Storm Tops Caught by the Setting Sun

The last light from the setting sun caught the cloud tops of a severe storm in Eastern Iowa on the evening of Wednesday, September 11, 2019. This panorama image looks northeast at a severe-warned storm located about 35 miles distant, near Cascade, Iowa in Dubuque County. Camera's location is from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Image was captured from  at 7:19 pm CDT.

7:21 pm. Zoomed-in view of the storm's hot spot. Official sunset was at 7:23 pm. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Grand Marais Sunrise

More pics from latest vacation. I positioned myself at the Grand Marais, Minnesota Lake Superior harbor during the early morning of Monday, September 2, 2019. This image was captured near where fishermen put their boats in, and many were doing so before sunrise. Scattered clouds promised a good colorful sky. Time for this shot was 6:24 am CDT. It is a 1/60 second exposure at f/9, ISO 160 and 25mm focal length.

6:36 am. Now atop a nearby rock outcropping. Image is a 1/50 second exposure at f/9, ISO 160, 18mm focal length.

6:56 am. From same position as second image. A small fog bank was drifting toward shore in the this capture looking southeast. Fishing craft can be seen in the distant background. 1/500 second exposure at f/11, ISO 125, 130mm focal length. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Summerlike Storm

A severe thunderstorm warning alert sounded in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa metro area at 2:39 pm CDT, Wednesday, September 18, 2019. With just a few official days left of summer, it turned out to be a very summer-like storm, with high humidity and very warm temperatures. At 3:00 pm I headed home from work, a little concerned that I would not be able to set up my vehicle for spotting in time, but in short order headed north on Alburnett Road through Marion. I captured the above shot at 3:26 pm--looking north at a very large shelf cloud from just a tenth-mile north of Tower Terrace Road. It was about this time that the severe warning was quickly lifted.

I was undeterred by this, as the shelf cloud was still visually impressive and photogenic. Still northbound on Alburnett Road in this image from 3:28 pm, about one mile south of County Home Road (E34). The most intense part of the storm was about ten miles distant. Dangerous positive CG lightning from this area had a curious "fading" or "dissolving" effect for about a second after the main flash.

Radar capture from 3:25 pm, showing my position in relation to the storm (target icon), with white arrows showing the storm's track.

3:29 pm. Continuing north on Alburnett Road, about .7-mile south of County Home Road.

3:31 pm. Stationary at my spotting position on North Alburnett Road, about .8-mile north of County Home Road and north of Marion. Image is a panorama of the approaching gust front, looking west.

3:39 pm. Looking southwest as the leading edge of storm advances (right-to-left in image).

3:42 pm. Looking south. Despite the fact that the severe warning had been lifted about 15 minutes  previous, wind speeds from the gust front would reach near-severe levels again around 3:45 pm. Heavy rain and lightning also accompanied the storm at this location. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Night Bright

A recent vacation to northeast Minnesota was a perfect opportunity for night sky photography in its dark skies environment. In the above image was captured at 9:27 pm CDT on Saturday, August 31, 2019 from Grand Marais, Minnesota. Camera looks SSW over Lake Superior. Crouching at center on a shoreline rock outcropping with a headlamp is Sue Alliss. The Milky Way core is clearly visible. The bright object just left of the Milky Way is the 0.32 magnitude planet Saturn. The bright object right of the Milky Way is the -2.21 magnitude planet Jupiter. The distant light on the horizon at right is probably from the small town of Lutsen, about 17 miles distant. Clouds can be seen at top of the image. Image is a 13 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 6400, 11mm focal length.

10:15 pm, August 31, 2019. Milky Way in the southwest sky over Saint Francis Xavier Church near Grand Marais, Minnesota. 13 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 6400, 11mm focal length.

10:30 pm, August 31, 2019. Looking NNE from Saint Francis Xavier Church. The opposite end of the Milky Way's arch is seen as well as an auroral glow just above the tree line, a result of G2 class solar activity. The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) is clearly visible at upper right. 10 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 6400, 11mm focal length.

3:54 am CDT, Wednesday, September 4, 2019. Looking northwest from our room balcony at Skyport Lodge near Grand Marais, Minnesota. 13 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 12800, 11.5mm focal length.

10:39 pm CDT, September 4. Milky Way in SSW sky as seen from our cabin at Tettegouche State Park in Minnesota. 13 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 4000, 11mm focal length.

10:46 pm, September 4. Looking southwest at Milky Way. Bright star at center is 0.75 star Altair in the constellation Aquila. 13 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 5000, 11mm focal length.

10:57 pm, September 4. Auroral glow in northern sky as seen from near our cabin. 13 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 8000, 11mm focal length.

11:23 pm, September 4. Looking northeast from our cabin at auroral glow on horizon, a result of G2 class solar activity. The brightest star at lower left is the 0.06 magnitude star Capella in the constellation Auriga. Thin clouds are also seen. 13 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 8000, 11mm focal length.

11:53 pm, September 4. Looking southwest at Milky Way as seen from our cabin. 15 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 5000, 11mm focal length.

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Perseids Plus One

The early morning hours of Tuesday, August 13, 2019 for the annual Perseids Meteor Shower peak at my location on Brentwood Drive NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa was overcast, thus preventing any viewing. The following morning did provide a decent show despite a setting moon, and the occasional passing of high altitude cirrus clouds. Medium-to-bright meteor frequency became quite active starting around 3:00 am CDT, and the above image is a combination of 3:15 and 3:18 am time captures. Image looks east. Each capture is a 15 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 160, and 11mm focal length. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera with Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 lens. After about 3:30 am the meteor frequency suddenly went silent and increasing cloudiness set in, virtually ending the show.

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Storm? What Storm?

To many in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa area around 7:25 pm, Sunday, August 11, 2019 when sirens blared a warning, the thought was "Storm, what storm?" as conditions outdoors appeared sunny from the perspective of the indoors--especially toward the north. A small cell had formed nearby to the west around 7:00 pm and had approached almost undetected. Because of the surprise I didn't have much time to do much mobile-wise, so I chose to stay on my back deck to spot there. The above image looks southeast at 7:37 pm CDT at turbulent tornadic clouds from the storm. The cell was moving right-to-left in the image and was about five miles to my south.

Radarscope capture of the tornado-warned cell and my location at 7:38 pm.

Panorama of the departing storm cell structure looking southeast at 8:02 pm after tornado warning had been lifted.

Closeup of the updraft from the image above it also at 8:02 pm. As quickly as this cell formed, it fizzled out. A well-defined funnel cloud, nearly reaching the ground, was observed earlier south of Palo and southwest of Hiawatha. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Two More July 20 Storm Pics

The above and below images are GoPro video frame captures. They show a severe-warned storm cell located about 50 miles to the southwest, and its enormous anvil cloud. Video was captured between 7:01 to 7:04 pm CDT, Saturday, July 20, 2019 while southbound on Interstate 380, at the North Liberty exit in Johnson County (above), and just north of the Interstate 80 interchange (below).

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