Sunset at Hall Lake

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The biggest weather news lately has been the heat wave that continues to brutalize the central and eastern United States. Thankfully, these last two days have been easier to take here in Michigan. Friday evening a weak cold front passed through and dropped the dewpoints down into the livable mid-60s for a short while, and since then, variable cloudiness has helped to modify the temperatures.

Yesterday we were in a slight risk area, but with a warm front laying along the Indiana border, the southern tier counties are where convection broke out in Southwest Michigan. One cell near Cassopolis showed sustained, deep rotation on the radar, and Kurt Hulst and I discussed going after it. Given the distance and marginal conditions, we decided to let it go.

Instead, I headed out the door later on with my saxophone and my fishing rod, as well as my camera and laptop just in case storms developed within easy range. Not that I expected any, and none materialzed to divert me from casting a line into the water for the first time in a couple of years.

It felt good to get back at fishing, and picturesque Hall Lake in Yankee Springs Recreational Area was the perfect place to do so. Forty-two acres in size and sporting a small island in its middle, Hall Lake attracts just a handful of fishermen, to whom it offers a tranquil option to the much larger, all-sports Gun Lake to its west. Tucked in a wooded valley, where it is bordered to the south by Gun Lake Road and cradled by the glacial hills of Barry County, it is a place where a man can go to withdraw from the madly rushing world, stand at the water’s edge casting topwater lures into the evening, and let his thoughts slow down to a casual stroll.

I’m no great fisherman. What I do with a rod and reel is more accurately described as dredging. But the fish were eager feeders yesterday, and it took only a few casts before I landed a nice little 12-inch bass–big enough to keep, but I released him. I viewed it as my Father smiling at me for getting back to a hobby that I’ve never mastered but always enjoyed.

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More casts netted me nothing, and presently my interest shifted to the sky. The sun had slipped below the treeline, and a flock of fractocumulus passing overhead articulated the twilight. No fiery sunset, this, no Van Gogh sky; just a gently fading afterglow filled with nuance and calm emotion, silhouetting the forested shoreline and glimmering, spirit-like, in the quiescent mirror of the lake.

It was a scene worth capturing with my camera, and I have done so. Click on the images to enlarge them. I like them, and I hope you will too.

July 24, 2011 by
Filed Under: Life, Michigan, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, Storm Chasing, Weather Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Grasshopper Passion Revisited

Editing away with beaverish industriousness on a video interview I hope to post soon on this blog, I haven’t had time to mess with much of anything else. So heck, why not dig into my several years of archives and … why, here’s something right here that ought to grab your fancy. Yes, and shame on you, advance shame, for soiling your mind with such sordid, XXX-rated fare!

That’s right: Gleaned from the days of Stormhorn.com’s former, raw crudity, here is a post calculated to quicken your pulse with a GRAPHIC PHOTO OF NAKED BODIES JOINED IN FRENZIED PLEASURE!!!

Or not-so-frenzied. Actually, we could probably dispense with the triple exclamation marks and the all capitals. Let your own conscience be the judge is you read about …

Grasshopper Passion.

July 9, 2011 by
Filed Under: Humor, Life, Michigan, Nature, Outdoors Tagged With: , , , , ,

A Walk in the Middleville Fen

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Yes, I do have a life outside of jazz saxophone and storm chasing, and from time to time I like to let it leak out. While Stormhorn.com focuses on the above two interests, it’s good to break away now and then. So join me on a leisurely stroll through one of my favorite nearby natural areas: the Middleville Fen. Orchids are in the forecast, along with golden evening light filtering through tamaracks, dancing on a dimpled stream, and stretching long rays across meadows of rippling marsh grass.

Early June is the time when the showy ladyslipper, Cypripedium reginae, unfolds its creamy pink-and-white blossoms. Also known as the queen ladyslipper–hence the Latin name reginae–this plant is indeed a regal beauty, presiding in stately splendor over the Michigan wetlands.

