Summerlike Storm

A severe thunderstorm warning alert sounded in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa metro area at 2:39 pm CDT, Wednesday, September 18, 2019. With just a few official days left of summer, it turned out to be a very summer-like storm, with high humidity and very warm temperatures. At 3:00 pm I headed home from work, a little concerned that I would not be able to set up my vehicle for spotting in time, but in short order headed north on Alburnett Road through Marion. I captured the above shot at 3:26 pm--looking north at a very large shelf cloud from just a tenth-mile north of Tower Terrace Road. It was about this time that the severe warning was quickly lifted.

I was undeterred by this, as the shelf cloud was still visually impressive and photogenic. Still northbound on Alburnett Road in this image from 3:28 pm, about one mile south of County Home Road (E34). The most intense part of the storm was about ten miles distant. Dangerous positive CG lightning from this area had a curious "fading" or "dissolving" effect for about a second after the main flash.

Radar capture from 3:25 pm, showing my position in relation to the storm (target icon), with white arrows showing the storm's track.

3:29 pm. Continuing north on Alburnett Road, about .7-mile south of County Home Road.

3:31 pm. Stationary at my spotting position on North Alburnett Road, about .8-mile north of County Home Road and north of Marion. Image is a panorama of the approaching gust front, looking west.

3:39 pm. Looking southwest as the leading edge of storm advances (right-to-left in image).

3:42 pm. Looking south. Despite the fact that the severe warning had been lifted about 15 minutes  previous, wind speeds from the gust front would reach near-severe levels again around 3:45 pm. Heavy rain and lightning also accompanied the storm at this location. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.