Spectating From Outside the Playing Field

A small storm cell began forming just south of Waterloo, Iowa around 4:00 pm CDT, Wednesday, June 6, 2018. With severe weather potential predicted for the afternoon in central Iowa I went into monitoring mode. By 4:35 pm this cell had grown sufficiently in strength to become severe-warned. I gathered my gear with an intended target area for interception not far south or west of Cedar Rapids. Alas, what generally happens at this hour is rush-hour traffic gridlock, and the Boyson Road/Center Point Road/Interstate 380 on ramp area was near a standstill. Hurry up and wait! While waiting in line to turn south on Interstate 380 from Boyson Road at 4:53 pm, I shot this image of the looming storm cell, moving from the northwest in a SSE direction. The most intense part of the storm was located about 40 miles distant, near the town of Traer in northern Tama County.

5:09 pm at the I-380 rest area just south of Cedar Rapids. Looking northwest. Storm cell is beginning to show structure, with curious whitish striations. Only a brief stay here.

Off the I-380 Swisher/Shueyville exit and west on County Road F12 (120th Street NW) for just under a mile. This spotting position was about .3-mile east of the town of Swisher. This panoramic image-- which looks west-to-north at 5:15 pm--includes the sun shining feebly through the storm's anvil cloud.

Radar capture corresponding to the time of the photograph above it, showing my position (target icon) and arrow pointing to the leading intense area of the severe storm.

5:43 pm. My new purposed spotting location, from the parking lot at the University of Iowa Community Credit Union (UICCU), looking northwest. The seemingly approaching storm now sported an ominous striated "cake-layer" appearance. At this point, it ceased its earlier southeast track and was almost moving due south, about 30-40 miles west of me. I had the option of taking Interstate 80 west to intercept it, but chose to stay in my current location for the duration.

Radar capture of the severe-warned cell, roughly corresponding to the time of the image above it. My location is at lower right. The white arrows indicate storm direction movement.

5:46 pm. Panoramic view of the storm from the same location at UICCU. Very pronounced cake layer structure. This storm was now tracking almost due south, some 40 miles to my west.

A vertical slice of the panorama image above it.

5:53 pm. What parts of this storm system that did move over me is shown above, looking east toward the UICCU building. The anvil from this cloud contained smaller mammatus formations.

6:13 pm. With the storm having never affected my location and now moving away, I just decided to take an auto timer "selfie" and head back home. I only experienced a few rain drops on the windshield going home, and observed this potent storm at all locations from a safe and dry distance. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.