weather

The Jaw-Dropping Photography of Storm Chaser Mike Hollingshead

You might not come out on top if you weigh the pros and cons of storm chasing, but there are definitely pros beyond feeling like a bada** and a deep fulfillment of your twin passions for meteorology and spiking your adrenaline. If you want proof of that, just check out the awe-inspiring photography of storm chaser Mike Hollingshead.

Satellite Time-Lapse Shows Ten Years of Earth’s Weather in Three Minutes

After almost ten and a half years of faithful service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) GOES-12 satellite was decommissioned last week. And in order to honor the weather satellite for over a decade of providing quality imagery, the NOAA decided to put together a time-lapse showing just how much data the satellite captured in the 3,788 days it was functional.

Amazing Close-Up Photo of a Waterspout Rising Into the Clouds

Check out this incredible photograph of a waterspout, a type of tornado that forms over a body of water. That's a huge column of condensation rising up from Tampa Bay into the clouds above. The photo was captured last Tuesday (July 9th, 2013) by 22-year-old Joey Mole in Tampa, Florida (here's a larger version).

Brolly Umbrella Has Finger Hole Grip Lets You Shoot in the Rain

If you're the type of person who prefers umbrellas to rain ponchos, you might prefer the Brolly rain umbrella to rain covers when using your camera in wet weather. It features a special finger hole grip handle that frees up the fingers that would otherwise be clutching the umbrella, allowing you to use your cameras more naturally without getting wet.

Amazing Time-Lapse Captures a Massive Rotating Supercell Thunderstorm

Arizona-based photographer Mike Olbinski has been visiting the Central Plains of Texas for almost four years now in search of the perfect rotating supercell. A long-held goal of his, capturing one of these structures that look like massive, awe-inspiring "alien spacecraft" had always eluded him. That is, until his most recent trip.

Storm Chaser Captures What It’s Like to Sit In the Middle of an EF4 Tornado

During the 2013 Moore tornado last week, a young man named Charles Gafford III stuck his cell phone through a hole in his storm shelter and captured close-up footage of the EF5 tornado as it passed by. If you thought that video was crazy, check out the footage above -- it shows what it's like to get hit directly by a massive EF4 tornado!

Man Sticks His Camera Out Storm Shelter Hole, Captures View of Tornado Up Close

When the 2013 Moore tornado struck Oklahoma on May 20th, 2013, Charles Gafford III took refuge in a storm shelter. Once inside, he noticed that there was a small gap in the shelter that he could stick his smartphone through. He did, and ended up capturing the footage above that shows what it's like to have an EF5 tornado -- the strongest strength rating assigned -- pass almost directly overhead.

A Time-Lapse and Footage of the Tornado That Struck Oklahoma

Update on 12/16/21: This video has been removed by its creator.

A devastating tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma on Monday, May 20, 2013. It was reportedly over 2 miles wide at one point, and covered 20 miles during the 40 minutes it was on the ground. The National Weather Service has classified it as at least an EF-4 tornado with winds of at least 166 miles per hour.

NBC affiliate station WMC-TV had a helicopter camera in the sky capturing the whole thing, and released the time-lapse video above showing the storm traveling across the land before finally disappearing back into the clouds.

Yahoo Pairs Weather With Flickr Photos in Gorgeous New Weather App

Yahoo! just released a new weather app that takes advantage of beautiful photos provided by the company's Flickr community to pair in depth weather information with gorgeous photos of your city experiencing similar weather. The idea is that users don't just want to know the weather (numerically speaking), they want to see it.

How to Photograph Lightning, From Start to Finish

Now that storm season for North America is either already here (or coming soon), I thought it would be a good time to write a tutorial on how to photograph lightning.

Lightning is a very elusive beast that many seem to struggle with, so read on, and by the end you will be able to hunt and capture it like a pro!

Make a Ridiculously Simple Camera Rain Jacket Using Gore-Tex and Rubber Bands

When it comes to protecting our gear, we tend to go for the expensive because, as they say, "you get what you pay for." But once in a while, a simple idea that helps you save a few bucks may not be such a bad thing.

We've shared a few DIY rain guards before -- they usually involved some sort of clear plastic bag and tape -- and even though those were simple enough in their own right, HDSLRNOW's makeshift rain cover makes them all seem a bit complicated.

Google Patent Changes Camera Settings Based on Local Weather

Google takes photos pretty seriously. In addition to schmoozing the photography community earlier this week by releasing the entire Nik collection of plugins for only $150, the company also promised to make the cameras in their phones "insanely great." And a recent patent shows one of the ways Google may go about doing that.

