Kevin Palmer

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  • I was in Joshua Tree National Park when monsoon thunderstorms passed by throughout the night keeping me awake. Just before sunrise it started raining. With thick clouds above I was not expecting a very colorful sunrise. But then this happened. The rising sun highlighted the wisps of rain as they fell into the dry air. The clouds cast an orange glow across the desert floor as flashes of lightning streaked across the sky. And a minute later a spectacular rainbow appeared behind me. This entire light show only lasted a few minutes so I had to rush to capture it all. It was the most awe-inspiring sunrise I've ever seen and my pictures could hardly do it justice.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: August 20, 2014
    Raining Fire
  • When I reached this overlook in the Bighorn Mountains, one thunderstorm was moving off to the east, while another approached from the north. This is the eastern storm, dumping rain over the lights of Sheridan.
    Raining On Sheridan
  • I stopped at the MT/WY stateline and watched this thunderstorm roll off of the Bighorn Mountains. Since there was no wind, I was able to keep shooting a time lapse without getting raindrops on the lens.
    Downpour
  • This morning in Joshua Tree National Park was unlike any other. Distant thunderstorms passed by throughout the night. Then around 5 am, it started raining. When the sun rose an hour later, it shined through a gap in the clouds which created a dramatic sight with vivid red and orange everywhere. To top it all off, this giant rainbow appeared. I know my photos did not do the scene justice. It was amazing how fast the light changed. One minute the sky was nearly colorless, then it exploded in color, and a few minutes later the display ended when the sun went behind a cloud. I felt blessed to see rain, considering I was only there for about 18 hours. Joshua Tree receives barely over 4 inches of rain in a normal year. When you consider that California is currently experiencing its worst drought ever recorded, this is a rare sight indeed.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: August 20, 2014
    Magical Morning
  • A turbulent sky moves above a soybean field near Tremont, Illinois. The gust front brought very strong winds that made it hard to take a steady picture. Seconds after this shot, it started raining heavily.
    Tremont Turbulence
  • A rain squall approaches Peoria, Illinois. The heavy rain was close, but it never actually fell where I was shooting from. The top of a bluff in East Peoria provided a perfect view to the west of this storm.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: June 18, 2014
    Peoria Rain Squall
  • A rain squall approaches Peoria, Illinois. The heavy rain was close, but it never actually fell where I was shooting from. The top of a bluff in East Peoria provided a perfect view to the west of this storm.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: June 18, 2014
    Distant Rain
  • Rain was falling from the clouds, but it evaporated into the dry air before reaching the ground. This is known as virga. The views were dramatic from the McCullough Peaks Badlands, especially when the sun came out and contrasted with the dark clouds.In the distance the snow capped Bighorn Mountains can be seen.
    Vanishing Rain
  • After the microburst occurred the rain continued to increase. The lowering on the right resembled a wall cloud, but I'm not certain what it was. <br />
<br />
Click 'Videos' above to watch a time lapse of this scene.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: May 28, 2014
    Torrents of Rain
  • Even after driving up Highway 14 dozens of times, I almost always stop at this scenic overlook. It’s where the Bighorn Mountains meet the endless plains stretching across eastern Wyoming and Montana. The towns of Dayton, Ranchester, and Sheridan are seen thousands of feet below and it’s a popular spot for launching hang gliders. For years I’ve wanted to capture a good lightning storm from here. But it required just the right storm, one that comes in from the northwest in a path parallel to the mountains. It needed to be close enough to light up the valley, but far enough to stay out of danger and out of most of the rain. It also needed to be predictable, so I could get there in time. At 10PM sheets of rain began to envelop the ridges to the north one by one. Then this brilliant flash illuminated the foothills and switchbacks just before the lights of Dayton disappeared into the downpour. I’ve always loved the challenge of capturing something that lasts a fraction of a second and preserving it in a picture.
    Electric Rain
  • I don't know how much of this rain was hitting the ground. It was in the direction of Yucca Valley from Ryan Mountain.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: August 20, 2014
    Desert Rain
  • This severe thunderstorm rolled through Sheridan at the end of July, bringing heavy rain, strong winds, and hail. This was the view from the rest stop.
    Rain's Edge
  • It rained most of the morning at my campsite on Lost Twin Lake in the Cloud Peak Wilderness. The cold rain was at times accompanied by thunder and lightning, gusty winds, and graupel (snow pellets). Nearby waterfalls grew louder and the sound of a distant rock slide echoed across the lake. My plan of summiting Darton Peak would have to wait for another day. After the last rain shower, the clouds descended and obscured the highest peaks. I took this picture while enjoying a cup of hot coffee as the rain finally stopped. It's difficult to convey just how massive these cliffs are. The sheer granite walls rise 1-2 thousand feet above the lake. If you can see the white speck at the base of the cliff on the right, that is a tent. The top of this bowl-shaped valley, known as a cirque, was carved out by glaciers long ago.
