High Energy Storm

This 8:55 PM image of lightning on Lee Avenue, about .15 mile north of US Highway 20 and about 3 miles southeast of the town of Early, Iowa, was created from the combination of two separate similar images and combined in a process called "photo stacking." Most of the time combining lightning in an image wasn't really necessary as the powerful supercell that moved through western Iowa on the evening of Saturday, April 9, 2011 showed its energy content by disgorging incessant and breathtakingly beautiful cloud-to-cloud displays. Photographing the lightning was difficult, however. Strong and sustained 50 mph-plus RFD (rear flank downdraft) winds forced me to hold on to my camera's tripod with one hand while activating the shutter with other. The blurred trees seen at left attest to the wind's force. The two lightning images were shot using a 10-11 second exposure at f/8 and an ISO rating of 250. Shortly after these images were taken our chase team resumed its route north and almost immediately witnessed a wedge tornado (made possible by illumination from lightning flashes) on the ground west of us. The twister was one of about ten witnessed by our team on this night.