12/03/09 Autumn Sunsets & The Moon: Part II

Spectacular fall sunset in the western horizon

Here are a few more photos I took about a week ago in the local-area. High-level cirrus along the western horizon provided a great photo opportunity on this evening. I also added a few more moon pics over the last few weeks as the moon transitioned to the full moon last night. A few photos are below:

The moon at twilight...

Streaking cirrus at sunsetPretty darn close to a "full moon"The sun nearly parallel to the horizon
Just before dusk...caught this 747 cruising
across the sky producing a contrail
Sun now below the horizon giving the landscape a "glowing effect"

More cirrus with a wide-assortment of colors
The moon yet again (Canon 70-300mm telephoto lens)

I'll be adding a Christmas holiday post over the next couple weeks as well and on another note the next two weeks look fairly active with several opportunities for measurable snow and even a significant event (winter storm). Stay tuned...

11/21/09 Valley Fog & Frost

Valley fog along the horizon near a creek

Today, a Dense Fog Advisory was issued in surrounding-areas...I added a few photos of the foggy and frosty start to the day from earlier this morning across portions of west-central Illinois. The fog wasn't as dense as I would have hoped for, but oh well. It was nice to dust off the DSLR once again! Most of the photos were shot with a Canon 60mm macro-lens and a Canon 70-300mm telephoto lens:

Love these "two-seasons-in-one" shots

Nature macro-lens shotMore fog along the rural-landscape...Pretty dense in some areas I'd say...More fall foliage laying around the yardWide-angle shot of the foggy and frosty horizonFrost crystals (macro-lens)Leaf from a backyard Burning BushA great example of valley fog...a creek is located in the
background where fog has developed yet everywhere else fog
is almost non-existent...Sun giving the landscape and valley fog an orange hueCool stuff indeed...This plant is a little crusty now thanks
to the outdoor elements (macro-lens)More valley fog along a creek to my immediate south

As far as when are we going to see our first-inch of snow...Well, I think this next system should wrap-in enough cold-air to see the first "flakes" of the year come early-to-mid next week in this area...but to early to claim this one will drop at least an inch of snow...Little confidence in this right now with model issues on timing and handling the overall solution. We'll see what happens...

11/18/09 A Frosty Morning

Frost creating a dramatic effect here

Here are a few frost photos from about a week ago. This was a very frosty morning in this area thanks to clear skies and light winds temps plummeted as a cold front swept east. The temperature dropped from a high of 55-degrees F to a low of 27-degrees F by 6:00AM the next morning...click here. Most of the photos were shot with a macro-lens below...

Two seasons in one shot...how bout that?
Some clover showing the affects of a good frost
Ice crystals showing up here on some
left-over fall foliage on the lawnBlades of tall-grass prairie looking as if
someone blasted them with ice crystals overnightA vine full of ice crystalsReally good stuff...A macro lens is pretty sweet to have on these occasions
A lil less frosty on this one...

I'm working on some more posts that I'll be getting on here as soon as the holidays roll around. This year I'll be adding a holiday post composed of Christmas lights, maybe attend a Christmas festival if I can find the time, and I'll even add a video too which I'm sure some will like...I'll just say Clark Griswold would be proud of my creation...

11/18/09 Autumn Sunsets & Harvest/Hunter's Moon

Sun setting along the horizon on a rare 70-degree November day

Here are a few pics of some autumn sunsets and some moon pics...I might update this later with another post. The recent rains and clouds have put the kibosh on this type of photography as of late. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to post some more pics around here with some cooperation from Mother Nature since the corn still hasn't been harvested in this area.

Nearly a full moon with the sound of
tractors in the Illinois farm fields on this night

Cirrus clouds at sunset providing a picturesque backdropA Waxing Crescent-moon shot

Corn fields ready to be harvested as the sun
begins to dip below the horizon
Yet another brilliant sunset along the western horizon
Atmospheric dust particles providing a more
"yellow-ish" color to the moon near the horizon

Daylight decreasing each day as we get close to the
winter solstice which is only a month away...

