07/26/12 Illinois Summer Thunderstorms

Illinois convection ignites along an outflow

boundary northeast of Kewanee, IL

Thursday, made up for some rather "crapvection" the previous night that I was hoping would provide a nice lightning display across west-central Illinois. Mother Nature decided to not cooperate Wednesday night however so I ended up getting a good night's rest as I had hopes of chasing some convection Thursday afternoon in the local-area. During the early afternoon, I was monitoring an area for isolated severe convection across west-central Illinois in Kewanee, IL. It appeared a weak cold front would ignite a few thunderstorms during the late-afternoon in advance of a shortwave trough. This favored-area near Kewanee, IL was characterized by nearly 2,000J/kg of CAPE, 0-6km shear at 30kts, and a moist boundary-layer with dew points around 70°F. Most of the day, I monitored the situation knowing I'd be heading to Peoria, IL later in the evening anyway. I watched storms develop near the Mississippi River. These storms pushed out a nice outflow boundary to their southeast. I was able to watch towers go up along this boundary for nearly a hour. I took some time-lapse video at this point hoping to capture convective initiation. Around 4:00pm, I decided to head north to intercept the first thunderstorm that was a few miles to the north of my parent's backyard. I took a few shots of the outflow boundary showing off the buoyant environment. I was actually very pleased with the visually pleasing convection. After watching the rumbling convection I headed back south to keep up with the outflow boundary that would continue to ignite a few more thunderstorms. I kept up with these storms driving through rural-Stark County, IL as I progressed back to Peoria, IL. It was a route I'm quite familiar with to say the least! I stopped off-and-on near Wyoming, IL along the drive to snap a few photos of the storms that featured many rainbows and some rewarding stormy skies. Unfortunately, we didn't get much in terms of drought relief, but these storms were a nice reward after a pretty lame severe weather year across this area and most of the U.S. Frankly, Canada has stole all our tornadoes as of late if you were wondering! Maybe, it's time to get a passport for next year I think. Anyhow, after snapping a few photos in Peoria, IL during the late-evening I called it a night around 8:30pm. I've added photos and some time-lapse video from yesterday's stroll through rural-Stark County, IL below:

Convection, oh where have you been?!

 Outflow boundary showing off the

warm and unstable air mass...

Looking north out of the backyard at this robust convection!

(Canon 70-300mm telephoto-zoom lens)

 Upward vertical motion I'd say!

Trying to become explosive...

 The chase is on northeast of Kewanee, IL...

 A nice lowered-base along the

Bureau-Stark County, IL border!

 Wide-angle view as this country road (E 2900th St.)
heads right into the storm...

 A rather beautiful July Illinois stormy landscape...

 I'm about to feel the outflow boundary soon enough...

 This thunderstorm pushes out a nice

downdraft a few miles to my north!

 Illinois corn and overhead convection providing

another good landscape-shot...

 Whale's mouth with an eerie black sky overhead...

 The sun was my friend on this evening

leading to some great shots!

 Outside Toulon, IL as the convection moves overhead...

 A closer view...crazy to think how you could be a few

miles southeast (right) in the heat and a few miles north (left)

in a downpour...

 A welcome sight for some drought relief, but I'm afraid

for Illinois farmers it's too little too late...

 A nice picturesque thunderstorm to my north on

IL Rt. 40 south of Camp Grove, IL...

 A nice downdraft filling up the northern horizon!

 New thunderstorms developing to my northwest...

 Closer-view of this developing convection

northwest of Dunlap, IL...

 Still following the outflow boundary...

 Hail shaft and rainbow!

 More picturesque convection to my east...

 Outside Peoria, IL convection looms...

 Convection to my north with a whale's mouth

feature moving overhead...

 I ride out the storm and right on cue I set up waiting

for a rainbow to appear and sure enough this one does

at the apartment complex!

 I temporary move to another spot to capture

this double rainbow along the drought-stricken landscape!

 A beautiful double rainbow!

 Another view...

 Looking east at the rainbow once again with
geese trying to find the pot-of-gold (Click to enlarge)...

 Another stellar view in the eastern horizon!

 A spectacular wide-angle shot!

 My favorite of the departing convection...

 Crepuscular rays in the northwest horizon!

 It's now time for some shots at sunset...

