Distant Danger

Much of the southern sky is occupied by the cloud structure of a supercell thunderstorm as seen from Friendship Baptist Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa around 7:57 PM, Wednesday, April 25, 2012. The cell began to form around 5:55 PM south of Ottumwa, Iowa and began moving in a southeasterly direction, eventually producing a brief tornado around 7:15 PM southwest of Kahoka, Missouri, near the border of southeast Iowa. The storm, extended about 80 miles from anvil tip to rear as it began to move into the state of Illinois just after 8:00 PM. The distance of the storm cell from the camera in this image is about 110 miles.