    Clouds Descended
  • Badlands are a type of terrain that experiences rapid erosion, estimated to be an inch per year at Badlands National Park. Much of that erosion happens during thunderstorms like this one. When the downpour first started I was disappointed because I didn’t get any shots of the storm structure beforehand. But then there was a break in the rain. It lasted just long enough for me to rush back to this overlook and capture the dark menacing clouds above surrounded by two blueish-green rain cores. Hidden in the ravine below were big horn sheep climbing the steep muddy terrain. The second wall of water hit even heavier than the first and dropped visibility to almost zero. A local told me they had never seen a spring with more rain. And they were right, 2019 was to become the wettest year on record in western South Dakota.
    Wall of Water
  • I had to pull off of I-90 to shoot this distant view of a thunderstorm rolling out of the Bighorn Mountains. But I nearly got stuck on a muddy road.
    Where the Rain Falls
  • It rained most of the morning at my campsite on Lost Twin Lake in the Cloud Peak Wilderness. The cold rain was at times accompanied by thunder and lightning, gusty winds, and graupel (snow pellets). Nearby waterfalls grew louder and the sound of a distant rock slide echoed across the lake. My plan of summiting Darton Peak would have to wait for another day. After the last rain shower, the clouds descended and obscured the highest peaks. I took this picture while enjoying a cup of hot coffee as the rain finally stopped. It's difficult to convey just how massive these cliffs are. The sheer granite walls rise 1-2 thousand feet above the lake. If you can see the white speck at the base of the cliff on the right, that is a tent. The top of this bowl-shaped valley, known as a cirque, was carved out by glaciers long ago.
    Clouds Descended B&W
  • This thunderstorm formed ahead of an outflow boundary near Goodfield, Illinois. The updraft at the beginning was strong enough to keep the rain aloft. Then suddenly, a column of sinking air within the thunderstorm rushed to the ground, bringing strong winds and torrential rain. This is known as a microburst. It is a very localized event that can be difficult to predict. For a pilot, a microburst is the most dangerous part of a thunderstorm. Microbursts have caused numerous plane crashes, they are especially dangerous when an aircraft is trying to land.<br />
<br />
Click 'Videos' above to watch a time lapse of this scene.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: May 28, 2014
    Wet Microburst
  • The last hour of hiking had been pure misery. Head down, one foot in front of the other, wondering if I’d ever dry out. Rain jackets, pack covers, waterproof boots all have their limits. Unless the rain is light or brief, eventually water will soak through. Hiding under a boulder did not work as the wind changed direction. The views I had enjoyed on my way up to the Grinnell Glacier had vanished, and the trail was now a stream. But suddenly the light began to brighten behind me. Sunlight made its way across the turquoise lake and spilled across the landscape. I hurried to get around a bend in the trail to prepare for the inevitable. It was one of the brightest rainbows I’ve ever seen. This type of rainbow is really only possible in the mountains. Since the height of the sun was still over 42°, the rainbow was below the horizon. But because I was at a higher elevation looking down the valley, it was visible. This was the only longer trail I had time for during a brief visit to Glacier National Park. Sometimes it’s the miserable hikes that are most memorable.
    Grinnell Valley Rainbow
  • Even though 2019 was a very active storm season overall, it started quite late. It was well into June before there were any thunderstorms worth chasing locally. I caught up with this long shelf cloud on the plains outside of Broadus, Montana. When air cooled by rain hits the ground, it spreads out ahead of the storm. This lifts the warmer, moist air ahead of it, which condenses into a shelf cloud. They are usually associated with strong winds and heavy rain, but rarely tornadoes because they do not have the right shape.
    Hammond Shelf Cloud
  • A severe thunderstorm rolls across the hills of northeast Wyoming. This storm formed from orographic lifting over the Big Horn Mountains, before moving southeast. The curl at the base of the rain shaft is an indication that a wet microburst is occurring. Caused by evaporational cooling weakening a thunderstorm's updraft, it results in a sudden release of torrential rain and strong damaging winds in a localized area. But no damage was reported with this storm because it was in such a remote area. There are no paved roads (other than I-90), towns, or services for at least 25 miles in any direction.
    Losing the Storm
  • It was a very stormy week in Sheridan. This thunderstorm popped up just before 7PM and I followed it a few miles outside of town.
