Jul 6 2011
Apr 15 2010
Last night a lot of people started talking on Facebook about a bright light they saw in the sky all around 10:00pm. I quickly searched Twitter for the word meteor and found that people were seeing it all across the Midwest. Here’s how some of my friends described it:
Tom Hay – Saw a thing that fell out of the sky… looked a little green with fire on the end…. can’t remember what it was called but it was cool!
Jessamyn Thomas – Just saw something fall from the sky, looked like a meteor/comet/alien spaceship. It turned the sky bright green and then red….look out Des Moines, ALIEN INVASION!!!!!
Angela Stephenson – Could of swore I just saw a meteor out my living room window!!! It caught me off guard so I didn’t get a pic or vid! Then, 5 minutes later they state on the news that a fireball was spotted in the sky by reporters; could be a meteor! I knew I wasn’t taking crazy pills!
I searched for some videos last night and this morning and only got a couple, the first one below is the most popular one. Then I decided to check our security camera at the church and found just a few seconds of it showing up! Late tonight I found a bunch more video shown below.
More
Jul 21 2008
Here are some pictures from the recent storms in Ankeny. There were confirmed 80mph winds… We woke up to tornado sirens that night.
Jul 3 2008
I’m starting a new series of blogs titled “Forwards from Grandma”. I’m only going to post the ones that are true. About half don’t pass the Snopes.com test. This one does however. I will research them before I post them here.
This series of Photos is from around Iowa during the Storms and Floods of 2008. The first one is called a Tornado in the description but after researching it, most feel it’s a wall cloud. (still awesome)
A huge tornado funnel cloud touches down in Orchard, Iowa, Tuesday, June 10, 2008 at 9:04 p.m. The Globe Gazette and Mitchell County Press News reported that Lori Mehmen of Orchard, took the photo from outside her front door. Mehmen said the funnel cloud came near the ground and then went back up into the clouds. Besides tree and crop damage, no human injuries were reported.
Waterloo, Iowa residents Daniel Tournier, right, and Otha Moore, left, watch the swollen Cedar River flow only a couple of feet below the 4th Street bridge in Waterloo, Iowa on Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Water from the swollen Cedar River rushes past downtown buildings Thursday, June 12, 2008, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Officials estimated that 100 blocks in Cedar Rapids were under water forcing the evacuation of nearly 4,000 homes and leaving cars underwater on downtown streets.
A Union Pacific bridge is partially swept away by high flood waters on the Cedar River in downtown Waterloo,Iowa on Tuesday June 10, 2008.
Flood water from the Iowa River rages through farmland June 15, 2008 near Oakville, Iowa.
A flooded street Thursday, June 12, 2008, in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
An aerial image of downtown shows flood-affected areas June 13, 2008 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Flooded home are seen Saturday, June 14, 2008, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
A corn field is submerged in flood water June 16, 2008 near Oakville, Iowa. Farmers along the Mississippi River in Iowa have been emptying their grain bins and evacuating their livestock as they prepare for record flooding.
Buildings and debris are seen floating in the Cedar River against a railroad bridge Saturday, June 14, 2008, in Cedar Rapids,Iowa.
Kitty Lake, owner of The Vine Restaurant, rides on the front of a boat while surveying the floodwaters on Highway 6, Friday, June 13, 2008 in Coralville, Iowa.
William Kimpton, left, and Ben Walker, both of Cedar Rapids,Iowa, wade through floodwaters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Thursday afternoon, June 12, 2008.
Cattle were herded onto a porch and left to avoid drowning by the rising water from the Cedar River Wednesday June 11, 2008 along the river north of Vinton, Iowa.
A sign is completely submerged along a road north of Vinton, Iowa, as water from the Cedar River continues to rise Wednesday June 11, 2008.
An angry resident that tried to drive around a security checkpoint is stopped by one police officer, right, while another tries to break his window to extract him in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Monday, June 16, 2008.
Brandon Smith carries his two cats, Fry and Bender, to dry land from their flooded and evacuated home on June 12, 2008 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Jun 10 2008
I recently drove around the Saylorville Lake area and took some pictures and video of the area flooding. Tonight we are going to go and get some more shots when the dam overflows. The emergency overflow is going to start flowing and will double the output of the spillway. Here’s some pics:
Click here for the rest of the pictures.
Oct 16 2007
Click on the image below to see an undular bore in action:
See NASA’s website for the entire story.
Jun 6 2007
Thanks to a tip from my cousin Brian, Iran is about to get smashed by a Cyclone named Gonu. I’m guess this is going to effect gas prices once again. Brian pointed out that it’s been a while since Iran has been hit by this bad of weather. Hopefully this is a part of God protecting our troops.