Lessons Learned From Working Years as a Storm-Chasing Photographer

Over the past 12 years, I have spent countless hours finding myself in places that many would deem “the middle of nowhere.” I’m not there in awe of the bland landscape, yet instead I am staring up into the blue sky in hopes that the tiny little air molecules above me will develop into beastly, photogenic thunderstorms.

Minimalist Photographs Showing the View Through an Alaskan Cabin Window

When photographer Mark Meyer wakes up every morning in Alaska, the first thing he notices is the view through his room's windows. Over time, he began to notice that this view took on a wide range of appearances across different times and seasons (mostly cold weather). He then started capturing a casual series of photographs that show the abstract, minimalist views that appear due to the rain, snow, and fog. The project is called An Alaska Window.

FBI Shows Up on Man’s Doorstep After He Shoots Photo of Clouds

The next time you're photographing clouds, make sure those clouds aren't hovering over a location that's considered "sensitive". National Weather Service volunteer Michael Galindo learned this lesson last month after pulling over to the side of the road near Houston to snap a photo of storm clouds brewing in the distance (shown above). Problem was, between Galindo and the clouds sat the Lyondell Refinery.

Beautiful Photos of a Double Rainbow All the Way Over San Francisco

San Francisco residents were treated with a dazzling sight yesterday: a double rainbow all the way across the sky, visible from many parts of the city. The San Francisco Chronicle writes,

The mist mixed with golden light from the low-slung sun to cast a beautiful pink glaze across downtown skyscrapers. Thousands at the Giants baseball game took their eyes away from the game to gawk at a double rainbow that formed over center field, perfectly framed by the grandstands. "There was just some very light rain at the game, but it was amazing to see so many people bringing out their iPhones and taking a picture of it," said Mike Pechner, a forecaster with Golden West Meteorology who was at the game. Dozens of motorists pulled their cars to the side of the road to gawk and take pictures of the rare double-rainbow, created when the light refracted through the moisture in the air.

Epic Photos of Supercell Storm Clouds Over the American Midwest

Photographer Camille Seaman is well-known for her images of icebergs, but recently she turned her attention to another state of water: supercell storm clouds. She has been partnering with storm chasers and shooting amazing images of violent weather passing through the American Midwest. The series is titled The Big Cloud.

Unexpected Tornadoes Make for Some Unforgettable Wedding Photos

Caleb and Candra Pence had a couple unexpected guests crash their wedding in Kansas last Saturday: tornadoes! The two twisters touched down roughly 10 miles away during the ceremony but -- luckily for everyone involved -- were not moving. Wedding photographer Cate Eighmey took advantage of the rare situation by having the newlyweds pose with the twisters in the background. The resulting photographs have taken the Internet by storm (haha, get it?), and the Pences have spent their honeymoon in Wyoming handling calls from the media.

Fine Art Photos of Tornado Alley Storms

Fine art photographer Mitch Dobrowner wanted to photograph storm systems, so he partnered up with Roger Hill -- regarded as one of the top storm-chasers in the world -- and was introduced to Tornado Alley. Dobrowner writes,

Words are inadequate to describe the experience of photographing this immense power and beauty. And the most exciting part is with each trip I really don’t know what to expect. But now I see these storms as living, breathing things. They are born when the conditions are right, they gain strength as they grow, they fight against their environment to stay alive, they change form as they age… and eventually they die. They take on so many different aspects, personalities and faces; I'm in awe watching them. These storms are amazing sights to witness.... and I’m just happy to be there—shot or no shot; it's watching Mother Nature at her finest. My only hope my images can do justice to these amazing phenomenona of nature.

His images certainly do them justice -- the stormy landscape photographs Dobrowner has made through these trips are jaw-dropping.

First Ever Photograph of a Fourth-Order Rainbow

Seeing a double rainbow is a relatively rare treat, but how about three or four rainbows? Scientists have only reported seeing triple rainbows five times over the past 250 years, but German photographer Michael Theusner was recently able to capture this first ever photograph of a fourth-order rainbow. Ordinary rainbows (first and second order) appear in the area of the sky opposite the sun (and aren't seen in his shot), but when higher order rainbows appear, they show up on the sunward side.

Meet Jim Reed, a Photog Who Grabs His Camera When People Run in Fear

Jim Reed is a photographer that does full-time storm chasing. When normal people are running away from things like hurricanes and tornados, Jim Reed grabs his camera, hops into his car, and sets out on a mission of making amazing storm photographs. The above video is a short segment by Good Morning America interviewing him and promoting his book. It sure takes nerve to head into photo shoots not knowing whether you'll make it out in once piece.