July 7 Cloud Captures

A Storm Prediction Center (SPC) Marginal Risk for severe weather was posted for much of the state of Iowa on Tuesday afternoon, July 7, 2020, and by 2:30 pm CDT a cluster of lesser storms began congealing into a line in northeast Iowa and were tracking ESE. Though not severe warned, I thought the possibility might be there for these storms to produce some picturesque shelf clouds, so I headed north on Highway 13 in hopeful pursuit. The image above was captured at 3:15 pm from Highway 13, just south of 35th Avenue, and just north of Marion, Iowa. The most intense area of the line of storms was located about 44 miles to the northwest, east of the town of Dunkerton in Black Hawk County.

Radar frame capture for 3:15 pm, showing my mobile position (target icon), with arrows pointing to strong areas of the storm.

3:43 pm. Continuing northbound on Highway 13, at the junction of County Road D42, and about 2.4 miles north of the town of Ryan in Delaware County. The most intense area of the storm was located about 30 miles to the northwest, near the town of Wadena in Fayette County. As has happened to me numerous times this year, the storms soon fizzled out. At Manchester, Iowa I made the decision to call it off and return home, with the possibility of encountering some promising cells forming to the south.

4:15 pm. A stop on 325th Street, just off Highway 13, about 1.9 miles south of Ryan. This panorama image looks west. The bright area at top is the sun, partially obscured by clouds.

Radarscope image for 4:15 pm, corresponding to the photograph above it. The blue target icon is my position. I returned home just before 5:00 pm.

The day was not done yet. A storm cell began forming around 7:45 pm near Waterloo and became severe warned just after 8:00 pm. Despite its distance (around 55 miles) and the fading of daylight (sunset was at 8:44 pm), the cell was spectacular to behold. The setting sun illuminated the cloud and created crepuscular rays from behind it. This image looks northwest at 8:21 pm from Alburnett Road in the Bowman Meadows housing development in Marion, Iowa. The most intense area of the storm was located near the town of Reinbeck in Black Hawk County.

Radar frame capture corresponding to the photograph above it. The target icon shows my position, with the arrow pointing to the most intense area of the storm.

8:25 pm. Panoramic capture of the storm, highlighting the extended crepuscular rays.

8:30 pm. Closeup shot with additional fiery rays emanating from the storm. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.