Stretch Of Cumulus

This line of convection cumulus stretched along the eastern horizon for nearly 225 miles making for a striking contrast to the rest of the sky, which contained only dots of fair weather cumulus. The top photo looks southeast around 3:53 PM, Friday July 26, 2013 along Highway 13, about one mile north of Radio Road, just northeast of Marion, Iowa. In the background at center are the transmitter towers of WMT AM 600. The bottom image was photographed around 3:36 PM from Prairie Chapel Road, about .4-mile east of County Road X20 one mile northeast of the town of Whitier.

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Mammatus Matrix

Subtle mammatus ride the clouds of an approaching storm in this view of the northeast sky as seen from North Marion Road, about .1-mile north of County Home Road and 2.5 miles north of Marion, Iowa. Top photo was imaged at 7:32 PM, Thursday, July 25, 2013 and the bottom, one minute later. The bottom image includes Yellow Coneflower, and Iowa prairie wild flower, in the foreground. The storm was about 1 1/2 hours from the Cedar Rapids area, eventually dropping 1.76 inches of rain at my home location.

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Hefty Line In Lean Conditions

These lines of storms, though not severe, were vigorous enough to produce billowing cumulus on Friday afternoon, July 26, 2013. The line of cumulus stretched for nearly 225 miles (bottom radar image) from southeast Iowa to south-central Wisconsin. The curious thing about this was their formation in not-so-ideal conditions. Temperature was 75 degrees F, dew point 56 degrees and relative humidity 52%--more like early autumn. The top image looks east around 3:26 PM along County Home Road about .8-mile east of Highway 13 and about 3.6 miles west of the town of Whitier, Iowa. The middle image also looks east, around 3:36 PM on Prairie Chapel Road, about .4-mile east of County Road X20 (Whitier Road), and about one mile northeast of Whitier in eastern Linn County.

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Under The Lip

The higher altitude, leading edge of the coming thunderstorm is shown in these two images both taken around 7:36 PM, Thursday, July 25, 2013. Both were shot from North Marion Road, about one-tenth mile north of County Home Road (seen in the background of the top image) and about 2.5 miles north of Marion, Iowa. In both images, the cloud edge is moving toward the patch of blue sky. The top image looks southeast, the bottom, southwest. The storm arrived in the Cedar Rapids area about an hour and a half later. Total rainfall from the storm on my gauge indicated 1.76 inches--much needed--as conditions had been dry for a couple of weeks.

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Stoppage Of Play Coming

It became increasingly evident that the 7:00 PM softball game between St. Mark's Lutheran Church and Basic/Faith would not go the full hour it would usually take as a shelf cloud approached Noelridge Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Monday evening, July 22, 2013. The top and middle images were taken at 7:11 and 7:19 PM. At 7:30 PM the game was called because of lightning and high wind. Very shortly after the gust front arrived in force, kicking up huge clouds of dirt and sending players and spectators alike scurrying for their cars. The white dot on the bottom radar image shows the location of the game at that moment.

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Shortened By Storm

The softball game between St. Mark's Lutheran Church and Basic/Faith at Noelridge Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Monday evening, July 22, 2013 did not go the full seven innings because of an incoming gust front from the northwest. The top image, which looks west, shows the game in the bottom of the third inning around 7:26 PM. Lightning and high wind stopped play about five minutes later, just before huge clouds of dirt from the infield were kicked skyward. The bottom image is a satellite capture of northeast Iowa about 1 1/2 hours earlier, showing the high cloud tops and severe weather. St. Mark's won the game in the top of the fourth inning, 8-1.

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More Impressive Looking Than Reality

These dark billowing clouds appeared more menacing than was their actual substance around 12:58 PM Sunday, July 21, 2013. The cloud tops rose to 35,000-40,000 feet but produced little if any lightning and just a brief spattering of rain. The images look southwest from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

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