Let It Storm? Let It Storm? Let It Storm?

This day on Wednesday, December 23, 2015 should have been a white snowy landscape in Iowa. Instead, it was 55 degrees F with a nearly identical dew point. Even more amazing was the fact that the Storm Prediction Center issued Tornado Watch 561 covering areas in three midwestern states just before 3:00 pm CST. The watch box's northern boundary stretched nearly to Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Though no tornadoes would materialize in the Cedar Rapids area, an approaching thunderstorm (above) was seen in this image of the SW sky from Bowman Woods Park at 3:33 pm.

At 3:35 pm, a bank of convective clouds, more indicative of spring or summer, stretched across the northwest sky, seen here behind Bowman Woods Elementary School.

The thunderstorm is almost upon this location on Brentwood Drive NE at 4:43 pm. Christmas decorations in the foreground of the image give the moment an almost surreal appearance.

A testament to the abnormal weather conditions of the month and day is this image of my Vantage Vue weather station at 4:08 pm. 22 confirmed tornadoes in five states--two rated at EF3--would drop from this system. A Particularly Dangerous Situation (PDS), infrequent even in the springtime, was issued by the SPC for parts of Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee during the event. Nikon D5000 DSLR camera.

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Dazzling In Drizzle

These three images, all from the vicinity of Bowman Lane and Bowman Court NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, were shot from 7:03-7:06 pm CST, Monday, December 21, 2015. A light, falling drizzle only slightly subdued the dazzle of the neighborhood Christmas lights displayed there. A three exposures were just over a second long at f/13, 2500 ISO and 18mm focal length. Nikon D5000 DSLR camera.

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Brilliance In A Bleak Winter Sky

In an otherwise bleak "hazy shade of winter" sky on Wednesday evening, December 9, 2015, a cloud opening in the west allowed a brief, but brilliant sunset color to pour through. These two images were captured from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The image above was shot at 4:42 pm, CST.

This photo, a three-image stitch, was captured at 4:43 pm. A minute or so later, the cloud aperture closed and with it the splash of color. Actual sunset time was 4:35 pm. Nikon D5000 DSLR camera.

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