Paul M. Hadfield

Ice Spikes

2012-01-27T15:13:00.001-08:00

In spite of a terrible cold at the time of this post and not really feeling it, I didn't want to allow this morning's phenomena to go undocumented. More info on their formation can be found HERE.

The Climate Prediction Center recently released its seasonal outlook update. The strange and mild winter rolls on as seen HERE.

Boring Tuesday

2012-01-25T13:56:00.000-08:00

Seems like those mornings I actually have time to do anything, conditions aren't favorable for shooting much of anything. Anyways, while puttering around in the middle of Shelby county till the places I needed to open did...

Later that night I rolled the dice on another solar storm that peaked before the sun went down but aurora forecasting isn't a perfect science so I tried anyways. No luck of course which was no surprise but wasn't going to let the session go to waste without putting something up. Did encounter a half eaten coyote carcass with my flashlight near to where I was shooting that was a tad unsettling.

Freezing Fog / Thunderstorms

2012-01-23T04:01:00.000-08:00

I don't usually get into discussing other parts of the country but it is safe to say few in the Southern US will forget the January 22nd into the 23rd overnight. Beginning here on Sunday morning, the day started off fairly typical for the year as we saw dense freezing fog around the region. Occurring as result of warm air advecting from the S and interacting with local surface temperatures in the middle 20's, the end product was one of icy tranquility.

Turning attention towards evening, cells erupting across the deep south quickly went severe and then tornado warned. This particular screen capture shows two mesocyclones with strong rotation and likely producing tornadoes. The dots are storm chaser acquaintances out on Facebook whose well being I was a concerned with at the time. Velocity and reflectivity images are from the RadarScope for iPhone app.

Storms would eventually develop up this way along an advancing squall line but not to the degree of severity as elsewhere. Upon passage of the line and the associated heavy rain, I set up and managed to capture a few of the intense lightning bursts occurring in the stratiform precip region or basically on the backside of the storm. Per the blown out image, I did not see it directly as I was focused elsewhere but for what I did observe, I doubt I would have been able to compensate as it was a multiple return stroke clearly frying something. Radar image is from the time of the shots with my location as blue icon.

Eventually things would quiet down here at which point I turned attention to the ongoing situation in Alabama where unfortunately, numerous violent tornadoes would develop. Those poor people just can't get a break.

Sleet Pillars

2012-01-21T00:24:00.001-08:00

Around 7PM while taking out the trash and being peppered by a round of moderate to heavy sleet, Ava and I noticed light pillars occurring as result of the precipitation type so we took off for a better look.

January Thunder

2012-01-17T16:02:00.000-08:00

The first US tornado warnings of 2012 occurred in a part of the country one might not expect for the time of year being that of Missouri and eventually into Illinois. The number and intensity was a surprise to those of us who were awake on the overnight watching the event unfold. Up this way we were initially forecast to receive little more than a few rumbles of thunder but ended up with marginally severe storms producing heavy rain, wind, hail and a few regional power outages.

This was the scene in Missouri.

Turning attention towards home, I was at Forsyth and watching radar as we were in the notch of the parent surface low with the warm front extending to my N. As far as position goes, placement was perfect for viewing and experiencing the most intense area were it not for being stuck where I was surrounded by commerce. On passage we were slammed with gusty downburst winds with a measured gust of 47 MPH observed out at the Decatur Airport.

Facing W and shooting continuous, a decent look at the approaching shelf.

Shifting towards the NNW with the shelf nearly overhead.

Time lapse video

Overview after passage of the above scene.

The reflectivity indicative of stronger winds at Harristown would pass over my home which is SW of the icon. Coincidentally my neighbor's dead tree didn't make it through the night though I was unaware at the time I saved the frame.

Throughout the day temperatures plummeted to sub freezing and with it, a few scattered snow showers reminding us that spring is still a long way off.

and finally, would you believe there was an EARTHQUAKE in Illinois today?

White Sandy Beaches

2012-01-13T22:37:00.000-08:00

and palm trees...

Dose of Reality

2012-01-13T04:09:00.001-08:00

Except to get the first picture, I had little interest in stepping out on Thursday due to the intense blizzard-like conditions. Upon doing so however, I encountered a brave group of individuals documenting the latest storm. This came as no surprise since everyone was talking about the weather as it was such a dramatic change from the mild pattern we had been in. Curious as to what they were doing, they invited me to tag along. Midday snow pictures bore me but they insisted I join them so I did.

I was impressed with how well coordinated they were as a team working from both in and out of the vehicle. I guess it comes easy when you have fun with whatever it is that you are doing at the time.

Heading out into the country, the roads weren't too bad although visibility was difficult at times due to blowing and drifting snow. Driving around for the better part of two hours, the bitterly cold -3 wind chill value did a number on me but didn't seem to phase them at all.

Eventually arriving back at home and before parting ways, I asked them how it is that they stay so enthusiastic in the middle of January to which they simply replied "always have fun regardless of circumstance." Keeping this in mind made the faint Light Pillars both over the city and with the moon an easy capture despite a wind chill value of -5.

Morning at Lake Shelbyville

2012-01-10T18:48:00.000-08:00

Was somewhat surprised how well these turned out considering all were at great distance. Gull in second image was almost halfway across. Should have gotten a shot of the lake for perspective but was just kind of there to chill. Not much of a chill to be found though.

From 2009, I was at the lower left facing across. Distant marina is same as in second image.

Wolf Moon / January Stuff

2012-01-09T14:29:00.000-08:00

Sunday's full moon was titled the Wolf Moon. Though intense as it soared through the night sky, I wasn't interested in getting it. Heading home in the morning it looked cool as it hung low on the WNW horizon so I decided to pull over and go for it after all. Ideally I would have preferred not to have foreground items and be higher but when it's this low you literally have seconds before it slips out of view. Distortion of moon and extremely distant barns is due to Atmospheric Refraction.

Facing E, Quadrantid Meteor from the 3rd.

Frost, January 3

January 2

A six shot panorama redone this week that was originally shot on January 8 of 2007, republished on the five year anniversary.

And finally, aside from deleting my old web site which has grown stale and has been costing me money in monthly fees versus bringing in a penny of revenue, I have been working on my Facebook Page . I am about 70% done with going through material dating as far back as 2004, weeding out only the best or most interesting and giving it a fresh edit with new techniques such as the above panorama. It's exciting to find things I did not know I had as well as have the opportunity to share events that many have not seen before. Hopefully I will be done with all that by later in 2012.

Amazing Sunset

2012-01-04T16:26:00.001-08:00

On a day I have been simply laying low as it is the four year anniversary of our mother's passing, something compelled me to step outside so I did.

Snowy Owl, Extreme NW Macon County IL

2011-12-22T23:18:00.000-08:00

While waiting for things to open on Thursday morning, I took a ride out into the country. Not expecting to see much for even the heavy frost at ground level wasn't very interesting, upon crossing a small bridge I spooked a Snowy Owl at rest. It flew out and landed in a field too far for me to estimate with accuracy. Pulling over and managing to walk about 15 yards away from my vehicle so to be closer to it, I am very pleased with this new opportunity despite the distance. Had I not kept an eye on it as it flew, I could have easily lost sight for it blended in exceptionally well with the landscape. I was located about 1000 feet inside the Macon County line where it meets Logan and Dewitt.

To give an idea of just how far away it was, the inset on this is full 300mm at 100% and still very small. My saving grace for being able to curtail shake was the use of a cable release.

Other shots from the morning.

Ice Worms

2011-12-16T17:10:00.001-08:00

While out on a walk Thursday morning, I encountered an entirely new macro ice formation that I had no idea existed. Roughly the diameter of spaghetti, it is frozen water ejected from worm tubes that froze on contact with the outside air which hovered at or slightly below freezing during the overnight. Unsure of what it might be called as everything these days has a name, a friend suggested Frost Flowers. Since the liquid was free standing and not extruding from or clinging to any type of foliage it is not this phenomena. On the same page however, I clicked Needle Ice and though I have been unable to find illustrations similar to these, I believe this to be an accurate description of the process though not necessarily of the subject being represented.

Keeping in mind that this is no thicker than a coffee stirrer, I also discovered a tiny Ice Spike that was no larger than a sewing needle tip. Ice spikes aren't particularly common so to find one developing on an equally bizarre as well as rare formation makes this a highly successful outing. You're never too old discover something new.

Frosty Eclipse

2011-12-10T14:23:00.001-08:00

Although we weren't in the most favored area for viewing today's lunar eclipse, we did get to witness roughly 15 minutes of the beginning before it slipped below the horizon. I was at work and would have preferred to be out in the country.

With a morning low of 18, conditions were ideal for frost formation. The foreground object is a pine needle.

First Flakes

2011-12-09T12:32:00.001-08:00

What started out as practice for the season turned into an interesting opportunity when a mite strolled into the scene. A better way of shooting macro other than hand held in low light would have been ideal for it is roughly the size of this period >.

Sunrise Of The Year

2011-12-08T14:24:00.000-08:00

Awaking before dawn and sticking my head outside, I could tell by the altocumulus deck that there was the potential for a brilliant sunrise so long as the light angle was just right. Heading out and up the road a short way, my hunch verified.

March 11, 2006

2011-12-02T12:03:00.001-08:00

Most people who were paying attention to the event will never forget the historic, record breaking Six State Supercell of March 12, 2006. Nearly 24 hours prior to it's passing through the region however, we had another severe weather event that up until now I did not really bother with except for maybe the first of my pictures. Editing experience along with a clever technique have enabled me to bring new life into old shots from this night that otherwise would never be seen for having been sorely underexposed.

Already under a tornado watch by nightfall, an MCC (mesoscale convective complex) prompting severe thunderstorm warnings in counties to the W churns across the state. Though our county would not earn warnings, others to the immediate N, W and S would. Radar archive images c/o IEM.

From inside my vehicle I tried to capture the intense lightning out ahead of the cluster with the following being my first push button CG capture. There otherwise wasn't much to see however, in review and heavy editing, the camera did pick up cloud details including a shot from just before the heavy rain set in. The dark mass to the left is a rain shaft approaching from the SE as you face W. The time stamp indicates that it was most likely the lead edge of the unwarned red core located SE of the warned area in the above radar image.

On passage, attention turns toward the S.

Facing SE and again trying to pick up lightning once the heaviest rain exited. What makes all these low quality JPEG's somewhat cool is an editing technique I have been recently applying when appropriate. Upon lightening, there was of course tremendous noise for which I then added noise reduction. Ending up with a much softer, milky image I then reintroduced noise in Photoshop by a factor of 7 that in turn helped mask imperfections and create uniform texture throughout the scene. Though they are far from ideal (as these are also second generation saves on the host end which contributes to web publish degradation), it is nice to finally be able to present pictures that have not been previously viewed.

and finally, a quick edit featuring the infamous storm of the following night as seen from S of Latham IL using the same technique.

sfdd :/

2011-11-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

January 2, 2006

2011-11-28T23:22:00.001-08:00

Continuing with the seemingly endless task of sorting through old pictures, I stumbled upon a series of unpublished images from an event I did not bother with as it wasn't very photogenic or interesting at the time. Since there isn't much going on right now I figured it might be worth another look.

On the morning of January 2, 2006 while watching TWC at work, an approaching system producing tornado warnings from outside of St. Louis was top news for the 6 o'clock hour (click for more info). Lifting out of the SW and expected to maintain intensity, a tornado watch was issued for the greater Central IL region. Timing as such to coincide with when my shift ended, I headed S to just N of Moweaqua IL in an attempt to observe a cell that appeared promising upon final glance before leaving. I wouldn't have data for another two years and instead, relied exclusively upon my Oregon Scientific Weather Radio for updates. Unable to get far enough S on US 51 so to be in the best position for the cell I was most concerned with, I pulled off and allowed it to pass to my S. The motion with the incoming line N of this area was still very intense and as later learned via conversation with the Weather Service, an unconfirmed tornado report was made with this particular cell. No mention of it appears on the SPC page for this day but to know that I may have missed something significant despite being so close is still disappointing. This could have potentially been the day of my first tornado observation but then again, who is really expecting to see such on a January morning? Looking back to the time before now when weather information is so easily available to anyone with a smartphone or laptop, I have to wonder how many people would still be involved considering the effort it once took to make informed decisions. Likewise, what I wouldn't give to go back to 2006 and the banner year it was for Illinois with the mobile data capability we have at our fingertips now.

