Orange Field

This small-in-area but great-in-intensity orange-colored sunset is viewed from rural Shueyville, Iowa on Saturday evening, June 25, 2016. The camera looks out over a soybean field in both images above at 8:32 pm CDT. Actual sunset time was 8:46 pm. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Pond Reflections

A brilliant evening sky in rural Shueyville, Iowa reflected spectacularly on the surface of a local pond on Saturday, June 25, 2016. All images face west. Capture times for the three images were: top, 8:12 pm CDT; middle, 8:17 pm; bottom, 8:21 pm. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Beautiful Finish To Long Chase Day

A somewhat iffy start to the day for severe weather and tornado chasing potential finished spectacularly with this view of the HP supercell that had been chasing us all the way through the Texas panhandle on the evening of Monday, May 16, 2016. Camera position here was a safe distance of about 19 miles ESE of the most intense part of the storm, at a cell phone tower lot along US Highway 83 in Hemphill County, and about 11.5 miles northwest of the town of Canadian. Time for all three images posted today was 8:18 pm CDT. The supercell's shelf cloud can be seen low along the horizon in the distant background.

A vertical view of the scene. The setting sun created brilliant color and shade contrasts.

Panorama image. At right watching the scene is Alan Broerse of News 9 Oklahoma City outside his Storm Tracker 9 vehicle, and Ryan Alliss in the foreground. The storm's heavy rain finally caught up with us as we entered the town of Canadian and continued unabated all the way to our night lodging destination of Woodward, Oklahoma. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

Radar screen capture of the moment with our position indicated with a target icon. Total travel distance from Cedar Rapids and back for this chase was 1,935 miles.

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Mixing Oil And Water

A small Texas panhandle prairie oil station is about to be overrun by an approaching HP supercell in the image above. Image looks west at 7:47 pm CDT, Monday, May 16, 2016, from the bend of Highway 281, about 13 miles southeast of the town of Spearman.

This panorama image spans the west sky (left) to the north at the same location and time. Note the intense rain and hail core lurking behind the supercell shelf cloud. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

A closely corresponding radar screen capture of the moment. The target icon shows our position in relation to the storm. The lavender color is the area of intense hail.

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Admiring From Afar

This severe storm cell began firing up in Illinois just east of the Mississippi across the river from Camanche, Iowa around 6:20 pm CDT, Wednesday, June 22, 2016. The image above reveals its appearance at 6:51 pm, looking southeast from along C Avenue and just south of Echo Hill Road north of Marion, Iowa.

Another view from the same location but a minute later. A very strong overshooting top can now be seen peeking over the edge of the anvil at center.

6:54 pm and looking southeast from Echo Hill Presbyterian Church just a little south from the above two image locations. The area of the overshooting top, located about 100 miles distant near Sterling, Illinois, can be seen in the right circled area of the radar screen capture below. The billowing cumulus tower above right is the left circled area on the radar screen image. Over a half-dozen tornadoes were spawned from this system. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Almost Here...

One of many abandoned but still photogenic farm houses in the Texas panhandle, this one made for a great foreground element as the outflow from an HP supercell drew closer on the evening of Monday, May 16, 2016. Image looks northwest at 7:39 pm CDT from Highway 281 near Highway 1, about 9.3 miles southeast of the town of Spearman. As I approached this barbed-wire fence to get a better shot I was suddenly startled by a feral cat, which came flying out of the tall grass in the extreme foreground!

Above is a wider-angle view of the same place and time.

 7:40 pm. A still-wider (panorama) view, backpedaled more than a hundred feet to include all elements. Our chase vehicle can be seen parked along the highway at far left. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Ringer Of A Horseshoe

A horseshoe-shaped shelf cloud was becoming more defined in the now-increasing outflow-dominated HP supercell in the Texas panhandle at 7:33 pm CDT on Monday, May 16, 2016. The above image looks north from the junction of Highway 51 (foreground) and Highway 760, about 7 miles south of the town of Spearman. Storm was moving left-to-right in the picture.

West facing at 7:39 pm. Location is alongside Highway 281 at Highway 1, a little over 9 miles southeast of Spearman. The shelf cloud is low and menacing, packed with hail inside its core. Note the circling birds at upper left.

Panorama image at the same location and time. The abandoned farmstead in the foreground appears to be on the verge of being swallowed by the monster. 

Radar screen capture from this moment. White curve indicates area of the horseshoe. Target icon shows our position relative to the supercell, lavender color is hail, and the white arrows indicate storm movement.

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