Minuteman on Bunker Hill Road

There were a line of storms rolling toward Independence, Iowa on the afternoon/evening of Saturday, August 5, 2018, to which I initially gave an unimpressed glance. At 5:08 pm, however, the area near Independence went severe-warned. Because of the timing and close proximity of this storm to home, I was only able to grab my spotting essentials in a "minute's notice." No mag mounted antennae, no anemometer, no Go Pro camera--there was not enough time. Gear consisted only of my Nikon D7200 DSLR camera, tripod, handheld weather radio and handheld ham radio. I hastily headed east through Marion, then north on Highway 13 in an effort to intercept the storm. The radar image above from 5:24 pm CDT shows my mobile position (target icon) and the approaching severe-warned storm to my northwest.

5:27 pm. Looking northwest while northbound on Highway 13 just north of Marion, Iowa. The western edge of the storm can be seen at left (just right of the barn), while its most intense area--about 16 miles distant--is at right.

5:28 pm. About 1.4 miles south of County Home Road. Note the cloud striations classic to this type of severe weather just above the northern horizon. The most intense area of this storm (left) was located near the town of Walker in northwest Linn County.

5:29 pm. Similar image, now just south of County Home Road.

This radar screen capture corresponds to the photograph above it. My northbound location is shown as the target icon, the black arrow points to the most intense area of the storm, and the white arrows show storm direction.

5:32 pm. Now stationary on Prairie Chapel Road at Highway 13, one mile north of County Home Road. Image looks WNW. Storm is north of me and moving east.

5:32 pm. Panorama image stretching from northwest (left) to northeast (right). Most intense part of storm was located about 16 miles distant (left-center in image).

5:33 pm. My vehicle facing north toward the storm on Prairie Chapel Road, just east of Highway 13.

5:40 pm. Relocated now to my northernmost and final spotting position on Bunker Hill Road at Rowley Road, less than a mile southwest of Central City in northeast Linn County. At this moment the severe warning for the storm was lifted.

Radar image corresponding to 5:40 pm, when the severe warning was lifted. My stationary position is
shown by the target icon.

5:42 pm. The storm's severe warning was gone, but volatile cloud formations remained impressive in the area. This cloud formation was to my northeast.

5:48 pm. Looking north from Rowley Road at Bunker Hill Road. Though somewhat resembling a wall cloud, this intense area of the storm was very outflow dominant and would roll over me in just minutes with winds probably approaching 60 mph. This scenario caused me to rethink my position--which was directly under a utility pole--so I relocated to a short distance away!

5:50 pm. The western edge of the (5:48 pm) storm image contained large scud, and appeared as if it were almost touching the ground as it moved swiftly along. The clouds were moving from right-to-left in this image, which looks west from Bunker Hill Road, above .6-mile east of Highway 13.

5:59 pm. Homeward bound now and traveling south on Highway 13 at County Home Road. One quick capture eastward (above) shows the rustic water tower located there with turbulent clouds behind it.