    As the Rain Begins
  • I escaped just ahead of this severe storm near Lewistown, Montana. But I had to stop at this road when I saw the view.
    Rain is Imminent
  • It had been 7 months since I've even heard thunder here in Wyoming. But early May finally brought the first decent thunderstorm of the year. Throughout the evening clouds built up over the Bighorn Mountains before the storm descended and hit Sheridan after 8PM. The high moisture content combined with late evening sunlight behind the storm gave the clouds a greenish-blue tint. The storm wasn't severe, but it brought frequent lightning, small hail, and a drenching rain that made the already flooded Big Goose Creek rise even higher. The photogenic shelf cloud ahead of the rain core showed some impressive structure as it was sculpted by wind shear above.
    Big Goose Storm
  • Bats emerged from their hiding places and fluttered about as the rumbles of thunder drew closer. A herd of bighorn sheep and a couple of bison were grazing around me as I awaited the arrival of the storm. The sun had already gone down over the South Dakota Badlands, but the nearly continuous flashes of lightning provided enough light for my camera. The storm was advancing slowly, but once this striated shelf cloud emerged ahead of the rain core, then it picked up speed. I could hear and smell the rain before I felt it. Once the wall of water hit, the downpour wouldn't let up until 3 hours later. This perhaps wasn't the best night to be camping in the Badlands. Although my tent held up well enough with minimal leakage, the entire campground was a muddy mess the next morning.
    Badlands Shelf Cloud
  • With a cold rain turning into accumulating hail, and lightning striking nearby it wasn't exactly the best weather for fishing. Park Reservoir, located at 8200' in the Bighorn Mountains was just barely reachable, with snow melting off of the rough road days earlier. But soon after arriving here, this storm started brewing before noon. I took shelter in my car to avoid the nearby bolts, but left my camera outside to shoot a time lapse. Lightning is not that difficult to capture at night, but during the day it's a lot harder. With the average bolt lasting for 30 microseconds, and using a shutter speed of 1/320 of a second, the chances of capturing lightning on camera were astronomically small. But after looking at the images later, I found that my camera had somehow captured a strike on the far left. The tree that was struck can even be seen going up in flames, but the rain put it out immediately.
    Striking A Tree
  • Bats emerged from their hiding places and fluttered about as the rumbles of thunder drew closer. A herd of bighorn sheep and a couple of bison were grazing around me as I awaited the arrival of the storm. The sun had already gone down over the South Dakota Badlands, but the nearly continuous flashes of lightning provided enough light for my camera. The storm was advancing slowly, but once this striated shelf cloud emerged ahead of the rain core, then it picked up speed. I could hear and smell the rain before I felt it. Once the wall of water hit, the downpour wouldn't let up until 3 hours later. This perhaps wasn't the best night to be camping in the Badlands. Although my tent held up well enough with minimal leakage, the entire campground was a muddy mess the next morning.
    Out of the Darkness
  • With winds blowing over 40 mph, it was not the most pleasant evening for a hike. At first it was sunny, but the weather changed quickly as a cold front blew through. A fiery orange glow appeared at sunset while rain showers moved in over the mountains. I was standing on top of Lodge Trail Ridge, a mile high vantage point overlooking the small town of Story to the west. There's a lot of history here, as this ridge sits in between Fort Kearney and the Fetterman Battlefield. The fort was established to protect travelers of the Bozeman Trail, an offshoot of the Oregon Trail which passed through Indian land. Tensions culminated in 1866 in an ambush led by Crazy Horse that killed 81 soldiers. It was the US Army's worst defeat in the West until the Battle of Little Bighorn 10 years later.
    Cold Front Sunset
  • This tornado near Broadwater, Nebraska, developed almost on top of me while I was attempting to core punch the storm. At the intersection of Rd 78 and Hwy 385 I was close enough to hear the roaring waterfall sound and feel the intense RFD winds. But I couldn't see it because the storm had become HP (high precipitation) and visibility was horrible. As I fled south on Hwy 385 debris started flying past me including sheet metal hitting my car. A semi truck that I passed would be flipped over on it's side and all the sign posts at the nearest intersection snapped in half. Once I made it a safe distance away (about 5 miles) I stopped and took this picture looking north. Visibility was still bad, I couldn't see the tornado and I even missed it the first time after reviewing my pictures. But after enhancing the contrast the twister became visible in the rain shaft on the left.
