Eerie Environs

The severe portion of a storm cell that contained a slowly-rotating wall cloud had passed north and east of the town of New London in Henry County Iowa on the evening of Sunday, June 7, 2015. I had ended my pursuit of the storm and found a north option (County Highway X23) to eventually return home on US Highway 218. About 6.2 miles north of New London I came upon this scene at Trinity Cemetery along the roadside: a thin strip of daylight showing along the horizon in an otherwise eerie sky setting. A steady rain was falling with intermittent CG lightning, so I didn't tarry too long here. The image above, captured at 6:05 pm CDT, is a two-photo stitch which created a panorama effect and looks north. Nikon D5000 DSLR camera.

Read more...

A Little Mammatus

While other parts of the sky were clear blue, a northerly glance provided the above image. This two-photo stitch image was captured from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa just after 7:30 pm CDT, Wednesday, June 17, 2015. Moisture amounts aloft were enough to create some moderate amounts of mammatus in the cloud field. Below, the circled area above the white dot (my location) shows the cloud formation signature on radar at this particular moment. Nikon D5000 DSLR camera.

Read more...

Up Against The Wall (Cloud)

After repositioning from nearby Mount Pleasant, Iowa a short time earlier, a wall cloud formed to my north as I quickly pulled off US Highway 34 about 1.3 miles west of New London, Iowa on Sunday evening, June 7, 2015. These three images captured at a farm located near the curve of 260th Street, about one-tenth mile north of Highway 34, show the changing form of the wall cloud as it moved in an ENE direction (left-to-right in images). The top image, captured at 5:41pm CDT, is a two-stitch image. The middle image was shot at 5:43 pm and the bottom image a minute later. I followed the storm until it passed northeast of New London. The wall cloud did not produce a tornado. Nikon D5000 DSLR camera.

Read more...

Under The Anvil

This image looks south along US Highway 218 at 160th Street, about 4.3 miles south of the Riverside, Iowa exit on the evening of June 7, 2015. Even though the anvil appears to be overhead, the leading edge is actually about 7 miles distant. I was headed for Henry County, where severe weather was approaching.

The middle image shows a radar capture at the time of the top photo (4:52 pm CDT), with the white dot showing my southbound position in relation to the storm. The green color at upper right is the anvil. Storm movement was to the ENE.

Bottom image, captured about three minutes later, looks generally east while southbound on US Highway 218. Mammatus formations can be seen under the local storm cell anvil. Along the horizon at center, the updraft of another storm cell can be seen. This storm was located some 90 miles to the northeast, in southern Whiteside County, Illinois. Nikon D5000 DSLR camera.

Read more...

Chasing One Cell, Glancing At Another

Although my objective on this chase (Sunday, June 7, 2015) was southeast Iowa and a storm cell progressing eastward in that area, casting a few glances to my left also proved rewarding. The updraft (right) of the huge storm cell seen in the image above was located in Whiteside County, Illinois, about six miles SE of Clinton, Iowa. Its enormous anvil splayed out from the updraft some 25 miles to the northeast, stretching into Carroll County, Illinois. This image was captured at 4:24 pm CDT. Nikon D5000 DSLR camera.

Above is a radar capture of the moment. My position is indicated by a white dot. The white arrow points to the storm cell seen in the top photograph. The chase objective storm can bee seen at lower left.

Read more...

Incoming Scud!

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 269 (above) was posted by the SPC for southern Iowa at 3:35 pm, Sunday, June 7, 2015. Thunderstorms were already firing up near the Lamoni, Iowa area at this time. I began monitoring the storm's progress east to determine whether a chase would be merited as it neared the southeast portion of the state. Just after 4:00 I decided to go, packing up my chasing gear and leaving Cedar Rapids via Interstate 380 south. Southern skies quickly darkened and the leading storm cell became severe-warned by the time I entered Henry County a little after 5:00 pm.

Around 5:25 pm I took up a spotter's position at South Iris Street near East Washington Street (US Highway 34) in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, as seen in the photograph above. The photo looks southwest at a severe-warned storm cell, approaching from about 7 miles distance at 5:28 pm. Accompanying the photo above is a radar screen capture of the moment. The white dot is my position.

Shortly after 5:30 pm I decided to reposition east and it was a good decision. Eastbound (actually to the SE) on US Highway 34, with the storm looming over my shoulder, I pulled off the road at 260th Street, about 1.3 miles west of New London, Iowa and shortly found a fantastic vantage point to photograph the forming wall cloud north of me (above). The storm was moving left-to-right in the image. RFD winds were enough to send me scrambling after my hat as it passed by! Also above is a radar capture of the moment with the white dot as my position. All told, the chase trip lasted about 3 1/2 hours and 179.8 miles. Photos captured from Nikon D5000 DSLR camera.

Read more...

Red Blazer Sunset

Letting the dog out on Wednesday evening, June 3, 2015 brought notice to an unusual sky glow seen behind trees at Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. A closer inspection and armed with the camera in a more open area of the park eventually captured the two images seen above. Both images were photographed at 8:52 pm CDT. The top image is a two-photo stitch (Adobe Bridge photo merge process). Official sunset was at 8:37 pm. Nikon D5000 DSLR camera.

Read more...