Furious Skies

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11-30-06, 12-1-06

The midwest got hit very hard early this morning with a pretty slow moving system that
included thundersnow in some areas with 18+ inches in others. The GFS models were all
showing pretty much the same thing for quite some time, then basically had a brief stint where it
showed us completely missing the entire system. That didn't last long at all as the models changed
back to their original predictions. The image below is pretty incredible if you really think about it.
the white you see is snow cover. That is one SHARP and well defined line between snow and
ZILCH. My area is actually very close to the western edge of that line, but we still ended up
getting over 8" in Port Byron.

So I leave work and head home and start the waiting game. I started talking to Joel and he was very fired up
over this since it had the possiblity to be a storm of great magnitude. To be completely honest, I've always liked
snow, but was never interested in tracking them. Well, that all changed tonight. This was almost more exciting than
tracking down a supercell!

This is a radar grab at 6:45 p.m. This storm was moving very slow at this time and I knew I had quite a while to wait. I turned on the local news and they said somewhere around 9. This is the radar grab when I took the shot below.
Taken down by the boat docks near my house. These clouds bear no significance, just some lazy clouds floating in.
I thought this would be cool considering this was one of the last times the moon would be seen in a while.

So I wait...and wait...and wait. I was getting pretty bored right about now.

When one has to wait for something, pictures like this happen. It is now a little after 7 and the storm is still way down south.
Yep...bored.
8:00 rolls around and I needed to make a quick gas station run. On the way down, I noticed some altostratus clouds rolling in that lookded really cool lit up over the Iowa lights.

I run back home and wait...even more. The system was approaching closer and closer though, so I didn't
have much longer.

It is now approaching 11:30 and the storm is JUST to the south now. By this time it has already started in Erie and Joel was updating me on how hard it was coming down. I quickly set up and took this "before" shot and set off to the river one last time.
The radar grab at 11:38. I wait about 45 minutes and then I set off to the docks.
The storm is now only minutes away. This really doesn't show much, but that is the actual leading edge of the 2-1/2 hour late storm looming overhead.
One more shot panned to the left and I pick it up and head on out.
Literally about a minute later I see the first flake! So, instead of going straight home I decided to drive around a bit. It didn't take long before it started to really come down.
The wind quickly picks up and the snow really starts to fall out of the sky. It has begun!
Back at home, the skies just completely unload. This lasts for quite a whlie. This was only about 10-15 minutes after I parked in the drive. Notice how quickly it is sticking to the hood of my truck.
I head back inside, grab a bite to eat, and get online for a little bit. I come back out about 20 minutes later and this was the scene.
My 300mm looked very lonely sitting there all by itself, so I broke it out to take a few. Man, it was VERY weird using that piece of equipment after having used nothing but the new 17-40L the last 5-6 outings.
Didn't take long to start piling up! The only bad thing with the long exposures like this (30 seconds) is that you really can't tell just how hard it was really snowing. It was coming down VERY good at this time.
Remember that "before" shot?
As you can see compared to the very first image posted on this page, the cutoff line is very distinct on radar. This is a grab at 3:20 a.m.

   INCHES   LOCATION                  ST COUNTY
            ----   -----------------------   -- --------------
            18.0   1 N PRINCETON             IL BUREAU
            15.0   5 SW DEPUE                IL BUREAU
            14.0   HENNEPIN                  IL PUTNAM
            13.5   KEWANEE                   IL HENRY
            12.0   MC NABB                   IL PUTNAM
            12.0   AUGUSTA                   IL HANCOCK
            12.0   1 N MACOMB                IL MCDONOUGH
            11.5   WARSAW                    IL HANCOCK
            11.5   STERLING                  IL WHITESIDE
            11.0   MONMOUTH                  IL WARREN
            11.0   LAKE SUMMERSET            IL STEPHENSON
            11.0   ADAIR                     IL MCDONOUGH
            11.0   CAMBRIDGE                 IL HENRY
            10.5   COLONA                    IL HENRY
            10.5   NAUVOO                    IL HANCOCK
            10.0   ERIE                      IL WHITESIDE
            10.0   2 N NEW WINDSOR           IL MERCER
            10.0   2 SSW MACOMB              IL MCDONOUGH
            10.0   7 N STERLING              IL WHITESIDE
            9.5    WOODHULL                  IL HENRY
            9.3    1 SW COLCHESTER           IL MCDONOUGH
            9.0    MORRISON                  IL WHITESIDE
            9.0    2 NNW MACOMB              IL MCDONOUGH
            9.0    FORT MADISON              IA LEE
            9.0    KEOKUK                    IA LEE
            9.0    KIRKWOOD                  IL WARREN
            8.5    1 N LE CLAIRE             IA SCOTT
            8.5    PROPHETSTOWN              IL WHITESIDE
            8.3** MOLINE                    IL ROCK ISLAND
            8.0    MACOMB                    IL MCDONOUGH
            8.0    LE CLAIRE                 IA SCOTT
            8.0    ALEDO                     IL MERCER
            7.5    2 SSW BETTENDORF          IA SCOTT
            7.5    1 N FORT MADISON          IA LEE
            7.3    CORDOVA                   IL ROCK ISLAND
            7.0    MEDIAPOLIS                IA DES MOINES
            7.0    GOOD HOPE                 IL MCDONOUGH
            7.0** BURLINGTON                IA DES MOINES
            7.0    2 W RUTLEDGE              MO SCOTLAND
            7.0    STRONGHURST               IL HENDERSON
            7.0    LA HARPE                  IL HANCOCK
            6.5    ANDALUSIA                 IL ROCK ISLAND
            6.0    FREEPORT                  IL STEPHENSON
            6.0    DALLAS CITY               IL HANCOCK
            6.0    3 NNE CHARLIE HEATH MEM   MO CLARK
            5.5    NEW LONDON                IA HENRY
            5.0    CLINTON                   IA CLINTON
            5.0    DAVENPORT                 IA SCOTT
            4.0    5 SSW MOUNT CARROLL       IL CARROLL
            3.3    MEMPHIS                   MO SCOTLAND
            3.0    GRANGER                   MO SCOTLAND
            2.0    THOMSON                   IL CARROLL
            1.0    5 SW ELIZABETH            IL JO DAVIESS
            1.0    ILLINOIS CITY             IL ROCK ISLAND