A pesky upper-level low has really pushed back harvest in this area of the remaining corn fields as it has been quite wet...it sure would be a sight to see farmers harvesting corn with snow falling...hmm

10/25/09 Fall Foliage: 2009

Fall foliage outside the courthouse in Toulon, IL

The past two years I've made a substantial effort as the fall season begins to hunt down some of the best fall foliage in my locality wherever I may be. Last fall, I was still attending college at Northern Illinois University in Dekalb, IL so I was unable to be mobile unlike this year. You can find last years fall foliage on campus here. This year, I found myself back in my hometown of Kewanee, IL and decided to use this opportunity to seek out the best colors in nearly a 50-mile radius of Kewanee, IL. This year with the addition of a few Canon lenses I decided to really go all out on fall pictures. It kind of felt like a storm chase trying to hunt down fall colors instead of tornadoes in a way. Stops included: Johnson Sauk Trail State Park on Rt 78, Black Hawk East Campus in Kewanee, IL, Bradford, IL, Lacon, IL along the Illinois River, along I-74 in Peoria, IL, Brimfield, IL, and Toulon, IL. So here's more than a handful of my fall pictures below:

"Halloween orange" along W Division St. in Kewanee, ILDeep red leaf off a Red Maple (macro-lens)Fall scene in Kewanee, ILFoliage peaking with just about every color present
at Black Hawk East College in Kewanee, ILLooking vertically as the disappearance of
the green chlorophyll beginsA golden-yellow appearance from this Sugar Maple
Ivy leaves showing their autumn color on a dreary fall afternoonAn abundance of orange seen hereYellow maple as the sun rises in the eastA variety of autumn colors on this Silver MapleSome Pampas grass in the backyardMyself posing for a quick fall pictureA Burning Bush in the backyard
after a heavy rain event"Past peek" conditions seen here (macro-lens)The setting sun on some leaves with a lowered sun-angleMore of that "Halloween orange" in our front yardSimply amazing detail seen here on this fall treeFall sunset with "streaking cirrus" from a departing storm systemClassic Silver Maple showing off all its colorsYellow(s) from another Maple tree (macro-lens)Typical Halloween pumpkin...A golden path...if only there was some gold bars waiting for you on the other side in this economy...More up-close fall leaves (macro-lens)Red Maple stretching toward the heavensAnother mixture of fall colors here...My 2009-10 U.S. Winter OutlookHarvest time...Maple syrup anyone?Close-up of a Sugar Maple (macro-lens)STOP!...observe some fall foliageA cloudy day showing off the yellow
pigments in this Sugar MapleJohnson Sauk Trail State ParkGreen(s) changing to Yellow(s)Foliage outside our pastureMy Midwest Regional Winter Outlook

Here are some photos taken from the new Canon T1i as I'll be transitioning into this DSLR camera from my older Canon Rebel Xti from here on out. So far it was well worth the investment...

Sugar Maple found in a park in Bradford, IL

Marina with fall colors in the foreground along the Illinois River

Brillant Red Maple found in Peoria, ILA fall reflection from this lake near Brimfield, ILSeagull in flight along the Illinois River in Lacon, ILA house with a wooden bridge as its entrance...interestingClose-up of another seagull along the riverFoliage along I-74 in Peoria CountyThe moon...good practice for the "harvest moons" approaching

As fall colors have peaked in this area we get to look forward to another change in season that will soon be upon us. For some information on this you can check out my thoughts on the upcoming 2009-10 winter season here.

09/14/09 What was the: Summer of 2009

A Monarch butterfly...seeing less and less of this species
in the past 10 years locally...
you can't help to wonder...climate change?

After nearly a month "blog hiatus" I figured I'd throw together a wide-selection of pictures taken over the summer months to close out this season with a summer 2009 post and update my followers on some information. Thanks to a prolonged dry spell we really haven't had a "second season" for severe weather here in the Midwest here in September, but this has allowed me to already look forward to next chase season. I'll be streaming LIVE for ChaserTV next year and even this winter which will allow you to be in the passenger seat during chases or extreme weather events. I've also newly created a YouTube channel for past and future chase footage (Check it out here). I've also added some equipment upgrades over the last few months and more info can be found at my website on my equipment page. Looking back this past spring/summer was rather rewarding as this was truly my first full-season of chasing. I saw 3 tornadoes this past season. 2 of which were locally in Illinois and Iowa the other was the Aurora, NE tornado in June. My chasing travels led me across 5 different states this year (IL, IA, KS, MO, NE). All in all, a successful season even with a late-start from Mother Nature with a disappointing May. But now summer has ended and we transition into fall...

A morning glory with some stunning colors

Summer would not be complete without a pool right?