    Broadwater Tornado
  • A partial rainbow hangs above the buttes and mesas of eastern Arizona. On this early November afternoon, scattered rain showers drifted across the landscape. The shadows and patches of sunlight revealed the full range of colors that the Painted Desert is known for. This desert was once a forest with a much wetter climate, and a wide variety of wildlife. But now it's filled with petrified logs and fossils. Also found in Petrified Forest National Park are many archaeological sites including pueblos, petroglyphs, and other artifacts, some of which are thousands of years old.
    Painted Desert Rainbow
  • This was the best lightning storm I saw all year. A couple thunderstorms passed very close, but the rain stayed out of the way. Sometimes I stack lightning shots, but this is just one exposure. The two lightning crawlers occurred about 15 seconds apart within the 30 second exposure. After chasing some storms to the south and coming back home I think I saw about 10 thunderstorms on this day. There are often deer in this field at night, you can see a couple under the bright streetlight.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: June 25, 2013
    Night Crawler
  • On this late June day in central Montana, I didn’t think I would end up with any storm pictures. Just as the storms started firing at 5PM my car suffered a flat tire. After all the miles I’ve driven while stormchasing, it was bound to happen eventually. But thankfully this cell took it’s time and let me get my spare on before I could catch back up. Near the aptly named town of Grass Range, the sun came out as the rain and hail moved to the north. The golden light contrasted with the cool blues on the other side of the sky. Outflow winds gave meaning to the term (not yet amber) "waves of grain". I tried to use a long enough exposure to show some of this movement in the wheat. From here it would be a long 250 mile drive home on a donut tire.
    Waves of Grain
  • On this day a severe MCS (mesoscale convective system) roared across eastern Montana. Since I was out ahead of the storm near Miles City I had plenty of time to find an interesting place to watch it roll in. The Kinsey Bridge is a 4-span truss bridge that crosses the Yellowstone River. The single-lane bridge was built in 1907 and the poor condition made it unnerving to drive across. According to the National Bridge Inventory database, the Kinsey Bridge has a sufficiency rating of 56 out of 100 when it was last inspected. Just after 7PM the gust front passed overhead bringing with it strong winds, blowing dust, and heavy rain.
    Yellowstone River Shelf
  • This severe thunderstorm rolled through Sheridan at the end of July, bringing heavy rain, strong winds, and hail. This was the view from the rest stop.
    Sheridan Rainfoot
  • Just before the drenching rain started, I took one last shot and captured this bolt of lightning, reflected in Big Goose Creek.
    Electric Green
  • I was hiking in the Bighorn Mountains when it started to rain and the sun threatened to peak out at the same time. It was late enough in the day to make it perfect rainbow weather, I just had to reach the top of the ridge before it happened. A 2nd shower rolled out of the mountains after I reached this view, and a partial rainbow appeared. The trail conditions were very changeable, ranging from soft thigh-deep snow, to packed ice, to mud, to dry ground. Even though the Red Grade Trail system isn't very long, I definitely had to earn the view on this day.
    First Rainbow of Spring
  • After watching the northern lights for hours, I finally went to sleep at 3AM. Just 3 hours later I awoke to this view. It doesn’t get much better. I knew this was a risky spot to camp near the top of the Judith Mountains in Central Montana. If a storm popped up it was very exposed to wind, rain, and lightning. There was only a 20% chance of storms, but this was the lucky day out of 5. Rainbows are always biggest (84° wide) when the sun is at the horizon. The rainbow and amazing sunrise only lasted about 10 minutes. After this I hastily packed up my tent and took shelter in my car as a 2nd thunderstorm threatened behind this one. There’s a reason the Air Force built an early warning radar station on this mountaintop during the Cold War. The views out over the plains seem to go on forever, no matter which direction you look. This small but scenic mountain range north of Lewistown also contains gold deposits and two ghost towns. Even though I was still tired, I couldn’t complain. Rarely are the most memorable days the ones in which I get plenty of sleep.
    Sunrise Rainbow
  • Near Kinsey, Montana, I found myself in between a wall cloud from a stationary supercell and an advancing gust front from an MCS. Eventually the gust front overtook the wall cloud and everything merged together. At this point it was very windy with lots of dust in the air, but I had to get a couple last shots before the rain started. I was glad I wasn't in the precipitation core on the left since 2.5" hail and flooding was reported there.
    Kinsey Wall Cloud
  • This double rainbow appeared in a receding rain shower near Parkman. It later became a supernumerary rainbow. But I'm not sure what it's called when all the colors seem to blend together in the middle.
    Parkman Double Rainbow
  • Scattered rain showers were moving across the mountains as seen from the top of an unnamed peak.
