May 25, 2018 Severe-Warned Central Iowa

I wasn't really expecting any severe weather within grasping range from my home in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Friday afternoon, May 25, 2018. A small storm cell popped up around 3:00pm CDT near LuVerne, Iowa in northern Humboldt County and went unnoticed by me until about 5:00 pm, when it went severe-warned. This storm was moving in a southeasterly direction and over an hour later I made the decision to head toward it. I pulled off US Highway 30 just onto the Benton-Linn Road--just 3.5 miles west of Cedar Rapids--and captured the panoramic image above at 7:14 pm. The panorama creation was necessary to visually include the entire 60-mile stretch of this storm system. The left (southwest) edge of the system was located near the town of Albion, and the right (northeast) near Fairbank.

7:19 pm. Another panoramic image of the storm system. This time I was located at 30th Avenue (Highway 201), just north of US Highway 30 in Benton County. The most intense part of the storm (seen left of the cell tower) was located about 55 miles distant, just east of the town of Liscomb, in northern Marshall County.

7:20 pm. This is a zoomed-in portion of the most intense area of the panoramic image above it. I was a little nervous of this as it sported a near vertical updraft wall and resembled a wedge tornado. Note the now-engulfed sun at top.

This radar screen capture corresponds to the time of the image above it. The (target icon) image at lower right indicates my position, with arrows pointing toward the leading edges of the storm.

Another panorama at 7:20 pm.

7:23 pm CDT. On the move again. Westbound on US Highway 30, about .35-mile east of Highway 287, and about 1.75-mile south of Newhall, Iowa in Benton County. The underside of the storm is exhibiting a wall cloud-like appearance.

7:28 pm. Stationary behind the Youngville Cafe along US Highway 30, and about .1-mile east of 24th Avenue (US Highway 218). This panoramic image shows a small inflow cloud included with the wall cloud-like structure. That area was some 45 miles away, near the Marshalltown, Iowa airport.

7:40 pm. An artistic photographic rendering of the retro-flavored Youngville Cafe, with the storm cloud along US Highway 30 (left) in Benton County, Iowa. Image looks west.

7:47 pm. Looking west from 21st Avenue (County Road V66), just north of US Highway 30, and just under 3 miles south of Van Horne, Iowa.

Panoramic version of the same scene.

8:06 pm. Looking west from US Highway 30, about .4-mile west of County Road V56 and about 3.75 miles southeast of Keystone, Iowa. The sun is beginning to emerge from underneath the storm, whose severe warning would be cancelled in just minutes. At this point I decided to return on US Highway 30 back to Cedar Rapids and Marion, where a new storm was approaching that area from the north. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.