First Taste of Significant Severe Weather in Eastern Iowa

 

Anticipation for a significant severe weather event in the midwest was running high two days in advance of its expected arrival with the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) posting an Enhanced (Level 3) risk at that time. Pictured above is the updated posting for 12:30 pm CDT for Day 1, April 16, 2024. The panel on top shows an area of Enhanced Risk covering much of Eastern Iowa, with the bottom panel showing a 10% hatched area for a tornado risk. 

Around the same the National Weather Service (NWS) issued Tornado Watch 117, covering eastern Iowa, northeastern Missouri and western Illinois, and valid until 8:00 pm CDT, April 16.

My Tempest Weatherflow home weather station data for 1:06 pm, showing juicy conditions for the formation of severe weather.

Time to secure a mobile spotting position! This image (2:37 pm) shows the array of informational and communication devices in my vehicle, now located on North Marion Road (10th Street) just north of County Home Road, north of Marion, Iowa. Go Pro Hero 4 Silver Action Camera (1), cell phone with radar (2), CB/Weather radio (3), amateur radio (4), Vantage Vue weather station console (5). The Cedar Rapids NOAA weather radio (WXL61) transmitter was not operating during this event, but I was able to pick up surrounding broadcasts.

And meanwhile, weather was becoming active. This Radarscope image for 2:41 pm CDT shows an incoming line of storms moving on a NNE track. My activated Spotter Network target icon is at center. Note the severe and tornado warned polygons all over the region. 

2:40 pm CDT. Looking northwest at an area that would become tornado warned in mere minutes. The storm was located about 30 miles distant in Buchanan County.

Active radar image for 2:55 pm. Note the tornado-warned polygons (red) to the north. 

2:57 pm. Looking south from North Marion Road toward Marion and the direction from which the civil defense sirens were now sounding. County Home Road is seen in the background.

 

3:25 pm. Looking southeast at a low cluster of clouds, moving right to left in this image. Tornado warned areas were just east of this location.

3:30 pm. Looking northeast. Area in the background is tornado warned (see radar image below). My spotting vehicle is in the foreground.

Radar capture for 3:32 pm. Note how the first line of storms (upper right) was leaving my area and the new line (bottom left) was approaching, still as potent as ever. 

3:35 pm. This is what the southwestern sky looked like during a lull in the two lines of severe storms. It was at this time I decided to pick up and relocate to the south, with the intent of intercepting a stronger line of storms which was approaching the town of North Liberty in Johnson County.

4:05 pm. Southbound on Interstate 380 with the Eastern Iowa Airport exit (Exit 13) seen in the background. The line of storms (right) was approaching fast, and at this point it quickly became apparent I wasn't going to reach North Liberty in time.

4:07 pm. Fast change of plans and pulling into the southbound Interstate 380 rest area just south of Cedar Rapids. The storm (moving right-to-left in the image) is almost upon me.

Radar image corresponding to the photo above it. White arrow points toward the storm.

4:08 pm. Stationary at the rest area now. Image looks southwest at a lowering feature along the squall line.

4:11 pm. Severe-warned storm is now blowing over me. This image looks southeast. About a minute later pea size hail began to fall, with a duration of about a minute. 12 tornadoes in Iowa from this storm system were determined by the NWS on this day, with a long-track EF2 tornado occurring in the Salem/New London area in the southeastern part of the state being the most significant. Nikon Z6ii camera.

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Eclipse Day Did Not Disappoint

I had originally envisioned a solo drive to Carbondale, Illinois for the upcoming total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024. Estimated driving time would have been about 6 hours one way. Conflicting weather forecasts one week in advance began to leave me uneasy--one day forecasting clear, the next cloudy. I soon had to make a decision, and since I had already witnessed the awesome totality of the 2017 eclipse in Columbia, Missouri, it seemed a shorter trip option might be preferable, even though it would result in a partial eclipse. Two days before the event forecasts showed confidence that southeastern Iowa would be cloud free. Now I had to research an area that might include interesting foreground elements, hopefully tall church steeples or wind mills. Finding none, I settled for an isolated water tower located about 4.4 miles east of the town of Mount Union, Iowa in Henry County. This would be a much more suitable drive of about one hour, 20 minutes. The graphic appearing above shows information for this targeted location about 4 1/2 hours before maximum eclipse coverage, and listed 89.7% for maximum eclipse. 

12:16 pm CDT, Monday, April 8, 2024. Selfie at my targeted location by the water tower, about a half hour before the beginning of the eclipse sequence and wearing my 2017 Snoopy & Charlie Brown eclipse t-shirt.

Composite image of the eclipse sequence looking southwest. Each individual sun capture is positioned in this image to their approximate location in relation to the camera's perspective. Time captures are, from left: 12:36 pm, 12:50 pm, 1:05 pm, 1:23 pm, 1:42 pm, 2:02 pm, 2:10 pm, 2:20 pm, 2:39 pm, 2:58 pm, 3:09 pm, 3:20 pm. Captures were 1/2000 second exposures at f/8, ISO 100, 70mm focal length. Post processing achieved using ON1 Photo Raw 2023, Affinity Photo 2 and CS4 Photoshop. Nikon Z6ii camera with Neewer HD ND100000 72mm solar filter. I moved the lens away from the sun after each shutter release (10 second delay), and repositioned it again for the next capture. Maximum eclipse was directly over the water tower as I had planned.

A four-image sequence leading up to maximum eclipse (far right). A sunspot at center of the disk can be seen. At maximum (89.7%), the sky resembled a hazy day, not unlike during skies from Canada or western wild fires. The air also noticeably cooled, forcing me to zip up my jacket. 

1:27 pm. The water tower, backlit by the eclipsing sun. iPhone 11 camera. 

1:50 pm. A crescent shape (arrow) in my shadow from the unfolding eclipse created by making a small opening with my left hand. For leisure viewing of the eclipse sequence, I broke my Eclipser HD glasses out of storage from the 2017 total eclipse.

3:04 pm. A ring effect created by the sun behind some isolated cirrus clouds near the end of the eclipse sequence. For almost all of the eclipse event the skies remained clear. To my utter surprise, in the nearly four hours at this location, not one vehicle drove by me! The overall experience did not disappoint and was definitely worth the effort! 

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