It is approaching 4 a.m. now and I have to be to work in 3-1/2 hours! Regrettingly, I pack
it up for the night and hit the sack. The next morning I wake up and there were drifts everywhere.

Now THAT is some snow! I really coudln't imagine getting the original 20" that was forecast. WOW.
Even though snow is very inconvenient on the roadways and also very annoying when it gets on the inside part of your shoe, it still makes for some AWESOME scenery, no matter where you are at.
This is probably too innaccurate to go by. The wind had blown the snow all around during the morning but I still wanted a reference.
Well, I was already running a tad behind to get to work, but I still needed to shovel! I started up the truck and let it warm up while I did a quick job on the driveway.

Ok, and now for your enjoyment....CARS IN DITCHES!

[CUE THE BENNY HILL THEME]

Ahh, as long as nobody got hurt, you almost can't help but laugh! Maybe that's just me. Anyway, I finally
pull in to work and one of my co-workers has most of the parking lot almost plowed. There's really no place
else to pile it except in between parking lots of the neighboring FS gas station.

That pile is a good 8'-9' tall, but it's not done yet!
You really gotta hand it to these guys. They always do an INCREDIBLE job of keep the roads clear, even after a snow storm like this. They were out in full force.
This is now quite a bit later in the afternoon...I"m thinking around noonish. That pile grew just a bit more. It sucks because when that snow melts, where does it go? It floods our parking spots and we get wet shoes in the morning. Nothing better than working 10 hours a day with soaked socks.
I grab a quick bite to eat and tour the country a bit to find some fresh snow scenes if at all possible. I wonder how many times these horses have seen vehicles stopped with some strange device pointing at them.
I am now in Colona where they received 10.5 inches. It's amazing how snow can turn an ordinary scene into something like this!
This picture really didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. The snow was blowing over the tops of the drifts but I couldn't capture it that well. This was the best I could do.

Ahhh, good ol' 5:00 rolls around. That means quitting time for me. I set off on my usual
route home and I see one of the most amazing snow drifts I have ever seen! It was AWESOME
backlit by the setting sun. UNFORTUNATELY, I did not have my tripod with me, so I had to
bump up the ISO to 1600 to get some of my shots. When they are viewed full size, the amount
of noise/grain in them is unbearable. Tomorrow night I am heading back out to get the sunset
behind them again.

I am usually not a huge fan of the flash, but I tried anything I could to get some shots without the tripod. I liked how this one turned out actually.
There were some AMAZING features carved out by the wind all along this stretch.
This was more what I was going for. Again, the only problem was the terrible amount of noise. But, this was the best I could do hand held.
This might be my favorite one of this little set.

So, I get home, eat some dinner and think of something to do on a Friday night. Well, nothing came
to mind, so I set back out. I kept thinking about those drifts and how I wish I really could have grabbed
some better shots. Well, the moon was BRILLIANTLY lighting up the landscape tonight so I thought I'd
take advantage of that and get those drifts again...this time with a tripod. I really liked the way they turned out.

I decided to start it off with some star trails, but it was so bright out, the sensor couldn't even pick them up very well.
Ok.....ONE more attempt. Still got nothing. I guessed at where the North Star would be and came close enough.
Looking back towards town. I absolutely love this road. There is rarely any travel and it is so open you can see for quite a ways.
The drainage ditch which is now frozen solid. A week ago it had zero ice.
Ok, NOW to the drifts. I absolutely love the way these turned out, for the most part. I didn't want to get any of the towers or anything behind, so I crippled the tripod and was actually laying on my belly to get this one.
This whole stretch is like this! Just awesome.
More of the same.
One last shot and I'm finished. Time to head home! So, being our first snowfall of the season, I'd say it wasn't too shabby!!

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