Some incredible flowering plants around
this area if you look hard enough

Our nations flag a breeze during a late-summer afternoon
A member of the Mantis family (macro-lens)
This one almost looks like it belongs with a
coral reef in an ocean or something...Yet, another butterfly (Painted Lady) but this time on these daisiesSunflower-type plant (macro-lens)Talk about...RED (macro-lens)
No shortage of color around this area
More and more red...A male garden spider (macro-lens)
Traditional morning glory
A female garden spider (macro-lens)Waterfall cascading water into our pond
A bumblebee finding some nectarTalk about colorful (pansies)...(macro-lens)Farm field being crop dusted
Trying my best to play with fire...After a wet summer day...you could
find something like this (macro-lens)
The Monarch butterfly extending its wing-span

As one season ends another begins...the beginning of fall foliage

This begins some more photography from this past summer...here's a collection of some of my favorite family pet pics over the last few months:

Nikki, one of our two female cats

Luigi, our male cat and is no stranger to the cameraAngel, the other female cat (Calico)On the prowl...
Indy, posing for the camera (Yellow Lab)
Umm...expecting a call?One of our goats enjoying some cement blocksClose-up of our trouble-maker
I'll take a line in Ghostbusters from Bill Murray here:
"Dogs & cats living together...mass hysteria!"
Another goat sunbathing in the pasture

Check back over the next month as I'll be planning to get a fall post on here as well once when the fall foliage really blossoms here in the upcoming weeks or if any active weather makes an appearance...

08/20/09 Photogenic Local Thunderstorms

Thunderstorm showing off its picturesque nature
southeast of Kewanee, IL

Today, a few thunderstorms developed locally around 7:00pm during peak heating across Illinois and provided a few picturesque photos in the western horizon. Just enough moisture was present in the low-levels combined with surface heating and cold-air aloft which aided in the development of these storms near sunset. I added a few photos below including a quick time-lapse:

First view of the thunderstorm as it approachesBeautiful intense rain shaft with this storm
thanks to some awesome contrast

Thunderstorm actually strengthens upon arrival,
but still below severe-criteria
Rain shaft and outflow nearly overheadAn easy find across from the front porch...rainbow!Another cell at sunset to my south
with some mammatus under the anvil

YouTube time-lapse (above)

08/19/09 (LP) Mini-Supercell

(LP) mini-supercell with it's tilted updraft near Walnut, IL

Wednesday, a very strong shortwave trough for August and several upper-level disturbances were across the Midwest and corn belt. However, I decided that to sit this one out after keeping an eye on radar most of the afternoon. In my opinion, it just wasn't worth driving into rain-wrapped circulations/embedded supercells. Based on previous chases these situations usually disappoint you with the lack of being able to see storm structure and/or produce any photogenic photos and/or video. It's tough however to observe some of those nice circulations on radar and not be there, but I figured I'd not waste my time searching for circulations in the rain. For my effort or lack there of...as usual I didn't end up empty-handed ;) Behind the MCV (Mesoscale Convective Vortex) the atmosphere quickly destabilized thanks to surface heating 1,000-1,500J/kg of CAPE and with the presence of great low-level shear some low-top thunderstorms developed. A few of these actually dropped tornadoes in northern Iowa and also a few in and around Minneapolis, MN. As a few crossed the Mississippi River into Bureau County near sunset, one of these became a mini-supercell (low-top) and also (LP) (low-precipitation). This thing really looked pathetic on radar, but you wouldn't know it visually. I quickly grabbed the new HD (high-definition) cam (Canon Vixia HV40) for a test-run. Quite pleased with its performance already from last night. After doing some video work and with darkness approaching I called it an evening. Not many photos on this day, but I also added a few satellite images of Hurricane Bill (Category4) below:

MCV with several mesovorticies on its backside...
odd and chaotic motions to go around that leave you
wondering "what the hell is going on?"

Brief rainbow behind the MCV

Thunderstorms (low-top) at sunset trying to spin
thanks to locally-enhanced shear in the area
Visible satellite of Hurricane Bill in the Atlantic Basin (08/19/09)Water vapor loop (08/19/09) (above)...Bill's rather large eye was a
bout 35 miles-wide at this pointInfrared loop (08/19/09) (above) illustrating the colder cloud-tops
which indicated where the strongest deep convection can be found

YouTube time-lapse of the (LP) mini-supercell (above)

