Tony's Takes Photography

Wildlife, landscape and weather photography

Storms over the Collegiate Peaks

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Thunderstorms roll over the Collegiate Peaks and toward Buena Vista, Colorado below. (© Tony’s Takes)
Thunderstorms roll over the Collegiate Peaks and toward Buena Vista, Colorado below. (© Tony’s Takes)

I am back from some much needed R & R in San Isabel National Forest overlooking Buena Vista, Colorado. I didn’t take many pics as family and relaxation were higher priorities but the skies in many of the evenings demanded attention.

This one from this past Friday. Mount Princeton is front and center. If I am not mistaken, Mount Yale is the tallest peak to the right then moving back left of Princeton, Mount Antero and Mount Shavano are the two most prominent on that side.

No matter their names, the view was awesome! Oh, and believe it or not, the next night we had snow!

In the wake of the storm

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A passing thunderstorm in Adams County, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
A passing thunderstorm in Adams County, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

June means severe weather season here in Colorado and that can make for some fun afternoons. Today, we had a nice thunderstorm move through and, thankfully, no big hail.

After the storm passed, the clouds to the east looked awesome with bits of mammatus mixed in with the formations.

I tried my best to get some lightning shots but failed. It seemed no matter which way I pointed my camera, the bolts were the opposite way. 😉

A passing thunderstorm in Adams County, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
A passing thunderstorm in Adams County, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Thunderstorm towers over the Great Plains

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A severe thunderstorm towers over a windmill and the Great Plains near Simla, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
A severe thunderstorm towers over a windmill and the Great Plains near Simla, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

A throwback image taken in June 2012. Yesterday we got our first taste of severe weather for the year and while it didn’t deliver much more than heavy rain and small hail, it certainly got my adrenaline pumping. 

I haven’t been able to do much storm chasing at all in recent years. I go to work very early in the morning and coming home at midnight after a chase to the Colorado / Kansas border and then functioning at work the next day just isn’t possible.

I do need to try to head out on those ‘backyard’ chases close to home as oftentimes you don’t have to go far to at least get some nice storm structures.

This particular chase was near Simla, Colorado in an area near the Palmer Divide that is famous for seeing gorgeous storms. The storm did generate an EF-2 tornado which we only saw briefly as it was heavily wrapped in rain. While I didn’t get any salvageable images of that, the structure of the storm was impressive.

Panoramic nighttime lightning illuminated thunderstorm

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Oh what a night! June 11, 2015 found me in far southeastern Colorado chasing storms. We chased this beast for a long ways and while it never did drop a tornado, it did give us some nice looks.

This image is taken after dark and those clouds are being lit up the intra-cloud lightning. It was an absolute non-stop light show.

If you look close, you can see a small town almost directly under the stormcell. It dropped baseball size hail and the straight-line winds downed powerlines.

Nighttime lightning illuminates the structure of a supercell thunderstorm in southeastern Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Nighttime lightning illuminates the structure of a supercell thunderstorm in southeastern Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Sunset thunderstorm

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Going back into the archives for this one to June 2012. On a tornado chase near Simla, Colorado. The chase did yield one funnel cloud directly overhead and then a very rain-wrapped, obscured twister on the ground. Unfortunately, we were too far away to get ourselves in position to get a good look at the tornado. This was taken not long after when we stopped to watch the impressive thunderstorm as it wound down and obscured the setting sun.

A thunderstorm winds down as the sun sets on the Colorado plains. (© Tony’s Takes)
A thunderstorm winds down as the sun sets on the Colorado plains. (© Tony’s Takes)

Rolling thunder on the Great Plains

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Work and life’s commitments don’t allow me to storm chase near as often as I would like. However, every now and then, I get lucky and Mother Nature brings a storm right to me. Such was the case this past Friday as I went for a photo drive after work.

A nice little thunderstorm popped up and while the storm itself wasn’t anything extraordinary, it did make for a very pretty scene. This same storm cell would go on to intensify and drop hail up to an inch in diameter only about 10 miles from where this picture was taken.

A thunderstorm rolls across the plains northeast of Denver, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
A thunderstorm rolls across the plains northeast of Denver, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Pit stop thunderstorm

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On my recent trip to the northern Rockies, our first overnight stop was in northern Wyoming in the town of Kaycee. Soon after arriving as sunset grew close, thunderstorms started to build just to our east. This particular cell was quite beautiful as it was lit by the direct sunlight to the west and the shades or orange of the soon-to-come sunset. For a time it was severe warned as it was dropping golf ball sized hail – thankfully not until it was past us.

An evening thunderstorm rattles the Wyoming plains. (© Tony’s Takes)
An evening thunderstorm rattles the Wyoming plains. (© Tony’s Takes)

Short but brilliant rainbow illuminates the Great Plains’ horizon

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I have said it repeatedly and I will say it again: the plains of Colorado may be relatively flat but I will put the sights found there up against those of the higher terrain of the state any day of the week. This past Friday evening was another perfect example.

Thunderstorms passed nearby where we were camping and once past, the scene that unfolded was nothing short of extraordinary. Beautiful blue skies above with dramatic storm clouds below were punctuated by one of the brightest rainbows I have ever seen in my life. The multi-colored stream was not very tall but it was very wide and very bright.

My pictures of it truly don’t do it justice – it was nothing short of extraordinary.

A brilliant partial rainbow descends from a thunderstorm on Colorado's Great Plains. (© Tony’s Takes)
A brilliant partial rainbow descends from a thunderstorm on Colorado’s Great Plains. (© Tony’s Takes)

An electrified desert

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New Mexico is not a state that normally comes to mind when you think of spring severe weather. However, thunderstorms rolling across the high desert of the eastern part of the state can be quite impressive. With warm, moist air from the south clashing with cold air from the north, storms in the area are capable of generating large amounts of hail and become very electrified.

Such was the case with this storm in June 2015 near Tucumcari. With a surprisingly green desert below and a supercell thunderstorm above, the scene was dramatic. The heavy rain and hail at the storm’s core are seen in the distance while a bolt of lightning pops from the storm’s leading edge. As my son and I watched this storm, we could not help but be awed at the power and the beauty.

Lightning pops from a supercell thunderstorm in New Mexico. (© Tony’s Takes)
Lightning pops from a supercell thunderstorm in New Mexico. (© Tony’s Takes)

Severe thunderstorm rolls across the Colorado plains

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This beast of a storm had some incredibly cool clouds on its underside.  The hail roar as it passed by was absolutely amazing and went on for 20 minutes straight.

Hail roar is oftentimes mistaken for thunder but is in fact the rumbling sound of hailstones cycling up and down within the storms structure and smashing into each other.  It usually sounds like a low rumble, generally constant in tone and volume.

Seeing a storm like this is cool; hearing it adds to the excitement and drama.

A severe thunderstorm rolls across the Colorado plains. (© Tony’s Takes)
A severe thunderstorm rolls across the Colorado plains. (© Tony’s Takes)