Storms of 26 May 2010, Colorado As our main interest was timelapsing the storms, we stayed a bit further away from them, and did not attempt chasing their cores. Our group consisted of myself, Dan Lindsey (CIRA, Fort Collins) guiding us most of the day, and my CHMI colleague Jindrich Stastka. This radar loop (MOV, 8 MB) shows the evolution of all the storms in the area (the numbers appearing by the individual storms refer to the text below, roughly showing the time of the corresponding timelapse, and direction from which the storms were captured). Source of the radar data: NCDC, visualization: NOAA's Weather and Climate Toolkit. See also the GOES-11 satellite loops, showing the evolution of these storms from the geostationary orbit - VIS (MOV, 12 MB), and the so-called sandwich product of visible and enhanced IR-window bands (MOV, 13 MB; details about the sandwich product can be found here). The blue outline in the sandwich product corresponds to 240 K cloud top temperature, dark red to 200 K. For each of the individual cases below you will also find a still satellite image (closest to the nominal time of the timelapse), indicating by red dots the location from which the timelapse sequence was taken. The lower left dot indicates the real ground location, the upper right dot shows a relative, parallax-shifted cloud-top position (the parallax shift results from a tilted view of the satellite - the higher is the cloud top, the larger is the shift of the apparent cloud-top position).
Ricoh GX100, interval 0.7 second, speed 20x
20100526_2029-2044utc_BridleRidge.mpg
(29 MB, 1280x720, MPEG1)
20100526_2029-2044utc_BridleRidge.mov
(59 MB, 1280x720, H.264 / QuickTime)
20100526_2029-2044utc_BridleRidge.mp4 (40 MB,
1280x720, H.264 / MPEG-4)
Our first storm timelapsed on that day. Captured from Bridle Ridge, east of Fort Collins, close to the intersection of state highway 14 and Co Rd 17, camera aimed towards Denver (to the south-southwest). See also the GOES-11 2041 UTC image, and this detailed radar loop (MOV, 6 MB) from the radar in Cheyenne, showing very nicely the formation and approach of the curved band of heavy precipitation (the red dot indicates our position). Taken in the continuous mode of the camera, giving about 0.7 second interval between the individual images. Approximately in the middle of the movie the camera was slightly shifted to the left (east). With onset of the rain we had to terminate the sequence and get back to our cars.
Ricoh GX100, interval 5 seconds, speed 125x
20100526_2115-2145utc_Colorado-storm2.mpg
(13 MB, 1280x720, MPEG1)
20100526_2115-2145utc_Colorado-storm2.mov (20
MB, 1280x720,
H.264 / QuickTime)
20100526_2115-2145utc_Colorado-storm2.mp4 (18 MB,
1280x720, H.264 / MPEG-4
Second storm of the day, further south. Taken south of Eaton, from Co Rd 72, between state highway 85 and Co Rd 37, camera aimed S-SE; see also the GOES-11 2130 UTC image. This sequence was strongly enhanced in Photoshop, as the original images were too bright, not showing any anvil details (compare the original and processed images). The sequence was terminated by a gust, knocking down the tripods with our cameras; fortunately the cameras have survived without any noticeable harm.
Ricoh GX100, interval 0.8 second, speed 25x
20100526_2327-2344utc_Colorado-storm3.mpg
(30 MB,
1280x720, MPEG1)
20100526_2327-2344utc_Colorado-storm3.mov
(37
MB, 1280x720, H.264 / QuickTime)
20100526_2327-2344utc_Colorado-storm3.mp4 (36 MB,
1280x720, H.264 / MPEG-4)
Inflow (updraft) region of our third storm. Captured in continuous mode south of Keenesburg, from Co Rd 59, between Prospect Reservoir and E 160 Ave, S-SE view; see also the GOES-11 2330 UTC image. Strongly enhanced in Photoshop (original, processed), however resembling very well the visual appearance of the storm. Very nice example of formation of back-sheared anvil (anvil spreading upwind, against the upper-level flow), resulting from strong updrafts. Shake of the movie results from strong low-level winds.
Ricoh GX100, interval 0.7 second, speed 20x
20100527_0029-0042utc_Colorado-storm3.mpg
(21 MB,
1280x720, MPEG1)
20100527_0029-0042utc_Colorado-storm3.mov
(22
MB, 1280x720, H.264 / QuickTime)
20100527_0029-0042utc_Colorado-storm3.mp4 (35 MB,
1280x720, H.264 / MPEG-4)
Updrafts of the same storm, taken somewhat later and further south, from Co Rd 59, between E 152 Ave and E 154 Ave, S-SE view; see also the GOES-11 0030 UTC image. Also captured in continuous mode, and strongly enhanced in Photoshop (original, processed). The low-level winds were even stronger here, I had to hold tight the tripod, sitting on the roof of our car.
Ricoh GX100, interval 0.8 second, speed 25x
20100527_0134-0146utc_Denver.mpg
(26 MB, 1280x720, MPEG1)
20100527_0134-0146utc_Denver.mov
(30 MB, 1280x720, H.264 / QuickTime)
20100527_0134-0146utc_Denver.mp4 (29 MB,
1280x720, H.264 / MPEG-4)
Storm close to Denver at sunset. Our fourth, final storm of the day, and probably the most beautiful one. Taken from intersection of Co Rd 69 and Co Rd 4, westward view (to northern parts of Denver), see also the GOES-11 0141 UTC image, in continuous mode. The sequence was terminated by rain. With sunset we headed back "home", to our hotel at Fort Collins.
No, this is not a joke, several peaks of the Never Summer Mountains in
the west part of Rocky Mountain NP really are named after clouds, see 
