Kevin Palmer

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  • Mont Dolent marks the border of 3 different countries. The near side is France, the glacier on the left side of the peak is Switzerland, with Italy to the right of the summit.
    Triple Border
  • Above the village of Chamonix in the French Alps lies the 9km long Argentière Glacier. From up close, the movement of this glacier can be seen in real time as chunks of ice shift and break apart. The river of ice flows all the way down to an elevation of 2,133m (7,000 ft) where it stops at a cliff. Dozens of glaciers encircle the Mont Blanc massif, the highest mountain in Western Europe. Their ice covers a total area of 170 km² (42 mi²). At the head of the valley on the upper right is Mont Dolent, which forms the triple border of France, Switzerland, and Italy.
    Glaciated Alps
  • A severe thunderstorm rolls across the grasslands near Aberdeen, Montana.
    Aberdeen Storm
  • Akamina Ridge tops out at 8,530 feet. It offered great views of the northern Rockies and into Glacier National Park.
    Red Ridge at the Border
  • It was nearly 11pm in southern Saskatchewan. I had just watched a bright auroral substorm send colorful arcs high into the northern sky, but it was starting to fade. Then I turned around, looking south, and this is what I saw. A bright pinkish strip of light stretched from east to west, while the crescent moon hung low on the horizon. It's one of the most unusual things I've ever seen in the night sky. This strange type of aurora is called Steve. The name started as a joke, but it stuck.  Steve was first captured last year by a group of aurora photographers in Alberta. After ESA flew a satellite through it earlier this year, it was discovered that it's comprised of very hot (10,800°F) ionized gases moving along at 4 miles per second. This ribbon of light is 16 miles wide and thousands of miles long. I watched as Steve started overhead nearly paralleling the US-Canada border, before slowly moving south. It turned into a green "picket fence" pattern before fading away. It was awesome to see such a mysterious phenomena which is still being studied by scientists.
    Steve and the Moon
  • With both clear skies and a geomagnetic storm in the forecast, I headed north of the border to Saskatchewan. Grasslands National Park is a long ways from anywhere. During the day the landscape seems stark and desolate, especially after a very dry summer. But the real beauty of this park comes after sunset. It is one of the darkest places on the continent. With no sources of light pollution at all, the stars appear the same as they did to the Plains Indians hundreds of years ago. The aurora was already bright and colorful earlier in the evening. But at midnight after the moon set, the northern lights went insane. I've never seen such rapid motion before. If you could imagine a campfire with the flames rising upward and flickering on and off, that's what it looked like. Except instead of orange, it was green, and instead of it being confined to a fire ring, it filled the entire sky. I don't think any camera could fully capture it, it just has to be experienced.
    Tipi Aurora
  • With both clear skies and a geomagnetic storm in the forecast, I headed north of the border to Saskatchewan. Grasslands National Park is a long ways from anywhere. During the day the landscape seems stark and desolate, especially after a very dry summer. But the real beauty of this park comes after sunset. It is one of the darkest places on the continent. With no sources of light pollution at all, the stars appear the same as they did to the Plains Indians hundreds of years ago. The aurora was already bright and colorful earlier in the evening. But at midnight after the moon set, the northern lights went insane. I've never seen such rapid motion before. If you could imagine a campfire with the flames rising upward and flickering on and off, that's what it looked like. Except instead of orange, it was green, and instead of it being confined to a fire ring, it filled the entire sky. I don't think any camera could fully capture it, it just has to be experienced.
    Two Tipis
  • Near the Utah-Idaho border, I watched this snow squall swallow up the Black Pine Mountains.
    Mountain Eater
  • The horizontal cloud stretching out from the supercell is known as a beaver tail. It is formed from moist inflow winds feeding into the storm. The winds were very strong as you can see from all the dust picked up underneath. There was a tornado ongoing at this time which damaged 2 homesteads near the Nebraska/Wyoming border. But it wasn't visible from my location and I couldn't get any closer because there weren't any roads heading east.
    Beaver Tail
  • Electric Peak in Yellowstone National Park is the highest in the Gallatin Range. It lies directly on the border of Montana and Wyoming, exactly halfway between the equator and the north pole. The 10,969 feet high peak got it's name after the first men to climb the peak were struck by lightning near the summit.
