Iowa Severe Weather Comes Out of Hibernation

After a historical drought of severe weather and tornadoes in the state of Iowa for 2021, the storms finally made a significant return on Sunday, June 20, 2021. When all was said and done, two confirmed tornadoes had touched down and many areas of damage were reported. The image above shows a Radarscope image corresponding to 4:48 pm CDT. The severe warning of this cell, at the time located near the town of Colfax in central Iowa, prompted my movement south from home to the planned location of North Liberty, Iowa. 

5:47 pm. In position at the Green State Credit Union headquarters in North Liberty and looking northwest. The most intense area of the severe-warned storm was located near Grinnell in central Iowa, about 57 miles distant. 

Similar image from 5:52 pm. Very soon, I realized the storm's track would be south of me, so I decided to head to Hills, Iowa--south of Iowa City.

I parked at the Casey's convenience store, with the intention of waiting for the approaching storm. While there, I captured this image of a separate severe storm, seen through the clouds, located about 76 miles to the northwest near Waterloo, Iowa at 6:34 pm. The severe warned storm directly to my west soon began weakening, and although a tornado warned cell trailed it a little farther south and west, I decided to head back home. Light availability was waning, and new severe-warned cells were approaching Cedar Rapids from the northwest.

By the time I returned to my general neighborhood area, these storms had also weakened. Above, a picturesque line of clouds approaches from my position at Alburnett Road at Bowstring Drive in the Bowman Meadows housing development. Panorama image looks north at 8:30 pm.

8:33 pm. Beautiful back-lit clouds looking northeast.

8:33 pm. Looking northwest.

Two days later (June 22), and another storm pushes east and quickly becomes severe warned. This cell slid north of my position near home in Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids. This image was captured at 5:33 pm CDT, with the most intense area of the storm cell being located just east of the town of Urbana in northern Linn County, about 14 miles distant. 

Radarscope capture, corresponding to 5:39 pm.

5:40 pm. Looking northwest at the storm, as seen from the sledding hill in the park.

Similar image from 5:41 pm. The elementary school is seen in the foreground. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Makoshika Sunset

More vacation skies. These two Nikon D7200 DSLR camera images were photographed just after sunset on Tuesday, June 1, 2021. Location was Makosika State Park near Glendive, Montana. The above image was captured at 8:52 pm MDT and is a 1/200 second exposure at f/9, ISO 160 and 25mm focal length. The  image below was shot at 8:57 pm and is a 1/200 second exposure at f/7.1, ISO 160 and 25mm focal length.

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Impressive Looking Rain Tease

A strong--but not severe--storm cell intensified as it moved southeast near Alburnett, Iowa around 4:00 pm CDT on Thursday, June 10, 2021. By about 4:30 pm it was packing a rather robust hail core. The rain potential from this cell was almost certain to provide welcomed precipitation to thirsty landscapes, currently suffering from drought conditions. The storm's appearance was very impressive too, with an extended forward-reaching anvil and black sky in its downdraft region. Above is a panoramic view of the storm looking north at 5:13 pm, seen from Alburnett Road and Bowstring Drive in the Bowman Meadows housing development in Marion, Iowa.

5:25 pm. Lots of potential here. Vigorous updrafts and numerous rumbles of thunder in the approaching cell. Within 20 minutes however, most of the cell had almost completely fizzled out. Only a few light sprinkles ever reached the ground here. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

Radarscope capture of the storm cell corresponding to 5:07 pm. Storm motion was to the southeast. The blue target icon indicates my position. 

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Montana and North Dakota Provide Sunsets, Stars and Noctilucent Clouds

Recent vacation to western North Dakota and eastern Montana provided for some beautiful captures, and in one case, a rare sky capture. Above, the Milky Way spans a Badlands horizon toward the east as seen from the Little Missouri State Park campground north of Killdeer, North Dakota. Image was captured at 12:00 am MDT on Monday, May 31, 2021 and is a 2.5 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 10000, 11mm focal length. The distant horizon lights are burning gas flares.