CLICK HERE for the latest news on Cyclone Gonu
May 24 2007
I hung out last night on my patio after church and got a few shots of the storm. Then it started to pour and I had to head inside. Here’s a few shots:
Nov 16 2005
I took some pictures last night of our first snow here in Minnesota and it was also Lily’s first snow ever! We wern’t home for it but Brooke’s Dad said she was wagging her tail and licking all the snow! I got some pictures of her too in the snow.
Taco Bell Parking Lot
Here I am hooking up Lily while she tries to lick the snow.
Here are some pictures of her playing & runing in the snow.
This is our van this morning. We drive it just in case the roads were bad. It wasn’t that bad and we got to work an hour early. Oh well better safe than sorry. I have some more pictures of the drive this morning on my camera that I’ll get taken off tonight and get put on here.
Nov 15 2005
We traveled to Iowa this weekend for my nephew’s birthday party and dodged 8 tornadoes. We hit rain in northern Iowa but nothing unusual. The unusual part was the wind. Not so bad on the way down but the way home was very windy. While we were at my cousin’s house in Newton, Iowa his weather alarm went off for a thunderstorm warning but only a tornado watch. The sky did seem a little spooky but I remember taking pictures using moonlight so it couldn’t have been that bad. When we left the wind was horrible. I followed a semi a good hour until the Mason City exit that was having a lot of trouble keeping the trailer between the lines. I was for sure he was going to eventually crash. It definitely helped me stay away. My hands hurt pretty bad from pulling on the steering wheel. Once we got to I-90 in Minnesota the wind was behind us and was a normal drive. That night in Rochester, MN the wind was really bad and noisy all night. Today I got an email forwarded to me from my cousin about the weather. And found some pictures of the storm.
Last updated Monday, Nov. 14, 2005 at 10:45 a.m.
Damage rating (F-scale) for the Stratford tornado has been raised to an F3 upon further examination of photos. The damage rating for the Woodward tornado is still preliminarily an F2.
Eight (8) tornadoes touched down across portions of central Iowa Saturday (Nov. 12, 2005) afternoon and into the early evening hours causing damage, some significant, in the towns of Stratford (Hamilton county) and Woodward (Dallas county). Unfortunately, there was one death and one other person with injuries of unknown severity in Stratford. Elsewhere, no other
injuries have been reported.
Two National Weather Service Storm Damage Assessment Teams from the local NWS Office in Des Moines/Johnston, IA travelled to the most damaged areas Sunday morning (Nov. 13, 2005) to assess the damage and assign damage ratings (Fujita Damage Scale-click here for details) on the tornado tracks. One survey team covered areas from Minburn through Woodward, then north of Madrid and finally Ames to Gilbert. The second team covered from northwest Boone
county and Pilot Mound, into Stratford and as far northeast as Williams. John McLaughin of KCCI-TV was very helpful, as he flew the tornado tracks and provided information on beginning and end points, track continuity and path width.
Preliminary Local Storm Reports for this event can be found by clicking here.
Eight tornadoes occurred in the following counties:
Images and Maps
The following is an image capture of the NWS Des Moines WSR-88D radar reflectivity about the time one of the tornadoes was hitting the south side of Woodward, which is about in the center of the image:
The following image is a screen capture of storm relative velocity at the same time:
Boone-Webster-Hamilton County Tornadoes
(Stratford)
A long-lived tornado tracked through several counties across central Iowa during the late afternoon hours of Nov. 12, 2005. The tornado path is estimated at 15.1 miles long and between 100 and 150 yards wide along the damage path.
Tornado (1) initially touched down just west of E Avenue (just south of Boxholm in northwest Boone county), one half mile south of Boone county Highway E18 at approximately 4:27 p.m as an F1 tornado. The tornado then tracked northeast across E Avenue, hitting a farm just north of E18, damaging the home and some out buildings. It also flipped over one pickup truck and killed two horses at this location.
The tornado continued northeast, spreading debris across F Avenue just north of 125th Street as it maintained F1 intensity. Two additional homes were damaged with outbuildings destroyed as the tornado tracked northeast across G and H Avenues near 105th Avenue. It then intensified to an F2 tornado as it crossed the Boone/Webster county line. Another home was heavily damaged and a large outbuilding destroyed just north of the Boone/Webster county line. The tornado quickly moved northeast, crossing 390th Street and headed toward the Des Moines
River, weakening to an F1 tornado.
