August 6, 2018 Utica, NE Mothership

Continuing the two-post theme this week, and the theme of posting thunderstorm pictures during winter weather (it's currently snowing at a good clip this evening in Lincoln), the first picture is of a supercell updraft west of Utica, NE from August 6, 2018. On this evening, an isolated supercell tracked north of I-80 in central and eastern Nebraska before dissipating north of Lincoln. My friend Matt and I made a last minute decision to chase it, and were treated to breathtaking mothership structure. When we neared the storm before exiting I-80, the tail cloud extended well to the south of the interstate for a storm whose core, if I recall correctly, was at least 10 miles north of 80. While difficult to capture in good focus or even horizontal balance (I wasn't using a tripod and I was really excited at what I was seeing), and impossible from my vantage point to capture the entirety of the structure, this should give some idea of how high into the updraft the striations went. Along with May 21, 2011 near Ada, OK, this storm provided some of the most stunning supercell structure I've ever witnessed in person. 

Scanning Anvils -- May 30, 2011 -- Ravenna, NE

For the second photo for this week, this is a picture of SMART-R 2 beginning to collect data on an encroaching squall line in central Nebraska, likely just northwest of Ravenna. I was helping with data collection during a small field campaign in May 2011 using funds leftover from VORTEX2, and this was our last deployment of the year, before SMART-R 1 was sent to the Maldives for a project there. 

Storm Deprivation Syndrome is Setting In -- June 4, 2015 Roll Cloud, Beatrice, NE

I am doing another two-part "photo of the week" blog post this week to continue to catch up from missed weeks. Given the cold weather setting in here in Lincoln, and the long winter ahead, I figured I'd post a couple storm pictures and pretend I had warm supercell inflow at my back. The first one is a long exposure shot of a roll cloud moving ahead of thunderstorms southwest of Beatrice, NE on June 4, 2015. 

Harvest at Plasi, NE -- October 2020

Corn ready to be harvested near Plasi, NE, with the few trees on the eastern Nebraska plains at peak fall color.

Bald Pated Prairie -- November 2020

This is another two-part post for this week, as I'm way behind on the "weekly" nature of this blog. 

This picture was taken near sunset at Star School Hill Prairie Conservation Area in northwest Missouri in the Loess Hills (far northern Atchison County, MO). This location was referred to by William Clark as "bald pated prairie" during the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and the crew spent a day exploring the area during the summer of 1804. While much of the tree foliage was gone by now, the lighting at sunset made for a beautiful prairie scene.

Harvest Snow in the Bohemian Alps -- October 2020 Post

As a second post (pun loosely intended) for today, the first snow of the 2020-21 cold season blanketed the region northwest of Lincoln, locally known as the "Bohemian Alps". The peaking fall colors, combined with overcast skies and snow on recently harvested fields made for a beautiful Great Plains autumn scene. Photo taken from Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Cemetery, just north of Abie, NE, mid-October 2020.

Raggeds Wilderness -- September 2020

Since it's been several weeks since my last post, I will be doing two for this week to start to catch up for lost weeks. The first photo for this week is from the Dark Canyon/Irwin Lake/Dyke Trail loop in Gunnison National Forest along Kebler Pass. The fall foliage was spectacular along this 6 mile hike in late September 2020. 

If you do this hike, I would suggest going clockwise (starting from the horse ranch area on the north side of Gunnison CR 12), as the ~1400 foot ascent is broken into chunks, as opposed to being all at once at the beginning of the hike if done counter-clockwise. Either way, the views are incredible and well worth the workout; one of the most beautiful trails I've ever done.