Two-Direction Sky

This was the view looking WSW at 3:40 PM CDT about 2 miles east of Ainsworth, Iowa as a tornado-warned cell invaded the area. I set up my camera in this part of Washington County with only minutes to spare as the sirens sounded almost simultaneously with my arrival. Location here was on Yucca Avenue at Highway 92, a little over a mile east of US Highway 218. Meanwhile, a much more serene vista graced the opposite side of the sky at the same moment (below). Nikon D5000 DSLR.

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Rain, Rain

An intense cell in the image above, part of an overall tornado-warned system approaches my position at 4:13 pm CDT, Thursday, April 9, 2015. Moments later, a heavy downpour occurred here, including penny size hail. The image looks southwest from 175th Street, about a tenth-mile east of US Highway 218 in Washington County, Iowa. The cell passed directly over me, and was a trailing segment of a much larger and intense cell several miles to the northwest. That cell produced half-dollar size hail.

This image looks directly west from the same position as the top photograph and shows the area at 4:30 PM, less than ten minutes after hail fell here. The intersection with US Highway 218 can be seen in the distance. The location is about 5.6 miles southeast of Riverside, Iowa.

The radar image above corresponds to the timing of the very top image. My spotter's position is indicated by a white dot. The circled area is the approaching storm cell. The arrow shows the system's movement. The lavender area to my north clearly shows the more intense hail core. Nikon D5000 DSLR.

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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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