Kevin Palmer

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  • North-Northeast winds blowing across Lake Michigan were causing high waves on this day in October. I went down to a small beach in Pleasant Prairie to get some pictures. In addition to the dark clouds and high winds, it was also raining.
    Angry Waves
  • On a dark night in Sand Ridge State Forest I found these Black Eyed Susans blooming in a small prairie. The air was so calm that the flowers didn't even move.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: 9/16/2014
    Prairie Night
  • The milky way sets in the west shortly after sunset. This was taken from the top of a hill prairie in Jim Edgar State Park. It was a great place to watch a meteor shower.
    Hill Prairie Milky Way
  • In Medicine Rocks State Park, sandstone bluffs rise out of the prairie, formed into all kinds of interesting shapes by the wind.
    Prairie Monolith
  • The sandstone bluffs at Medicine Rocks State Park are filled with holes and arches. I especially liked this rock formation since it was easy to climb inside and get lots of different perspectives.
    Windows to the Prairie
  • Once you are in the middle of the Nachusa Grasslands, the views are expansive making the place feel much bigger than it is. On the top of the rolling hills are outcrops made of St. Peter Sandstone.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: July 10, 2014
    Sandstone Prairie
  • This isolated supercell formed near Miles City out ahead of the advancing MCS. It barely moved at all while slowly organizing and developing a wall cloud.
    Montana Prairie Storm
  • Purple coneflowers bloom in the prairie as a nearly full moon rises in the east.The Nachusa Grasslands give you an idea of what Illinois looked like hundreds of years ago, before settlers arrived and converted it to farmland. 3,000 acres of this rolling grassland have been restored to their original state in this preserve. Less than 1% of the original tallgrass prairie remains, which makes this a rare sight in Illinois. Sandstone outcrops, many varieties of colorful wildflowers, and numerous wildlife make this a beautiful place. A herd of bison will soon be brought in from South Dakota as well. There are few paths in this preserve, so you have to go off-trail to explore the landscape.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: July 10, 2014
    Nachusa Coneflowers
  • Among the purple prairie clover, milkweed plants shoot up as well as a few coneflowers. Darkness had fallen on the Nachusa Grasslands as the nearly full moon rose higher in the east.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: July 10, 2014
    Moonlight Breeze
  • The remnants of a low-precipitation supercell moves past a prairie outside of Norfolk, Nebraska. This storm dropped large hail earlier on, but started to die shortly before the sun set. After watching the sun slip beneath the horizon in the other direction, I went up the road a little bit and came across this stunning sky. I was fortunate to find these purple wildflowers on the side of the road to include in the foreground. The sun sets late here this time of year, this was shot after 9:00.
    Dying Beauty
  • These bizarre sandstone rock formations rise up out of the eastern Montana prairie. They turned gold as the sun set.
    Medicine Rocks Sunset
  • The sun sets over the hills and prairie of Grasslands National Park. This was taken from the Rock Creek trail in the East Block.
    East Block Sunset
  • The sun sets over the hills and prairie of Grasslands National Park. This was taken from the Rock Creek trail in the East Block.
    Butte Afterglow
  • The sun rises beyond Castle Rock on the eastern Montana prairie. The sun was only visible for a couple minutes on this mostly cloudy morning. As far as I know Castle Rock is the only rock formation in this state park that has a name.
    Sunrise at Castle Rock
  • Medicine Rocks State Park in eastern Montana is a great place to shoot nightscape photos. Lots of interesting sandstone rock formations rise out of the prairie, and the full moon provided illumination. This picture was part of a time lapse. I shone a light on the other side of the rock to make it glow inside.
    Like Swiss Cheese
  • After riding out this severe thunderstorm outside of Faith, South Dakota, the conditions came together for a spectacular sunset. I stopped on this two-track road in the middle of a prairie, trying not to get stuck in the mud. Gorgeous colors filled the sky in every direction, with occasional flashes of lightning.
    Tumultuous Sky
  • After riding out this severe thunderstorm outside of Faith, South Dakota, the conditions came together for a spectacular sunset. I stopped on this two-track road in the middle of a prairie, trying not to get stuck in the mud. Gorgeous colors filled the sky in every direction, with occasional flashes of lightning.
    Unreal Sunset Colors
  • After riding out this severe thunderstorm outside of Faith, South Dakota, the conditions came together for a spectacular sunset. I stopped on this two-track road in the middle of a prairie, trying not to get stuck in the mud. Gorgeous colors filled the sky in every direction, with occasional flashes of lightning.