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Like most wild orchids, it is selective about its haunts–but then, finickiness is the privilege of royalty. Remember the story of “The Princess and the Pea.” You can’t expect a queen to rest her roots just anywhere. However, six miles down the road from me she has found a satisfactory place of repose among the red osier dogwood, shrubby cinquefoil, and marsh asters.

The trail into the Middleville Fen begins at the north edge of a park on the south end of town. Walk in 100 feet or so, look to your right, and you’ll see the queen ladyslipper holding court among the shrubs. Look, admire, but don’t

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pick. Like every wild orchid, C. reginae is uncommon and protected in the state of Michigan. For that matter, you’re smart to not even touch her. The hairy leaves and stems are known to cause a nasty rash similar to poison ivy.

The showy ladyslipper is unquestionably the drawing card of the fen in early to mid June. But other, subtler attractions abound: tiny, insectivorous roundleaf sundew plants crowding the stream banks. Feathery tamaracks arching across the trail. In the autumn, fringed gentians nestled pointillistically among the cinquefoil like fragments of September sky.

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A few years ago, purple loosestrife threatened to take over this magnificent little jewel of a wetland. But thanks to a tiny beetle with an appetite for loosestrife, released into the fen by a wetland conservation group, the invader appears to have been repelled and the Middleville Fen remains a diverse and beautiful haven for unusual plants and wildlife.

The trail is little more than a quarter-mile long and easy to hike, with a picturesque wooden boardwalk and bridges to keep your feet from getting wet. Bring your camera, a half-hour or so of your time, and an eye for nature. Your sense of wonder will be awakened and rewarded. Especially now, when the queen is in her royal robes.

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June 15, 2011 by
Filed Under: Life, Michigan, Outdoors, Photography Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Low-Topped Supercell Images from Last Wednesday

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Last Wednesday, May 11, in northwest Kansas was a bust chase as far as tornadoes were concerned. But the prairie sky offers compensations that are blue-ribbon prizes in their own right if you’ve got an eye for beauty.

Here are some shots of a couple of low-topped supercells taken in the Atwood/Oberlin area. These storms dumped some marble-sized hail and exhibited visible, though not strong, rotation. They were lovely to behold, sculptures of moisture shaped by the wind and lit by the light of the waning evening. Atmospheric dramas such as these are the true panorama of the Great Plains. Like a run-on sentence, the treeless landscape stretches off into limitless sameness, leaving the sky to provide punctuation, energy, and color.

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May 15, 2011 by
Filed Under: Life, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, Storm Chasing Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Sax at the Park

Yesterday was gorgeous though a bit chilly–what can you expect in Michigan in mid-March, after all?–and I was anxious to put my new camcorder through its paces. So off to Fallasburg Park I went. Located north of Lowell on the Flat River, the park is a beautiful location adjacent to a historical village complete with a functional and well-trafficked covered bridge.

I had meant to use my tripod, but when I got to Fallasburg I discovered that I had left behind the plate that screws into the bottom of my camcorder so it can engage with the tripod’s quick release. Fortunately, I was able to induce a young guy who was at the park with his wife and little boy to film me. The result: not too shabby for a whimsical production using an on-the-spot cameraman! Just a little free-form saxophone improvisation–nothing fancy, just fun. Start with a note and then see where it takes you. Pardon the wind noise about halfway through–it was pretty breezy out there.

This is my first attempt at embedding a video in WordPress. Let’s see how it goes.

March 19, 2011 by
Filed Under: Jazz, Michigan, Music, Outdoors, Saxophone, Video Tagged With: , , ,

March: When Daylight Lengthens

Today is March 6, and between the first day of the month till now we have already gained fourteen minutes of daylight here in Caledonia, Michigan. By the end of the month, that figure will have grown to an hour and 29 minutes–52 minutes in the morning and 37 in the evening. That averages out to a gain of around 2.9 minutes every day.

March is the month when daylight happens.

