Frigid Conjunction Show

The conjunction of a waning crescent moon and the -4.58 magnitude planet Venus on Wednesday, February 26, 2014 was a beautiful sight, but one could not enjoy it for long. Air temperature was -8 degrees F with -23 wind chill. Taking the above photos was particularly unpleasant as my bare fingers were rendered painfully numb within seconds of their exposure to the air. The top image was captured around 6:20 AM from Miller Road just north of Boyson Road in Hiawatha, Iowa. The middle and bottom images were photographed from Boyson Road, just west of Interstate 380 around 6:10 AM. The moon and Venus were situated around three degrees from one another in the SE predawn sky.

Read more...

Snow Holiday

President's Day was a snowy one in the Cedar Rapids/Marion Iowa area on Monday morning, February 17, 2014. Shown above are some winter scenes as the snow continued to fall. The top image was captured around 11:06 AM and shows the trunk of a large fallen oak tree forming an arch shape. Only a sliver of Dry Run Creek was visible in the bottom image as I gingerly negotiated my footsteps over the snow covered ice in the creek bed around 11:16 AM. About five inches of snow fell on this location.

Read more...

The Neverending Story

This has been the story for the winter of 2013-2014. One snowstorm with trailing cold after another. The latest edition was this winter system that dropped about 5 inches of snow in the Cedar Rapids/Marion area from Sunday night (February 16, 2014) to Monday morning (February 17). I had Monday off for President's Day so I was able to photograph the event at Boyson Park in Marion, Iowa, near the border of Cedar Rapids. At times, in order to obtain desired perspectives, I needed to wade through knee-deep snow. The top image looks south and was shot around 11:00 AM. The middle image looks west and was shot around 11:18 AM. Temperatures were around 26 degrees F. The bottom image is a radar capture of the storm system, shortly after the middle photo was taken and shows the snow beginning to taper off as it continues east.

Read more...