    May Showers
  • At the end of April, I went out to photograph severe storms to the northwest of my town. I found myself in the area of Snakeden Hollow State Park, a place that I've always wanted to check out. So I went into the park and waited as the severe squall line approached. Seconds after this was taken, heavy rain and hail started falling along with strong winds and lightning.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: April 28, 2014
    Snakeden Gale
  • Rain showers fall on the distant hills near a cluster of arrowleaf balsomroot wildflowers.
    What May Showers Bring
  • Storms can either bring epic sunsets or none at all. It's all about the timing, and where you are in relation to the storm when the sun goes down. This severe MCS rolled through Miles City, Montana around 7pm. The rain slowly came to an end and a glow began to emerge in the west. I wasn't expecting much, but I found a place to wait (Spotted Eagle Lake) just in case something special happened. The sun only popped out for a couple minutes. But that was enough to light up the entire sky with intense orange and pink. A double rainbow appeared for 15 minutes, which was long enough to allow me to shoot a time lapse of it fading away. The wind died down for just a moment and the reflection in the lake made an almost perfect circle. Even though the long drive wouldn't get me home until after midnight, I'm glad I didn't leave early and miss out on this.
    Reflected Rainbow
  • Evaporating rain known as virga hangs in the air above the McCullough Peak Badlands. In the background the Pryor Mountains can be seen.
    Buttes and Virga
  • Vibrant sunset colors fill the sky as rain falls from a cloud but does not touch the ground. This is known as virga.
    Sheridan Virga Sunset
  • After the heavy rain of a thunderstorm passed, this lightning slowly crawled across the sky. This type of lightning is amazing to watch since it lasts up to 5 seconds. The power lines above my head were buzzing at the time of this shot.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: July 18, 2012
    Electric Night
  • I chased a few thunderstorms that rolled off of the mountains in the afternoon. It was good rainbow weather, but they can't form in the middle of the day. Since the radius of a rainbow is always 42° and the center is directly opposite the sun (antisolar point), the sun must be at an altitude less than 42°. Around 5PM, the sun sank to 32° and this low rainbow appeared about 10° above the horizon. I stopped at this wetland and was able to cover my camera from the rain and capture a time lapse clip that I've tried many times to get. The extra colors (green, purple, green) at the bottom of the bow are called supernumeraries. It's a rare effect that happens when the raindrops are a specific diameter and mostly uniform in size. This complex light interference can't be explained by geometric optics. In fact, supernumerary rainbows played a part in the early 1800's in confirming that light is a wave, and not just made up of particles as previously thought.
    Supernumerary Rainbow
  • I'm still in shock that my camera captured this. Most of the small storm had moved off to the east behind me and I thought the show was over. This was literally going to be my last shot before packing it up, and if it happened 2 seconds later, I would have missed it. The bright light behind the cloud is the first quarter moon. All the other white specks are raindrops, frozen in mid-air by the brilliant flash. The raw power dwarfed everything around and it took awhile for my eyes (and ears) to recover. I'm still not sure what was struck, but one of the forks looks like it connects with the short tower on the hill. I've tried before and failed to capture lightning from this vantage point overlooking Sheridan. But when I heard a thunderstorm rolling out of the mountains shortly before midnight, this is where I went. The covered deck at the rest area offered a little protection and helped keep the rain off of my lens.
    A Flash of Brilliance
  • Rain was falling from the clouds, but it evaporated into the dry air before reaching the ground. This is known as virga. The views were dramatic from the McCullough Peaks Badlands, especially when the sun came out and contrasted with the dark clouds.In the distance the snow capped Bighorn Mountains can be seen.
    Virga and Badlands
  • A rainbow appears in front of a small rain shower over Montana's Tongue River Reservoir.
    Tongue Reservoir Rainbow
  • This severe thunderstorm rolled out of the Black Hills and approached Bear Butte Lake near Sturgis.
    Sturgis Storm
  • A severe thunderstorm rolls across the grasslands near Aberdeen, Montana.
    Aberdeen Storm
  • A severe thunderstorm roars across a corn field near Vale, South Dakota. Corn fields are not common in this area, it almost felt like I was back chasing in Illinois. Minutes earlier, 79 mph winds were recorded with this gust front in nearby Belle Fourche. The ragged, detached clouds underneath the storm (known as scud) were rapidly rising into the storm's updraft. I tried to get as close as I could to the core of the storm without getting pummeled by the 2" hail, which my car would not have liked.
    Under the Rising Scud
  • As I came back into Sundance, the sun came out and this rainbow appeared, perfectly aligned over Sundance Mountain.