A continuous, but weak damage path was observed crossing the river as the tornado tracked across open farmland and land adjacent the Des Moines River. The tornado has been rated an F1 tornado during this time. After crossing County D64 in Webster county, the tornado struck another farm near 370th Street and Washington Avenue, damaging the residence and destroying a machine shed along with most of its contents. The tornado again intensified to an F2 at this location.
The tornado then headed toward Stratford, crossing the Webster and Hamilton county line just west of County Road D54. The tornado entered Stratford at 4:46 p.m. on the west-central end of town, heavily damaging many homes with F2 intensity. The tornado crossed the city park and then exited the city near the north-central portion of Stratford. Additional homes were damaged in north-central Stratford, with an F3 rating at the home where one fatality occurred.
As the tornado left Stratford, it continued on a northeast track, lifting and dropping to the ground several times as an F0 and F1 tornado. It damaged three additional farms northeast of Stratford with the last damaged farm north of 320th Street and west of County Road R21 in
Hamilton county.
Tornado (7) was a brief touchdown just south of Williams in Hamilton county. No damage was found from this brief tornado and it is not shown here.
The following image depicts the damage survey for the “Stratford” tornado. Again, any damage or F-scale ratings are still preliminary.
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NWS photos of damage along the path of the “Stratford” tornado follow:
Overturned vehicle near E18 and Highway 169 west of Pilot Mound in Boone
county.
Damage to outbuilding and grain bin near E18/US 169 in Boone county.
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Board embedded through roof of home near H Ave. northwest of Pilot Mound in Boone county.
Machine shed roof damage near H Ave. northwest of Pilot Mound in Boone county.
Home heavily damaged near 6 Avenue north of Pilot Mound in Webster county.
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Belt buckle split post and became embedded in it near G Avenue in Webster county.
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Large machine shed destroyed near 6 Avenue north of Pilot Mound in Webster county.
Homes heavily damaged throughout west central and northern sections of Stratford. F2 damage (preliminary).
Debris accumulating from heavily damaged homes in Stratford.
Cinder block bathroom in Stratford city park destroyed from tornadic winds.
Home heavily damaged in Stratford on northern part of town. Preliminary F2 damage.
Dallas-Boone County Tornadoes (Woodward)
Tornado (2) touched down one mile west of Minburn in Dallas county according to the aerial survey. The tornado tracked northeast for about eight miles, producing F0-F1 damage before intensifying near Highway 141. The tornado produced F2 damage at a farm one mile southwest of Woodward, and continued to produce F2 damage through the south and east portions of
Woodward. The tornado dissipated one mile northeast of Woodward. Severel houses slid off their foundations in Woodward, and a double-wide home was flipped upside down into the street. Total path length was 11 miles.
Tornado (3) touched down in open fields one mile northwest of Madrid. It hit a home three miles north of Madrid on Highway 17, producing F1 damage. One other farm site sustained damage as the tornado moved northeast. The tornado dissipated after a six mile track.
The following image depicts the damage survey for the “Woodward” tornado. Again, any damage or F-scale ratings are still preliminary.
NWS photos of damage along the path of the “Woodward” tornado follow:
Flattened garages and damaged homes in south Woodward. F2 damage.
Garage offered no protection for this car in Woodward.
House slid off foundation in Woodward. F2 damage.
Double-wide home flipped on top in Woodward. F2 damage.
Tornado (4) started just west of Ames near the Highway 30 and Lincoln Way Split, according to the aerial survey. The tornado produced F1-F2 damage on the northwest fringe of Ames. It weakened as it moved northeast, before intensifying again and produced F2 damage to a farm site just south of Gilbert. F1 damage occurred as the tornado crossed highway 69. The tornado
dissipated three miles south of Story City after a 10 mile track.
Tornado (5) was a short-lived satellite tornado that was on the ground for 1.6 miles ending at the southwest edge of Story City. The aerial survey showed very minor damage.
Tornado (6) developed one mile west of Roland and tracked across the extreme southeast corner of Hamilton county before entering Hardin county. The tornado produced damage up to F1 intensity to rural farm sites in far northern Story county and five miles south of Radcliffe in Hardin county. The KCCI-TV aerial survey indicated the track was nine miles in length.
Tornado (8) was briefly sighted near Blakesburg in Monroe county. The tornado produced minor damage to a farm building but was not surveyed and is not on any of the following maps.
The following image depicts the damage survey for the “Ames-Gilbert’ tornado. Again, any damage or F-scale ratings are still preliminary.
One NWS photo of damage along the path of the “Ames-Gilbert” tornado follows:
Metal building destroyed just south of Gilbert. F2 damage.
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