Tuesday / Wednesday Storms

I am sorely behind for being very busy lately but the following is simply from the night of September 21st and then the following morning of the 22nd. The morning storm was by far one of the coolest photographic opportunities I have had this year. The panoramic which is among my best yet is comprised of 15 images. Be sure to check out the end video link for more on the event.















VIDEO LINK

Saturday Storms / Arts in the Park

This past weekend was the annual Arts in Central Park event located in downtown Decatur IL. Hosted by the Decatur Arts Council as well as Gallery 510, it is an event that we look forward to as it is the oldest and most prestigious event for Decatur/Macon County. As is the case every year, we were concerned about the weather. Although a few strong storms developed to the W on Saturday evening with a passing cold front, they did not pose a significant threat to the event. When I say "we", it is in reference to the Barn Colony Artists group that I participate with as a coordinator. For the most part, the event went off exceptionally well and we had numerous visitors to our tent. I did not have time to take many pictures but have included a look at our tent from Sunday morning towards the end. As for the storms on Saturday, upon arriving home after an exhausting day, I opened the laptop to see them on the approach. Having mixed feelings both for concern about our booth as well as the opportunity being presented, I headed up into Logan county. Per the radar grab c/o Cameron, the shots are from the Logan county cell. Leaving out, I drove into the small secondary cell to the SW. As I was doing so, I witnessed what I believe what lightning striking a combine and truck way out in a field. It was too far to confirm but if it didn't, it was very close to their location.

















ps: just got caught up on the blog roll at right and must say you guys all have some amazing new material!

Monday Flyby / Sunday Bugs

Took a ride out into the country for what was an exceptionally long pass of the International Space Station. Since it wasn't quite dark yet, I had to go with higher settings to get a lengthy exposure for a decent trail. Unfortunately it resulted in a slightly underexposed scene but was still fun.





and from Sunday morning...

September 2 - Severe Weather

On this day a series of strong storms developed in far WC IL and tracked E along the I-72 corridor. Though not posing a significant threat for tornadoes, they did produce numerous wind, hail and heavy rain reports. I headed out in the general direction of Mt. Auburn for an intercept of the first storm then played leap frog back towards the ESE till arriving in S Macon county. Towards dusk, another storm would develop behind the first and be the main player for the day as it passed through Macon county and on into SE IL producing incredible rainfall totals and localized flash flooding. I would find myself underneath this storm and get pummeled by heavy rain and wind making for a very interesting and welcome change to an otherwise stagnant weather pattern with little photographic opportunity. Don't miss the time lapse video link at the end of this blog, skipped embedding as the frame was getting cut off for some reason.













Moving along...




Now at Macon


Later at Elwin, I was not able to photograph the short lived lowering appearing as a massive non-rotating wall cloud that was torn apart by downburst winds but managed to make due.


Looking SW at a developing "Charlie" which is meteorological slang for an area of rotation that develops on the SW flank of a mature storm that is back building down a line and interacting with the parent storm outflow.




About to get blasted by strong downburst winds, note the dirt cloud coming at me.


Much later upon passage.




TIME LAPSE VIDEO LINK