    Sundance Mountain Rainbow
  • On this evening I headed up into the hills to watch lightning. The first storm that made me head out the door wasn't any good for pictures, since most of the lightning was intra-cloud. But then I watched another cell pop up to my south. As this updraft exploded into the starry sky, it started producing positive lightning strikes. Positive lightning accounts for 5-10% of all lightning, and is up to 10X more powerful than negative strikes with a peak discharge of 1 billion volts. It originates from the top of a thundercloud and travels through miles of air before striking the ground. Positive bolts can hit up to 25 miles away from the parent thunderstorm. These "bolts from the blue" are especially dangerous because people may assume they're a safe distance away from the storm when they strike.<br />
The night couldn't have been more perfect for watching lightning.A full moon helped to light up the landscape and gave the thundercloud a silver lining. I stayed in the same spot for hours as multiple storms followed the same path.
    Under Jupiter
  • 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.
    Montana Mothership
  • This severe thunderstorm rolled out of the Bighorn Mountains near Aberdeen, Montana. After it passed by I found 1.5" hailstones on the ground.
    Aberdeen Supercell
  • With severe weather in the forecast, I headed downstate to do some storm chasing. This cell formed over the Laramie Mountains before pushing east onto the High Plains. At first it took it's time maturing. But just before 4PM it transformed from an ok looking storm into this in only 10 minutes. As the storm moved into a better wind shear environment, it turned into a mothership supercell displaying very impressive structure. I was mesmerized watching it roll across the Nebraska stateline outside of La Grange. Despite the ominous and otherworldly look, the storm wasn't severe at this time. As it passed over me it brought small hail and blowing dust with lots of tumbleweeds.
    Mothership Supercell
  • A series of lightning bolts strike in the distance beyond Spring Lake. This storm was part of a derecho that formed over Nebraska and caused extensive damage as it headed towards Illinois. Even though this part of the storm was weaker it still displayed a nice shelf cloud and put on a great lightning show.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: June 4, 2014
    Spring Lake Shelf Cloud
  • This was a wild day of weather in Illinois. It was the first warm day after a cold and snowy winter.  A cold front moving across the midwest caused severe thunderstorms to form. This storm produced a tornado earlier, but at this point it had weakened. The snow that remained on the fields caused a thick ground fog to form, which reduced visibility to near zero at times. It was an interesting scene.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: Febrary 20, 2014
    Destination Unknown
  • On the longest day of the year, a thunderstorm came rolling through Antioch, Illinois. Lightning is a lot more challenging to capture during the day. At night you can use a long exposure of 30 seconds and try to catch a bolt of lightning in that time frame. But during the day, you have to use shorter exposure times. This storm was dark enough that I could use a 2 second exposure and eventually caught these twin strikes.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: June 21, 2011
    Day Lightning
  • A vivid rainbow appeared on the other side of this storm near Crazy Woman Canyon.
    Rainbow at the Ranch
  • On this evening I headed up into the hills to watch lightning. The first storm that made me head out the door wasn't any good for pictures, since most of the lightning was intra-cloud. But then I watched another cell pop up to my south. As this updraft exploded into the starry sky, it started producing positive lightning strikes. Positive lightning accounts for 5-10% of all lightning, and is up to 10X more powerful than negative strikes with a peak discharge of 1 billion volts. It originates from the top of a thundercloud and travels through miles of air before striking the ground. Positive bolts can hit up to 25 miles away from the parent thunderstorm. These "bolts from the blue" are especially dangerous because people may assume they're a safe distance away from the storm when they strike.<br />
The night couldn't have been more perfect for watching lightning.A full moon helped to light up the landscape and gave the thundercloud a silver lining. I stayed in the same spot for hours as multiple storms followed the same path.
    Lightning and Moonbeams
  • I arrived in Badlands National Park just in time to watch the first of 4 thunderstorms move through.
    Welcome to the Badlands
  • The air felt heavy and still. As it rotated closer, this supercell seemed to grow wings. Within a couple of minutes Sundance Mountain was swallowed up by the precipation core. The 'calm before the storm' does not happen with every storm, but when it does it's very noticeable. Then a giant bolt of lightning struck out of frame, with a deafening thunder shattering the silence. An errant hailstone, big enough to leave a bruise, bounced off of the ground with a thud. It was time to move. This cell turned out to be an ice machine, piling up baseball-sized hail on the road, and making the temperature plummet which created hail fog. Chasing storms in and around the Black Hills has it's challenges. Winding roads through hilly terrain makes viewpoints limited and cell signal sporadic. But when everything comes together just right, the structure and color of the storms around here are incredible.