08/09/09 August Electrical Storms

August lightning display near Princeton, IL

Wow, what an insane day for severe weather and intense thunderstorms thanks to the August summer-heat. It's hard to get tornadoes during August, but what you can get is some extreme wind events and incredible lightning displays here in the Midwest and yesterday was one of those days. This was all thanks to the well known "ring-of-fire" pattern that fires off convective complexes on the central plains heat dome's periphery. On Sunday, I debated on chasing either in northern Illinois and/or Iowa due to an enhanced damaging wind threat. However, I changed my mind once I analyzed outflow boundaries from several convective complexes pushing southeast toward central Illinois from eastern Iowa. These boundaries were heading into an area of extreme instability 4,500-5,000J/kg of CAPE analyzed by the RUC. By late afternoon a bow-echo was racing east across central Iowa into this area as well, but a warm-layer aloft (cap) was suppressing convection from forming all afternoon near the boundary. Nevertheless, thanks to an unstable-moist environment and ascent from the previous mentioned bow-echo the cap was "zipped" west-to-east along this boundary at sunset across central Illinois. This provided several local photo-ops. Yes, I missed some insane shelf clouds photographed in Iowa, but by chasing locally I have no regrets based on some of the images I was able to grab during the evening and overnight. I don't think I called it a night till about 1:00am! I grabbed many convective tower shots near sunset than switched over to lightning-mode for about 4-hours. Witnessed a few bolts from the "blue" as it seemed everything was electrically charged last night thanks to the extreme instability that was along this boundary. So all in all, I may have missed some incredible shelf clouds in Iowa, but I wasn't left empty-handed by any means. I've included many photos below from yesterday as it was incredibly hard to choose my favorites. Note: I'd highly recommend enlarging the lightning photos while viewing to get the most dramatic effect...

Amazing shot here as this tower accelerates vertically
allowing for the cirrus above to be forced
upward giving you that levitation-lookYet another...just goes to show you when the cap breaks the
vertical momentum of updrafts is quite strong (Click to enlarge...)
This tower initiates and later becomes a very healthy thunderstormAs the sun sets here it's incredible what
Mother Nature can produce in a simple photograph
Another awesome updraft shot...
having the right lens makes all the difference
Bolts from the "blue" are one thing, but how bout
updraft-to-updraft bolts...(Click to enlarge)...

Turkey towers along OFB struggling to overcome the cap initiallyAnother "levitating cirrus" above this updraft
with strong vertical momentum

Close-up of a "Turkey tower"Precip aloft cascading down the north-side of this updraft
Yet another updraft shot...
More bubbling convection...

While photographing i hear a big "thud"...i look around wondering what the heck would cause such a loud noise and I come across this deer (buck) as it leaped in this field across from me...talk about random...(Click to enlarge)...

First branching stroke of the evening...a night where everything
seemed like it had an electrical charge
The start of several storm structure/lightning shots

Thunderstorm that exhibited some rotation near Princeton, IL
showing off its lightning display
Dual positive strokes???

Look closely, but you can see what seems to be a blue-jet bolt
shooting vertically into outer-space here...
Based on all the photos I took I'm almost
convinced that much of last night's lightning were
(+) positive strokeswhich are extremely
erratic and deadly (Click to enlarge)...

If you're into photographing lightning last night was your night...
Simply beautiful and dangerous at the same time

Not as long as an exposure here, but if this was daylight that would be a "bolt-from-the-blue" above or in this case a "bolt-from-the-stars"

Branching ground stroke originating from this storms updraft
I'm sure people were saying "Oh, that's heat lightning"
last night...umm NO!!!...as their is no such thing as heat lightning

Just an insane lightning display to my east

Talk about a great night for
lightning thunderstorm structure shots I'd say
Storm now finally losing its vigor and moving farther away

Dueling CG strokes in the eastern horizon

A short YouTube time-lapse (above)

08/04/09 Central Illinois Derecho

Shelf cloud from a derecho in rural-Stark County

A few pics are below from Tuesday's derecho that formed in the corn belt during the previous night. Didn't even get a drop of rain from this feature interesting enough as it moved-in around 8:00am. Cold outflow was felt however as the northern fringe just brushed home-base providing an accelerating shelf cloud to my immediate south. The potential exists for another one of these events Friday locally.

Gust of 20mph at home-base from the shelf, but over
50mph winds reported within a county

A look at the whales mouth moving east

07/30/09 Evening Thundershowers

Thundershowers pushing cold outflow from
beneath their updrafts this evening in rural Stark County, IL

Today, a weak cold front moved overhead providing some brief-downpours in west-central Illinois from a few thundershowers. Stronger thunderstorms were found in far northern Illinois however, where a few funnel clouds were seen and also some damaging wind reports from some intense downdrafts up that way. July has been a pretty boring month here in the Midwest being that we have lacked any real big heatwaves or major severe weather outbreaks. We turn the calendar in one more day though and say goodbye to a cold and boring July across the Midwest. That's the good news, but I'm not promising August to be much warmer unfortunately...I added a couple photos and a video clip from today below:

Intense rain shafts cascading from some updrafts this evening
A short YouTube time-lapse (above)

