This week, the Lens-Artists team welcomes Beth of Wandering Dogs as a new member. Her first challenge is “stormy”. She writes, “This week I’m challenging you to show us your stormy images. Think about stormy weather, stormy feelings, or maybe stormy situations.” For my challenge response, I’m focusing on the weather and images I’ve captured when the skies were gray. My opening photo features a view from a catamaran off the Na Pali Coast of Kauai, Hawaii, captured in 2013. Kauai’s storms often feature rainbows. Such was the case in this storm.
We stopped in Costa Rica during our 2019 Panama Canal cruise. As we left, a storm shower approached from the west. If you’re wondering how a sunset could be overland in Costa Rica, the harbor is sheltered by a bay. As we exited the bay, we could see the western shoreline.
In January 2021, we were staying in Buckeye, Arizona, for the winter. I noticed a storm coming from the north. We headed toward Skyline Park, just a couple of miles from our house. Although we were still in bright sunshine, the threatening clouds foretold a storm that would completely obscure the White Tank Mountains. Shortly thereafter, we were in a downpour.
At Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, this monument is a commanding structure that stands in honor of the 34,530 Pennsylvania soldiers who fought in the Battle of Gettysburg. Erected in 1914, it is the largest of the state monuments on the battlefield. Given the heavy rainfall during our tour bus stop at the memorial, I decided to capture an “artistic” abstract view of the monument through the bus window.
One of my brothers used to live in Fort Peck, Montana. We visited there on July 4, 2020. On a drive around Fort Peck Lake, a manmade reservoir created by the dam at Fort Peck, we noticed a storm approaching. The storm was so wide that I captured it in multiple images with my Samsung phone and stitched them together with Adobe Lightroom Classic. Eventually, the storm crossed the lake and hit us with full fury.
I found these details about the storm, which brought hail and damaging winds, through an Internet search. Reports indicated hailstones up to 1.75 inches in diameter—about the size of golf balls—fell in the area around 9:30 PM CDT. The hailstorm lasted approximately 15–20 minutes and left the ground nearly white in some places. Fortunately for us, we only saw a few hailstones where we were.
In addition to the hail, wind gusts estimated at 60–80 mph caused damage in Valley County, where Fort Peck is located. The overall storm system caused extensive property damage, particularly to roofs, siding, windows, and vehicles due to hail, as well as damage to docks at the Fort Peck Marina, considerable tree damage, and power outages resulting from strong winds.
Mother Nature certainly put on her own fireworks show that Independence Day — just not the kind anyone had hoped for. You can find the photographic details of these images on my Flickr site here. That’s all for my challenge response in support of Beth’s first challenge as a team member. It was a perfect juxtaposition to last week when Sofia brought us a “Mellow” challenge. Next week, Anne of Slow Shutter Speed is our host. Be sure to follow her so you will be notified when her challenge post is published at noon Eastern Time on Saturday.
John Steiner
Journeys with Johnbo 
Stormy skies are so impressive, and I really enjoyed these and your words as well
Thanks, Ritva!
Oh, goodness, John! Last week I thought your landscapes were the best only to have to rethink that again! Fort Peck Lake is truly magnificent.
Thanks, Sofia! That was an impressive storm at Fort Peck. One of my relatives commented on Facebook that she remembered that day well.
A great gallery John. Fort lake Peck is my favourite
Thanks, Brian!
You’ve captured some wonderful stormy skies John! I especially like the first shot, of Hawaii, and the last one of Fort Peck Lake 🙂 I’m a bit puzzled by your point about sunset in Costa Rica though – as the country has the sea on both sides, surely it must be possible to see the sun set over the land from most points off the east coast?
You are correct, of course. On Panama Canal cruises, we have only docked at Puntarenas, which is on the west coast.
😀👍🏼
These are great stormy images John. I especially like the last one.
Thanks. Brad!
John, these are really impressive stormy images. The last one of Fort Peck Lake is great. I also love the rainbow in Kauai.
Thanks, Beth!
Great storm images John. I hope I can get some great sky colors when I visit Costa Rica later this year. Send out good thoughts for me!
Have a safe trip! We like our visits to Costa Rica!
😎
Fabulous! xx
Thanks, Jo!
Well done John, some incredible skies in this one! I love what you did with the PA monument especially. Your clouds are amazing in all of your images.
Thanks, Tina! That shot through the window beat getting soaked outside. >grin<
Great selections. I love the variety. 👏
Thanks, John!
There’s a lot of drama in the Arizona and Montana photos!!
Thanks, Nora! Those clouds were hard to show on a simple image.
Wow! That second photo caught my eye for a while. The light going in so many directions…beautiful.
It was a beautiful sky! Thanks.
That’s a beautiful set. Specially the view over the sand dunes and weeds
Thanks, I.J.
Great stormy images John, the clouds are amazing.
Clouds really make for a powerful landscape image. Thanks, Leanne!
Beautiful pictures, Mr John!
Thank you!
You’re welcome.
Lovely images, John.
Thanks! Sorry for the late response. Your comment was in my SPAM folder.
Wow! You got yourself a wonderful stormy gallery.
Thanks, Egidio! It was fun looking for my storm photos with Excire. Sometimes its AI picks inscrutable images. >grin<
Excire is good, but I totally agree with you about some its choices at times.
What a gorgeous sunset in Costa Rica, John!
That was, indeed! I love sunsets at sea!