Severe Weather In Delaware County Iowa July 23

I had once before spotted at this location (June 12, 2013), with good results. With severe weather approaching this spot at 255th Street (D34) at Highway 13 in Delaware County, Iowa, the camera looks northwest over tall corn at 3:30 pm CDT, Saturday, July 23, 2016. Shortly after this capture, tornado warnings were issued for the area.

Although the radar storm track showed a tornado-warned path heading close to my 255th Street position, more promising stormy skies toward the northwest prompted me to pack up my gear and move toward Manchester, Iowa, a little over 2 miles to the north. The brief repositioned spotting location seen above shows an area of interest in the southwest sky. Location was alongside 210th Street at 145th Avenue, about 2 miles west of Manchester. Time was 3:56 pm.

Further repositioning after following the area of interest. This image, captured at 4:02 pm at the intersection of 140th Avenue and 230th Street, looks south about 2.5 miles southwest of Manchester. Tornado warnings continued on my weather radio.

Inching forward (south) about a half-mile, I watched the most intense area of this storm move away (toward the southeast, background right). Time was 4:07 pm. It was at this point when heavy rains with high wind speeds began to arrive. I was fearful I might be caught in a flash flood situation on the gravel road, so I hastily retreated the way I had come.

It was too late to avoid the rain and wind. Blinding rain and winds I estimated at 60-70 mph caused my vehicle to fishtail as I inched forward on the gravel surface. I was especially fearful of being blown off the road at the highly-exposed US Highway 20 overpass (seen above). After waiting out the storm at the corner of 140th Avenue and 220th Street shortly thereafter, the rain and wind finally died down some 15 minutes later, allowing me to head for home. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Beauty Before The Rain

The cast of an unusual brightly colored sky caught my attention early in the morning of Monday, July 18, 2016. The entire sky featured an eerie yellowish-orange hue caused by the rising sun catching gathering rain clouds. The sun's thin opening slot was blocked about ten minutes later, ending the spectacle and heavy rain followed within the hour. The top (panorama) image looks east at 5:34 am CDT on Brentwood Drive NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Shot as a single image at the same time and looking in the same general direction. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Lasso Lightning

A lightning bolt in the shape of a lasso cuts across the northwest sky in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at 5:12 am, Sunday, July 17, 2016--as seen from Bowman Woods Park. It was imaged as a five-second exposure at f/5.6, 250 ISO and 18mm focal length. The lightning display was part of a powerful storm system that blew through the area during the early morning hours. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

The following day, the National Weather Service surveyed EF2 tornado damage in the nearby town of Vinton. The tornado apparently struck just before 5:00 am. The above radar screen capture is shown at the time of the Vinton event.

This radar screen capture corresponds to the top photo, with an arrow pointing from the camera's location toward the lightning.

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Too Little Too Late

Work responsibilities prevented me from getting the jump on severe weather that was moving through southeast Iowa during the afternoon of Wednesday, July 13, 2016. Quitting time was 3:00 pm and by that time the strongest storms were in the Muscatine, Iowa vicinity, some 55 miles away. I had hoped to get a shot of the storm system as it moved away after getting home, and the panorama image above and image below, photographed just after 4:00 pm, was all I could muster.

Both images look east from White Road, .5-mile east of North Alburnett Road and about 2 miles southeast of the town of Alburnett. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

Above: Radar screen capture of weather at the time of work's end. Below: Radar screen capture at the time of the top two photos.

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Accentuated Evening Skies On July 7

Trying to get a better view of a what a small and non-severe storm cell located 55 miles to the northeast had to offer visually, this brilliant sky appeared while on C Avenue at Echo Hill Road, just north of Marion, Iowa. Time and date: 8:46 pm CDT, Thursday, July 7, 2016.

This view from the Pioneer Hi-Bred International facility on North Alburnett Road about .3-mile north of County Home Road provided a much more open look to the cell. The storm cell was located in Clayton County, about 2 miles southwest of the town of Garnavillo. Image looks northeast at 8:52 pm. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Reflections Of My Fourth Of July Volume 2

More selected images from Cedar Rapids Iowa's Freedom Festival fireworks display on July 4, 2016, as seen from along the highly reflective Cedar River near First Street and I Avenue NW. The fireworks display was conducted from 9:45 pm -10:15 pm CDT. The above image was captured at 10:02 pm. Settings for all four images: 10 seconds-or-less exposure, 18mm focal length and 250 ISO.

10:03 pm. This image is a stack of two separate photos.

10:10 pm. Another stacked image. I used three separate photos for this one.

10:11 pm. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Reflections Of My Fourth Of July Volume 1

With only a very slight southerly wind on the evening of Monday, July 4, 2016, the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids, Iowa was rendered to a near-mirrorlike appearance, allowing for spectacular Freedom Festival fireworks light reflections during the annual downtown show. What little winds there were wafted the smoke from the bursts toward the left of the images (background). This image--captured at 9:54 pm CDT--and all others posted here, were captured from alongside the river less than a tenth-mile northeast of the intersection of First Street and I Avenue NW. Anchored pleasure boats can be seen dotting the foreground, with occupants watching the show. Temperature was a cool 66 degrees with 100% humidity. Images look southeast.

                                                                         9:57 pm.

                                                                         9:59 pm.

                                                10:00 pm. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Saint Sol

The sun briefly wore a halo while in the southwest sky in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on the afternoon of Saturday, July 2, 2016. The image above was captured at 2:06 pm CDT.

This panorama image was shot a minute later. Haloes are caused by refracted light passing through ice crystals in cirriform clouds (seen in background). While temperatures aloft were cold enough (0 degrees F or lower) to create this optical phenomenon, surface temperatures were 66 degrees F, with 73% humidity. The halo persisted for some 10-15 minutes. The appearance of haloes can herald the arrival of rain in 24-48 hours. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

A radar screen capture of wetter weather south of my location. The arrow points to the direction in the sky in which the sun halo occupied.

A satellite image of the same scenario.

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