Wednesday, April 11, 2012

04/09/12 Illinois Dust Devils

Dust devils in rural-Stark County, IL outside
Kewanee, IL on Monday afternoon...

Monday, I was in my hometown of Kewanee, IL after enjoying the Easter holiday the previous day with my family. While I was home I was able to find some time for some photography as usual. During this time I was able to photograph and compile quite a large collection of spring 2012 photos that I'll be posting in the coming weeks thanks to some down time before the chase season kicks-in full-force over the coming weeks. This coming weekend (Fri-Mon) looks great if you're a storm chaser in the Great Plains. I'll be passing this time around on more than likely some great setups as I'll be working most of the weekend. Somebody has got to pay the bills right? I'll have a few weeks of non-stop chasing in May-June however. Anyhow, good luck to any chasers that make the long trip as their appears to be several "plays" during the weekend i.e. (dry line and/or warm front). Anyhow, this past Monday I was able to photograph some dust devils in a recently tilled farm field outside Kewanee, IL. If you thought Monday was windy well it sure was! Take a look at my Davis Weather Station obs. here. We actually were under a Red Flag warning which is typically issued when humidity is quite low, wind speeds average at least 15mph, and the outdoor temperature is greater than 75°F. Fire danger (brush fires) are the main concern on these type of days. With that being said because many of the above-mentioned ingredients were met I was able to catch some dust devils on this day. It was quite windy and these dust devils would form very quickly during the mid-afternoon. It was quite a sight! Something you really don't get to see everyday either! It helped me get geared-up for some tornado magic in the coming months. I posted a few photos below and I'll be posting a spring 2012 post at some point in the future as I've many photos to go through over the past few weeks that I have shot. A few photos of the dust devils however, can be found below:

A nice looking dust devil in this Illinois farm field!
This sucker formed right in front of me...
Good stuff!
The beginning of a wedgefest?!

That's all for now. Stay tuned for that spring post I mentioned (above) in a few weeks. You never know maybe I'll end up photographing some severe weather later this weekend locally?! Until then...