Initial activity (archived radar c/o IEM).

Later, I'm at the white dot. Note the area of greatest intensity just below me.

Incoming facing W

Upon passage facing W

facing SE

facing E

nothing to see...

2011-11-27T09:18:00.000-08:00

Late November with a temp of 39, NW wind gusts to 22 MPH and rain do not make for the best shooting conditions.

It's going to be a long winter.

New Direction...

2011-11-23T13:47:00.001-08:00

Something that has been eating at me for a long time is the way I have been presenting my work over the web. My site as well as initial goals with it have not kept up with my plans or the evolution of the internet thus I have only achieved a marginal amount of overall success. This past year I vowed to change all that; going so far as wanting to kill pawleewurx which was cute back when my focus was art and tutoring versus today. It's going to be difficult to do just that since I have invested considerable amount of time and effort into certain areas like my YouTube channel which currently stands at 112 uploads. Instead, I am going to move focus from having a stale website to this blog which has been doing exceptionally well during the last two years and tweak it extensively.

Over the past few days I have been quietly making behind the scenes changes so to ultimately send the old site to the great recycle bin in the sky while minimizing dead images and links. Unfortunately everything I have linked to StormTrack will be gone but there is no sense forking over a monthly webhosting fee for something that doesn't pay for itself or at least suit the type of work I do. The bulk of important content that I used to promote is now accessible here via the menu bar at right and presented in such a way as to be of mutual benefit than the previous approach which was as something to just look at. I am a huge supporter of the POD (print on demand) industry as it creates opportunity both for creative professionals as well as image reproduction services which is where my roots lie. Artwork which contains some of my most popular works to date is comprised of widgets that should you like an image you see, you can easily access a third party service who will be happy to produce an item for your enjoyment or as gift. Fine Art America is where I am promoting my better drawings as prints and unfortunately for as long as I have been with them, did not realize a huge error. I had my markup set way too high thus the entire product line was completely out of the realm of most people on a present day budget. I like to make my wares available to all people and not simply those of better means for IMO, a successful artist not only relates to his/her audience through their expression but also their pocketbook. The pricing has been scaled back significantly so hopefully now it will begin to work. My Cafe Press shop seems bare but rather than have a huge product line, I went with those items to have consistent success since 2002 and be a fitting match for the image being displayed. Even still, this is just a temporary move for in order that something can be reborn, it must first die as will some of this too.

Video is self explanatory though I would like to mention the widget service I am using and recommend those with similar to check it out as they offer many customization features. Audio is an area I have been getting into as a side endeavor to the way I produce videos for having natural, real time background sound instead of music or whatever. This is a brand new element and to be honest, I don't know of anyone in the chase community who produces such a thing but if they do, good for them. It is fun and I'm sure that with time it may even catch on with others. The thunderstorm clips when played to an audience out on Facebook have evoked a number of positive responses. I like them for being a peaceful addition to my mp3 player. The collection will continue to grow although I am hard pressed to think that I will be able to top the tornado or cicada tracks as they are both exceptionally difficult to come by. The cicadas alone won't be back till 2024! Files are complete with thumbnail image from the time of recording that appears when played and yes, you can download them for free.

Links is another self explanatory element which was merely pulled from my site. Sorely neglected with time, I do intend to spruce this area up significantly for there are many people and services I am very happy to promote. The blog roll found below the archive menu has been cleaned up as well. I changed the automatically generated titles of some to be representative of the blog author' name. Without meaning any disrespect to anyone as people's priorities tend to shift with time, I removed stale or abandoned blogs. I don't think they would notice anyways :)

Finally, as for my photography that was on the site, this blog goes back two years which should be a sufficient representation of the things I do. My better work dates back to 2004 so in time I hope to have that out here again along with my mother's stuff as well as old drawing lessons and the like. To those seeing this blog in spite of my disappearance from Facebook, thank you for dropping by.

Monday Storms / Leonid Fails...

2011-11-19T23:54:00.000-08:00

Last Monday November 14, SE Illinois on into Indiana and Ohio was highlighted for a slight risk. Storms were expected to fire well to the E of our location and pose a greater threat of severe weather including tornadoes in another time zone. I didn't plan on heading out for this reason however, at initiation time, cells erupted back along the frontal boundary versus the hatched area further S and E. My thinking is that overnight convection which produced tornado warnings as well may have turned the area over thereby shunting new development till the CF arrived and especially for being the time of year with a significantly lower sun angle to limit recovery. I also noted a considerable amount of cirrus over S IL which probably didn't help. Experts are welcome to check my meteorology as I am just throwing out hindsight conclusion without any supporting data. Anyways, the surprise change in setup would make for an ideal local event with a few cells quickly earning tornado warnings not far from home.

Looking NE from I-72 towards De Land IL, this cell would earn tornado warning a short time later in Champaign county.

Same cell, now at Lodge IL along route 10

Bailing from the warned storm that was becoming shrouded in rain and heading into populated area, I turned my attention to new unwarned development to the SW. Two shot panorama of a developing supercell near Broadlands which is in S Champaign county.

Same location and now looking very promising as a mature LEWP (line end wave pattern) with the potential for producing brief spin up tornado. Though I could not identify any activity that may have been occurring, contrast enhanced image of the scene reveals the possibility of a circulation reaching to the ground. Since I couldn't make confirmation I never called anything in which may or may not be a foul on my part though earlier I did stop to advise a farmer I passed up the road near to where it would have crossed and was probably the only thing in harms way. I don't play into the whole hero chaser image which has been a hot topic of discussion in the weather community recently but will on occasion give a cautionary heads up when I see pedestrians or person's otherwise exposed to the elements. At the very least it's a courtesy in saving lives... from getting rained on lol. Time lapse video of this and another area of interest can be seen HERE.

Dropping SW a short distance on yet another developing cell, this was the tail end "Charlie" or last cell on the line segment which was clearly becoming outflow dominate and linear.

Keeping with the line motion and enjoying the simple pleasure of casual storm photography, I am now E of Allerton IL.

Continuing S to now N of Newman IL, abandoned farm that I wouldn't mind visiting again.

Even further S but still N of Newman.

I would gas up at Newman then go way down to S of I-70 along the Indiana border near a depressed spec of a town named Darwin to intercept promising severe warned cell. It was riding 70 and producing heavy rain which I didn't want to parallel under just to get across to Terre Haute. Uninteresting as it is for being close to nightfall, this was about to cross the state line. Though it began to wrap up and drop further which I could see after it had entered IN, I lost it due to being in heavily forested area with no nearby border crossing. I was hoping to get a shot from outside of IL just to say I "technically" got out this year but no luck. For some it comes easy, others not as much so maybe next season.

Skipping ahead to early Friday the 18th, I set a camera out in the hope of catching something with the annual Leonid meteor shower. During my first hour long attempt, I didn't pick up any meteors but did manage to image a passing bird being illuminated by the bright moon off to the E.

In my second hour long attempt where the moon would eventually slip in frame, I was fortunate to also capture a bright meteor though it was most likely something other than a Leonid for not originating from the radiant or in other words, point of entry.

In my third attempt which was 40 minutes and the only series worth stacking, I was angled as such to catch the International Space Station pass just before dawn. No meteors appeared though I picked up two exceptionally bright flaring objects. To date they are unidentified but are most likely satellites. Insets are cropped from the RAW files and unedited. The change from purple to blue is as result of dawn beginning to break. When you stack images they go chronologically with earliest to latest. I wish the pass could have occurred under total darkness.

87 Degree Pass

2011-11-05T05:01:00.000-07:00

More fun with the International Space Station which soared near directly overhead last night.

Rain Freeze

2011-10-31T07:41:00.000-07:00

Morning Chill

2011-10-28T17:26:00.000-07:00

Aurora Borealis / SE Logan County Storm

2011-10-27T07:36:00.001-07:00

It's funny how life works sometimes. You'll go from having weeks of nothing real important happen to within the span of about 24 hours, some of the biggest events of all time unexpectedly go down. Such was the case Monday and Tuesday with Monday being of extreme historic significance in that the earth was hit with a massive coronal mass ejection (CME) sparking off intense auroras across North America. I was home and on Facebook when the newsfeed began to light up with reports and pictures of the phenomena. I immediately headed out and up the road a short distance but unfortunately missed the best activity. Adding to my disappointment, a band of thick cirrus loomed overhead thus opaquing most of the sky as well as washing out what might be seen due to refractive light pollution. Though I did not observe anything visually, I still shot in the hope that the camera would capture what I couldn't and to an extent it did.

Facing N, note the green on the horizon. Though the best and brightest has come and gone, there was still a very faint ribbon of green and red arcing across the sky. These pictures were lightened to reveal the color thus why they look like garbage but I'm not trying to win any prizes with this mess.

Facing NW, a brief break in the cloud at upper left reveals some of the red before filling back in.

I was shooting continuous as usual hoping that a stack would reveal some detail which it did somewhat (namely greens) but the cloud just wasn't having it as evident by the limited trails. I also took the stills and created an animation video found HERE.

The last major event of note where auroras made it this far S was in 2004. I did not witness this event and the last time I personally observed them was during the winter of 2001 which was total luck as I just happened to be out and driving to work. To say I am a little miffed that the clouds ruined this major once in a lifetime opportunity is an understatement. More than any subject I have ever covered, I want to capture the aurora borealis and not simply half assed like this set. Others around the nation were much more fortunate than I and thus, I have included links to several other accounts. I'm probably missing a few but the last link to spaceweather was naturally all over it.

BRIAN EMFINGER, ARKANSAS

STEPHEN LOCKE, KANSAS (video)

BILL DOMS, MINNESOTA

SCOTT WEBERPAL, WISCONSIN

ANDREW PRITCHARD, ILLINOIS

DAN ROBINSON, ILLINOIS

BEAU DODSON, ILLINOIS

SPACEWEATHER.COM

Per the second part of this entry, a cold front was scheduled to pass on the Tuesday overnight. It was not expected to amount to much with only a marginal chance of severe much further W near the Mississippi river. I would go to bed early only to automatically awake around 10:30 PM. Looking at radar, a strong cell was coming in from the W with time for me to get up, grab my gear and take off so I did. Setting up a short distance from home in a position that would keep me mostly rain free, the incoming storm was a vigorous one. I shot continuous for the purpose of assembling a time lapse found HERE and was treated to several good keepers below.

Pointing towards the WSW for a few frames thinking there was new development on the SW flank, this was about as good as it got. The storm collapsed nearly overhead leaving nothing to follow so I went home. How's that for timing?

Just for fun I took the stills used for the animation video and ran them through the star trails program to generate a creative stack comprised of 25 minutes as a single image.

October Nights...

2011-10-24T12:26:00.001-07:00

Late last week through the weekend was the annual Orionid Meteor Shower. I set up as usual in the hope of adding to my growing meteor collection. Although Saturday morning the 22nd was forecast to be the most intense, early Friday was when I captured the best as seen in the first stack.

Unrelated to meteors, I was timed as such while running errands later Friday evening to catch the ISS flyby from out in the country. It is obviously not composed well but I figured it would be brightest at center versus further to the NE.

Facing W early Saturday morning, single frame with the best capture of the session.

Saturday night I helped with a haunted forest put together by some friends in Bethany IL. Besides fulfilling monster duties, I set up a camera to shoot continuous in the hope of pulling off time lapse sequences from the event. Each shot was 20 seconds thus capturing light trails from people moving with flashlights, glowsticks and electronic devices. Assembling all of the stills from each session into a stack created an unusual image series. The camera shifted at some point with the first set for resting on uneven ground thus the star trails are slightly misaligned but still worth sharing.

Perhaps the best one, the long pink wavy streak is my face with the flashlight held up to illuminate it as I walked in frame. Purely accidental, light trails with one's face, who knew? Per the note about "camera taped to flashlight", the light source is the LED display. I had the idea of taking a video camera and attaching it to a flashlight. When the kids came near, I would begin recording, sneak up on them, flip the light on while simultaneously screaming and in turn, capture their reactions. I have yet to edit video but from what I have reviewed thus far, it worked brilliantly.

