05/07/13 Spring: 2013

A stunning display from Mother Nature as spring begins in Peoria, IL

It has been quite a busy few months for myself with lots of traveling and storm chasing across the Great Plains. I haven't updated with any new posts on here for quite some time so I might as well start where I left off with some spring photos from a couple months ago. I spent some time again this spring at a local nursery in Peoria, IL. It's a favorite spot of mine every spring since it's within 15 minutes of my apartment and always provides some great spring colors. Almost all of the photos in this post I shot at Hoerr Nursery in Peoria, IL as well a local cemetery 10 minutes down the road. It's always great not having to travel far to snap some great photos. Usually, I can't say the same when I'm storm chasing since I'll drive hundreds of miles just to get a handful of decent pics. I've added a good handful of some of my favorite shots from this spring below:

A pretty cool shot here especially with the shadow (left)

just seemed to make this flower "pop"...

Amazing detail!

Once I saw the yellow painted 2x4 I could use

as a backdrop...well, the result speaks for itself...

"Walking between the raindrops with you"

Definitely a favorite of mine!

Late-evening sunset "lighting-up" the apartment complex...

(Canon 10-22mm wide-angle lens)

Evening convection along I-74 just before sunset!

(Canon 70-300mm telephoto-zoom lens)

A close-up of the apartment complex as I enjoy

the extra hours of daylight that spring brings...

Beautiful spring colors in this local cemetery!

Another magnificent display from Mother Nature

(Canon 60mm macro-lens)

And another...

(Canon 60mm macro-lens)

I always love this time of the year!

A simple change in your viewing-angle can really make a photo...

A stunning masterpiece on display from Mother Nature!

A little bit of a blurred background I thought

really made this photo!

Another good shot!

A wide assortment of colors here...

Heavy spring rains created this brilliant

reflection on a spring evening!

I've always wanted to catch "raindrops" at sunset and on this

evening I got exactly what I was looking for with perfect lighting...

 Everywhere you turn seemed a photo was in the making...

A nice arrangement here!

A close-up!

(Canon 60mm macro-lens)

Another shot of one of my favorites!

The colors really want to jump out of the picture here...

One of the most interesting color-displays from a

hibiscus plant that I've ever photographed!

Another shot of the spring blooms at the cemetery down the road...

This photo could of been even better if it had been a cloudy day!

Hibiscus!

 (Canon 60mm macro-lens)

Another awesome shot!

(Canon 60mm macro-lens)

Heck, why not throw a little pink into the mix of photos...

Tulips, I'm not sure why a couple were red in this bunch...

A stunning arrangement here as well!

A wind farm outside Galva, IL as I was tracking some elevated

convection trying to becoming surface-based at sunset...

That wraps up my spring photos for this year. The last few months have featured several trips to chase severe storms in the Great Plains and Midwest. I'm still hard at work on several posts that I'll be updating from my travels over the next few weeks as I get caught up. Stay tuned.

04/19/13 The Great Illinois Flood: 2013

One of the many road closures from the record spring

flooding last month in Peoria, IL 

They say April showers bring May flowers. Well, that very well may have been true this spring as April was a very wet month across much of the Midwest and especially Illinois seen here. It had been an already wet start to the spring before the main event occurred. Record heavy rainfall occurred as a slow moving storm system provided amazing rainfall amounts in a 24hr. period across much of northern and central Illinois on April 17-18th seen here. The culprit for this record event ended up being a stationary frontal boundary that stretched across central Illinois. Training of thunderstorms along and north of the boundary over the same areas allowed major flooding to occur. Here's a radar loop of the entire event. Of course this much rain in a 24hr. period created major flooding problems across the state. Roads impassible or washed away, mudslides, creeks and rivers over their banks, and even later record flooding along the Illinois River in Peoria, IL and many other locations. I spent a couple days shooting some photos of the flooding in the surrounding-area in Stark and Peoria counties. The Spoon River I also photographed at its crest shortly after the rain ended as it empties downstream into the Illinois River. I've added photos of the major flooding below:

That's a lot of water in their front yard!

Farm fields turning into ponds...

More flooding at a local cemetery...

We had a little too much rain to say the least!

Kickapoo Creek along U.S. 150 over its banks...

Another view...

One of the many road closures across much

of Illinois during and after the event!

Kind of creepy lookin' in this cemetery...

More flooding...

A muddy mess after the storm!

"Where we're going, we don't need roads"

Playing around with reflections...

Another reflection here...

Tree damage from the severe thunderstorms!

One of the many flooded farm fields

throughout much of Illinois!

A flooded landscape amidst the stormy skies...

I'm sure their basement was flooded...

Creeks couldn't handle this torrential rainfall as well!

A cool perspective of a flooded farm field...

Sinkhole (left) and a mudslide (center) along this highway!

Mudslides can happen in Illinois contrary

to what many may believe...

Someone's driveway...not so much now!

You wouldn't think you would wake up one morning and

see your driveway swept away...

Rain gauge back home in Kewanee, IL

Spoon River well out of its banks!

Your can barely recognize this farm field

after the major flooding...

Floodwater's along the Spoon River...

Flooding heading downstream to my south!

Another perspective of the Spoon River...

Lots of debris left behind as the flood-waters move downstream!

It looks like a tsunami went through this farm field with

all the debris that was being pushed downstream...

A cool shot along the Spoon River with the

river in the background!

Another road washed away from the flooding...

A "Turn around, don't drown!" kind of shot...

Power lines are not supposed to be in this river...

A willow tree standing amidst the flooding!

That wraps up this post. The weather pattern looks pretty pathetic for any significant severe weather for early-May despite what climatology would tell you. I expect I'll be enjoying the outdoors for the time-being until we get more active in terms of severe weather. At this point, I'm thinking of a two-week trip in June this year (a little later than previous years). Hopefully, it'll be active by then. We can all hope...