Another World by MikeOlbinski

Standing here, near Bledsoe, Texas on the night of May 29th…it felt like I had traveled to another planet. The wind, the storm, the lightning…but it was the surreal orange glow everywhere that created this otherworldy mood which I’ll never forget. It was utterly amazing and mesmerizing. One of those moments you wish would never end.

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South of Holly by MikeOlbinski

The beauty of storm chasing is seeing structure and organization in clouds that appears unnatural. When you look up and just know…something wicked this way comes.

This was May 24th of this year south of Holly, Colorado. One heck of a day chasing…it started south of Lamar and would end up near Moscow, Kansas before the night was over.

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Rapid City III by MikeOlbinski

Another lightning bolt from that beautiful supercell on June 1st over Rapid City, South Dakota. The storm was dying out at this stage, but the lightning was incredible, especially viewing it from up high. So thankful again to my buddy James Langford for guiding me up to the top via cell phone.

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Inferno by MikeOlbinski

I’ve made quite a few trips to the Grand Canyon this year and last, but never have I seen the color and sky like I did a week ago. I went up there of course hoping for lightning, which never materialized…but this blazing sunset was such a treat it made up for everything!

Someday I’ll get the storms I want over that place, but in the meantime…I’ll take a sunset like that!

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The Wall by MikeOlbinski

Finally captured a decent haboob a few days ago south of Phoenix! Been a slow year on the big dust storm front, so this was such a treat, especially as we are nearing September already and potentially winding down the season soon.

This is a 12-image panoramic taken along Riggs Road…the time-lapses are pretty cool, but I am involved in a special project so I wont be able to show them until that’s figured out…but at least one will appear in my film Monsoon II.

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The End by MikeOlbinski

Driving through an abandoned town and then turning the corner to see this scene was truly one I’ll never forget. We had just witnessed the Dora tornado 30 minutes before, and so we blasted towards the storm in hopes of seeing another one. This was just as good. The sun igniting the rain into a horizon of orange, the blue hail core in the supercell and lightning. It was incredible to witness. I know if I returned to this spot during the day, it would seem normal and boring. But on this night, with the wind, the colors…the lightning…it felt like we were watching the end of the world or something.

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Farewell by MikeOlbinski

On Wednesday, my final day of chasing…I saw way more storm chasers than actual storms most of the day. I decided to target Wyoming instead of Denver because less crowds and beautiful landscapes. But we sat there most of the afternoon watching storms die off in the mountains.

I knew I was headed home that night, so at one point near Chugwater, WY, I called it quits and headed home, hoping that once I hit the Denver area, maybe I’d get lucky with a storm on the way.

And yes. I did. One final, beautiful, stunning LP cell that I time-lapsed for about 20 minutes and caught all kinds of CG’s.

At one point, thanks to some knowledge dropped on me from Paige Burress, you could actually HEAR the masisve hail falling just 1/2 mile away.

Had an amazing 12 days out there…the photos will be coming in the next week and month and all summer I’m sure.

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