Heading home with the hope for meteors but none.

Overnight into early Monday morning a weather opportunity presented itself in that a large roll cloud associated with the gust front on a dying line of storms to drop through went overhead. Sunday was my birthday so for being the first day of yet another year of living, I guess it's a good start.

and there it goes over the city...

Finally at dawn.

Structured Shower

2011-10-14T14:16:00.001-07:00

Yesterday while running errands, I noticed an area of interest associated with showers riding a slow eastward moving boundary. Although any convection was marginal at best, one particular cell appeared to be developing a base so I followed to between Lovington and Sullivan IL.

As I had hopefully anticipated, it began to wrap up and take on HP characteristics. The inset area after this shot would briefly become more pronounced as I attempted to move closer. I'll dare to say that what I observed was a small funnel which is not uncommon in this portion of an HP cell.

Numbered nail head in the power pole I was leaning against to get the above shot. Anyone know what it signifies?

At my closest point, the process of occlusion has begun at which point it would not recover and ultimately die.

I would then try for nature shots which didn't work out so well and especially considering the new convection around the region that was catching the end of day light but too far away to intercept (this is not it).

and lastly, rising moon with Jupiter.

Little Red Toad

2011-10-12T17:50:00.000-07:00

October MASSIVE

2011-10-09T14:27:00.001-07:00

Since last Sunday, I have been an exceptionally busy man. With everything that was going on throughout the period, numerous photographic opportunities presented themselves that I was fortunate to document. Just as soon as I was done processing a batch of images another event would come along with no time to blog so it has all accumulated. Things are seemingly quiet at the moment so hopefully I can get this stuff wrapped up finally lol.

Beginning with the 2nd, regional temperatures this morning dipped into the mid to lower 30's resulting in widespread frost. I had been waiting for a moment like this because the cooler air over the still warmer water of area ponds would produce steam and hopefully spout formations. Upon arrival to Weldon Springs State Park located Clinton IL, my hunch verified. The particular spot I chose is one I had thought about for some time with respect to sun angle, wind direction, wind speed/buffer, shade lines and time of day as to if or when this phenomena would most likely occur. Some scoff at the pursuit of these entities as being frivolous though I enjoy the challenge of forecasting and observing the mundane. Doing so also helps with understanding the bigger picture as does centering oneself amidst the tranquility. Enjoy a short time lapse video found HERE.

Shattering the mirrored surface, a beaver.

Toying with an artistic element.

Once the steam event was over, I went to the other side for a panorama attempt.

As if the morning activity weren't enough, this day was also huge for being the final game of the Warrensburg/Latham JFL season. Ava is a cheerleader so this was a big deal for us. Throughout the season I have been documenting those games we attended for the purpose of putting something together for the annual sports banquet. With time of day in mind, I set up at the start of the second half to get time lapse of the sunset for this project. From great distance with the 300mm I was also able to attain images in such a way that I had not expected even though you think I would have. For once I am actually proud of something I've produced. The mentioned time lapse video clip with accompanying slide sequence can be seen HERE.

Note the crepuscular rays.

Midweek we headed up to the Curtis Orchard and Pumpkin Patch located just outside of Champaign IL. I have never been here and will say it was a highly enjoyable experience. Complete with a restaurant, gift shop, kids play area and of course many acres of pick your own produce, photographic opportunity was endless.

Finally got a Common Buckeye through the macro attachment. Typically they are real skittish and impossible to approach but I believe that for being end of season and ultimately end of life, is why this one was cooperative.

Not to be fooled, this is a miniature pumpkin that could fit (albeit snug) in a coffee cup.

There is a catwalk er... "goatwalk" between pens that you have to walk under... carefully lol.

Messing around along the edge of an old shed roof.

Moving on to the 8th, the Draconid meteor shower was expected to peak though the other half of the planet was favored to see it whereas we would be in sunlight. More info c/o the International Meteor Organization can be found HERE. There was still a chance that the US would catch a rogue few on the very ends of the display so I set up to try.

During the darkest hours before dawn, I may have caught one or it may have been a flaring satellite. The uneven taper renders this catch as being inconclusive.

Shortly after nightfall much later, I set up again and in this first scene, caught an amazing fireball. Thinking this was a Draconid, with the help of Olivier Staiger it was determined not to be as it did not emanate from the radiant located upper left and out of frame. Coming in from the opposite direction there is no telling what it was for it could have just been space junk burning up on reentry but is by far my most intense celestial entity to date.

Facing NE, no meteors but caught a banking aircraft likely coming out of Chicago.

Facing NNW, score! In the upper left a genuine Draconid coming in at the proper angle. Note the broken streak along the horizon lower left. It's a flaring something or other that split between frames but I'm not going to try and identify. Eventually I might assemble time lapse video with these stacks but for now taking pause to regroup before any more adventures pop up lol.

Steam Devils / Fall Macros

2011-09-23T23:31:00.000-07:00

The first day of Autumn 2011 started off brisk with conditions ideal for possible steam devil development. This isn't a big deal considering that wherever you have mist over water with winds at or near calm, there is a good chance you will spot them. Video does better justice for appreciating the motion however, I wasn't pleased with what I shot Friday morning so I am waiting till a different opportunity comes along.

Just some miscellaneous Autumn themed macros from the past few days.

Epic Fogbow is EPIC

2011-09-21T10:02:00.000-07:00

Tuesday morning's fog spoke to me...

So amidst the mist I listened :D

Contrast enhanced to show supernumeraries.

Freshen Up / AICP

2011-09-17T05:21:00.000-07:00

Decided to switch out the blog look into one of the cookie cutter templates vs. the custom html I had been using. Ultimately I am going to be changing everything to be more streamlined, contemporary and most of all, useful. What started out as a non-descriptive means by which to showcase my hobbies in the hope that they would blossom into a business has become stale. Since last year I have been reprocessing my body of photographic work which goes back to 2004 to soon be released as print on demand. I might include earlier film stuff as miscellaneous content but for the most part, 2004 is where it began. Though I don't feel deserving of the title "artist" as I barely produce in this respect anymore, I will have some of that in there as well. Besides weather and nature photography, I have other endeavors floating around including a few CafePress shops so when all is said and done, it will all be in one organized destination.

What most do not know is that I loathe the word "pawleewurx" and wish I had been thinking better in 2001. Growing up in Central PA where people speak with a bit of an urban accent, my nickname was "pawlee" as in "yo pawlee wut up!". For my entire life I have been a workaholic going as far as holding two jobs while in school so "wurx" comes from that which is all I ever do. Seeming like a good idea at the time because 10 years ago I was on fire with the pencil and bent on becoming a published artist, I have definitely strayed from my goals and wish I had picked a better fitting handle. Unfortunately hard work doesn't equate to success if it's not "smart work" and I have poured tremendous effort into activities that failed leaving me somewhat burnt out at my age. No one has a crystal ball and others have failed harder than I but at least I can say that from print media to product design to television to tutoring to speaking, I have done it all at least once. Developing a career or brand identity is the least of my priorities now versus simply surviving while keeping my pots from boiling over.

Some people make their achievements known and perhaps I should too but I usually just do things and let them fade into oblivion once complete. A significant activity I have been involved with for the past eight years is as the webmaster and show coordinator for our local Barn Colony Artists group. It is a huge honor as the organization celebrated it's 70th anniversary last year and is downstate's oldest surviving artist community. As their sole webmaster, I designed it to be self perpetuating and easy for someone else to take the reigns in the event something were to happen to me. It's a blogger entity which is owned by Google that hopefully won't be going out of business any time soon. Learn more about the Barn Colony and all we do at www.barncolonyartists.com

Staying relevant to current events, I'm also focused on the group this morning as we are participating with the annual Arts In Central Park event and will be heading down shortly after publishing this post. For those local, feel free to stop by and enjoy the vendors, musicians, kids activities and food. The official site can be found HERE.

Wednesday Weather

2011-09-15T03:21:00.000-07:00

Early Wednesday morning we had a line of storms slide by to the S so I stuck a camera out in the hope of catching something. The moon was a nice touch so I put together a DSLR time lapse sequence found HERE.

Midday was cool and rainy but I kept watch of satellite for it appeared that this system with ample clearing behind it would depart at just the right time for opportunity. I was correct in that the sun angle near to and during the sunset hour caught the back side as I had hoped.

and finally, what appears to be the actual cold front looming to the W and with that, a significant cool down throwing us along the rest of the Central US into a period of below average temperatures. I would have liked to do a time lapse of this scene but I had no time to lapse lol.

and the winner is...

2011-09-12T22:30:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to ME!!! I took 4th place against 50 blogs in a contest none of us ever knew about that was hosted by a company we never heard of! What is my prize for taking such high honors and beating out many others who genuinely deserve the recognition? I get to affix THEIR badge promoting THEIR site to MY blog for FREE!!!! :)))

AssociateDegreeOnline.net

Querying the WHOIS information on all the URL's I could find, the registrant seems sketchy. If you are legit and see this, thanks! If you are not and this was just another gimmick, thanks! You gave me a reason to blog as there hasn't been much going on since last post with the exception of a wimpy steam devil back on the 6th as well as the Harvest Moon of the 12th.

MORNING STEAM TIME LAPSE VIDEO LINKAGE

Saturday at Tuscola IL

2011-09-05T22:31:00.001-07:00

It's hard to believe with the current early morning temp being a brisk 51 degrees that just a few days ago we were breaking regional records in the 100+ range. Suffice to say, a strong cold front dove through on Saturday and although limited in the extent of severe as well as overall precipitation coverage, it still produced notable weather. Ava had a football cheer event at Tuscola which eliminated the possibility of heading out but having to be there resulted in a unique opportunity. As we headed to the event, I was watching a vigorous cell to the N near Champaign. Upon maturation it collapsed and pushed out a gust front that would drop S and reach all the way to where we were going. Timing was such that it hit just as we arrived and with that, trees were swaying as people scrambled for cover. On a nearby baseball diamond I noticed a considerable amount of dirt quickly going airborne. Spending a few minutes at this spot, with each blast of the prolonged gust front passage, numerous gustnadoes were being spun up. Video of this phenomena would have been much more interesting than stills but no complaints for happening to be there at the perfect moment. Following up with the weather service would later confirm wind gust estimates to be around 35 to 45 MPH.

Things would eventually quiet down and the first half of the game went along uninterrupted. Shortly into the 3rd quarter, a strong cell would develop towards the SW and ultimately end the game. Although being away from bright stadium light would have been ideal, I made an attempt to capture this cell on the approach. Upon arrival it too had a somewhat intense gust front that was easily seen on radar.

After the passage and now heading home, facing E.

ISS vs. Four Square Church

2011-09-01T09:48:00.000-07:00

Last night I successfully pulled off a shot idea I have wanted but not before placing my L shaped thumb and index finger next to my forehead. The plan was to simply get the International Space Station rising and then gliding over the steeple. Easy enough as it is not a difficult scene to compose, right?

Not shown in the picture below (would have been left of the ISS) was a short streak bearing identical appearance of an Iridium flare which is basically the reflective gleam that comes from a rolling satellite in orbit. I proudly posted this image to Facebook for all to see. This morning upon closer review of other shots, I concluded that it was simply a lens flare due to nearby spotlights and removed it. It was here that I once again sounded the fail horn that has become so loud anymore that my ears are ringing. I'm sure Jesus had a good laugh though.

Crop from the original, very deceiving...

Moving on...

And finally, from around the side of the church.

August 20 - 26

2011-08-28T00:22:00.001-07:00

This month has been non stop since last post. I have been snapping pictures like mad including for Ava's cheerleading team. That work is reserved for the squad but back on the 20th, I was fortunate to get a few shots during a game that tie in with the kind of things I produce.

After the game...

and later that night from E of Forsyth IL.

Sunday the 21st I went for an early morning walk.

Then on the 24th during a severe thunderstorm watch that turned into a bust, I was NE of Taylorville IL to catch end of day light on area convection.

