Storm Print – Blue Hour Barberpole

Blue Hour Barberpole

Magnificent supercell barberpole updraft over McCook, NE

beautiful blue hour barberpole

From a personal point of view, this image is so close to being my idea of the perfect shot. Nature has sculpted an unobstructed, absolutely beautiful striated LP mesocyclone at Blue Hour but has fallen short of giving me the lightning bolt straight out of the anvil...

Limited Edition

Sizes available:

A2(Printed Area – 544mm x 345mm)

£345

A3(Printed Area – 380mm x 241mm)

£192

true blue

The incredible McCook chase continued into the twilight hours as that gorgeous sculpted supercell matured into this classic striated barberpole. I've always wanted a shot like this and I doubt I'll ever come across these conditions for at least another 10 years. Given how clear and unobstructed the view is, I can't really complain about a lack of a lightning bolt and though it was electrically very active, it was sadly all intracloud.
Regardless, this was an extremely satisfying finale to our 2022 tour as this behemoth faded away into the night air after giving us such a show. Nature at its very very finest.
I love the opposing angles of the low and mid-level inflow bands and how they draw your eye straight to that massive updraft column. You could see the cloud rising and twisting in real-time as it ploughed into the troposphere and creating that amazing back-sheared anvil.

This image is a panorama consisting of 6 separate photos shot in portrait and stitched in Lightroom. Usually I prefer to shoot panos in either 35 or 50mm but this storm but given the enormity of this storm and our proximity to it, I was forced to shoot in 24mm.

Photographic print of a spectacular striated thunderstorm updraft during blue hour.

shot with:
  • Canon R6 + Canon L Series 24-105mm IS USM @ 24mm | f/4 | 1/8sec | ISO640 - stitched pano

printed on:
  • Fotospeed Photo Smooth Pearl 290
  • Fotospeed Natural Soft Textured Bright White 315