    High Voltage
  • Fog moves around a field as the milky way galaxy rises higher in the sky. This was taken near the Iowa and Missouri border in some of the darkest skies in the entire midwest. The only evidence of light pollution was in the yellow clouds lit up by a small town 15 miles away. The green dots on the bottom right are from a firefly fleeing the scene.
    Humid Summer Night
  • This storm rolled in on the Montana border at 8PM and was producing a lot of lightning.
    Lightning Near Aberdeen
  • Pictured is a highly unusual weather event called a derecho. Derechos are a long-lived wind storm that may travel across multiple states and cause widespread damage. They occur a few times a year in the Midwest or Eastern US. What was unusual about this derecho is that it began in Utah at 9AM. Normally the Rockies disrupt organized storm systems, but this one had no problem plowing 750 miles all the way to North Dakota. Hundreds of wind reports ranged from 60 to 110 mph. I intercepted the squall line near the Wyoming/South Dakota border. The severe thunderstorm warning mentioned a storm motion of 100 mph which was a bit difficult to comprehend. I tried to make it to a mountaintop, but then had to go with plan B, which turned into plan C which was pretty much the side of a road off of I-90. The shelf cloud was very ominous. The air was notably calm and quiet just before it struck. One mountain after another vanished into the rain and dust. Then seconds later the wind was roaring and I couldn't even stand up straight.
    Beulah Derecho 2:1 Panorama
  • Grasslands National Park is located in Southern Saskatchewan right next to the Montana border. They are known as Land of the Living Skies, and Big Sky Country respectively, and it's easy to see why. This was the view from the top of 70 Mile Butte outside of Val Marie.
    Big Living Sky Country
  • It was nearly 11pm in southern Saskatchewan. I had just watched a bright auroral substorm send colorful arcs high into the northern sky, but it was starting to fade. Then I turned around, looking south, and this is what I saw. A bright pinkish strip of light stretched from east to west, while the crescent moon hung low on the horizon. It's one of the most unusual things I've ever seen in the night sky. This strange type of aurora is called Steve. The name started as a joke, but it stuck.  Steve was first captured last year by a group of aurora photographers in Alberta. After ESA flew a satellite through it earlier this year, it was discovered that it's comprised of very hot (10,800°F) ionized gases moving along at 4 miles per second. This ribbon of light is 16 miles wide and thousands of miles long. I watched as Steve started overhead nearly paralleling the US-Canada border, before slowly moving south. It turned into a green "picket fence" pattern before fading away. It was awesome to see such a mysterious phenomena which is still being studied by scientists.
    An Aurora Named Steve
  • I wasn't expecting to be back at Devil's Tower so soon but this was an opportunity I just couldn't pass up. I spent the evening chasing a supercell past the tower to the Montana border where it dropped hail larger than golf balls. Then I headed back to the tower just in case any new storms popped up. When I got there, lightning was beginning to flash from a new thunderstorm to the west, just like I had hoped. When rain began to fall I went and stood under the back door of my car to shoot pictures. The lightning wasn't all that frequent and it was challenging to get the exposure right. In between flashes, the light level would go from pitch black to practically burning my retina. When the rain let up a little, I went and stood in the middle of the dirt road. That's when this bolt filled the sky, perfectly placed above the tower. It's certainly the best foreground I've ever had for a lightning picture and I may have cheered after it happened.
    Awestruck
  • Pictured is a highly unusual weather event called a derecho. Derechos are a long-lived wind storm that may travel across multiple states and cause widespread damage. They occur a few times a year in the Midwest or Eastern US. What was unusual about this derecho is that it began in Utah at 9AM. Normally the Rockies disrupt organized storm systems, but this one had no problem plowing 750 miles all the way to North Dakota. Hundreds of wind reports ranged from 60 to 110 mph. I intercepted the squall line near the Wyoming/South Dakota border. The severe thunderstorm warning mentioned a storm motion of 100 mph which was a bit difficult to comprehend. I tried to make it to a mountaintop, but then had to go with plan B, which turned into plan C which was pretty much the side of a road off of I-90. The shelf cloud was very ominous. The air was notably calm and quiet just before it struck. One mountain after another vanished into the rain and dust. Then seconds later the wind was roaring and I couldn't even stand up straight.