Small wonder that storm chasers do a happy dance when March 1 arrives. It’s designated the beginning of meteorological spring for good reason. Henceforth the days are poised to lengthen rapidly. The sun is climbing higher in its arc over the northern hemisphere, putting in a longer workday and shining more intensely. That means warmer temperatures, juicier dewpoints, and increasing instability. Things start happening. The new storm season’s convective pump is getting primed, and preludes of the next few months start showing up on the radar.

So why complain about March? It may not be pretty, but it loves ya.

March 6, 2011 by
Filed Under: Michigan, Nature, Outdoors, Storm Chasing, Weather Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Skunk Cabbage Time

Snow may still be covering the ground here in West Michigan, but meteorological spring has sprung and March is on the march. Temperatures are trending warmer, and while the mid to upper thirties may not be anything to brag about, the vernal transition is at hand. You can see it in the mist lying over the snowfields. You can hear it in the spring songs of a few optimistic early-birds. It’s there on the weather maps in the form of lows sweeping northeastward out of the Plains, tugging moisture up out of the Gulf of Mexico. And soon, those of us who love native plants will discover it poking up through remnant drifts in wooded swamps in the form of Michigan’s earliest wildflower, the skunk cabbage.

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Symplocarpus foetidus may not be bouquet material, but I’m fond of it. Too low-key to be striking, skunk cabbage is nevertheless remarkable, a demonstration of genius walking hand in hand with humility. Its small, odd-looking, purple-cowled flowers, rising amid the languishing snow drifts in mid to late March here in the north, resemble nothing else the woodland has to offer. Once I see them, I know that spring has gotten truly, irrevocably underway. (Click to enlarge image.)

Indeed, as spring’s first flowering harbinger, skunk cabbage makes its own modest contribution to the ambient temperature through its unique ability to generate heat. Skunk cabbage flowers literally melt their way through the snow, generating temperatures upwards of 70 degrees in their immediate vicinity. These little heat engines serve as microclimates for certain insects; each bloom is, in a sense, a world unto itself.

Speaking of the blooms, the mottled hood that resembles a monk emerging headfirst from the earth is not the actual flower. It is a structure called a spathe, and it wraps around the stubby yellow spike on which the tiny flowers grow.

Tear off just a small piece from any part of the plant–the spathe or, in a few more weeks, the large, lush green leaves–and give it a sniff. You’ll instantly discover how the skunk cabbage got its name. It’s not a plant known for its mild, winsome aroma.

The lowly skunk cabbage may rank as America’s oldest flowering herb. Speculation is that, in a supportive environment, Symplocarpus foetidus may live for hundreds of years. That stand of skunk cabbage you traipsed past without giving a second thought to on your hike through the woods may have gotten its start before the Mayflower landed!

Storm chasers greet the spring looking up at the sky, sniffing the moisture returning from the Gulf of Mexico and watching for tumbled clouds to rise through the troposphere and throw tantrums of thunder, lightning, and hail. But it pays to look down as well. The advance guard of spring’s convective pyrotechnics may be an unobtrusive little plant peering up at you beside a snow drift in the woods.

March 4, 2011 by
Filed Under: Life, Michigan, Nature, Outdoors Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The Groundhog Day Blizzard of 2011

blizzard3-2011The cloud tops are up to 20,000 feet here in Caledonia, and about two minutes ago the first impressively bright flash of lightning lit the blizzard swirling around my apartment. Thundersnow! Rare, but  not unexpected tonight, and now that it has arrived, I’m continuing to see sporadic flickers of lightning. That initial one was a doozy, though, and all I can think is, Cool! How often does one get to hear thunder rumble through the teeth of a February blizzard?

Man, is it blowing out there!