07/24/09 NE Iowa Severe Thunderstorms

Intense ground stroke with crawler from a
severe MCS in west-central Illinois

Yesterday, the chasing gear finally got dusted off again as I drove out to northeast Iowa to intercept some severe thunderstorms. This day was mostly a nowcast chase for myself to get a few shots that I haven't got this year during the spring. Knowing that getting anything tornadic would be a chore on this day climatology speaking I decided to cautiously chase these storms which is unusual for myself. The reason for this decision was because just about every storm was HP (high-precipitation) and full of hail in some cases BIG HAIL. I chose to stay a good ways back from these storms precip cores as destroying another windshield this year would not be wise especially when you're not dealing with tornadic storms/classic supercells. Now to the chase: The day consisted of an elevated supercell that was riding an instability axis in northeast Iowa. As I approached, it quickly fell apart. I quickly decided to head west to tap instability expecting more cells to develop along a strong cold front. This indeed occurred, but the morning elevated supercell had already done its not so magic by convectively contaminating much of the region. This limited just about every storms low-level organization afterwards. If you can't get low-level organization how are you going to get tornadogenesis?! So this is when I decided to play it safe for the rest of the day which actually looking back wasn't a bad call at all given the mesoscale setup. I ended up catching some beautiful mammatus under the anvil near Cedar Rapids, IA which is one of the shots I've been missing this year. As the sun began to set I decided to get back east on I-80 and head home as the storms congealed into a respectable MCS that pushed southeastward. My hope was to get some lightning shots as I arrived home as the light show on the drive was amazing. Actually, on any of the chases I've been on this year this one had the most spectacular lightning shows of them all. The atmosphere was just electric it seemed probably from all of the hail in these storms allowed for lots of charge separation and also the presence of a high-CAPE environment. Not many photos on this day as I was constantly on the move and I didn't have any opportunity to shoot any video unfortunately.

First glimpse of convection on the day

Mammatus under the anvil south of Manchester, IA

Closer-view of the mammatus bubbling under the anvil

Mammatus yet again outside Cedar Rapids, IA

Now the light show: Dual strokes...

Intense crawlers...
Intense ground stroke while I sit back
on the front porch after the chase daySome cloud-to-cloud here...
Highly electrified atmosphere I'd say...

For late-July, I'll take a severe MCS! Also, my personal weather station did log the entire event as the storm moved in around 10:00pm last night with a peak wind gust of 33mph.

07/16/09 Multi-cell Storms

Multi-cells darkening the skies for a bit last evening in Kewanee, IL

Thursday, featured a few thundershowers that developed out ahead of a secondary strong cold front in west-central Illinois. This is the front that's responsible for our record or near record cold-high temperatures in the Midwest currently. Definitely, a fall-like feel all across the Midwest. Yesterday's storms were rather short-lived and lacked organization mostly due to the lack of moisture thanks to the last frontal passage, but I've included a couple photos:

Storm at sunset with hail shaft now off to the east

On another note, I finally got around to setting up my Davis Vantage Pro 2 weather station to send weather data via the Internet to WUnderground. I'm still working on getting RapidFire incorporated with the software so you'll get updates every 15 seconds or so and hopefully my Internet connection can withstand that amount of abuse. Regardless, it should update hourly. For now you can find my personal weather station by clicking here.

07/08/09 Rainbow

Rainbow...but I'd much rather have a "pot-of-gold"
to fund my storm chasing travels

Today, featured a few brief tornado reports found in central Illinois along a weak quasi-stationary boundary, but unfortunately I had prior obligations to attend to and couldn't make it out to chase. However, I was able to grab a nice rainbow this evening that stretched across the eastern horizon.

A stiff east wind with drizzle made
capturing this rainbow rather difficult

07/07/09 Outflow Boundary Thunderstorm

OFB (out-flow boundary) nearly provided a "mesoscale accident"

Tuesday, featured a weak boundary nearly overhead for myself in rural Stark County, IL. I grabbed a few pics from this such day since I've been accustomed to witnessing strange events along OFB's this year. On this day without even a hint of severe weather in the local area did provide one bit of excitement as a thunderstorm bisected an outflow boundary just northeast of my location. Weak rotation was observed with this storm as it developed, but quickly was undercut by the OFB it was intersecting, but for just a few minutes I almost got one of those "mesoscale accidents" on an otherwise normal July day.

Weak circulation is undercut very quick
...yet still providing chaotic motion along the boundary

A bit of excitement that required zero driving miles
...Got to love that!

I've added a short-time lapse illustrating the weird motions (above)

A possible chase is in the offing tomorrow, but we shall see...