96% Lunar Eclipse

 

Mostly clear skies and warm conditions made observing the partial lunar eclipse event over Eastern Iowa during the night of August 27-28, 2026 ideal. The penumbral phase of the eclipse started at 8:23 pm CDT on Thursday, August 27, and at 9:33 pm the Earth's direct shadow began covering the moon. Maximum eclipse (96% of the moon's surface) occurred around 11:12 pm. The image above captures the eclipse in a progression spaced in 15 minute increments, starting at 9:30 pm (lower left) and finishing at 11:13 pm (maximum, at upper right). The 9:30 pm image is a 1/500 second exposure at f/9, ISO 400, 70mm focal length, while the 11:13 pm is a 1/5 second exposure at f/4, ISO 640 and 70mm focal length. The image looks southeast from Lowe Park in Marion, Iowa, with the Klopfenstein Amphitheater in the foreground. It was captured separately as a 3 second exposure at f/8, ISO 125, 29mm focal length.

Individual capture of the moon around maximum eclipse (11:12 pm). 1/10 second exposure at f/4, ISO 640, 70mm focal length. Nikon Z6ii camera.

Read more...

It Made Me Leap Out of Bed!

 

Friday, July 31, 2026 in Eastern Iowa had been a mixture of rain and clouds, with nothing significant forecasted as far as severe weather was concerned. I was not concerned that evening as I relaxed at my home in Cedar Rapids watching TV. Around 6:50 pm my bedside weather radio went off. What could this be, I wondered -- amber alert? flash flood watch? No, a tornado warning, and for southeastern Linn County no less! I leaped out of bed and went outside to check the southeastern sky, which had a turbulent appearance. Without any other spotting frills I grabbed my camera and with only a quarter tank of gas negotiated an advantageous route that would take me quickly to that area before the tornado warning was lifted. The image above is from 7:04 pm CDT and looks toward the tornado warned area (right) while I was eastbound on County Home Road, west of Highway 13 and north of Marion, Iowa.

As is common this time of year, summer spin up tornado warnings are fleeting. And such was the case here. By 7:10 the warning was lifted. Clouds were still amazing though. I found a spotting location on Hindman Road at County Home Road northeast of Marion. The image above is from that location at 7:11 pm and looks northeast.

7:18 pm Radarscope capture. My location is the blue target icon. The storm cell was tracking to the northeast, so I remained where I was to allow it to slide by me to the east. A more intense area of the storm is shown near Bertram, Iowa.

7:19 pm. Partially sunlit turbulent clouds behind a substation looking southeast.

7:22 pm. Similar view looking east.

7:25 pm. Looking west at sunbeams peeking through a gap in the clouds.

7:28 pm. Turbulent and ominous looking clouds to the south.

7:30 pm. Looking east at low-base clouds moving from right-to-left (northeast). Significant rain on July 31 and August 1 provided some welcome relief to a couple of weeks of dry conditions in the area. Nikon Z6ii camera.

Read more...