All eyes have been on this winter storm for the past several days, watching it move from forecast models into reality. Nowcloud-tops-2011here it is, and it is a humdinger. Anywhere from a minimum of 12 up to 16 inches of snow is predicted to dump on our area, and south of us it only gets worse. Pink is the color that indicates heavy snowfall on my radar color table, and I don’t recall ever seeing such a large expanse of it covering my screen before. Between now and sometime tomorrow morning is when the heaviest snowfall is supposed to occur, and looking outside my window at the maelstrom swirling dimly out of the midnight sky, I see nothing to contradict that prognosis.

blizzard4-2011Ah! Another flash of lightning and another rumble of thunder! This is nice. Imagine that–me, an avowed snow grinch, enjoying a blizzard! But I have to say, this storm appears to be living up to all expectations. I honestly don’t recall that I’ve ever experienced thundersnow before, so I’m really pleased to be getting such a novel form of entertainment.

The three fairly recent radar grabs and the water vapor image on this page will give you an idea of what a truly wild evening this is. Click on the images to enlarge them. The first and third are basic winter reflectively images, with the latter offering a more zoomed-in look at southern Michigan. Look at all that pink! Interrogating a few of the deeper hues has given me reads of nearly 40 Dbz, and that’s nothing compared to elsewhere, and perhaps to what yet lies in store for us.

blizzard-2011-wvAs for the second screen, that shows cloud tops. The teal colored blobs indicate tops of 20,000 feet or greater, where thundersnow is likeliest to occur. And the fourth image depicting water vapor gives a macro view of what the entire system looks like as an immense entity sweeping eastward, with the dry slot punching upward into Illinois.

This may be one for the history books. I’m glad I stocked up on groceries, because I doubt I’ll be venturing out tomorrow. I doubt anyone will be. I’m certain that all the schools will be closed, and quite possibly many businesses as well. It will be a good day to hunker down and feel grateful for being indoors.

Zang! Another bright flash. I just got a phone call from my friend Brad Dawson, who lives down near Gun Lake. He tells me that a big towerblizzard6-2011500 feet from his house is getting continually struck. That has to be an experience, and from the looks of things, it’s apt to be one that continues through the night. Lacking any similar tall objects here, the lightning isn’t as constant, but it continues to flicker, and the storm itself is intensifying. What the heck–here’s one last image: a current radar scan. I just got a reading of 43.5 Dbz in one of the darker blobs of pink!

This is one howler of a winter storm system. But I’m done watching it for now. It’ll still be here in the morning. Time for me to hit the sack and enjoy the light show for a while before I fade out. Good night!

February 2, 2011 by
Filed Under: Life, Michigan, Nature, Outdoors, Weather, Weather Radar Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

For the Birds

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The little fellow you see here paused long enough for me to snap his photo, but his repose was fleeting. Inaction is a concept foreign to goldfinches when they’re in feeding mode, which is pretty much from sunrise to sunset. (Left click on photos to enlarge them.)

Just outside my sliding glass door, a blizzard of finches descends on my feeding station early in the morning, and the party continues throughout the day. Other wild birds join in the melee–chickadees, white-breasted and rosy-breasted nuthatches, tufted titmice, sparrows, and a male and female downy woodpecker. Occasionally a shy junco or two will put in a brief appearance, and a big bruiser of a bluejay flits in now and then, brashly announcing his presence with a cry that lets the whole neighborhood know he’s here, and whacks away at the suet with his wedge-like beak.

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When killing frost signals the last gasp of the growing season, then, like a changing of the guard, the plants come in off my balcony and the bird feeding station goes out. Two tube feeders–one filled with wild bird mix, the other with black oil sunflower seed–hang from the station’s metal arms in company with a bag of thistle seed for the finches. This year, determined to attract a woodpecker or two if I could, I also hung out a mesh onion bag full of suet and slapped a couple more hunks out on the balustrade. It’s as a complete a smorgasbord as any bird could hope for, and the response has been supremely rewarding. It has included, I’m happy to say, the woodpeckers–a sprightly gentleman with a red bar across his head, and his consort, a perky little lady without the bar, each showing up when the other isn’t there and gorging with mighty singleness of purpose on the suet.