    Beulah Derecho 3:1 Panorama
  • Ever since I saw the strange name (Leaky Mountain) on a map, I was intrigued by it. Located in the northern Bighorn Mountains, I could find little information about this waterfall online and no pictures. But I soon realized the reason: there's no easy way here. On the last weekend of April I took advantage of the warm weather and set out to find it. From the trailhead on the MT/WY border it's a 19 mile roundtrip hike, and I camped downstream. The next morning I climbed to the base, but there was no trail to follow, with steep terrain and thick vegetation lying between me and the falls. Numerous thorns, snowbanks, loose talus, water crossings and mud all had to be navigated around as I followed my ears to the source of the stream. Snowmelt and groundwater seeps into the limestone cliffs from above. Cold, pure spring water gushes out of the side of the mountain in multiple cascades. Behind me stretched out a panoramic view of Little Horn Canyon and the higher snowcapped peaks. With all the difficulty in reaching this place, once I finally got here I didn't want to leave.
    Leaky Mountain Falls
  • 200km north of the Arctic Circle at the top of Sweden, is the small village of Riksgränsen. The name translates to national border, since it is right next to Norway. It holds the claim of being the northernmost ski resort in the world. This was taken in March, but even at the end of June it remains open, and is one of few places where it’s possible to ski under the midnight sun. For most of the last century this area was accessible only by rail until Highway E10 was completed in the 1980’s. It was my last night in the Arctic and I had to come back here to return some skis. But I was glad I did since it was completely cloudy further east where I was staying. It seemed like this mountain (named Vassitjåkka) was keeping the clouds dammed up behind it. But the front of the peak glowed vividly for quite awhile as the sun went down and a bitter wind blew.
    Alpenglow Above Katterjåkk
  • I was driving along the incredibly beautiful Elk Meadows Road. Just after crossing the Montana border the road went through a thick evergreen forest with no views. But then I drove around a corner and saw this view. My jaw just dropped. Being from Illinois I had never seen larch trees before. In the summer their needles are green and blend in with the rest of the trees. But in mid-October they completely stand out as they burst into color. The clouds above Lolo Peak were turning to pink as the sun set. I jumped out of my car and tried to capture the light on Lolo Peak before it faded.
    Lolo Larch
  • At the end of June I returned to one of my favorite places: Bighorn Canyon. Located on the Wyoming-Montana border, this vast canyon ranges from 1,000 - 2,500 feet deep. The remote location and dry desert air makes it a great place for stargazing. But capturing a canyon on a dark night can be a challenge. In pictures they only appear as a dark void, since very little light makes it's way down between the steep walls. But on this night I had the assistance of the crescent moon just out of frame to the right. The moonlight was bright enough to light up the cliffs, but not bright enough to drown out the Milky Way. This natural arch is set back against a steep hillside, which meant there was really only one spot to place my camera. After a hot day, I heard several rockslides echo from down below. And while walking back to my car, I met a baby rattlesnake who was not too happy I was there.
    Window to the Universe
  • It was 4AM in the grasslands of southeast Montana. I was spending the night under the stars while my camera clicked away, but the cold breeze made sleep hard to come by. I thought I detected a bright flash of light, but wasn't sure if my eyes were playing tricks on me. It wasn't until I got home that I found the source: a fireball meteor. According to American Meteor Society reports, the meteorite (if it survived) likely fell near the CO/WY border some 300 miles away. It theoretically should have been visible from at least 10 states, I can only imagine how bright it must have been overhead. The green color reveals the composition to be mostly nickel, and it left behind a vapor trail (known as a persistent train) for over 10 minutes afterwards. My only goal was to capture the milky way for the first time this year after it hid behind the sun for the winter. The fireball was just an unexpected bonus.
    One In a Million
  • American Alps. With countless towering peaks, alpine lakes, verdant meadows, and waterfalls, there are a lot of similarities. The mountains aren't as high, but it's more wild than the European Alps, since the majority of this rarely visited national park in northern Washington is pure wilderness. 312, or 1/3 of all the glaciers in the lower US are found within it's borders, although many of them are shrinking. While passing through in August I only had enough time for one hike. So I climbed a ridge up and around Ann Lake, which is a small, round tarn with it's own island. Sunlight began to disappear as a storm was moving in. But I should have expected to get wet, the trail started from Rainy Pass.
    Ann Lake Wildflowers