    Two Track Heaven
  • Paved roads were few and far between. Cell phone signal was non-existent. Hills and bluffs sometimes blocked the view. Mosquitoes swarmed around me and stubborn cows formed a roadblock. These are some of the challenges of chasing storms in Montana. Elsewhere crowds of storm chasers may converge on a supercell. But here it’s not uncommon to be the only one on a storm, and I feel an extra responsibility to report what I see to the National Weather Service. When everything comes together just right the supercells here can be truly incredible. This storm first went up over the Crazy Mountains before tracking east along the Musselshell River, into a part of Big Sky Country I’d never been. It was one of the roundest, most obviously rotating supercells I've ever seen. Evening sunlight snuck in underneath to turn the hail shaft gold. Just when the storm was at its most photogenic I came upon this scene of an abandoned house on the open prairie. It was exactly what I was looking for.
    Melstone Supercell
  • A warm and humid wind gusted across the prairie causing the grasses and goldenrods to sway back and forth. In the distance a supercell thunderstorm spun away furiously. I knew a tornado was on the ground in Montana, but I couldn't see it until it crossed into South Dakota and emerged from behind a distant hill. The first tornado roped out after a couple minutes, but then this funnel quickly formed. It danced around, touching the ground briefly but not doing much. This was a cyclic supercell, which means it produced multiple tornadoes. As one ropes out, the wall cloud regenerates and another forms. Tornado #3 would be a much more substantial wedge that stayed on the ground for about 20 minutes. After I saw the storm's movement, I knew I could move a bit closer to get a clearer view. Sunset was minutes away and there was not much time left before it got too dark to see.
    Tornadic Buffalo Supercell
  • Saskatchewan is called "Land of the Living Skies." I found out why on this night. These red and green pillars moved across the northern skies over Grasslands National Park. The passing clouds only added to the scene. The moonlight came and went across the prairie.
    Land of the Living Skies
  • The last climbers repelled down the south face of Devils Tower soon after twilight faded. First Perseus rose to the northeast, followed by Arcturus, the 4th brightest star in the sky. Satellites slowly came and went while meteors vaporized at a much faster speed. The aurora painted its colors on an invisible canvas,  undetectable to my eye for the most part. One glow soon replaced another when the crescent moon rose at midnight. In many previous visits I’ve scouted all over the national monument looking for the best vantage points. This patch of prairie that I marked on my map is barely within the park boundary. Dodging deadfall, making my way across a steep slope and up and over a cliff is hard enough during the day, doubly so at night. I kept waiting for a big aurora display to give me a reason to come back here. That never happened, despite the forecast. But even an ordinary night is worth experiencing at an extraordinary place like this. Those who only visit Devils Tower during the day miss out on half the scenery.
    More Than a Meteor
  • The mammatus looked impressive on the back of this storm after sunset.
    Blue Mammatus
  • It was cloudy most of the day as I drove to the remote Diamond Butte in southeast Montana. But just before sunset, the sun emerged. The entire sky turned some shade of gold, orange, or pink. It was the best sunset I've seen for quite awhile.
    Cotton Candy Sunset
  • After I thought the sunlight was gone on Devil's Tower, it came out once more for just a couple minutes.
    Devil's Tower Last Light
  • I stayed at Poker Jim Butte to watch the sunset. While trees block the views in most directions, there was a pretty good view towards the west.
    Before the Colors Fade
  • While driving the backroads through the Custer National Forest I came across some interesting sandstone formations.
    Turned to Stone
  • During the most intense part of the geomagnetic storm, I looked straight up and this is what I saw. It's known as a corona, and it looks like the aurora is radiating outward from a single point in the sky. This was the first time I've seen a corona and it didn't last long.
    Aurora Corona
  • It was a cold and moist night at Devil's Tower with a few too many clouds. But the milky way was visible for a short time.
    Galactic Tower
  • 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
  • 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 found this old barn on the side of a road outside of Lincoln, IL. The foundation is fractured and the entire front end is sinking into the ground. The late evening sunlight was painting the barn gold as it melted what's left of the snow. It probably won't be long before it collapses and turns into a pile of rubble.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: February 6, 2015
    Leaning Barn of Lincoln
  • The departing sun casts a golden glow on the forests and grasslands in the Custer National Forest. This view is from Poker Jim Butte.
    Bathed In Light
  • Southeast Montana has more cool-looking abandoned buildings than anywhere else I've been. I found this creepy cabin outside of Ekalaka.
