Storm June 23, 2004
Based on what I saw on radar, the southern edge of the storm was along Highway
AW west of Waupun, traveling east. I went approximately. 1.5 miles west of Waupun, turned right, and pulled over, facing north. I aimed
my camera to the Northwest and photographed some lightning, rather unsuccessfully I might add. This is the only good one I
got, before my brother called.
While talking to my brother, Doug, he was telling me that there was a hook
echo (rotation, as it appears on radar) headed right for my location. Right about that time, I turned to look behind me to
the left (southwest) and saw this rotating updraft emerging from behind a farmhouse on AW. 8:38PM
I caught the lightning by chance in a 1/3 of a second exposure. I then turned
around, heading South toward AW. Having cleared the farmhouse, I pulled over and took a couple shots of the storm, and merged
them together to get this wide angle view. 8:39PM
I didn't like the group of trees at the front of the updraft, so I headed
East, back toward Waupun about a half mile, and took two more shots, and merged them together. 8:41PM
By this time, I am under heavy precip, including pea size hail. Upon getting
back to Waupun, I took a right on Hwy MM to get south of the storm. As I got to the southern edge of town, I realized I was
going to intercept the storm, rather than go around it. I turned around and went back home, just in time to sit at my computer,
and have the power go out (8:50PM-5:45AM). The following morning, I photographed some of the damage in my
immediate neighborhood.
The Day After......
All of the following pictures are within three city blocks of my house in
Waupun. Immediately after the storm, countless trees were in the roads, blocking traffic, but were at least pushed off to
the side within a couple hours. The following pictures were taken between 9:15 and 11:30 the following morning.
Three houses to the west.
A line of four trees in front of a nursing home around the corner.
This belongs to a girl I work with, 1 block South
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