Thursday took us into S IL for an assignment with a quick stop at Ramsey Lake State Park on the way back home.

and finally on Friday the 26th while looking for steam devils that did not happen as it is still not cool enough though I thought it might be...

Like just about everyone else, I have been following Irene coverage. At the time of this writing, there is concern within our family that a property owned by my uncle and his partner near Lewes DE may have been in the path of a tornado to have reportedly set down in the area. It's definitely a small world considering that we can now track entire hurricanes from within the palm of our hand. The following statement is c/o SPC.

2 SW LEWES, SUSSEX DE - AROUND 15 HOMES DAMAGED IN THE NASSAU STATION AND TRADEWINDS SUBDIVISIONS SW OF LEWES. ONE HOME DEMOLISHED.

Saturday Shots...

2011-08-16T15:02:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was a big one for being among other things, my daughter's sixth birthday. Saturday was by far the biggest day for besides scheduled obligations including assistance with a family shoot, significant weather in the way of severe storms with a history of producing large hail affected the region. I would miss the first and worst batch of storms to pass just to our N where numerous damaging hail reports were logged. More from the hail event courtesy of NWS Lincoln can be found HERE. Showers associated with the same complex along with a peek of sunlight timed itself perfectly as I was fulfilling a shot request seen below.

Well after the severe weather exited the region and would be on the way to Indiana, additional storms producing numerous photographic opportunities developed towards sunset. I would head S then eventually SE from Decatur. Below was taken along IL 48.

Continuing S on I-72/US 51 near Elwin IL, I spotted an area of interest on the SW flank of a cell to the distant NE. Unsure of what was genuinely happening, all I could do was zoom in the best I was able. Showers to develop moments after the first shot helped produce yet another rainbow opportunity.

Now just N of Macon, the same shower complex as previous but moving away.

Now in Shelby county near the small town of Pleak (which I only know exists because of Google maps), looking NE at the cell to produce the earlier lowering. At this time I was targeting cells to the SE.

Now S of Bethany.

Same location along 121 and facing NNW, incoming arcus cloud generated by outflow from the cell to the N.

Looking S on the same arcus cloud moments before crashing into the previously shown precipitation core. The rolling motion would have made for good video but I had no time.

Heading back, NW of Bethany.

Still NW of Bethany, I paused to get the sunset color on the backside of the S complex.

Finally at Dalton City, the now distant cell started kicking off lightning so I paused once again to try for a few shots. Not realizing it at first but the moon began rising behind it. I was fortunately set up to shoot continuous and was able to assemble a short DSLR time lapse of this scene found HERE. yet another time lapse opportunity would present itself in that the International Space Station was scheduled to fly over at 9:39 PM CDT so I stayed put. Noting the direction and angle of ascent, I was able to produce a very pleasing composition from a vantage point I rarely get to enjoy since it usually passes when I am work. Suffice to say on day that I didn't think I would get to do any weather photography at all, it worked out to be one of my best sessions this entire year.

Other perspectives from around the region this day...

DAN ROBINSON

ANDREW PRITCHARD

JOHN FARLEY

KEVIN RADLEY (YouTube video from Sullivan IL)

Can't access Facebook so...

2011-08-10T20:38:00.000-07:00

For whatever reason at the time of this post, I cannot log on. I suppose I'll just use the opportunity to actually be productive lol. Per the first picture which was a predawn attempt on Wednesday at catching an early Perseid as well as the International Space Station, I was very disappointed to see a break in the trails as result of my camera glitching. It was most likely paused to buffer and catch up on what had been up until that point a full hour of shooting. A basic Rebel is not the best choice for this type of photography but I make due. The Azure Bluets from a morning walk once the sun came up also illustrate another problem I've been having as they are soft. The 300mm I had been using took a tumble out of the bag a few weeks ago and has not been right since. The barrel sticks and I believe may be contributing to a slight focusing issue. Again, I make due and am grateful for the equipment I use but I would prefer not having to fight with it.

Photogenic Line

2011-08-09T01:25:00.001-07:00

It's hard to come up with a snappy title when there were two tornado warned storms in the region on Monday and you were nowhere close so you had to settle for piddly rain showers on the very tail end of the line. From just outside of Kenney IL, at least the light was just right...

Click HERE to see incredible captures by Andrew Pritchard who was further upstream on the same line at approximately the same time.

and on Sunday from the same area...

End of July...

2011-08-01T09:23:00.001-07:00

After what has been a firecracker of a month with all manner activity including significant positives as well as negatives, the last day of July 2011 closed on somewhat of a high note. During the overnight hours I set up with the hope of catching a meteor or two emanating from one of several showers that had been ongoing but no such luck. The end result of a few hour long star trail tracks was still worth the effort.

The following morning I went for a walk and was able to come home with a few new additions for the portfolio including this Common Buckeye.

Ebony Jewelwing - Couldn't decide which I liked best so I just put up both, you decide...

Entrails of insect larvae boring into wood. Roughly the size of spaghetti.

Blue Faced Meadowhawk which is a new one. I almost got close enough with the macro lens but it decided to play difficult and go high. Tough shot as I had the tripod fully extended to head height and was at 300mm. Shade didn't help things either but I'm happy with the result knowing what I had to go through lol.

Hatchling Brown Snake (DeKay's), measured length 2.5"

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail... and my first decent capture of this common species.

Reverse Ring Attempts / Copyright Infringement

2011-07-25T15:19:00.000-07:00

I've been messing with reverse ring macro photography lately. Basically it is a metal ring that affixes to the camera body and enables you to invert the lens so to shoot through it backwards and achieve the opposite of what it is to shoot normal. It is taking some getting used to and I am unsure if I like it but one advantage is that for having less glass for light to pass through (unlike the attachment I typically use), fringing is minimal. A gentle breeze to sway up close foliage like it was in a hurricane made the task difficult but it's a start. The first bug is about half the size of a popcorn seed.

Thanks to the unwitting tag of a highly talented photographer I am friends with on Facebook that brought it to my attention this morning, I discovered an upload of my fireworks at Arthur photo. The fact that the user re-posted this image without my knowledge doesn't bother me for it is the web version I sent to ILX and likely came from there but look carefully at the comment by the user. Additional comments acknowledging props to this individual followed that which is shown in spite of my obvious watermark. Names have been masked as the matter is being pursued since the individual as of the time of this post has yet to remove the image or give proper attribution but yeah, this is a first...

Tuesday Evening...

2011-07-19T23:28:00.001-07:00

Why did the slider cross the road?

2011-07-19T04:38:00.001-07:00

Because the wetland is bone dry :/

Mini Mantis...

2011-07-15T03:58:00.001-07:00

July 12 Weather

2011-07-14T10:23:00.000-07:00

Heading out and S after running errands on Tuesday, a promising cell to develop near Chatham IL and drop SE would be just out of reach before I would abandon an attempted intercept since it was congealing with an ongoing line.

Since I was in the vicinity of the backside of the line seen above, I would hang out in S IL for the hope that when darkness came, it would light up with crawlers. Such did not happen but I still spent time exploring country roads. At a little after 7 PM, new development to my SW exhibited unusual characteristics with what I can only describe as the formation of a non-rotating funnel cloud. With no nearby downdraft or rain cooled air being ingested and just like a landspout to form under a vigorous updraft, the feature below was rapidly rising minus any spin. Small horseshoe funnels can be seen ascending to the right and when rain began falling at left, the whole mass dissipated. I tried to get video but when I hit zoom, the camera locked up and powered down. A few weeks ago it fell on concrete and hasn't been right since. Till I got a backup camera in place the entity was gone. Nevertheless, a still will do and though I have seen this phenomena before, I have never witnessed one this large.

Towards dusk, the clouds took on "that look" suggesting there might be a nice sunset so I tried my luck with it. Not the best compositions as I wasn't in ideal terrain for all the trees but a small pond with nest box was sufficient.

Holding out for lightning which never really manifest, a small cell to the NNE started spitting out sparks so I set up to shoot continuous albeit very distant. The plan was to assemble DSLR time lapse but I was sorely underexposed so I decided to skip it and go with the one image that seemed worthy.

Heading home, short stack near Assumption to catch a roll cloud drifting away. Nearly full moon made for a nice foreground light.

First Week of July

2011-07-10T00:54:00.001-07:00

What a month it has been already. Not that my busy life is anymore interesting than anyone else but the first quarter has provided some visuals...

During the weekend of July 2, the local art group I am with participated in the annual Lakeside Arts and Music Festival located at Nelson Park, Decatur Illinois. This event is a roll of the dice in that sometimes we do well and others not as much. This year the stifling heat kept many people inside so turnout was down. The heat index for Saturday topped out at 108 and it was much hotter in our tent though I do not know by how much nor really want to.

Later that evening after closing down, we headed to the annual fireworks show at Arthur Illinois. This is by far one of the greatest displays in all of downstate Illinois. A frontal boundary was slowly drifting across the region and my concern was that rain chances might delay the start. Per the radar grab and corresponding sunset CU, there was no way we could anticipate what would happen next.

Right at 9:30 as the fireworks started, a cell went up to the SW and began spitting out intense cloud to ground lightning. It skirted the site to the immediate S thus we were treated to an unbelievable show. I was set up to shoot continuous and was able to capture many of the discharges. Besides what is here, I also managed a few shots with lightning out of frame but still illuminating the scene. The purpose was to assemble stills as a DSLR time lapse which can be seen HERE. The first image has gone somewhat viral for I passed it along to ILX who showcased it on their site and from there, found it's way on to a few television networks around the state. For as popular as the Arthur festival is, I am grateful to have been able to document and share this remarkable experience. I am sure others caught better images, these days there is almost always someone who does.

Back at the art festival on Sunday, the heat was a little less intense due to the frontal passage but crowds were still down. A few macro opportunities presented themselves including the baby jumping spider which is a new one for me.

Later that evening right as everyone was disassembling, a storm went up over the lake and upon collapse, pushed out a ridiculously strong downburst. In a matter of minutes, tents were trying to go airborne and everyone was frantically trying to secure their wares. We managed to stay ahead of the storm and our stuff was ok but others weren't so lucky. Once the gust front passed, heavy rain fell so the task for those who were still struggling to pack up became even more dire. We couldn't have asked for a more fitting end to what was a less than stellar event. Better luck next year or at least we can only hope...

On Monday the 4th, Ava and I headed back down to Lake Decatur for our local fireworks display. What made this event interesting for me is that the International Space Station was scheduled to rise from the W at 9:10 PM and depart to the S. The show was set to commence at 9:00 PM which meant a chance of scoring yet another rare opportunity. While waiting for the action to begin, a lone sky lantern drifted by high over the lake from E to W. A quick switch to the 300mm and another less frequent subject is in the box. The wiggle is natural as it spun and twisted along it's flight path for I used a cable release which is becoming a standard tool for me in everything I shoot.

Right on cue it happened though not as spectacular as I might prefer. Since it was twilight, I had to go with slower settings to compensate for daylight as well as for the fireworks. The International Space Station was at lower angle thus somewhat dim but the combination of ISO 200, F8, 15 seconds seemed to work out just fine. I sent this and two other images to Spaceweather.com thinking they would showcase this pairing on their home page but they did not. You can still see what is live on the site HERE.

Set up to shoot continuous for time lapse, I went away with 66 shots and could have bombed this post with dozens of images but will settle for one "regular" scene that I felt captured the moment best.

Taking all 66 shots and running them through the Star Trails program for fun, below is the entire show stacked into a single image! A DSLR time lapse video of the event can be seen HERE.

Ava vs. a light up mouth toy I picked up for her :)

Spending the first half the new week after the holiday editing material and just doing life, yet another opportunity would occur. Bouncing around on Thursday the 7th scoping out back roads with GPS, I would end up intercepting a strong storm producing interesting structure near Nokomis. Storms this day weren't expected to be much more than heavy rain producers so getting what I did was nothing short of dumb luck. A time lapse video of the storm can be seen HERE.

Very pleased with the following as it was from 6' away with the 300mm.

As everyone knows, history was made on Friday the 8th with the launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. I was seven when the program began and can remember where I was in Steelton PA. She is five when it ended and so one day I hope this shot along with a few others from the event serve to inspire her just as I once was.

