Steam Devils at Rock Springs

Storm chaser and fellow weather enthusiast Andrew Pritchard caught an amazing phenomena on video during a recent trip to Wisconsin. Knowing that conditions here would be similar to what he experienced, I headed out to Rock Springs Conservation Area on Tuesday hoping to view the same. Arriving around 7:30 AM, there wasn't much to see but I waited and as the sun angle rose ever so slightly higher, I was privy to witness numerous steam devils develop. Like miniature landspout tornadoes formed by rapidly rising moist air, most were no taller than myself but some stretched at least 8 to 10 feet in height. As it would figure, I was not paying attention and blew most of my shots in that I was still on manual focus instead of auto. Managing to salvage the few that you see, I also shot video which turned out well and can be seen in the end link. So long as water temperatures remain somewhat warm and should night time lows dip into the mid to lower 30's during a period of calm high pressure, steam devil opportunities might be around for a little while longer.

Rainbow is just a lens flare :)












VIDEO LINK