06/29/12 De Kalb, IL shelf/lightning

IT RAINED!!!!!! I was starting to wonder whether or not we will ever see rain again around here.  This morning I had to wake up early and take observations at the co-op station here in De Kalb and realized I felt sick.  So, I decided to stay home and sleep in a bit after taking my observations.  After a few hours, I woke up and noticed that it was a bit dark outside and glanced at the radar.  Well,  I saw that we had a nice shelf starting to form west of town.  I grabbed my camera and took off out the door.  I raced a few miles west to get into some clearing (I don't like buildings in my photos) and had just enough time to grab a few shots.  I wanted to time lapse it but since I got a late start I didn't even have time to set up the tripod.  Once I saw the rain coming I decided to race back east in hopes of getting ahead of it.  Alas, very quickly realized it was surging out and my efforts were futile.  Either way, I feel better!  Cooler temps, rain, and an amazing looking shelf turns out to be pretty good medicine.

Well, after a few weeks without rain we got hit twice today.  The second time around was a just a little scraping though.  I decided to head south of town and try to get on the edge of a mini-mcs, which quickly broke up into a multi-cell cluster, in hopes of grabbing some lightning.  I was out there for about 20 minutes or so but once a bright CG flash hit about 500 feet from me I called it quits (realized life was more important).  Below are the photos I caught using my wide-angle lens.  The flashes were were much closer than they appear.  

06/16/12 De Kalb, IL Outflow

Well, I haven't posted anything for a while because we have been in a bit of a drought.  As I traveled down state and back to Evansville, IN for a buddies' wedding I noticed that the crops aren't doing much better down their either.  The farmers are starting to get a bit worried because this spring has been quite abnormal temperature, wind, sunshine, and precipitation wise.  Either way, today looked like a good chance for some relief with a slight chance of some rain and possibly an MCS that could produce some nice photogenic shelf-clouds.... Well, as the the system neared I was quite pessimistic about everything thinking it looked like garbage and unorganized crap (which it was -- below--).  But, since I forgot what rain and storms looked like I decided to head to the south of town to try and shoot down the barrel of the outflow from the system.

I was hoping for a nice shelf but it just didn't get its act together.  I decided to stay after dark and try and catch a few lightning shots but this far north there wasn't much lightning to speak of.  The only chance I had was a nice crawler that I missed because I was in between shots and the camera was processing..... Those are the breaks.  Lightning hates me.  However, as I write this right now, we are getting some much needed rain and that is good.  Below are a few shots I grabbed from this evening.  They are a bit grainy (which I hate), but I had to digitally bring up the exposure more than I like because it was a bit darker than I anticipated.  Enjoy. 

DeKalb, IL partial eclipse and sunset 6/20/12

It was a really warm day today and it looked like there might be a great chance for some storms..... Well, it is DeKalb so part of that last sentence is mildly humorous.  We did have some storms move north of us and south of us, but it was quiet overall.  So, I was left hoping that the clouds would clear out enough to in order to see the partial eclipse this evening.  Sure enough, they held off and the partial eclipse was really cool.  Yet, the sunset that followed it was just as amazing.  It was best sunset I have seen in a long time.  The shots I grabbed are below.  Enjoy.

Click here for link to time lapse of the partial eclipse

May 6, 2012 Central/Northern IL chase

Today was one of those days where I was sitting at home doing work and couldn't resist a chase close to home.  I saw some storms firing along a warm-front south of town and decided to head down to have a look.  The mid-level support wasn't anything to write home about but there was some nice low-level backing of the winds along the front.  Overall, the storm mode was fairly messy and we kept having to avoid mergers all afternoon.  Either way,  it was a decent chase and I was home by 6PM.  Below are two shots I snagged.  Enjoy.

May 3, 2012 DeKalb, IL convection

It was a bit muggy here today in DeKalb.  We were under a slight risk for severe weather though it seemed marginal to me at best.  We certainly had enough instability to kick off storms with temperatures in the 80s and dew points in the upper 60s to lower 70s.  We just lacked the vertical wind shear to help keep these storms organized.  Either way, once these cells overcame the convective inhibition they really started to 'popcorn'.  So, I decided to head west of town after the NIU AMS banquet and grab a few shots of the cumulus towers.  When I arrived to my usual spot,  I was greeted by a brightly shining moon that I could capture in the same frame as the cumulus towers!  It was amazing.  These kinds of evenings really allow me to recharge my batteries, let alone help me make the final thesis push.  There is just something about being out in a field where I can't hear anything but the wind and smell anything but the spring air.  Nature is pretty damn cool.  Well, below are some of the photos I grabbed before the sun went down for the night.  Enjoy.

fluorescent white balance

fluorescent white balance

fluorescent white balance

Starved Rock (Utica, IL) 04/07/12

My buddy Trevor Edmonson asked me late last night if I wanted to go hiking/walking at Starved Rock in Illinois.  Since I have been itching to get out and test the new lens I agreed to tag along.  It was a nice day to get out and enjoy the landscape too!  The only thing that could have been better was the sky.  It was a bit of a hazy day with a cloud deck slowly moving in.  Oh well.... It was still a great time!  Enjoy.

DeKalb, IL Summer-like Bubbling Cu. 3/17/2012

March has been a bit strange this year here in DeKalb.  We have been setting daytime high temperature records day after day.  To be honest, it feels like mid-June.  The temps and instability have been insane for March, but you won't catch me complaining.  Since it has been nice lately, I decided to head out and take some time lapse photography of the daytime bubbling cumulus.  It was nice to just sit in a field, relax, and enjoy the weather.  Enjoy.