June 25 - 27 Storms

2011-06-27T23:13:00.001-07:00

Much like the flooding event of last week to affect portions of SW IL, storms fired along a warm front stretching from WC into SE IL on Saturday evening. A series of discreet cells went up initially with one in particular to earn severe warning in Sangamon County near Springfield. I was out doing errands and dropped S for an intercept at Assumption though on arrival it had lost it's warning. Hoping for lightning to fire in frame with structure, I had no luck but was able to get enough material for a brief time lapse series found on THIS video link. Upon passage, storms exploded and continuous lightning akin to a strobe could be seen in all directions. Heavy rain with numerous flash flood warnings would be the story for the rest of the night.

Sunday night into Monday morning, a similar setup took place with two MCS's (mesoscale convective systems) canvassing the region. The first to drop through around midnight although small in scale was mighty in the sense that it generated intense cloud to ground lightning once the initial squall line went overhead. The second MCS to track along I-72 was responsible for producing wind damage in W IL and had equally intense lightning. My location took a direct hit on the rooftop and as the discharge traveled instantly through the internal wiring, a loud *SNAP* like a firecracker was emitted from a plug near to where I was sitting. I doubt that there was a personal danger since it was guiding along an electrical pathway but thankfully none of my equipment was plugged in at the time. I had a camera set up for both rounds of storms and have assembled images into a DSLR time lapse series seen HERE. I also shot video on my iPhone of the prolific lightning and then extracted audio into a 2:00 minute audio clip that you are welcome to rip below.

June 27, 2011 - Early Morning Lightning (soundcloud.com)

First Round

Second Round

Southern Illinois Magic

2011-06-23T07:21:00.000-07:00

Tuesday June 21st was the annual solstice so what better way for nature to kick off the first day of summer than with a spectacular display of color and light across the entire state. Before this would happen though, several rounds of significant weather developed from S to N that prompted severe thunderstorm as well as a few tornado warnings statewide. Till all was said and done, only two official tornado reports verified in extreme N IL although storms to the S including the one I was on were inconclusive. A bow segment lifting along I-70 had a few pockets of rotation on the leading edge as indicated on velocity (which I failed to keep a screen capture). I would intercept the furthest N area from E of Cowden IL in extreme S Shelby County that was somewhat weak and would gust out in comparison to another to the S in Effingham County that was better organized. Everything was pretty much forced and storms were outflow dominate but at least the structure looked good for a minute. A few locals would stop to see what I was doing at which point I advised them of the tornado warning. The cars you see heading towards the farm were a group of young people who turned around to find shelter elsewhere even though they probably didn't need to. Their caravan makes for a fun addition to the video clip of this scene (link towards bottom). Also note the lucky push button CG's! Driving E from this location ended up placing me near to the area of interest lifting from the SW where I experienced small airborne tree debris as well as a sizable gustnado from close range.

Once the line passed and I was caught up in heavy precipitation, rather than keep driving, I stopped at nearby Hidden Springs State Forest. I have not been here yet so in thinking that chasing was done for the day, I decided to look for nature. Of the highlights was a female juvenile box turtle who in spite of the pictures was not the least bit afraid of me. Note the little mite in the second picture. It's a very peaceful destination that is well worth exploring.

On the way out...

Down from the park and back a secluded dirt road was a somewhat well maintained cemetery with stones dating as far back as pre 1900. In some areas, stones were almost completely swallowed up by the earth or else completely illegible so one can only imagine how old they might actually be. I'm not real into nor very good at artistic work like several of my photographer colleagues but I did score a few more periodical cicadas from the waning Great Southern Brood.

From the cemetery I would decide to go S again as another complex was moving up from St. Louis along I-70. Light of day was taking on a spectacular appearance and although I was never able to intercept storms in this golden light, updrafts and bases of a showery CU field in Fayette County were still worth documenting.

By dusk when the storms arrived, I was unable to get to the S side of the line but did spend time with lightning on the backside. Per the second shot, you should've seen the ones that got away!

Heading home and now after midnight, I paused in Christian County for a moonlight scene. Showers pulsing on a lingering outflow boundary to my NW coupled with Springfield city light made for yet another opportunity. The first star trail image is a stack comprised of 68 images equaling 22:40 with the second being 60 images making an even 20 minutes. Hindsight being what it is after assembling both stacks as DSLR time lapse clips, I wish I would have stayed out even longer. You can see this time lapse video as well as clip from the earlier storm HERE.

As if the above weren't enough, additional cells went up on the same outflow boundary only to collapse into a massive moonlit arcus cloud in Macon County. It was nearly overhead by the time I found a location to pull over but served as a fitting end to what was a highly productive start to the summer season.

Recent Weather (and other stuff)

2011-06-20T01:09:00.000-07:00

It's been a very busy time as we have been stuck in an active pattern that has produced multiple rounds of significant weather across the region. I've been fortunate to document something from just about every event while still keeping up with the demands of day to day life.

June 10 - On this day a fairly well organized storm would drop into the state and despite maintaining a long lived tornado warning, it would become a big wet mess upon arrival to our area. I headed out with CAMERON CROSBY whereby instead of go for the old storm as seen in the radar capture, we would spend time with an independent miniature supercell to develop out ahead of the line. Once this low contrast cell as seen in the first still was done, we had a choice, drive N into the nearly exhausted tornado warned cell or drop S to go for new development. Opting for the new development, we were treated to an unwarned line segment to produce amazing structure and some incredible lightning. Time lapse video of both storms can be seen HERE.

June 11 - The cicadas have peaked and with that, have been dwindling away. The males are the first to die off with the females later following suit once they have deposited their eggs. Everyone has an opinion of these creatures and though many are glad to see them go, I have enjoyed the experience. When they emerge again, my daughter will be 18 and I will have hopefully made it to age 50.

June 13 - Non severe formerly warned storm between Owaneco and Pana IL. The bridge graffiti had me laughing for being the most ridiculous statement I have ever seen. Mopar thanks you :P

June 14 - Overnight lightning associated with yet another MCS to pass under the cover of darkness. I sent this image into GREG TRUMBOLD of WAND TV who was very kind to show it at the end of his morning broadcast.

June 15 - A developing storm from S of Springfield bearing supercell characteristics caught my attention so I took off to check it out. Unwarned until after I intercepted, on arrival it was becoming very well organized with a solid inflow and wall cloud. The storm would quickly become more outflow dominate and drop SE as an HP (high precipitation) supercell but not before spitting some very intense CG lightning. I would remain in the vehicle for this storm while in the notch and shoot with my window mount tripod. Time lapse video of this storm can be seen HERE and as you view it, take note of the "click" sound when you see the artificial flash (I timed this audio segment to go with the video as intro). It is the sound of a spark emitting from a nearby power pole associated with the dangerously close lightning strike.

Heading back, this unimpressive cell bearing supercell characteristics as well would intensify and go on to produce a tornado about 15 miles SE that destroyed a barn in rural Shelby county.

June 18 - The storm in the following screen capture went up on a stalled OFB (outflow boundary) left over from previous convection and would become a huge story. In the area of W Sangamon and E Morgan counties, this cell would dump heavy rain for several hours. Official measurements of over 4 inches were observed with unofficial totals of 5 to 6 inches were reported. Considerable flash flooding took place over the area with warnings to last for several days due to swollen dam releases as well as a local levee breach in Scott county. The line would eventually fill in downstream resulting in blanket flood warnings from just S of where I was on the N end of Decatur. Since I was on the backside of this complex I set a camera outside and shot continuous for the intense lightning show that was occurring throughout. A few of the better stills are below but the real purpose was to assemble a DSLR time lapse video that can be seen HERE. As you watch the video, the two clips are comprised of 120 15 second exposures that encompass a period of 30 minutes each.

Taking the one batch of 120 frames, I ran them through the star trails program resulting in this unusual lightning stack. MIKE HOLLINGSHEAD is who turned me on to this technique.

Early the next morning as the overnight system pushed on, a new one began lifting from the SW. Prompting numerous warnings across S IL including tornado on the leading edge, when the NE portion came into the area it was preceded by an impressive shelf cloud. Try as I did to get into a good location with minimal foreground obstruction, I was unable to get the shots I wanted including that for a panorama. My good friend and fellow chaser Jodi Irvin-Dewispelaere was able however to make an amazing intercept. Her images can be seen HERE. Note the widespread flood warnings in the radar capture.

Talk about impressive, note the "eye" of the mesolow center!

Cicadas in the Rain

2011-06-05T22:28:00.001-07:00

Thanks to some good friends, I was finally able to locate emergent cicadas from right here in Decatur. Moderate to heavy rainfall on Saturday made for less than ideal shooting conditions but the water droplets were a nice effect.

and on the way out...

Cicadas at Shelbyville / Storm at Latham

2011-06-05T04:26:00.000-07:00

Despite visiting Ramsey Lake State Park and finding an abundance of cicadas, I wasn't satisfied with what I've seen already as there have been reports of locations where the ground is literally crawling. One such place I heard where this is occurring is the Lake Shelbyville area so on Friday I headed down to see. Sure enough, there was a massive abundance of cicadas and in spending nearly an entire day watching them, I came away with some interesting observations. The high frequency sound though seemingly constant is actually emitted in a pattern like a stadium crowd wave resonating through the forest canopy. At low points along the wave are entirely different sounds like a warbling trill. It is said that only males sing so I wonder if the sound emitted are females who are immediately followed by the chorus of males? In looking at an audio track you can easily see the waveform which I will demonstrate later. Since this day I have learned of other locations with even more cicadas but in the meantime enjoy some more shots of these curious insects.

Saturday evening provided an unexpected opportunity in the way of strong storms to drop into the region from the NW. For one long lived cell that fell into place at Latham IL, it was an easy intercept with the time of day being ideal for illuminating the clouds in a perfect light.

I have video from both of these events that I intend to post in coming days.

Cicadas at Ramsey Lake State Park

2011-06-03T01:59:00.000-07:00

With thoughts geared towards the cicada emergence currently occurring across all of Southern Illinois, on Wednesday I took Ava down to Ramsey Lake State Park located in Fayette county. Although she could care less about cicadas, I was hoping to witness the phenomena in greater abundance unlike previous attempts. There were without question many more cicadas than I had encountered already. I have been wanting to photograph a freshly hatched cicada while it is still light in coloration but no such luck still. It may seem foolish to be so intent on finding these things but they only come out every 13 years and who knows where we will be when they return in 2024?

Expecting to see cicadas and nothing else, it almost goes without saying that I was very pleased to find among other things, a pair of Broad Headed Skinks as well as juvenile Green Tree Frog. The male Broad Headed Skink is a huge success as he allowed me to get close with the macro attachment even though the female took off. Ava spotted the Three Lined Skink seen towards the end from under a picnic table and it is by far one of our luckiest catches. More than the visuals, the ear piercing drone of tens of thousands if not millions of cicadas is what had the most significant impact. I recorded this sound through video and have assembled a slideshow compromised of clips and stills found HERE.

Periodical Cicadas vs. Greenwood Cemetery

2011-05-31T17:21:00.001-07:00

Having heard there were higher concentrations of cicadas on the S side of the Decatur/Macon county area, I spent some time in historic Greenwood Cemetery this morning as it seemed a fitting backdrop for documenting these unusual creatures.

The Hunt For Cicadas / ISS Endeavor Double Flyby

2011-05-31T00:06:00.001-07:00

The past few days have been exceptionally busy. Beginning with Sunday morning, I headed out to document the Great Southern Brood of periodical cicadas that are emerging across all of down state Illinois. Not that it is a big deal but for obvious reasons when it comes to my list of things to shoot close up, 13 or 17 year cicadas aren't the easiest subject to come by. The last time I saw them was in Pennsylvania during the late 80's. The infestation across South Central PA was akin to a biblical plague. With this in mind and upon hearing reports of heavy concentrations around South Central IL, it would figure that the location I chose to look for them had none (or so I thought). Satisfied with obtaining several keeper shots unrelated to the mission, a lone cicada literally dropped on the ground in front of me as I was leaving out. I still intend to find some of the higher concentrations before the hatch peaks in the next few days.