    Swallowing Mountains Whole
  • I chased this severe thunderstorm on the Crow Indian Reservation. These tepees at the trading post in Crow Agency made for a nice foreground.
    Crow Agency Thunderstorm
  • When I saw this strongly rotating thunderstorm heading my way, I found a hilltop near Ranchester to watch it come in. This is the first time I've seen a funnel cloud this close to home.
    Ranchester Funnel
  • Earlier in the spring I came across this overlook on a hilltop with a view of the mountains to the west. I knew it would be be the perfect spot to watch a storm roll out of the Bighorns, I just needed to wait for the right storm. My first attempt didn’t yield the pictures I wanted as the cell went too far south. But the second time’s a charm. This storm intensified after I got here and started spitting out dozens of close lightning bolts. It was dark enough that I could use a longer shutter speed, and capture about 40% of the strikes that occurred. But there were many more out of frame to the right. This is a composite image showing 5 of the best strikes. By the time I left there was a small stream running under my car as well as some minor street flooding in Sheridan.
    5 Strikes
  • On this evening I headed up into the hills to watch lightning. The first storm that made me head out the door wasn't any good for pictures, since most of the lightning was intra-cloud. But then I watched another cell pop up to my south. As this updraft exploded into the starry sky, it started producing positive lightning strikes. Positive lightning accounts for 5-10% of all lightning, and is up to 10X more powerful than negative strikes with a peak discharge of 1 billion volts. It originates from the top of a thundercloud and travels through miles of air before striking the ground. Positive bolts can hit up to 25 miles away from the parent thunderstorm. These "bolts from the blue" are especially dangerous because people may assume they're a safe distance away from the storm when they strike.<br />
The night couldn't have been more perfect for watching lightning.A full moon helped to light up the landscape and gave the thundercloud a silver lining. I stayed in the same spot for hours as multiple storms followed the same path.
    The Hills Are Electric
  • Distant flashes of lightning kept me awake much of the night at Joshua Tree National Park. Finally at 4am, I got up to try to photograph it. I never got any bolts because the lightning was too sporadic. In this image a flash of lightning behind me lit up the rocks, while a smaller storm moves under the moon and stars.<br />
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Date Taken: August 20, 2014
    Night of the Monsoon
  • Chasing storms in and around the Black Hills is a challenge. Finding a good viewing spot isn't always easy, but I was lucky to find this overlook outside of Sundance. When everything comes together just right, the colors and structure of the supercells here are stunning.
    Sundance Supercell
  • Large hail began to fall from this supercell north of Gillette, with rays of sunlight in the background.
    Suspended Hail Stones
  • I got to Hulett just in time to watch two supercells pass to the north and to the south. Both of them had tornado warnings, and both produced very large hail. From the top of this bluff I had an excellent view of Devils Tower and the Missouri Buttes. It was almost a once in a lifetime chance to capture a tornado over the tower, but it didn't happen. It was still an awesome sight though.
    Making the Tower Look Small
  • A weakening storm approached the west side of the Bighorn Mountains. The sun came out and this double rainbow appeared. It was so vivid it felt like I could reach out and touch it. At first it was almost a complete circle. I rushed to capture a time lapse and had to keep wiping the raindrops off my lens. I got quite wet as a result, but it was worth it.<br />
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A double rainbow is caused by light reflecting a second time within raindrops. The secondary rainbow is located 8° apart from the primary bow, and is almost double the width. The colors are fainter, and in reverse order (VIBGYOR instead of ROYGBIV.) In between the two rainbows is a darkened part of the sky called Alexander’s Band. The sunlight is always brightest in the center of a rainbow at the anti-solar point. But since this bright light is also reflected opposite the secondary rainbow, that leaves a dark band in between.
    Seeing Double
  • This storm rolled in on the Montana border at 8PM and was producing a lot of lightning.
    Lightning Near Aberdeen
  • On this evening I headed up into the hills to watch lightning. The first storm that made me head out the door wasn't any good for pictures, since most of the lightning was intra-cloud. But then I watched another cell pop up to my south. As this updraft exploded into the starry sky, it started producing positive lightning strikes. Positive lightning accounts for 5-10% of all lightning, and is up to 10X more powerful than negative strikes with a peak discharge of 1 billion volts. It originates from the top of a thundercloud and travels through miles of air before striking the ground. Positive bolts can hit up to 25 miles away from the parent thunderstorm. These "bolts from the blue" are especially dangerous because people may assume they're a safe distance away from the storm when they strike.<br />
The night couldn't have been more perfect for watching lightning.A full moon helped to light up the landscape and gave the thundercloud a silver lining. I stayed in the same spot for hours as multiple storms followed the same path.
