I’m not a true storm-chaser or adrenaline junkie, but when my friend texted me about an incoming line of storms minutes before my weather alerts went off, I knew something “good” was brewing. I looked into the storm’s details, and decided it was safe to attempt to photograph its arrival. I parked at a popular pull-off on the Old Mission Peninsula north of Traverse City with lots of other curious folks, and waited. The morning sky was flat, hazy grey far longer than I expected. Based on the radar, the storm appeared to be sitting directly above us. Then, the western horizon darkened, the still air stirred, and the edge of a shelf cloud reached down into the vineyard (figuratively – there was nothing like a tornado here).

The temperature dropped 15 degrees (from 83 to 68F), and fat raindrops screamed down from the heavens. Not able to face into the winds without coating my lens in water, I turned east and discovered rich texture in the just-passed clouds.

Deciding I’d like to capture those cauliflower clouds over the bay, I hopped in my car and headed south to the East Bay boat launch. The storm had moved too quickly for that, but I still delighted in the photo opportunities provided by the dancing rain on Lake Michigan.

I never know whether to expect a summer rain to make things intensely humid after it passes, or for it to clear the air. In this case, the front swept the haze away, leaving a brilliant summer afternoon in its wake.