Northern Water Snake (adult)

Northern Water Snake (juvenile)

Black Rat Snake (juvenile)

Docile in nature, this one had no problem with me being all up in its face.

Success!

Per the second part of this post, early Monday morning I received an email notification courtesy of Spaceweather.com that a double flyby of the International Space Station and Space Shuttle Endeavor was imminent. I had already planned on shooting for the ISS as the shuttle had been docked to it and weather conditions were ideal. The intent was to shoot many exposures to capture star trails along with having these two entities eventually glide through. Double flyby opportunities when parting vehicles can be seen in tandem are rare so I gambled on trying for a shot that I was almost positive I would screw up. With star trails, once you begin shooting you cannot stop or reposition or the sequence will be ruined. Right on cue at 3:48AM CDT both spacecraft drifted across the sky brighter than any star and were easy to discern. They were also traveling exceptionally fast, canvassing the horizon in about two minutes. My fear was that the trail would cut off either entering or exiting frame and have huge a gap because of the slow buffer on my 300D between clicks. Fortunately, the one shot that needed to work stayed in frame so I was more than relieved. The first image is one I prepared for the web and then decided to pass along to Greg Trumbold at WAND TV who was able to include it in his morning broadcast. I figured people just waking up might appreciate seeing a bit of history to occur while they were asleep. This was Endeavor's final flight and the second to last shuttle mission before the program comes to an end later this year.

The following image is a 29.5 minute stack with the lens barrel effect removed so to straighten the lines. I'll definitely be doing some prints of this one minus the inset.

Screenshot, didn't think it would be on TV let alone that I would happen to catch it.

And finally from this morning, 14 minute stack with another pass. Not as bright due to lower angle placing them at greater distance but still visible. Just a few more orbits left as the shuttle is expected to land Wednesday. Not an ideal shot due to light pollution and power lines but the fireflies were a nice touch.

Central Illinois High Risk Event

2011-05-26T15:47:00.000-07:00

Although conditions on Wednesday were favorable for the development of thunderstorms capable of producing violent tornadoes, fortunately those that did form were on the low end of the scale. Seven tornadoes have been confirmed around the region at the time of this post.

Learn more about the individual tornadoes HERE.

Of all the events listed in the report, none are more frustrating than the morning incident as I happened to see it in its infancy and dismissed it as junk. Shortly before getting Ava ready for school, I stepped outside and saw to my W what appeared to be a funnel hanging beneath a shelf. On radar it looked like nothing more than a non severe squall line which is why I simply popped my head out to have a quick look. Upon seeing her off I went inside but then quickly learned that the lowering I witnessed was in fact under an embedded mesocyclone that became warned and ultimately produced just NE of Decatur. I can handle blowing an afternoon event but morning tornadoes are rare and this opportunity slipped right through my fingers.

Prior to this there was an initial wave of storms to lift through around 4AM. Awoken by the thunder and lightning, I decided to stick a video camera on the porch and record, not for the visuals but for the audio. Extracting this sound into an MP3 file that turned out remarkably well, you can rip it HERE (soundcloud.com). I took off upon passage in the hope of getting predawn lightning shots but didn't have much luck. Image below is facing N as the storm is passing over Clinton IL.

As for the afternoon situation, I left out once storms entered the state. In spite of blanket warnings, many cells were already congealed into somewhat of a squall line. My goal was to look for something discreet out ahead of the main cluster. At Taylorville one cell did just that so at Stonington I merely headed W for an easy intercept. Though tornado warned for doppler indicated rotation, it never came close to producing but had a nice base.

After the above storm moved on, I continued a short drive NW towards Mt. Auburn for another intercept only this one despite the menacing appearance was in the process of dying. When I decided it was time to move on from this storm, I had the choice of an ongoing tornado warned cell to the SE at nearby Assumption or new development on the line further SW. I rolled the dice on new development which ended up being ingested by the line. Rather than try to outrun the rain, I simply called it a day and headed home. Very relieved that Central Illinois was largely spared unlike folks in other areas of the Midwest who sustained significant loss from the same slow moving system to plague us for several days. Video from both of these storms can be seen HERE.

Sangamon County Severe Thunderstorms

2011-05-23T01:44:00.000-07:00

Spent some time yesterday just NE of Springfield IL on a pair of severe warned cells. The first at Cornland which is just N of Buffalo was the more photogenic of the two from which I was able to assemble three panoramas. Although ominous in appearance, the lowering didn't amount to much nor could I really classify it as anything more than an SLC (scary looking cloud). Extreme turbulence made for interesting cloud texture and can be seen in motion via the video found HERE.

The second cell encountered a short distance away at Dawson offered up it's own visuals. Other than small hail and some gusty winds, both storms were marginally severe at best or at least for where I was anyways.

Give Blood

2011-05-21T15:42:00.001-07:00

Forgot to apply insect repellant during this morning's walk. Instead of suffer, I turned the experience into a macro opportunity.

Others from the session

Spring Time in Paris

2011-05-08T14:56:00.001-07:00

Saturday May 7 found me bouncing out the door on a surprise slight risk for EC IL. With a 5% tornado risk I have to once again give respect to Dan Robinson for the heads up to "keep your eyes peeled N". Shortly after his message a lone supercell developed near Bloomington IL that would drop SE and be the first significant storm of the day. E IL chases can be tough for often times the storms are moving away as you are trying to catch up. The road network and terrain as you get into EC IL is nice so making good time isn't always difficult as was the fortunate case for today. Instead of target the main cell that by the time I would intercept would have likely been spent, I paid attention to cells to it's W that had potential for growing into something more. This is exactly what happened for the old cell (SE of Danville) was done while new development (Sidell) went up on cue. the trip would take me to just outside of Paris IL in Edgar County hence the title :)

Main cell in back, newer development in the foreground with rain free base and slight RFD cut. I thought the tire tracks might make for an interesting composition.

Storms seemed "cold" and outflowish but near Longview this interaction made for ominous structure. Many others were on this storm but I never saw anyone.

Sticking with the cell to just outside of Newman and although tornado warned, it didn't look healthy. The amber light of late afternoon still made for a beautiful sight.

Letting it go at Paris, a new cell I had been watching from behind the previous had matured so I spent some time with it. This would be the storm of the day for me and although never warned, it had good motion on the leading edge as well as very gusty winds upon passage. An unusual thing would happen in that an inconclusive spin up/gustnado would develop just to my E from underneath an area of strong upper rotation. It was among several bizarre things witnessed this day for in the fields under developing updrafts I saw numerous spin up's as well as smooth, slender horseshoe funnels appearing literally out of thin air. I shot video on this last cell but have yet to put it together as I am having audio issues on my computer in that the sound card is going out.

Edit 05/10: Video added, click HERE.

Heading home, I stopped at the intersection of US 36 and CR 32 near Laplace for what I saw as an interesting nocturnal opportunity.

Girard Posts / Audio

2011-05-06T23:02:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to say that I condensed all the Girard Tornado material into a single post (Part 1) as well as eliminated some of my deeper dialogue. This unfortunately wiped out the comments on posts 2 and 3 but it needed to be done (sorry). Two and a half weeks later and I am still sorting out the experience which I assume is one of those things that will just take time. My schedule has been insanely busy and for this I have been unable to return to Girard nor contact Glen Murphy as the phone number was no good. If by chance someone seeing this knows him, I have a set of prints ready to give him. It takes about $25 in fuel to make the trip so it's not feasible to just head down on a whim in the hope that he'll be on site.

As previously mentioned, the audio sample that I unintentionally recorded while on the ground during the video is one that simply needed to be heard. Extracting this audio, I cleaned up two split second imperfections, added some amplification and saved it as an MP3 file complete with its own thumbnail. I don't know if this has ever been done but you can grab the file below.

GIRARD ILLINOIS TORNADO (soundcloud.com)

Shelf Cloud, Gust Front

2011-05-05T23:04:00.000-07:00

Typical Illinois weather though much further N a sizable gustnado would emerge from the line. No pics of it but you can see dirt being lifted by outflow winds in the second shot.

Lodge Park / Lake of the Woods

2011-05-05T06:04:00.001-07:00

Last Friday we took a short ride over into Piatt County to check out Lodge Park. Bordering the Sangamon River with a narrow road that loops through a heavily wooded area, there was an abundance of small wildflowers so I tried for a few macros.

Our next stop would be Lake of The Woods park located just N of Mahomet Illinois. Managed by the Champaign County Forest Preserve District, notable attractions included a covered bridge as well as Hi-Tower Bell Carillon. Climbing the narrow stairwell up six stories was a definite workout but the view was well worth it.

Later, we toured the Museum of the Grand Prairie located on site which contains a surprisingly rich collection of artifacts and antiquities related to the Champaign County region. I didn't have my tripod so to maximize on the many photographic opportunities in the atmosphere of subdued light but tried to make due. Spending time with the hardship that was the day to day life of early 20th Century people was very sobering. Equally sobering if not the most were the antique handcuffs once used for slaves.

Elevated Morning Shower

2011-04-30T21:57:00.000-07:00

A subject I have wanted to document for some time is a forward lit shelf cloud or other structure illuminated by the rising sun to the E. Not a likely feat when weather moves in during the morning because the sun at horizon is usually blocked by cloud. Though not technically what I had wanted, light beaming through a break in the clouds caught the base of an elevated shower Saturday morning. Brisk outflow despite limited precipitation would descend upon passage.

Later I would take a short walk at Weldon Springs Park, Clinton IL to kill some time before the Madden Art Center, Decatur IL opened so to drop off pictures with a group show I am participating in for May.

Tornado at Girard IL

2011-04-21T13:06:00.001-07:00

When I headed out on Tuesday's moderate risk for severe weather, I anticipated that I would see general thunderstorm structure (wall cloud, shelf cloud, lightning, hail) and nothing more. My track record for documenting tornadoes since I began following severe weather in earnest back in 2004 has up until now been pathetic. This of course has been fine with me as I personally prefer photographing structure from a safe vantage. Targeting a slow moving tornado warned cell with a hard velocity couplet way out in Pike County which borders the Mississippi River, I figured by the time I made an intercept it would have cashed out to become a mostly outflow dominate mess near or just S of Jacksonville. Storms were forecast to go linear or in other words congeal into a line and become less of a tornado threat versus straight line wind.

Traveling W from Decatur along I-72, new development began going up to the SSE of the original target cell which was now shrouded in rain so at Springfield, I went S on I-55 and exited at Route 104 to head W towards Auburn. Once at Auburn, I continued S on Route 4 till I hit Virden where I decided to go just W of downtown and see what was happening. Heavy rain made this a terrible starting point so I backtracked to get on Route 4 S towards Girard. It was here I noted the greenish hue of everything basking in the little bit of available light that there was. Route 4 is also the former "Route 66" that is popular to American history.

Thinking I might have to bail E from "The Mother Road" and avoid the core of new development which had potential for producing large hail, I saw a ridiculously dark, almost black core to my W while halfway to Girard. Knowing this would likely contain damaging hail (and God knows what else), I continued S only to see on the SW flank a rapidly rotating mesocyclone with wispy fingers dancing underneath. Immediately recognizing what was happening, I quickly triangulated my location in correlation to the direction of movement and parked where I was confident it would safely pass to my NW from just outside of Girard. There was another chaser already parked so I pulled in behind him but not too close as I didn't want to interfere with his shot nor he with mine. Grabbing my gear, the tornado quickly got down to business W of town so I first set up the video camera then went for the still camera.

Despite the pictures it was extremely dark and my customary Av Mode setting of ISO 200, F8.0 was wanting to set a slow shutter. I would quickly correct this but tinkering with settings also cost me precious seconds. Likewise, since it was so dark, the camera wasn't focusing so there too, I flipped to manual and said a prayer. Inflow was screaming, power lines were whistling but I still felt safe.

The tornado had been moving along as I had expected it would however, it decided to really get cranking when it was nearly due W of me. Continuing to have issue with slow shutter, after the following shot I went ISO 800 to gain a faster shutter and it was game on as I still felt safe.

The tornado would continue intensifying and now divert from it's original course taking it due E.