12:14 am MDT. Milky Way behind our Little Missouri campsite. 3 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 8000, 11mm focal length.

8:34 pm MDT, May 31, 2021. Makoshika State Park, just southeast of Glendive, Montana. Sunny skies had given way to gathering dark clouds. The sky was mostly obscured until the moment of this capture, when a gap in the clouds briefly allowed a shaft of sunlight through, illuminating the top of these Badlands features. Sunset was at 8:35 pm. 1/320 second exposure at f/3.5, ISO 200, 18mm focal length.

8:36 pm. The (north) western horizon took on a fiery look as the clouds slowing closed the gap. 1/320 second image at f/4.5, ISO 320, 34mm focal length.

8:36 pm. Similar shot. 1/320 second exposure at f/4, ISO 320, 26mm focal length.

8:39 pm. Fading light and thickening clouds. 1/320 second exposure at f/5, ISO 320, 45mm focal length.

8:40 pm. 1/320 second exposure at f/4.5, ISO 500, 32mm focal length. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

Same location, now 9:38 pm MDT. The sun had been below the horizon for just over an hour. Small gaps through the clouds just above the hillside remained, showing an unusual illumination, which at first I dismissed as the lights of the nearby town on Glendive. It soon became apparent the town of just over 5,000 could not be causing this curious bright phenomenon. I soon remembered something called Noctilucent Clouds, though I had never actually seen them myself. 

9:41 pm. Arrows point to three separate areas of noctilucent clouds looking northwest. Noctilucent clouds form by the sun's interaction with ice crystals at extremely high altitudes (250,000-280,000 feet). They are commonly seen in the summer months when the sun is 6-16 degrees below the horizon and from latitudes 50-70 degrees north.

9:44 pm. Glendive is 47 degrees north latitude, and that is probably why the glowing clouds are low on the horizon--being seen higher in the sky farther north. Shortly after this image was captured, clouds began covering the spectacle, and in less than a half-hour a short rainfall ensued. iPhone 11 camera.

8:33 pm MDT, Wednesday, June 2, 2021. Sunset as seen from the Skyline Vista Overlook in the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. 1/500 second exposure at f/9, ISO 200, 18mm focal length. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Nonexistent Severe Weather Season So Far For Cedar Rapids

According to official numbers, the severe weather and tornado season for Cedar Rapids, Iowa in the spring of 2021 is the lowest it has been in 20 years! Most severe weather activity for the year has been taking place in the central plains of the United States. Because of this, storm structures in Cedar Rapids have been few and far between to photograph. Some of the highlights of the "garden variety" storms that have happened in the city are captured here from Sunday evening, May 23. The images look west from Bowman Woods Park. The above image is from 5:23 pm CDT.

Radarscope image for 5:24 pm, showing the storm cell approaching Cedar Rapids. This cell did not contain lightning.

5:45 pm.

5:56 pm.

5:57 pm. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Icy Sky, Icy Air to Come

Sunset at Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Sunday evening, April 18, 2021 included this beautiful sun halo. Sun halos are created by ice crystals high in the atmosphere. This icy sky was a precursor to unseasonably cold air temperatures in the days to come. Image captured at 6:23 pm CDT. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Ten Years Ago, Epic Western Iowa Tornado Outbreak and Chase