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During the winter months, the feathery circus out there on the balcony reminds me that life goes on even when bitter winds blow. Today I tripoded my camera by the sliding door, intent on capturing a few images from the carnivalia. With so many birds thronging the feeding station, you’d be surprised at how difficult it can be to get a decent shot. These are not creatures who like to sit still, let alone pose for the camera. The bright-eyed goldfinch to your  left complied for about a second, long enough to look coy and unspeakably cute. It’s not for nothing that a bunch of these little guys and gals is called a “charm.”

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The woodpeckers and nuthatches were more demanding. I had to wait for them, and they had a way of showing up when I had walked away from the window. I did finally manage to catch them at an opportune time. The nuthatches are a favorite of mine, part comedian and part acrobat, with no apparent sense of up or down nor any regard for the law of gravity.

Talking about the weather has for me never been synonymous with shallow conversation. There is a time of year when I find few topics more fascinating. Unfortunately, winter isn’t

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that time. Music, too, inexhaustible though it may be as a pursuit, has its limitations for me as a focus for blogging. In a word, I just don’t always have musical or weatherly stuff to write about, and I don’t like stretching too far for material. It’s a big world, filled with all kinds of interest and plenty of alternatives when subject matter gets thin. The birds are at the window day in and day out, chattering, flitting, quarreling, and consuming black oil sunflower seed with marvelous rapidity. They deserve a nod if not my outright gratitude. When snow cocoons the northwoods and whirls across the parking lot, they make me smile, and they’ll see me through till spring.

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So this post is for the birds.

Or had you been thinking that all along?

December 18, 2010 by
Filed Under: Life, Michigan, Nature, Outdoors, Photography Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Severe Weather Potential Monday in the Western Great Lakes

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A couple days ago, Lisa informed me that Dr. Greg Forbes was forecasting severe storms Monday in eastern Iowa and northern Illinois. I thought, hmmm…a bit far out to be definitive, but maybe I ought to take a look. I’ve been following the models since, and after this morning’s 6Z runs, it looks like Forbes is onto something.

Both the NAM and GFS suggest that an area from far eastern Iowa through northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin may be under the gun in the afternoon or evening. Here are a couple of NAM maps that will give you an idea why (click on maps to enlarge). The bottom line is that a low pressure system is cranking unseasonably warm temperatures and dewpoints in the mid-50s or higher into the Great Lakes region. The potential exists for weak instability to coincide with stiff 850 and 500 mb jet cores.

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The GFS paints a somewhat more aggressive picture than the NAM and wants to clip things along a few hours faster. If that pans out, then north-central Illinois and south-central Wisconsin may see the best play. But both models are calling for essentially the same thing. Note the bullseye of 500 SBCAPE and 75 J/kg 3km MLCAPE at Clinton, Iowa, coincident with a nose of Theta-E bulging into the area. The GFS depicts the same scenario, albeit at 18Z rather than 21Z.

Today, Sunday, temps are forecast to rise into the 50s here in Grand Rapids, and tomorrow they should make it into the low 60s along with a significant increase in moisture. We stand a chance for a few thunderstorms of our own, particularly when the cold front moves in Monday night. As the KGRR forecast discussion puts it, “GIVEN TEMPS IN THE LOWER 60S…IT MAY ACTUALLY FEEL A BIT HUMID MONDAY AFTERNOON. THE CURRENT MENTION OF SLGHT CHC TSRA STILL LOOKS GOOD.” The SPC day 2 outlook has even thrown in mention of isolated tornadoes from southern Michigan southward, but tomorrow’s models will give a better sense of whether that’s any real concern. Helicity should be adequate, but instability is weak, and a November night-time squall line in Michigan is not your typical tornado machine.

Right now, the bottom line looks like warmer-than-usual weather in our area today and especially tomorrow, with storms in the offing in northern Illinois and nearby areas. And behind that, setting the tone for Thanksgiving, colder weather. So enjoy this last spate of warmth, because winter is waiting in the wings.

November 21, 2010 by
Filed Under: Life, Michigan, Outdoors, Storm Chasing, Tornadoes, Weather Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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