location just after noon on Friday, June 18, 2010. Rain, high winds and lightning ensued as the front blew through. This was the first of two storm fronts affecting the Cedar Rapids metro area on this day--the other arriving in the evening. Note the well-defined layers in the approaching shelf cloud in this view looking northwest.

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Ominous Southern Sky

Skies to the south of the retail complex located near C Avenue and Boyson Road NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa darkens at 4:15 PM on Wednesday, June 23, 2010, as a severe storm cell slides east (left). Though tornado warnings were issued in Lone Tree, Iowa--southeast of Iowa City--at this time, the northern edge of this system never quite reached this location and caused no damage here.

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Hail Jupiter!

The planet Jupiter glows bright in the eastern sky, positioned in the constellation Pisces in this image captured around 9:20 PM, Friday, October 1, 2010. Upon close inspection, Jupiter shows a slight bulge in the lower left part of its disc--caused by the camera's inability to fully resolve the moons Europa and Ganymede, in close orbit around the parent planet. This ten-second exposure was shot from the eastern boundary of Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at f/5.6 with a focal length of 62mm and an ISO rating of 640. The brownish-gray smudges at left are drifting clouds moving from left to right.

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Laced With Lightning

A shelf cloud is laced with CTC lightning as it approaches the observer at Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. This image, an exposure of about a minute-and-a-half, looks toward the northwest at 11:30 PM on Friday, June 25, 2010. Rain and wind accompanied the line of storms as it blew through the area. The houses in the background are located on 74th Street NE in Cedar Rapids. The image was shot at f/6.3 with an ISO rating of 200.

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