A Morning Double Rainbow!

There’s nothing like looking out your front window and seeing a huge, full double rainbow. It’s even more special when the rainbow is in the early morning and in the west, which seems to happen here in Ohio far less than seeing a rainbow in the east. (Click on image for larger view.)

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Severe Storms And Lightning Strike

We've been in a pattern of severe thunderstorms over the last few days. Last night a storm moved in over Lake Erie and brought in very high winds and heavy rain. The video below shows the storm wind up in intensity as it moved through. The following day, there was more of the same. This time,  I captured a lightning strike. In the second video below, a section of the lightning bolt can be seen striking only a few hundred feet away. (A slow motion video of the lightning bolt is toward the end of the second video,  where the strike is more visible.)

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Cleveland Skyline View From The Tower at Erieview

I used to work in the Tower at Erieview in Cleveland Ohio.  My office had an easterly view which wasn't very interesting, but the west side of the building has a nice view of the Cleveland skyline. I was in the building for a short visit today and while there, I snapped a photo of the west view from one of the lower floors. (Click on the image for a larger view.)

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Baltimore Orioles, Yellow Warblers, and Red Winged Blackbirds Abundant in Mentor, Ohio

We made the rounds of the best birding places in Mentor Ohio on Sunday. The weather was sunny and slightly cool, but the birds were very active. At Mentor Headlands State Park on the dunes trail, we saw many Yellow Warblers and one Black-Throated Green Warbler. All of the warblers were very active, stopping only for seconds, barely enough time to get the camera to focus. I managed to get one photo of the Yellow Warbler as it sang. At the Mentor Marsh Wake Robin Trail, the Red-Winged Blackbirds were more than happy to pose. And at Veterans Park, one gorgeous Baltimore Oriole stopped to preen while others flew by. Here are a few photos.

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Filming “Strangest Weather On Earth” A Year Ago Today

A year ago today, I was at the Lake Erie shoreline in Cleveland Ohio to be in FRONT of the camera for a segment of The Weather Channel series "Strangest Weather on Earth” being filmed by a UK production company.  The temperatures were below freezing with rain, freezing drizzle, and high winds. The topic being covered was the Cleveland Harbor West Lighthouse becoming completely encased in ice from a weather phenomenon which occurred in December of 2010. (That link includes some of the photos I took of the lighthouse that day.)

Here’s photo taken at the time of the filming. Despite being dressed in layers, it wasn’t quite enough, once the wind and precipitation was added to the cold temperatures. Needless to say, despite my best efforts to protect my head, it was a bad hair day!

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Heavy Snow + High Winds Make Nice Drifts

We had almost 10 inches of snow last night, which came with lots of wind. It makes for treacherous driving and lots of snow drifts. One 3 foot drift blocked our back door. But the drifts in the front yard by the globe taxus bushes made for some interesting patterns. Here’s a photo (click on the image for a larger view).

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A Frozen Lake Erie & Cleveland Skyline

There is nothing quite like the frigid cold look of a frozen Lake Erie. Well, maybe except for the Arctic and Antarctica. Here’s a look at the Cleveland Ohio skyline and a frozen Lake Erie, taken from a 8 stories up in a building in Euclid Ohio, right on the shoreline. The ice was blindingly white and not only hard on the eyes, but on the camera as well, which, like my eyes, had difficulty adjusting to the intense light. (Click on the image for a larger view.)

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