Peace is often found in the stillness after the storm.

After a long day of chasing storms, I always find peace in these moments where I can stop and just watch the beauty of the storm during the blue hour. The sky lights up in magical ways. On this day, I had been chasing a tornado warned storm through Southern Minnesota since 3pm. It was a chase where I had to drive constantly without much time to stop for photos. I was keeping up, but barely. As I was driving through a small town, a new tornado warning was issued, and the sirens were blaring. I began to speed up as I was leaving the town and trying to get to a safer position. I was just barely ahead of the circulation. And then, a cop pulled me over! That was the LONGEST 15 minutes of my life. I told him I was trying to get out of the way of the storm since there may be a tornado at any moment. He said to me “You can’t outrun the storm; all you can do is wait for it to pass.” I agreed since he didn’t seem so happy. But in my mind, I was screaming. Yes, officer, let me sit here and let the tornado pass right over me. Good idea. Luckily the storm did not produce a tornado, it was just a warning issued due to the radar indication. After the cop was gone, I continued south with the storm until I ended up in Iowa, just as the sun was setting.

Finally, I got to stop and breathe. The best moment of the day was standing on the side of the road watching as the sky became a painting right before my eyes.

June 2nd, 2020 near Stacyville, Iowa