Where has the time gone? A decade has passed since Saturday, April 9, 2011 and the participation in my first "real" storm chase--that is: one where researching a "hot spot" was conducted, driving to a selected and distant location which was at the moment experiencing fair weather, waiting a lengthy period of time for storm initiation, responding to the initiation and following the storm system east, continually staying on its southeast flank. My son Ryan, who had earned his meteorology degree from Iowa State University the previous December, researched severe weather models that Saturday morning to determine if a chase was feasible. By the time the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) posted the convective outlook shown above (11:21 am CDT), Ryan was convinced of good results for a chase, despite strong capping inversions present in the predicted area of western Iowa. We left Cedar Rapids for Ames, Iowa, where we met up with six of his meteorology student friends for a short strategy session concerning the coming chase. Included in this group were: Nick Carletta, Bryce Link, Ethan Milius, Tristan Morath, Tyler Roney and Sam Schreier. Our selected location to wait out storm initiation was a Casey's at Minden, Iowa on Interstate 80, and an abandoned former convenience store site just to its north. By 4:55 pm with the cap broken and a supercell already exploding skyward to our west, we were at last underway. The group was now chasing what would turn out to be an epic tornado outbreak in western Iowa, and we would view 5-8 tornadoes before the night was done.

5:50 pm CDT. Storm chasers Bryce Link, Sam Scheier, Nick Coletta, Ryan Alliss and Tristan Morath view the growing supercell from about 3 miles west of the Onawa, Iowa Interstate 29 exit.

6:19 pm. Bloated supercell with mini funnels looking west while northbound on Interstate 29, just south of County Highway E24. (Bryce Link capture with my camera)

6:36 pm. Building supercell looking back south while eastbound on Highway 141, just south of Hornick, Iowa. 

7:08 pm. Circulation aloft that would become the Mapleton, Iowa EF3 tornado. This location was just west of Ute, Iowa, and about 8.5 miles southeast of Mapleton.

7:22 pm. Panorama looking north at developing tornado as seen from Sumac Avenue, about 7 miles southeast of Mapleton. 

7:24 pm. Looking northwest at EF3 tornado just before it impacted Mapleton. The tornado would destroy 60% of the town.

7:32 pm. Storm chasers Bryce Link, Sam Scheier, Nick Carletta, Ethan Milius, Ryan Alliss, Tyler Roney and Tristan Morath view the EF3 tornado as it leaves the Mapleton area. The location was Sumac Avenue at 170th Street, about 5 miles southeast of town. 

8:12 pm. Storm chasers look north in 50-plus mph RFD winds from Keystone Avenue at 330th Street, one mile west of US Highway 59, and about 8 miles south of Ida Grove, Iowa. From left: Tyler Roney, Bryce Link, Ryan Alliss and Gregg Alliss. (Tristan Morath video frame capture)

8:30 pm. Driver Ryan Alliss observes tornado while northbound on County Highway M31, south of Arthur, Iowa. All tornado images from here on were video frame captures, illuminated by lightning.

8:32 pm. Stationary along County Highway M31, looking north, about one mile south of Arthur. Tornado is about 2.5 miles to our northwest, on a northeasterly track.

8:38 pm. Chasers looking north at low rotation from Hope Avenue at Highway 175 (330th Street), two miles east of Odebolt, Iowa. This EF3 tornado was on a northerly track.

8:38 pm. Multi-vortex tornado. 

8:56-8:57 pm. Long exposure of a vivid lightning display looking northeast from 255th Street, about one-tenth mile east of US Highway 71 and 2.5 miles southeast of Early, Iowa. Strong RFD winds are blowing the trees in the background. The dark area at left is a supercell with a tornado on the ground at this moment. We were cautioned by a highway patrol trooper here who then sped on up the road at right.

9:10 pm. Too close! EF3 wedge tornado to our northwest as we are northbound on County Highway M50, approaching the center of town at Nemaha, Iowa. The tornado is less than 2 miles distant, and we later determined the strong probability of being in its outer circulation. We made a quick and safe escape east at the center of town.

9:46 pm. Stationary and looking north at supercell as seen from County Road D15 at County Road N33 (leading off into the distance), about 1.5 miles west of Knoke, Iowa. Long exposure image. Red lights in the distance are from a wind farm. High RFD winds made stabilization of the camera image difficult. The day's chase ended here, and we finally rolled back into Cedar Rapids around 1:15 am, April 10--exhausted but safe and exhilarated. Nikon D5000 DSLR images.

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