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Why hello there photo op. Think how easy it would have been to not land right on this. Say I decided to make my stop a mile before or at that one lake I just passed. I'd then be inside it trying to escape as I drive by this spot and zero time. I was looking for a spot just before here, so it about happened. But yeah, it's not that far off and still doing 60mph down the highway. I worked this storm best I could. The last hour solid has been as fast paced as it gets.
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If I ever get something interesting beyond the storm with my photos, this is how...an utter accident. I'm not even good enough to notice the stuff I do go by that could have been on accident, while not looking. I could have so so easily not even noticed this if I was chasing like normal. I'm probably 1 in 100 on chases for actually trying to find something interesting to put with storms. I just never am even trying or wanting to. I'm lazy like that with them. But this day it was on my mind, but it felt really pointless on a storm moving this fast, where you are already being overtaken just by doing a 3 point turn on the gravel road you stopped on. So yeah, I was rather chipper when I saw this. I almost didn't. Cross and a chapel and a wicked storm.
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When on something with no time it's good to have a good handle on shooting things fast. It doesn't have to be hard.
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I've never used a tilt-shift lens before, but I was rapidly wishing I had one. I'd try and hold the lens down best I could to stay away from the perspective tip, but yeah it was getting far too wide far too fast to worry too much about it.
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Run around and shoot! God apparently wanted that flag.
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Only now I notice the perspective tilt could work here. Also notice there is a 10 foot tall pheasant in that yard over there.
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The lights have now come on the cross. The angle for the flag here wasn't working so well, as the roof of the chapel kept getting in the shot if I panned any higher up.
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I'm not sure if that truck over there lived there or not. Probably not. They were westbound and pulled in there as this was hitting.
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About time for me to go again, dang it.
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Nearing Watertown now, shelf still hauling ass. This portion of the storm/line/bow could not have taken a better route. Watch the radar loop again. The rest of this line didn't look like this did. Just that small part that bows right down the highway. I've learned with lines to hedge your bets north. Often the south end you will see the outflow come off things first. You can see on that radar loop it does that from the get go(real faint fine line). I thought the first section I took east at the start of things would be the spot. But that wound up more in the notch of that curl and not at the apex of it and it was a lot of crapper showers feeding into it there and little for a view. Knew then I'd have to at least get down to another east highway, which was 212. Can't believe how hard that was to do in time.
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In Watertown now. I was beating a lot of slow traffic in the 4 lane section, only to get behind some very old folks doing 20 under the speed limit in this construction zone. Seriously a solid 15-20 under the posted limit. Never fails. Notice in the pic above the guy on the bike. This reminds me of that tsunami video of the guy that walked out into the dry areas, then all that water came back as the tsunami and he just sorta realized he was done and kept walking.
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I somehow get to the highway south out of town before it hits, which was my hope. I knew there was no chance to get east through town. So I hoped to let it get me here some, then escape south this time and back out ahead of things down there, as that section was moving slower.
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Bout time to flee south. Going south was rough at times. This whole time, anytime I was in strong winds, they were just blowing east with me. Going south would change that. Several times it was really pushing my car over into the other lane. 0020 UNK CASTLEWOOD HAMLIN SD 4472 9703 30 TO 40 TREES UPROOTED AND POWER OUTAGES IN CASTLEWOOD AND HAYTI. That is just south of Watertown and just east of that highway. I know I was driving south in that. It kept surprising me a bit.
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Sunset south of Humboldt.
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The op with the corn being blown around was pretty cool but would have been better with better lightning.
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Finally a worthwhile chase day! If I can't have supercells or tornadoes, I will for sure take this chase any day. I have a stock section for things other than lightning, mammatus, tornadoes, or supercells called storms general. I've always noticed just how dang lacking it is. Well because yeah the other things are the biggest draw. Well this one chase will be making that a little better. Oddly enough it's kinda easier to get cool supercells or tornadoes than it is worthy lines. And this line wasn't that crazy for a shelf but it was good. Coolest aspect about it was just the speed and dirt machine, all with good structure too. Just kinda nuts how hard it is to get an epic shelf. I still don't really have one that would fit epic.
Here is a really really short video I tossed up on the facebook page. I have video from the rest of the chase but not sure I'll mess with it or not. |