    Moon Behind the Anvil
  • It was great to get out for my first storm chase of the year. This supercell was showing it's best structure near Upton.
    At the Logging Camp
  • Windmills and water towers are common sights in Nebraska and I had to capture this rainbow over both of them.
    Bridgeport Nebraska
  • A colorful rainbow glows above a dirt road near Hunt Mountain in the Bighorns.
    Hunt Mountain Rainbow
  • While climbing Ryan Mountain, I got a great view of a distant thunderstorm, along with shadows and sunlight. The road at the bottom is Park Boulevard.<br />
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Date Taken: August 20, 2014
    Ryan Mountain Panorama
  • An ominous looking shelf cloud approaches an old abandoned house near McLean, Illinois.<br />
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Date Taken: June 21, 2014
    Approaching Shelf Panorama
  • After a severe thunderstorm passed through Snakeden Hollow, it looked like mammatus clouds were trying to form.<br />
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Date Taken: April 28, 2014
    Ominous Clouds
  • A double rainbow appeared in the sky after a storm moved through Antioch, Illinois. This was one of the brightest rainbows I've ever seen.<br />
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Date Taken: May 15, 2012
    Double Rainbow
  • As this supercell continued south of Sundance, it took on a very blue coloring. At the time it was dropping baseball-sized hail, which accumulated on the highway.
    Blue Ice Machine
  • After the two severe thunderstorms moved away from Hulett, one more little supercell popped up. It was very scenic with the sun out and it left behind this rainbow.
    Curving Road and Rainbow
  • This shelf cloud first blew over me outside of Jordan, Montana. It was very dusty and windy.
    Jordan Derecho
  • I got to the Crystal Creek Overlook just in time to watch this storm roll in off of the Bighorn Basin. I've always wanted to watch a storm from here and this one was perfect because there was no lightning occurring.
    Storm in the Bighorn Basin
  • Last summer I spent some 4 hours watching this thunderstorm. From the time it formed before sunset until it receded into the starry night, it was producing a ton of lightning. Even though the storm wasn't severe it provided plenty of time lapse opportunities as I shot over 1,000 pictures. The best part is I never had to go more than 30 minutes from home. This picture is a blend of 2 images since the lightning bolt struck a few minutes after the best storm structure. The old barn/shed is one of the few structures remaining at the nearby ghost town of Monarch. In the early 1900's this area was home to thousands of people, exceeding the population of Sheridan. But after the numerous coal mines closed it was mostly abandoned.
    Monarch Storm
  • I had been wanting to shoot a storm rolling out of the mountains from this overlook next to I-90. But this particular storm was dying just after sunset and produced hardly any lightning.
    Dying Storm at Twilight
  • 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
  • This supercell rolled out of the Bighorn Mountains during the evening. I drove 20 minutes away to watch it rumble across the Montana grassland.
    Decker Supercell
  • A vivid rainbow hovers over the Sand Hills of western Nebraska near Bridgeport. The rainbow persisted for quite awhile and I watched it expand as the sun sank lower.
    End of the Rainbow
  • A rainbow formed over Big Muddy Pond near Casper, Wyoming, during a summer thunderstorm.
    Big Muddy Pond Rainbow
  • When the sun rose at Joshua Tree National Park, a vivid rainbow appeared. The rainbow was almost at a 90 degree angle to the ground. This can only happen right at sunrise or sunset.<br />
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Date Taken: August 20, 2014
    Joshua Tree Rainbow
  • As the storm clouds approached, the outflow winds provided a cool breeze that felt nice on a hot day. This view is from the top of a bluff in East Peoria.<br />
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Date Taken: June 18, 2014
    Cool Breeze
  • A severe thunderstorm approaches the farmland near Edgington, Illinois. This storm brought strong winds, large hail, and frequent lightning as it marched across Iowa and crossed the Mississippi River a few miles away.<br />
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Date Taken: May 12, 2014
    Edgington Squall
  • A beam of sunlight shines in between passing clouds at Holland Lake, Montana. A thunderstorm had just passed through and patches of fog were moving across the mountains.
    Storm and Sunbeam
  • 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
  • This storm proceeded to fall apart as soon as I reached Buffalo. But when I realized a rainbow was about to appear I went to Healy Reservoir to capture it.
    Rainbow's End
  • The dark core of this hail storm near Gillette contrasted with the sunlight across the hills.
    Ensuing Darkness
  • A storm chaser photographs a tornado-warned supercell south of Holyoke, Colorado.
    Storm Chaser
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