 Beautiful convection!

(Canon 70-300mm telephoto-zoom lens)

 More good stuff! (looking southeast)

 My favorite of the bunch at sunset!
 
I've added a YouTube time-lapse of the bubbling convection
during the mid-afternoon (above)

It was another successful evening for photography for myself. I'm still working on my Summer: 2012 post that will have a stockpile of photos I've shot this summer. I'm planning to have that post finished over the next month. More posts to come. Stay tuned.

07/14/12 Summer Convective Updrafts

A gorgeous convective updraft at sunset along

the Illinois River near Peoria, IL

On Saturday, I began a drive back to my hometown of Kewanee, IL shortly after 7:00pm. While I was out and about I stopped to photograph some distant convective updrafts. This convection was along a remnant outflow boundary from previous thunderstorms earlier in the day that formed east of Peoria, IL. These bubbling updrafts were quite picturesque with the low sun-angle near sunset. I primarily used my Canon 70-300mm telephoto-zoom lens to capture the images I've posted below. That lens is one of my favorite lenses anymore, but it doesn't beat my wide-angle lenses though. Anyhow, I shot a few photos before I lost much of my light and later continued my short 40-minute drive across rural-Stark County, IL. I've added a few photos from the late evening below:

It doesn't get much better than that!

 More beautiful colors illustrating the CAPE present

Convective Available Potential Energy...

 This boundary didn't really feature much convection, but

yet provided a few photogenic shots...

 Talk about some good contrast...

 Summer instability at its best!

 One more before the sun sets as

the atmosphere began to stabilize...

That will do it for this quick post. With the on-going drought it has left me with lots of free time this summer, but actually I could have used a nice "break" after a busy couple of years so it doesn't bother me too much. In fact, it has allowed me to focus on a few other "projects" I'm currently working on for next spring already...

07/13/12 Wind Farms & Pulse Convection

A local wind farm outside Camp Grove, IL with

pulse convection looming in the horizon...

On Friday, I ventured out during the early afternoon to "chase" a few thunderstorms that were anticipated to develop in the local-area near Peoria, IL. I had the day-off from work so I didn't have too much planned so I decided this would also be another day for some photography. Thursday, I actually was able to get out once again to shoot some photos that I'll be posting at a later date in a rather large (Summer: 2012) post. Stay tuned for that one! Anyhow, around midday I noticed a nice convergent boundary along the Illinois River on visible satellite imagery which would serve the focus for isolated pulse thunderstorm development throughout the day. The area along and south of this convergent boundary was characterized by nearly 2,000J/kg of CAPE, 0-6km shear at an anemic 10-20kts, and a moist boundary-layer with dew points near 70°F. With little of a cap in place to suppress convective development I hit the road shortly after noon at this point already seeing agitated cumulus bubbling up in the eastern horizon. I decided since the risk of severe weather was rather lull that I would use this opportunity to photograph the developing convection at a local wind farm near Camp Grove, IL along the Stark County and Marshall County-border. I watched convection quickly develop to my south for most of the early afternoon and then as anticipated an outflow boundary ignited at my location from the storms to my south. This storm packed some heavy downpours and some vivid lightning. I sat for a good half hour allowing this thunderstorm to give me a nice car wash at this wind farm. Throughout the afternoon I was able to catch a few good photo-ops along the rural Illinois drought-stricken landscape. I've added photos from today's "chase" below:

Developing pulse convection southwest

of this wind farm...

 Agitated cumulus (Cu) around midday

bubbling to the south!

 Convective initiation beginning...

 The drought has taken its toll here...

 Updraft along the July Illinois landscape!

 Convection approaching the wind farm...

 One of my favorite shots from the afternoon!

 Dark skies looming...

 Another impressive portrait-shot!

 Convection now overhead at this point...

 Another favorite...

 I'm about to get a car wash from Mother Nature!

 Bring on the rain!

 The rain dance worked as I picked up 1.00" inch

of rain within around 40 minutes shortly
after taking this photo...

That concludes this post. I'll be posting again some of my best summer photos I've shot over the last few months within the next month. Hopefully, we'll get some more chances for rain as we are now in a severe drought in central Illinois. It has been a dry and hot summer to say the least! Stay tuned for more updates...