Perhaps the tornado sensed my confidence for it simultaneously grew into a violent monster literally within the blink of an eye. It was at this point I could hear it yet the sound was not like a freight train but an almost an indescribable one that only hell on earth could produce. Keeping a watchful eye on the power lines that were swinging like mad and starting to pull over, I decided that instead of go for my vehicle which would place me in harms way knowing they would fall E, I would position towards the W at the end of a fence line to lie flat and ride out the passage happening just to my N. The RFD came in at speeds I cannot estimate with accuracy other than to say they were much faster than what it is to hold your hand out of the window while flying down the interstate. At ground level though, I felt perfectly safe with minimal wind impact in spite of seeing small debris whizzing overhead. How it is I remained cognizant throughout this ordeal to continue shooting stills despite my settings being all jacked up is beyond me. Though my video camera would not remain upright once I took cover, it continued recording. With the microphone face down and protected from direct wind impact, I was able to pick up incredible audio that simply needs to be heard.

All things considered from the beginning of this event and applying it to the time stamp on my single video clip, the entire experience played out over six minutes and fifteen seconds. The video link found at the end of this blog speaks for itself and contains the entire audio. It is VERY important to note that it was NEVER my intent to be so close. Two things happened that I had not planned for including rapid intensification as well as the right turn of the tornado. I feel that given the situation, I handled it appropriately and have no regrets. At no time did I feel that I was in grave danger of being crushed or becoming a projectile but laying flat of course kept me from being injured by any small debris that may have passed overhead. Approximately 200 yards to my N a farmstead was completely destroyed.

APRIL 19, 2011 - GIRARD ILLINOIS TORNADO VIDEO

Picking up where the tornado literally left off, I made my way back to the vehicle and loaded up but not before changing shirts. It's always wise to bring a change of clothes and especially an extra pair of shoes. With my vehicle pointed S and miraculously, only one downed line to cross, I headed S to the nearest area I could pull off completely to regroup. The only reason I drove over the line with a measure of confidence is because traffic was already trying to maneuver through the tangle of lines, poles and other debris littering the roadway. Looking off to the N, it is here that I realized there was a house up where the tornado crossed. While driving S and paying attention to storm features, I completely missed that I went past a farm. Fire and rescue crews were on the scene almost immediately which speaks volumes for the efficiency of area emergency services. Since no one could get through as evident by the traffic that was turning around, I decided to check out the scene and offer assistance if needed.

Pulling over from opposite the house, the first people I would introduce and explain myself to was a firefighter and the property owner. Shaken for having rode out the tornado from inside the dwelling to take a direct hit, the owner lost his glasses and was having trouble seeing his phone to check messages. I offered to let him try my glasses but they were no good so I checked his phone for him. His number one priority at that time was to find his cows that were scattered about. Aside from flattening the barn that several were in, the tornado took out all of the fencing and there were cows aimlessly wandering around in shock. I told him "I have never rounded up cows before but let's go for it" so we did, well sort of anyways...

Trudging behind him across a muddy pasture in the pouring down rain, at one point I took a step and sank up to my knee. Upon pulling my foot out, my shoe remained stuck. I reached down into the hole and scooped around but could not find that damned shoe for nothing! The owner asked what I was doing and upon explaining, he started laughing. I laughed as well and decided to just leave it for I had another pair in the truck. If giving this man pause to laugh after losing nearly everything meant sacrificing a shoe to the mud gods then so be it.

By this time his girlfriend who rode out the storm with him inside the house was with us. As he went off towards a remote part of the property, I walked with her in the general direction of my vehicle. We discovered two cows including one that was injured and another that was deceased. I then spotted two other cows that were trapped in barn rubble but appeared to be alive. Switching out shoe(s), we later toured other areas of the farm as well as checked her vehicle. For being front and center to receive direct impact, the damage was surprisingly minimal. The car shifted a good 45 degrees from it's original orientation but only the rear roll downs were broken which seemed indicative of a projectile shooting through. The rest of the windows were fine but the interior was littered with debris. I removed a piece of sheet metal that was lodged inside the wheel well but otherwise despite some moderate dents, it appeared intact. Other vehicles on the property sustained more significant damage including farm implements that were completely overturned.

iPhone picture

A few people had shown up to help by now so together we walked with the owner as he surveyed the situation and struggled to come up with a plan for corralling his animals. I would find yet another cow only this time it was more of a calf. Apparently there was a pregnant cow somewhere that he was most concerned with but I do not know of her fate. Also around this time a photographer showed up and began taking pictures. The girlfriend's initial reaction was one of apprehension but I could see his press pass and told her he was probably with the media. He was with the newspaper and ended up walking around with us which took a rather unpleasant but somewhat comical turn when we entered the former barn where the cows were once penned.

By now I had gotten used to trudging through the mud as it was well, just mud. Inside what was once the floor of the barn was a near shin deep mixture of mud, water and yep you guessed it, manure. Pressing on, those including myself who didn't have rubber boots would find ourselves balancing on fallen lumber, gate material or whatever else we could use for support. All the while as rounds of heavy rain drenched everyone, I watched as shadowy figures in near total darkness slogged through the muck in search of lost animals. It was an immensely sad scene unlike any I have ever witnessed.

A short time later, some of the people who showed up had corralled a group of cows over by the road. One cow came near me so I tried to guide it but it took off into the field across the street. I thought I did something wrong but a woman who was assisting said I didn't which was a relief. In the distance I could hear the owner calling "skeff!!! skeff!!!" for which the cows seemed to be responding to. I have no idea what that means but in the direction of the one to get away, I hollered out "SKEFF!!! SKEFF!!!" At the risk of not sounding like any more of an idiot than I already did because this cow had absolutely no interest in my pathetic call attempt, I opted to keep my mouth shut and let the others get it. Besides, I couldn't afford to lose another shoe.

By nightfall, the cavalry had arrived in earnest with chainsaw and man power. Positioning their vehicles so to shine light on the barn rubble where the cows were trapped, I did the same with mine. The two cows were pinned under a beam that was as thick as a railroad tie. Three men along with myself pointed our flashlights where one man was sawing with surgical precision. Any measure of kickback and the animal would have sustained injury from the blade. Once they were able to remove the beam, the first animal sprung up and walked out on it's own. Myself and another man would carefully guide it in the direction of the pasture. The second animal did not jump up and the fear was that it's back might have been broken. It was in an awkward side contortion with hind legs in the air. One of the men grabbed it's legs and pulled them around to where it was fortunately able to stand up. Slow to exit the rubble, it eventually hobbled out and again, we carefully guided it where it needed to go. The men believe there may have been more animals in the wreckage but that they would have to possibly wait until daybreak to see. No other sound or movement could be observed and quite frankly, I don't know how there could have been.

Throughout the ordeal, round after round of heavy rain persisted. One cell to go overhead bore elevated supercell structure and at times brilliant lightning would branch out from almost directly above. The accompanying boom seemed more intense than usual but that may have simply been my heightened level of consciousness amplifying the moment. Around 9PM as teams of people worked on different areas, I decided that it was probably good for me to leave. Decatur was over an hour away and who knows what else I might encounter on the way home. I felt a measure of guilt in leaving as the situation was completely overwhelming for those involved. Knowing that no humans were killed, missing or injured was comforting. I had heard reports of area injuries but am unsure of specifics. At one point before I arrived, there was an accident near the property. As I understand it, someone was rubber necking and either slammed into the back of another vehicle or debris in the road. I only saw the vehicle with the badly crumpled front end but the occupants were not around. Perhaps they may have been the injury report? I'll probably never know but either way, the thing to leave the most formidable impression was to watch those guys work. If you ever want to be in the company of real men, just be around a group farmers in the cold pouring rain as they rescue animals from tornado wreckage. Given the gravity of the situation, I felt that my contribution to the physicality of the ordeal was virtually insignificant. I was unfortunately unable to say goodbye to the owner since he was obviously preoccupied but at the very least I will be back down to give him pictures per his request.

This brings me to the final portion of this post in that earlier I had asked if I could document some of the damage whereby the owner approved. In near total darkness with the exception of ambient vehicle light, I did some tripoded 30 second shots. The first image is as bright as you see due to a flash of in-cloud lightning illuminating the scene. Constant rain in near total darkness despite having a flashlight made for less than ideal shooting conditions. The reddish purple hue you see in some of the shots is from the emergency vehicle light being reflected off of surfaces or refracted through the rain.

Carefully pulling away and navigating around power poles that were at least 18 inches thick, I made my way N on Route 4. The truck had been running since I moved it up to help with providing light so the cabin was nice and warm. It was a guilty yet welcomed pleasure as the frontal passage was well under way and with that a cold, stiff, NW wind was settling in over the land. Not far up from the farm, firefighters were diverting traffic to the E for there was additional debris on the roadway. Heading E then eventual N and back to the W again, I made a few calls to find out if other friends in the area were alright as well as begin telling the story. Reception up until this point was not very good but there too, I also left the phone in the vehicle as I was soaked and didn't want it getting ruined. Coming into the town of Virden from the SE, I noted a considerable amount of small debris by way of tree limbs and shredded foliage which seemed indicative of straight line wind and hail. It was around here that the black core mentioned in the beginning that I was wanting to avoid may have passed although I was never able to confirm. Soaked to the bone as well as caked in mud and manure, I decided to do something that is somewhat out of context for me which was to stop for awhile.

Pulling into the Virden Fire Department, I figured this was probably the best place to go after such an ordeal. All I wanted to do was change clothes for I still had an extra pair of pants and believe it or not, another pair of shoes. A few weeks ago when I bought the good shoes to get swallowed up in the mud, I left the retired pair in the truck along with additional "creek shoes" that were already in there. Whenever I go on nature outings I always wear junk shoes and then just wash them later. Anyways, upon entering the building, there were about a dozen guys hanging out waiting for calls to come in. I wish I could have taken a picture of their expression the second they laid eyes on me because it was simply one of "WHAT THE?!?!?". Immediately introducing myself and briefly explaining where I was, I asked if I could change as well as dump my cameras. They asked if I got video of the tornado to which I said yes and that I would show them. The room when you enter the side where I did is a conference setup and the guys already started to take their seats. Going back out to get my gear I noticed a WAND TV vehicle parked down the street but didn't give it much thought. I would unfortunately leave a few skid marks on their nice clean rest room floor while changing but it was good to be out of those pants which felt like I had jumped into a swimming pool.

There was a flat screen TV suspended in the corner of the room so I went ahead and plugged my video directly into it. Together as we watched it for the first time, some were in awe while others joked about it being "definite straight line wind". Seeing their reaction and most notably the humor they were injecting into the moment was like being on an episode of Mystery Science Theatre 3000. I have never been in the company of firefighters during an active duty situation but I would imagine that keeping a good sense of humor is key to maintaining their sanity when it comes to the types of things they witness. I have always had a great respect for emergency personnel but now an even deeper one for having had the privilege of experiencing a side to their persona that most people don't.

Once the clip was over, I sat down to upload the still images to my laptop. Remember the WAND TV news truck from earlier? It was here that a reporter came in with his cameraman and began setting up. He would speak to the fire chief and get more information on the regional status as well as learn about me. Coming over to ask if I would care to be interviewed, I declined. Unlike many of my chaser friends and acquaintances, being a part of the television media process is not my thing. That being said, while they were setting up to go live for the 10PM airing, I noticed that they were pointed in the direction of the flat screen TV. I told him, "I'm not interested in selling video but I have an idea for your shot." I made the suggestion that right before they went live, I would start the video on the flatscreen so that it would be in frame as they broadcast. He liked the idea so I went ahead and cued up the clip. Once it was time to go, I started the video and stepped aside. The cameraman pointed towards it as he briefly made mention before panning over to the fire chief for an interview. In the meantime, I would quickly text a few people including Ava's mother telling them to turn on WAND TV at which point she saw it. WAND TV broadcasts out of Decatur IL so be that I have respect for our local mets, I thought it was kind of cool to be indirectly contributing to our local station from way down in Macoupin County. Some might argue that I was giving away my video but it was literally three seconds of second generation material from across the room.