    Creepy Old Cabin
  • Southeast Montana has more cool-looking abandoned buildings than anywhere else I've been. This old house outside of Ekalaka was leaning so much it seemed to defy gravity.
    Defying Gravity
  • This was a day I won't soon forget. The forecast called for very humid air, extreme instability, and strong wind shear in the MT/ND/SD area. Having all these conditions come together at the same time is quite rare and I knew something incredible would happen. I just had to be there. The day involved lots of waiting around in eastern Montana until I set my sights on this supercell in the late evening. The storm structure was otherworldly, looking like a tsunami in the sky. When the first tornado dropped there were hills in the way and road options to get closer were limited. But outside of Buffalo, South Dakota, finally the twister became visible. The tornado lifted and planted again about 4 times. It was looking the best as the sun was setting at 9pm. I was never closer than about 9 miles, but this gave me the advantage of seeing more of the storm's structure. Now I finally have a tornado clip to finish up my time lapse film.
    Buffalo Tornado
  • I love all the abandoned structures found in Eastern Montana. I came across this one while storm chasing outside of Ekalaka. Mammatus clouds were boiling above.
    Broken Windows
  • Lightning activity picked up while I was driving so I stopped at the end of a driveway and took a few pictures until I caught this bolt.
    Electric Hills
  • A bolt of lightning jumps out of the gust front of a severe thunderstorm in South Dakota. This was one of my final shots before taking shelter in my car to escape the close lightning and 1.5" hail.
    Out of the Gust Front
  • After driving for over 5 hours I finally reached the edge of this powerful supercell just west of Faith, South Dakota. The shelf cloud looked amazing, backlit by the sunset and spitting out lots of lightning bolts. Once the storm hit it brought 1.5" hail which left some dents in my car.
    Faith Supercell
  • At 8:25pm, the 1st of 4 tornadoes that I saw that evening emerged from the rain shaft. This was the strongest tornado of the day, with the NWS rating it an EF-3. But it roped out about 3 minutes later.
    Tornado Road
  • Once the sky became dark enough, a small patch of green aurora appeared in the northern sky. It was all that's left of the strong geomagnetic storm from the night before. This was the only picture I was able to get of this abandoned homestead before the aurora faded away.
    All That's Left
  • 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.
    Steve and the Moon
  • Evening shadows begin to creep up to Devil's Tower as seen from Joyner Ridge.
    Shadows Ascending
  • Because of the lack of rain lately, the fall colors have not been as widespread this year in Illinois. Many of the leaves are just drying up and falling. But there is still some colorful foliage to be found, you just have to look for it. I found this bright red tree in a local park just before the setting sun painted the sky a soft pink and purple.
    Fall Meadow
  • The sun sets in between sandstone pillars in Medicine Rocks State Park.
    Through the Crack
  • One of the most notable landmarks on the Oregon Trail, Chimney Rock towers hundreds of feet above the surrounding plains in the Nebraska panhandle. The pillar was at least 10% taller 150 years ago, but it has since been weathered down by wind, erosion, and lightning. I was glad to be able to capture some nice light at sunset on the west side of the rock formation, even though it didn't last long. The anvil in the distance is from a thunderstorm which produced a tornado nearby a couple hours earlier.
    Last Light On Chimney
  • I was surprised to find this large grove of aspen trees on the 70 Mile Butte trail. There are very few trees in Grasslands National Park. The late evening sunlight intensified the color of the leaves.
    Between Buttes
  • Before leaving the East Block of Grasslands National Park I made a stop at the Killdeer Badlands. In contrast to other parts of the park, here there were some very colorful trees in between the hills.
    Killdeer Badlands
  • It was a cloudy morning at Scottsbluff National Monument. Towering 800 feet above the river valley, Scottsbluff is one of the most well known landmarks on the Oregon Trail.
    Descending Scottsbluff
  • Clouds blocked much of the milky way over Devil's Tower on this chilly April night. This view is from Joyner Ridge Road.
    Joyner Ridge Road
  • Thin clouds caused a large halo to appear around the planet Jupiter. It reminded me of the movie, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," which was filmed at Devil's Tower.
    Close Encounter
  • The Chalk Buttes are located in the Custer Gallatin National Forest southwest of Ekalaka, Montana. It seems that they're rarely ever climbed so I had to find my own way to the top by studying a topo map. This view is looking east.
