Storm Print – Lamar

Lamar

Spectacular mothership supercell over eastern Colorado

mothership supercell storm

One of the greatest sights to see when storm chasing across the Great Plains is the hallowed mothership supercell and this monster of a storm over Eastern Colorado certainly didn't disappoint...

Standard Edition

Sizes available:

A3(Printed Area – 380mm x 237mm)

£50

stack of plates and wedding cakes

Often referred to as 'stack of plates' or 'wedding cake', the mothership supercell is one of the most spectacular sights in stormchasing. On a day that originally promised so little, such a spectacular stormy surprise is something that Colorado is known for and is often referred to as Colorado Magic.
June 6th 2022 was one such day.
What started out as a high-based hailstorm south of Limon spent the entire afternoon lazily organising itself into a colossal textbook mothership near Lamar. The plate stack on this monster ended up being so vast I constantly had trouble trying to fit any of it into a 12mm full frame image.
Once this storm eventually transitioned into a tornado warned supercell it began to surge southward. At times we had difficulty keeping ahead of it, pausing only briefly to grab shots, but thankfully Colorado has an amazing gridded network of roads making it an amazing state to chase in. At its peak, as is common with mothership supercells especially those found in Colorado, this storm exhibited some gloriously vivid blue and teal colours to compliment its already stunning structure.
Shortly after this shot was taken, we sat on a quiet dirt road and watched it slide away to the south as its lightning activity increased. Spreading overhead was a fantastic back-sheared anvil fan heavy with mammatus.
The chase wasn't over yet but this was an unexpected gem on a day that really didn't promise much.

A huge mothership supercell over farmland in Colorado.

shot with:
  • Canon R6 + Sigma 12-24mm EX DG HSM @ 12mm | f/7.1 | 1/10sec | ISO100

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