Once the broadcast was over, they wasted no time packing up. The reporter said he was ready to get in from the weather and call it a night. Personally, I enjoy being out in all kinds of weather but for this particular event I would have to agree with him. We thanked each other for the mutual opportunity and then he left. By now the firefighters were thinning out a bit. One of the guys offered me some pizza and although I had not ate since that afternoon, I declined for I simply had no appetite. I showed a few men some of the unedited still shots as well as dropped business cards that became so wet and flimsy from inside my coat pocket that they were beginning to disintegrate. Finally packing up my gear and scooping up the sodden mess that was a pair of jeans and shoes, I thanked the firefighters for their hospitality and left.

Heading back N on Route 4, I encountered small debris by way of tree limbs and leaves till I was finally out of town. I would again call people including Dan Robinson who nailed the forecast. Earlier in the afternoon a few small "blips" appeared on radar from just NE of St. Louis and his comment to me was that they would be the main show for the day. He was absolutely correct for they would mature into the supercells to produce both this as well as Honey Bend and Litchfield tornadoes. Once I was off the phone and traveling with the drone of engine, pavement and wind filling my ears is when I began to sort things out.

At a few points along the interstate, I could see distant emergency vehicles shrouded in fog. This was clearly a huge event not just for Girard and Virden but everywhere. Checking and rechecking how I handled the situation as it was presented along Route 4, I knew that for the decisions I had made, there would be some fallout. Thinking about how I might present the video, I decided that I would just be up front and honest with it. Admittedly, the thought crossed my mind to not show it at all or at the very least, edit out the part where I speak because of how bad it could be to my reputation as the responsible chaser/observer I have been thus far. I quickly squashed that notion as it is far more detrimental to bury the truth than to acknowledge it. Upon arriving at home and entering the apartment, I dropped my gear and went straight back to where my daughter was sleeping. Wrapped up in my blanket and with her head on my pillow, I leaned over and gave her a kiss on her forehead.

The following morning as I escorted my daughter to the bus stop, she said "Daddy what's wrong with the truck?" I started to say "Nothing..." and then I saw what she did. The vinyl cover over my spare tire was missing. It had been there for years and although not absolutely secure, was never in danger of flying off while driving. To remove it you had to lift it straight up which is exactly what those winds did. The loss doesn't bother me for my truck, like the old barn, is near the end of it's life as well. Further examination of the vehicle would reveal pieces of debris including wood chips and hay that were lodged in my vent visor.

Macro of tornado debris, a photography first?

Everyone who witnessed not only this tornado but also others to develop around the region went home with their own unique experience. For as much as people forecast, discuss and logically observe thunderstorm phenomena from a safe perspective, to be up close is on a completely different level. Besides the obvious physical implications of a close call, there are psychological ramifications as well. It's become easy these days for many of us to go through life and be distracted from the bigger picture. I wish there were a rational explanation for the how's, why's and most of all, meaning behind the things we experience but there isn't. I do know that for myself, I have learned many valuable lessons, not the least of which is a slightly better appreciation of this life and the good people in it, some of whom I have been taking for granted lately. I have heard it said before that "a tornado changes everything" and for the first time in my life, I genuinely understand what that means. With a record number of tornadoes setting down across the Central and Southern US, April 2011 is one that few will ever forget.

Thank you for your time. p

Three Supercells in Sangamon County IL

2011-04-16T01:21:00.000-07:00

When storms began to fire on an occluded frontal boundary located along the Mississippi river Friday afternoon, I headed W towards Springfield IL. Cells developing well to the S of the city despite ongoing severe warnings for storms in Sangamon county are what caught my initial interest. This would be a wise decision for development was rapid and I would find myself already en route to the first tornado warned cell of the day. A second warned cell would develop behind it and though not appear to do much as it passed me, would wreak havoc further N in Menard county. Abandoning this storm for one more lifting from the S, I would find myself watching yet another tornado warned cell.

Doesn't seem like much but below is the first tornado warned storm from W of Roby IL. Unfortunately I didn't quite compensate for direction of movement in my positioning choices. Even though cells were much closer while to my SW, they were lifting to the NNW so by the time they were in front of me, they were actually further away. My train of thought was with the overall line motion that was slowly advancing NE.

Now just W of Berry IL, the second tornado warned cell and one that I thought might produce. Despite the structure, I never saw anything worthy of calling in though I did snap a cell pic and fire it off to the weather service. I shot video of this storm and will assemble a time lapse presentation soon.

Edit 04/17 - Look for video link at the end of this post.

Cell pic

DSLR

My third and final intercept was from SW of Berry near the small town of New City. It was here I realized my flaw in compensating for storm motions and as it would figure, I wouldn't get the chance to correct my error for it merged with the advancing squall line. I did manage a quick intercept and was able to get close to the most significant area of interest for a few shots before succumbing to the whale's mouth. Special thanks goes to Dan Robinson for offering his meteorological insight regarding this event.

TIME LAPSE VIDEO CLIPS FROM THIS EVENT

ISS with Star Trails

2011-04-14T06:57:00.001-07:00

My Canon Rebel 300D has some serious limitations though it beats the alternative which is to have nothing. Keeping this in mind, I headed out with the intent of pulling off a shot I have wanted for some time that is to shoot a star trails stack and have the International Space Station glide through. Besides having clear skies, a night off of work and an ideal pass angle, there were other factors I would need to consider if I wanted to be successful.

I've found with previous star trails projects that my 300D battery is good for 52 30 second shots before calling it quits. This equates to about 26 to 30 minutes worth of images when you also factor in buffer lag so for this endeavor I would need to do a little math. Rise time for the ISS was at 5:18 AM CDT (Orbital Tracking) so I figured if I started shooting at 5 AM then by 5:20 (or so) it should have completed its approaching pass giving me approximately 40 images to work with. I ended up with 32 30 second images in this time frame versus 40 due to the short lag between shots as the camera buffers itself. This equates to 16 minutes worth of trail shots. Buffer lag is also what creates the gaps in the line and is perhaps the biggest limitation of the 300D but anyways, per the image below, I at least nailed the timing.

Another limitation is that I don't have a true wide angle to get more of the sky thus I had better be spot on where I was pointing or else the shot was ruined. Using the compass on my iPhone, the distant light lined up pretty close with true NW so I used it as my focal point. I was in NE Macon County IL and the city light is of Maroa IL. The ISS would come in at 10 degrees above the horizon and arc across at 77 degrees. I knew it would likely bend to the left but not quite as much as you see. I thought the shot was a bust once I saw it rising but there was no sense in repositioning. The more I look at it though is the more I like it because it at least balances with the opposing star movement.

Keeping battery life in mind, I knew that I also wanted to quickly reposition once it was overhead and get the departing path. Today's pass was a full six minutes giving me just enough time when it was directly above and out of frame to hustle over to a new spot. With 32 images plus 6 test shots "in the tin" as Peter Lik would say, I knew I had at least 12 more left (factoring my 40 estimate) before she would cash in. I unknowingly had a few more than that available of course but with no time to switch out batteries, the following is comprised of 8 30 second shots equating to 4 minutes worth of star trails. I probably could have left the camera run itself down but was satisfied with the session and decided to nab a few parting shots illustrating the peacefulness despite my rush at the critical moment.

Looking NE

Looking SSW, Argenta at left, Decatur at right.

Messin' Around Outside...

2011-04-12T17:43:00.000-07:00

Overnight Passage

2011-04-11T03:57:00.000-07:00

Yet another big system slips by under the cover of darkness while I am once again stuck at work. This one offered up a few visuals fortunately.

Outflow from earlier cells to drift by further W produced a sizable shelf cloud.

When the main squall line arrived a short while later, I tried for the intense leading edge lightning from indoors. I would miss a perfectly framed shot shortly after this one by literally one second for having to wipe away moisture. Haze is due to mist building up on the lens.

Congratulations to everyone that scored in Iowa on Saturday.

Whistling Winds

2011-04-04T14:01:00.001-07:00

Just like every other big system to pass through IL on the overnight this year, I got nothing. The pic below shot from around 4:30AM is hardly worth posting.

What is worth mentioning is that when the squall line to produce the above scene finally arrived, it came in with gusty winds that created a creepy audio opportunity by the door. I recorded video on my iPhone and extracted the audio into a 29 second clip found below. Enjoy!

WHISTLING WINDS (soundcloud.com)

April Foolery

2011-04-03T13:45:00.000-07:00

On Friday April 1st, we had a series of showers and storms drop into the area from the NW. Though vigorous in nature, they were moisture starved which resulted in a highly photogenic opportunity due to the combination of cloud structure, virga and light. In all I would get to spend time with five cells with the second being among the most interesting as it may have produced a possible land spout seen in both the pictures as well as time lapse video link at the end. The cell to come in after that would also produce an unusual experience in that the rear flank downdraft to descend from behind the main updraft area would create some very gusty winds as well as kick up a tremendous amount of dirt.

First cell to observe off to my SW.

Heading a short distance N to intercept a new cell which was coming in from the NW, note the lowered base.

This base would eventually wrap up and what appears to be a funnel emerges though I was never really able to verify.

The suspicious feature would shear apart and dissipate though the parent base persisted for a short while before it too would dissipate.

New cell approaching.

Note the ghostly white column extending from ground up into the main updraft area. Not long after I would be hit with gusts I would estimate in the 25 to 35 MPH range. Well below reporting criteria but enough that I needed to steady the tripod as well as myself while being hit with flying dirt. A pair of ducks heading N would fly into this maelstrom and find themselves having to retreat S directly in front of me. They make a brief cameo in the end video link.

Moving on...

Looking NE, note the strange scudly lowerings but most notably, the dust foot being kicked up at ground level in the distance.

Rainbows were a given and this is looking over Forsyth IL with the 300mm.

and the other half from further down the road.

Yet another cell would drop out of Dewitt County so I followed it to just outside of Cisco IL.

Behind the previous yet another would develop and though much further NE to eventually pass near Monticello, it would produce occasional lightning and be a fitting end to what had been a relaxing local opportunity. Note the distant "tube" in the scene below which may have merely been a rain shaft or possibly something more per the supplemental video link to follow mine as captured by another gentleman who was out as well.

MY VIDEO

KEVIN RADLEY, CLINTON IL CHASER FROM THIS DAY

April Fools Joke?

2011-04-02T04:06:00.000-07:00

Watching an area of organized showers located just S of Clinton IL on Friday, I observed the following...

A few minutes later it would morph into...

Though I could not determine if there was rotation in the feature from the first pic, I have to wonder if it may have either been the real deal (i.e. landspout) or else a hoax by Mother Nature instead :P

(More from this day later)

Art With Heart / Walnut Point State Park

2011-03-24T09:57:00.001-07:00

Something I should have blogged about days ago but didn't for the simple fact that I have much on my plate lately is that tonight I will be participating in a local benefit called Art With Heart. It is an opportunity for artists and creative professionals to donate their wares so to be bid on via silent auction with 100% of the proceeds benefiting cancer patients and their families who are struggling financially. Without getting too personal other than to acknowledge that losing my parents to this disease has affected me greatly, I am donating a stack of matted photography prints to hopefully aid others who understand the hardship. Click the above link to learn more.

As for the second part of this blog, on Wednesday I took my nephew to Walnut Point State Park located in Douglas County IL. He is on break so it worked out perfectly in being able to visit a destination that is new for the both of us. Enjoyable as the outing was for having ideal weather, it also proved to be a good educational opportunity for him as well as I.

Embarrass River

Got him hopping up...

and back down!

Leaving out

Heading back we stopped by Kaskaskia River State Fish and Wildlife Area located SE of Sullivan IL which is another new one for us and a location we intend to explore again.

Lightning at Bloomington IL

2011-03-21T03:58:00.001-07:00

A little after midnight or so, a cluster of robust storms fired along a boundary dropping through the region. At their closest pass over the city of Bloomington IL which is about an hour N of my location, I managed to pick out detail with the 300mm. Clear skies and a bright moon hovering to the S definitely helped the situation. To have been up in the next county and out in the country would have been ideal. Just like trying to finagle annoying power lines into an aesthetic composition, sometimes you just have to make due.

Cool Clouds

2011-03-18T10:10:00.001-07:00

Interesting textures out ahead of showers lifting from the SW this morning.