As I type, I listen to the rumbling crackle of an approaching thunderstorm complex, with some powerfully strong wind gusts (maybe 50mph) and drenching rain. This... 
Quickly pulsed up to this...
Bf was outside shooting hoops with his dear son when I got asked... "Should we be inside?" A quick glance at radar told me... uh... yeah! Somehow, the SPC saw fit to draw my county out of the severe thunderstorm watch box. Gee, thanks, guys.
We do, however, have a slight risk, so anything can happen. I am actually included in a slight risk area. WAHOO!
OK, so I guess I left you after day 3 in Wisconsin. I should bring you up to speed. On Friday, we drove out to Milwaukee to be closer to the airport for the morning flight. When we arrived at the hotel there and got all checked in, bf looked out the window to notice the most amazing rainbow. From the room, we were only able to see one side of what you could tell was a massive and well contrasted arch. So, I did what any weather geek would, I grabbed my camera and ran outside. Yes, it was a FULL ARCH DOUBLE RAINBOW. Unfortunately, it was so close to our location that I couldn't capture the full arch on my measly point and shoot, and we were at the mercy of the hotel-airport shuttle, so we couldn't even chase a better viewing spot. 
Well, bf wasn't happy enough with our view from the ground, so he asked Paul (the cool front desk dude) if we could GET UP ON THE ROOF!!! Well, that's not as crazy as Paul's answer... "SURE." I'm sorry, he said WHAT?! We were taken to the roof access portal, where kind Paul unlocked the door and said, "There you go." We climbed up there, and that gorgeous arched rainbow was still too close and large for my lens. It was a terrific experience.
Then, time to return... we landed in Minneapolis amidst thunderstorms with some LOUD claps of thunder and torrential downpours, so the turbulence was awesome, as you can imagine. On the way to Jacksonville airport, we passed a few towers after the pilot let us know we had reached our 30,000 ft cruising altitude... that were over the plane. AWESOME!!! Here is some of the flight home out the window shots... (we also landed through a thunderstorm in JAX.
Then, of course, being in Jacksonville, we had to converge with Southern Weather Brigade co-founder Jay, General BS. He made reservations for us at a restaurant on the beach called Ragtime, and we shared a lovely dinner before heading out to explore the beach. Thanks, Jay, for everything!
It was a great time!
~Dewdrop
Monday, June 30, 2008
Days 4 and 5 in Wisconsin and the return...
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Thanks for the update.
ReplyDeleteNice clouds and rainbows.
Good photos.
Troy
PS: Thanks for the visit
Thanks, Troy. The towers were astoundingly amazing.
ReplyDeleteIt does look like you guys had a great time and your photography is very good. I like the cloud pictures.
ReplyDeleteGreat rainbow and sky shots!Milwaukee is a nice city, I was there in 1977 with my parents on summer vacation. That lives many norwegian-americans over there.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful rainbows and awesome clouds!
ReplyDeleteWonderful rainbow and those clouds from the plane. I am jealous and want to edit them and put them on my blog. lol (just teasing ya). :)
ReplyDeleteGreat capture. I love rainbows.
ReplyDeleteThe rainbow is awesome! Love the clouds too! Great pics from the plane.
ReplyDeleteWow. The rainbow is beautiful! The clouds are fantastic! Hope I could see it one of these days... :)
ReplyDeleteOld Man Lincoln, we did and thank you. It was really awesome to look out the window and see these 30K convective towers out my window. I got great thrills in predicting the turbulence. Bf wasn't so thrilled.
ReplyDeleteJohn, Thank you. We really didn't spend much time in Milwaukee, but the areas we did explore had strong Belgium influence, very European settlement.
Pat, THANKS!!!
Beth, LOL. I didn't steal your fat cat. You can't steal my fat clouds... tee hee.
Andrea, Thanks. I must confess. I loved it, too. As if you couldn't tell...
Nicole, Hey thanks! You guys make it back safely?
Ice, Make sure you get a window seat! :O)
Gosh, I love that photo looking down at the top of the cumulonimbus. I just replaced my desktop with that one. Cool stuff Dew!
ReplyDeleteRainbows are our friends! Did you get to visit Carrie?
ReplyDeleteWow, Mike, thanks, I am honored. Nothing beats flying over those systems, seeing their actual heighth, watching them rise higher and higher. It's awesome. I was thrilled to get to experience it.
ReplyDeleteAnnie, They are our friends. Great promise from God. I did not get to visit Carrie. She is saving her leave time for when Jon FINALLY returns home in a couple of weeks. (Hooray!!!)