First Iowa 2022 Severe Weather Event Was a Deadly One

Forecasts for Iowa and severe weather had been predicted some three days in advance of the deadly EF4 tornado that would eventually take the lives of six people in Winterset, a town in Madison County, and one near Chariton, in Lucas County on Saturday, March 5, 2022. Storm Prediction Center (SPC) categorical, tornado, wind and hail outlooks are shown above, posted at 10:29 pm CST that morning.

As hours progressed and storms began to fire up in southwest Iowa, other SPC postings appeared, such as Mesoscale Discussion (MD) 194 at 1:20 pm, Tornado Watch 27 at 2:05 pm, and MD Discussion 195 at 3:46 pm.

Also of interest to Eastern Iowa, was this ominous Thunderstorm Outlook posted at 2:17 pm.

 

As evening approached and darkness began to fall, advancing storm strengths were still holding up. I set up my spotting location at Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids. The above image looks northwest at a tornado-warned area some 35 miles distant at 7:08 pm CST. 1.6 second exposure at f/3.5, ISO 500, 18mm focal length.

Radarscope video frame capture comparable to the photo above it, showing tornado-warned polygons to my west and northwest, and my location icon colored in blue. 

7:09 pm. Looking northwest.

7:10 pm. Looking west.

7:12 pm. Looking southwest.

7:14 pm. Looking southwest. Lightning illuminated. I made no severe weather reports here as conditions remained below reporting criteria as the storms passed through. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

GoProHero4 video frame stills from around 7:30 pm, looking in the same direction and showing lightning flashes. 

Scary looking Radarscope radar image capture from about 4:30 pm on March 5, showing a very pronounced hook echo signature (circled) where the tornado resided. Thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of those who lost their lives there!

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Dazzling Sunset Two-fer

The consecutive evenings of March 2 and March 3, 2022 treated the viewer with dazzling sunsets. Above,  a vibrant Ash Wednesday western sky is seen at 6:14 pm CST on March 2 from Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Air temperature was 46 degrees F. Official sunset on this day occurred at 5:58 pm.

6:01 pm CST, March 3. Another evening of brilliant skies. This time I had another treat as I heard the honking approach of a formation of Canada geese, and waited for them to flew into the fiery sky for a capture (top of image).

6:04 pm. In the car and westbound here on Brentwood Drive NE. Alto-cumulus clouds have provided a wonderful reflective quality for the sunset spectacle, shown here around the height of its brilliance. Air temperature was 30 degrees F.

6:10 pm. Looking west from the intersection of C Avenue and Collins Road NE. The sunset has now faded considerably, but bright colors still persist along the horizon. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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