Thursday, March 14, 2013

03/07/13 Spring on the Horizon

Quite possibly the last snow drifts of winter
along this fence outside Kewanee, IL 

Over the last week, I've been getting ready for spring and taking a few photos here and there. I've been also hard at work testing new equipment and partaking in the usual vehicle maintenance that's to be done before spring begins. Right now, I still plan to head out and chase in April occasionally dependent on the weather pattern of course, but I'll be scheduling a vacation sometime in May/June yet again. Hopefully, this year will be far more active than 2012 ended up being. I missed the big tornado day last year in April as I had to work and really regretted not being out there that day. One of the many things I have on my mind for this upcoming spring is how the on-going drought will have an effect on severe weather across the Great Plains. I'm sure it will have some impact to a certain degree, but over the last few weeks there has been some improvement in terms of rainfall and snowfall across the Great Plains. There's still a long way to go though seen here. Locally, we have just about erased our drought from this past summer across most of Illinois. It could be an interesting spring in the Midwest with maybe even some flooding concerns if we continue this rather wet weather pattern. Time will tell on that. Anyhow, I've added a few photos I shot over the last week of the disappearing snow across the local area below:

 The snow piles are disappearing...
A nice winter shot with the low-sun
 angle during the evening!
The beginning of a 40°F day! (wide-angle)
(Canon 10-22mm lens)
The last remaining snow drifts from this winter?
Thought this was a visually appealing shot
with this statue in the snow!
These snow-piles almost giving the
illusion of spring convection and Cumulonimbus...
A cool shot with the shadows...
Anyone thinking of convective updrafts here?
A rabbit's footprints in the snow...
One last shot with the setting sun providing cool shadows!

That's all for now. Spring is on the horizon and it's just a matter of time before we see our first 70°F  day and severe convection. Heck, I even saw a Robin this past weekend so that should tell you that spring is right around the corner regardless of the what the long-term weather models may say.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

02/27/13 February Winter Storm

Amazing winter scenes to be found after last week's
winter storm outside Peoria, IL

Last week, we ended up with a fairly nice snowfall as a winter storm took aim on west-central Illinois and the Midwest. It was our biggest snowfall thus far across the area resulting in a healthy swath of accumulating snow seen here. Locally, we ended up around 6" inches of heavy wet snow at my apartment just northwest of Peoria, IL seen here with even higher totals off to the northwest. After the snowfall I headed out to Charter Oak Park in Peoria, IL and Jubilee College State Park west of Peoria, IL near Brimfield, IL on U.S. 150 to hopefully capture some winter scenes thanks to the heavy wet snow. I was quite happy seeing pretty much every tree "caked" in snow. This winter storm definitely left me quite pleased with this particular afternoon of photography. Since snowfall-to-liquid ratios were on the order of (8:1) (8" inches of snow per 1" inch of rain) it led to snow accumulating prolifically to trees etc. This was the kind of snow great for packing and making snowballs/snowmen. It's also referred to as "heart attack" snow since the snow is heavier due to the high moisture-content within the snow which can send you to the hospital if one isn't careful. Anyhow, I've added a rather large collection of photos from the winter storm below:

This bridge provided a nice photo-op
amidst the heavy wet snow...
Beautiful scenes everywhere you turned your head!
A pretty cool photo at a local park...
Walking in the snowy woods...
A snowy hill as I begin a hike in hopes of
getting some photogenic shots...
Another nice winter scene!
February winter storms usually don't disappoint in terms
of photography since usually they provide
low snowfall-ratios on the order of (7:1) to (10:1)...
Charter Oak Lake after the winter storm!
A nice snowy landscape with Charter Oak Lake
off to the right...
Heavy wet snow can bring down trees
due to the increased weight of the snow...
A scenic road through Jubilee College State Park
outside Brimfield, IL
Good stuff!
A nice (wide-angle) winter landscape here...
Snow, snow, and more snow!
A cool winter shot!
Another winter landscape...
Wanna go sledding?!
Such a beautiful display by Mother Nature!
I really like this shot...
A different perspective...
Highway to winter?
Who doesn't like heavy wet snow?
More and more great winter scenes throughout the park!
A hunting trail, but no signs of any deer unfortunately...
One of my favorites I shot all winter thus far!
Love this wide-angle shot!
Closer-view...
I wish I brought the ruler with...it would of made
a nice photo-op with the snow on the picnic table...
Maybe my favorite from the afternoon!
Another beautiful wide-angle shot...
As you can tell I took a lot of photos on this afternoon!
I thought this was quite a photogenic tree in the snow...
Old Man Winter at his best!
And another...
The leaves still on this tree seemed to add to this photo...
Another picnic table in the park...
I like this shot as well! If only I could
of had some wildlife in it...
Winter masterpieces all over the place!
A cool perspective I thought...
Beautiful!
Playing around with the exposure, not sure
which one I like better...
I could of spent all day out here!
A photogenic wooden bridge amidst the snow...
Starting to head back to call it a day...
I wish the sun would of came out for a brief moment, but
oh well it was sure worth the 15-minute drive!
Looking back at what was a great
afternoon for winter photography...

That will pretty much wrap this post up. It ended up being a fun day to snap some winter photos for myself. It felt good to get more than a couple inches of snow in west-central Illinois and here in Peoria, IL. Now, I say lets get to spring and some storm chasing. Who's ready for spring? I'm ready...are you?!