    Chalk Buttes View
  • I chased this cyclic supercell from eastern Montana into South Dakota. In total, it produced 8 tornadoes. This was taken just before it dropped the last tornado of the day after sunset.
    Cyclic Supercell
  • It was cloudy most of the day as I drove to the remote Diamond Butte in southeast Montana. But just before sunset, the sun emerged. The entire sky turned some shade of gold, orange, or pink. It was the best sunset I've seen for quite awhile.
    Big Sky Country Sunset
  • 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
  • Clouds glow pink above Devils Tower at sunset just before a snowstorm moves in.
    Pink Clouds Above Devils Tower
  • A telephoto lens was very important to have on this storm chase, since I never got closer than about 9 miles to the tornado. This is the 4th and final tornado that I saw this evening. It was after 9:00 so that made it very challenging to photograph. The 1-second exposure gave the twister a blurred look. I would lose sight of it about 7 minutes later.
    The Last Twister
  • Outside of Ekalaka, Montana, the structure on this mothership supercell was incredible. At times it looked like a giant tsunami in the sky. This storm would go on to produce at least 8 tornadoes.
    Sky Tsunami
  • While my main camera took a time lapse, I used my backup camera to take a few additional shots of the lightning to the west. The lightning was very frequent and I stayed out as long as I could until taking shelter in my car. This storm brought 1.5" hail which left some dents on my car.
    The Other Side of Sunset
  • 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
  • I was very surprised by how photogenic this storm was. It had a beautiful circular, rain-free base. This was just a smaller cell out in front of a bigger supercell and it didn't even look that interesting on radar. I was glad I came across this small prairie near Emden when I did.
    Prairie Storm
  • Sawtooth sunflowers bloom in a small prairie at Weinberg King State Park.
    Weinberg King Prairie
  • I was surprised to find this large grove of aspen trees on the 70 Mile Butte trail. There are very few trees in Grasslands National Park. The late evening sunlight intensified the color of the leaves.
    Prairie Aspen
  • The Big Snowy Mountains are one of several island ranges found in central Montana, rising straight out of the prairie. But unlike the surrounding mountains in a mostly dry climate, this one has it's own lake. Crystal Lake is interesting for several reasons. It is very shallow and fish do not survive the winter when it freezes solid. The lake bed is made of porous limestone. The water level reaches it's maximum depth in early summer when the snow finishes melting. But then it starts to drain. As I walked along the shore I noticed the water bubbling away in certain spots as it seeped through the ground. By early fall the lake is significantly smaller and in some years it's not much more than a puddle. The color of the water also changes quite a bit depending on the direction and intensity of the sunlight. I liked this turquoise color the best as seen from an overlook called Promontory Point. Next time I visit I want to check out the perennial ice cave which is located at the top of the 8,000' ridge in the distance.
    Turquoise Crystal
  • To the local rancher it might just be a random spot on the dirt road they drive everyday. But to me it was a place I had scouted out in advance after studying topo maps, to find the best north-facing view of the Crazy Mountains. Located in Central Montana, the Crazies are always an eye-catching sight. As the highest and most prominent of the state’s many island mountain ranges, it’s jagged peaks rise straight up out of the prairie and pierce the sky. The Crazies are sacred to the local Crow Tribe, and considered ominous and unpredictable. Somewhere up there is an old tripod of mine that mysteriously vanished one night. After a fiery sunset, the clouds cleared and Comet NEOWISE soon appeared. Before it rapidly faded, mid-July was the best time to view the comet. With no interference from moonlight, the enormous dual tails of NEOWISE were visible in all their glory. The blue ion tail consists of gases ionized by UV light and influenced by the magnetic field of the solar wind to point in a straight line. The white dust tail on the other hand, consists of neutral dust particles that are more widely dispersed.
    Crazy Comet
  • This bison was grazing alone in a prairie in Wind Cave National Park.
    Junior Bison
  • An old house sits on the prairie as a storm moves overhead.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: June 21, 2014
    Storm Structure
  • The first light of sunrise paints the top of the badlands with a brilliant orange glow. Located in western South Dakota on the edge of the Great Plains, this harsh landscape is home to bison, bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, prairie dogs, and other wildlife. By definition badlands are semiarid regions with sparse vegetation that experience high rates of erosion. Even though there are other places in the western US and throughout the world known as badlands, the term originated here in Badlands National Park. This is a special place, but unfortunately the person who decided to use it as a landfill didn't think so. When I peered into this steep ravine I spotted a couch that someone had rolled to the bottom.
    Badlands First Light