From the Office of ID

In October of 2006, I had opportunity to drive the length of Interstate 15 going south through Idaho.

What began as a scenic drive in the country, became an experience not often observed by many people.

The trip started with a series of photo's I took, just as a fancy...



















This is where it started to get my attention, there was just something about the following image that made me look and take pictures. So I did, through the windshield while driving south.







Then I realized what was happenning,...do you see it yet?





Of course, I can see the tonado here, and I can tell it is going east. So naturally I speed up as I am compelled to try to intersect with the storm.



Here it seems like the storm is beginning to diminish.



At this time, after driving very fast to meet the storm, I pulled up on a overpass exit. I had two reasons for this: one, to make sure I had a bridge to hide under, and two, because the storm seemed to be passing over this area.

As you can see, the trademark bubble-formations give a hint of the instability of the atmosphere here.



The squall line had already passed over me.



Now, the tornado had already dissapated, but the central formation still existed.

Here is the reminants of the tornado as it began to pass over me. There was still significant rotation to it as well as the large section right below the rotation sticking downward from the main cloud. It was alot darker now.



Opposite the storm was this huge rainbow.



And then the main storm cloud passed over me.



It wasnt all that dramatic as I would have hoped, but it was a rare experience for me. I was just lucky to have my camera with me.


The last shot of the day, a moonrise in a red sky.