First Significant Eastern Iowa Severe Weather Event Of 2015

Tornado Watch 39 was issued for Eastern Iowa by the SPC just after noon on Thursday, April 9, 2015. Storms near Lamoni, Iowa began to fire up after 1:00 PM CDT and it became obvious if I was to intercept a large cell forming on a ENE track in southern Iowa I would have to leave work early. I left work at 2:15 PM, gathered my gear and headed south from Cedar Rapids on I-380/US Highway 218. I had just about ten minutes to spare as I passed south of the approaching storm in Washington County. The top image above shows my first spotting position, looking west on Yucca Avenue at Highway 92, about one mile east of US Highway 218 and about two miles east of the town of Ainsworth. Tornado sirens were sounding as I captured the photo (3:47 PM). Each photo is accompanied by a corresponding radar screen capture showing the storm's movement and my spotting position (white dot).

The top photo above was captured at 4:05 PM. It looks west at the approaching storm cell from 175th Street, about .2-mile east of US Highway 218 in eastern Washington County. The area was at this time tornado-warned, with a hail core located about 5 miles to the northwest (right in the photo). I rode out the fringe of this hail core and endured only penny size hail (some reports from nearby Washington, Iowa experienced half-dollar size).

The structure in the top image above has the appearance of a wall cloud, and indeed the radar image would seem to confirm that. The photo was captured at 4:28 PM, and looks east from the same location as the middle group of images. Nikon D5000 DSLR.

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Star Captures

The top image is a stacked composite of 86 separate images taken from 8:44-9:30 pm CDT, Saturday, March 28, 2015. Each image is a 30-second exposure at f/5, 200 ISO and 18mm focal length. The camera was allowed to shoot continuously by locking the remote cord to "on." The images looks north along Jordans Grove Road NE of Marion, Iowa. A half-moon and light pollution from the foreground made achieving a dark sky very difficult. The star Polaris can be seen at top center. The middle image is one of the 86 images shot from above. Across the bottom image from left can be seen: the constellations Orion and Taurus, the star cluster Pleiades and the -4.01 magnitude planet Venus. This image was captured at 9:34 pm and is a nine-second exposure at f/5, 800 ISO and 18mm focal length. The horizon glow is from the city of Marion. Air temperature during this time was 32 degrees F with a brisk 25-degree wind chill.

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Venus-led Celestial Love Triangle

The planets Venus, Mars and a crescent moon formed a celestial right triangle in the western sky at dusk on Saturday, March 21, 2015. Venus (upper left) blazed at magnitude -4.0, while Mars (right of the moon) appeared much less bright at magnitude 1.34. Both of these images were captured from the Bowman Meadows housing development in Marion, Iowa, the top at 8:12 PM CDT and the bottom at 8:19 PM. Nikon D5000 DSLR images were captured with automatic settings. Air temperature was 45 degrees F. This clear sky opportunity was replaced by a winter mix a little over 24 hours later. The waxing moon was one day removed from creating a solar eclipse in various parts of the world.

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Grain Bins And Night Sky

The afterglow of sunset, a brilliant planet Venus and the aesthetic silhouette of a cluster of farm grain bins provided these striking images Tuesday evening, March 17, 2015. The location was Jordans Grove Road, about .6-mile north of Radio Road, approximately between the towns of Marion and Whitier Iowa. Air temperature was a brisk 35 degrees F. The top two images face west and were captured at 7:46 and 7:49 PM CDT, respectively. The bottom image looks NW at 7:53 PM. A chance to view Northern Lights from a strong geomagnetic storm this night was quickly eliminated by encroaching clouds. Nikon D5000 DSLR images achieved using automatic settings.

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Evening Planetary Companions

The planets Venus and Mars were prominent in the western sky at 8:07 PM CDT, Wednesday, March 11, 2015 with the fading glow of the sun still on the horizon. Venus (upper right) shone like a brilliant jewel at magnitude -3.98, with Mars (below and right of Venus) at 1.31. This image was captured as an eleven second exposure at f/9, 1000 ISO and 26mm focal length. Nikon D5000 DSLR. The location was Alburnett Road (W58), .3-mile north of County Home Road, just north of Marion, Iowa. Foreground illumination provided by the tail lights of my vehicle. Air temperature was 42 degrees F.

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Venus And Mars Are All Right Tonight

The planets Venus and Mars were less than a degree apart from one another on the evening of Sunday, February 22, 2015. Venus (left in images) gleamed at -3.95 magnitude and Mars at 1.26 magnitude. The top image was captured at 6:31 PM CST, the middle at 6:34 PM and the bottom again at 6:31 PM. The bottom two images include a waxing quarter moon. All images look west from the parking lot at Christ Community United Methodist Church in Marion, Iowa. Prime viewing was actually two evenings earlier, when the planets AND the moon were clustered in very tight formation, but cloud cover prevented it. Air temperature at the time of image capture above was a frigid 3 degrees F, and my exposed fingers became painfully numb in less than a couple of minutes! Camera: Nikon D5000 DSLR.

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Florida Memories

A family vacation to the great state of Florida in 2007 produced the two images seen above. The bottom image shows a billowing cumulonimbus cloud ahead of our vehicle as we traveled south (SE) toward our destination of Orlando. Our location in the image was on Interstate 75 in north Florida, less than a mile from Exit 460 around 3:25 PM EDT, June 10, 2007. A beautiful sunset is shown in the top image near the pier at Clearwater Beach, 8:05 PM, June 14, 2007. Camera: Canon Power Shot A95.

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