Weather | Tony's Takes Photography

Bad weather in the Badlands

June 22, 2022 by Tony

A monstrous thunderstorm with a beautiful shelf cloud passes near Badlands National Park in South Dakota. (© Tony's Takes) — A monstrous thunderstorm with a beautiful shelf cloud passes near Badlands National Park in South Dakota. (© Tony’s Takes)

I really don’t storm chase anymore due to time constraints and the fact that the hobby has gotten to be a bit too crazy out there with way too many chasers on the road. Sometimes I do get lucky and have a storm come to me and I certainly don’t turn down those opportunities.

Such was the case just outside Badlands National Park last week. One evening, a monstrous storm cell was passing just to the north of us. It was absolutely impressive looking and as it was dumping 2-inch diameter hail, I was thankful it missed us.

The next night, we got a rude awakening right after midnight. The wind really began gusting and so I crawled out of bed and saw on radar a little storm cell was about ready to pummel us. We quickly prepped the RV and gear to be hit and sure enough, it did. The hail wasn’t too big although it did do some, relatively minor, damage. After it passed, Mother Nature put on a nice light show in the sky for us.

Bad weather in the Badlands — A monstrous thunderstorm with a beautiful shelf cloud passes near Badlands National Park in South Dakota. (© Tony’s Takes)

Lightning pops in the skies near Badlands National Park, South Dakota. (© Tony's Takes) — Lightning pops in the skies near Badlands National Park, South Dakota. (© Tony’s Takes)

Looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow

March 17, 2022 by Tony Leave a Comment

I don’t have any pictures of leprechauns to share for St Patrick’s Day but I do have a rainbow.

This image harkens back to July 2019 near Seward, Alaska. As we returned from a boat tour to Kenai Fjords National Park and Preserve, we were greeted with what was probably the most brilliant rainbow I have ever seen. Throw in the dramatic clouds across Resurrection Bay and a hint of the snow-covered mountain peaks, well, it was pretty danged awesome.

As for that pot of cold, I tried to convince the boat captain to go find it but he refused. 😉

After we returned from that trip, I did share a full view of the stunning rainbow. You can check that out here.

Springtime-like storm clouds in the winter

February 1, 2022 by Tony Leave a Comment

The first part of our winter here on the Colorado Front Range was kind of odd. We were extremely dry and what storms we received were different than normal. Such was the case on Christmas Eve when we actually received rain instead of the more typical snow.

I had to run a quick errand to pick up some last-minute things late that afternoon for the holiday and the storm clouds were brewing. What was notable was how they looked much more like a May or June thunderstorm, including mammatus clouds. Mammatus is usually more associated with severe thunderstorms so it made for quite an unusual Christmastime scene over a local open space.

Wintertime rainbow in the Colorado foothills

January 29, 2022 by Tony Leave a Comment

I shared a different version of this same scene on Christmas Eve, the same day the images were taken. But, due to the holiday, I don’t think many folks saw it and I feel it is worthy of another look. Sunrise along the Front Range saw some rain showers, an unusual thing to experience at the height of winter.

As I drove around looking for a worthy critter to photograph, I came across this scene. Dark, storm clouds were hovering over the foothills and a gorgeous rainbow had materialized. Throw in the farm and horses down below and the sunlight streaming on the hills, it was pretty darned cool.

Christmas Eve rainbow makes for a beautiful scene

December 25, 2021 by Tony Leave a Comment

Definitely not your typical Christmas in Colorado scene but pretty darned neat nevertheless.

It has been extraordinarily dry and warm on the Front Range thus far this season and a white Christmas is not to be. On my photo drive yesterday, as I approached the foothills, rain showers were brewing and the rising sun was perfectly illuminating the landscape and creating a beautiful rainbow.

Throw in the rural farm scene with a few horses below and dramatic clouds above and you have a pretty nice scene – even if it is missing the usual snow.

Merry Christmas to all of you!

After work weather excitement

August 19, 2021 by Tony Leave a Comment

Well this was kind of fun! I was almost home from work when a Tornado Warning was issued. That got my attention but, unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera with me (I know, sacrilege!).

I raced home, grabbed my gear and headed to the local fairgrounds. While I never saw any rotation, the storm cell did look pretty darned cool.

Down the road, a tornado-warned thunderstorm passes. (© Tony's Takes) — Down the road, a tornado-warned thunderstorm passes. (© Tony’s Takes)

Thunderstorms pop on Colorado's northeastern plains. (© Tony's Takes) — Thunderstorms pop on Colorado’s northeastern plains. (© Tony’s Takes)

A dramatic passing thunderstorm in northeastern Colorado. (© Tony's Takes) — A dramatic passing thunderstorm in northeastern Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Tornado strikes the northern Colorado Front Range

June 7, 2021 by Tony Leave a Comment

Pictures taken by my drone not 20 minutes ago. I was scrolling through Facebook and heard the news about a tornado dropping near Firestone.

I ran downstairs, grabbed my drone and put it in the air to catch the tail end of the twister before it dissipated. Not the greatest pics but considering the distance of about 15 miles, not too bad.

As this happened so recently, I have no idea what damage was done or if anyone was injured. Certainly folks in the affected area are at the forefront of my mine right now.

The tornado that struck between Firestone and Platteville is visible from a distance by drone. (© Tony's Takes) — The tornado that struck between Firestone and Platteville is visible from a distance by drone. (© Tony’s Takes)

“Me day” brings amazing cloud iridescence

April 5, 2021 by Tony Leave a Comment

I’ve been burning the candle at both ends pretty heavily lately and just needed a quick break to recharge so I took today off as a “me day.” That of course meant a morning of photography and while I got some cool critter pics to share in the coming days, there was also this.

As I waited for some action, looking to the east the clouds to the south of the sun were a veritable rainbow of colors. The iridescence coupled with the way cool shapes in the clouds was pretty darned awesome to see (but kind of hard to capture in pictures).

Cloud iridescence is caused by clouds (usually cirrus) that have small water droplets or ice crystals in them causing the light to be diffracted, or spread out. The phenomena is much like the rainbow colors seen with oil in water.

Cloud iridescence is seen toward the rising sun in Colorado. (© Tony's Takes) — Cloud iridescence is seen toward the rising sun in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Lake-side trees in the fog

March 21, 2021 by Tony Leave a Comment

Absolutely ridiculously thick fog yesterday morning as I ventured out on my morning photo walk. At times visibility was less than 100 feet and while the sun was rising, the fog rendered everything nearly colorless. It definitely made for some moody scenes and a conversion of this image to black and white creates a cool, mystical scene. I loved the silhouetted trees and fishing platform.

Looking for that pot of gold at the end of the rainbows on St Patrick’s Day

March 17, 2021 by Tony Leave a Comment

Well, I don’t have any pics of leprechauns or any images that are overly green and I have never been to Ireland so here is the next best thing.

Taken back in August in Arapaho National Forest, I have actually shared a similar shot of this scene previously. This one, in portrait orientation, does a nice job showing off the sky above.

We were hanging out at camp and after the evening thunderstorms passed, they put on a beautiful show to the east. The sky was dramatic, lit up nicely by the sun behind us. The double rainbow, well, that was over the top awesome just absolutely fantastic to watch.