| Travel Image Gallery |
Severe Weather Gallery
| Severe Weather & Travel Photography By Martin Kucera |
| Tornado Alley 2005 |
| Florida Lightning, Waterspout, Hurricane, Large Hail & Tornado Photography. Adventure Travel Notes From Around The World. |
| Supercell thunderstorm in Kansas during sunset. |
| June 10th, 2006 - Incredible supercell in northwest Colorado. Notice the intense hail shaft. |
| Martin Kucera filming a half mile wide tornado near Jayton, TX on June 12th, 2006 |
| Click above for Hurricane Wilma sample video. Wilma greatly affected south Florida and Florida Keys. For chase account click on the following link http://www.martinkucera.com/Hurricane_Wilma.html |
| Late summer of 2005 - a perfect thunderstorm over Florida Bay. This almost stationary storm provided plenty of lightning flashes and photo opportunities. |
| June 12th, 2005 - Texas Panhandle supercell that produced multiple tornadoes including a very photogenic wedge shortly after this shot was taken |
June 4th, 2005 - Elusive tornado near Hiawatha, KS
| June 12th 2005 - Kent County, TX rotating mesocyclone about to produce multiple tornadoes |
| A translucent smoke cylinder of a forming waterspout near Key West (Summer of 2005) just seconds before the picture was taken this then weak tornado ran directly over my car. This is one of the early stages in waterspout development. Later you were able to look up and see the funnel extend all the way to the parent cloud directly overhead. Notice the boat in a close proximity the to waterspout. Image from video. |
| Waterspout near Long Key, FL - summer of 2005 |
| August 15th - A lone sunset thunderstorm over Florida Bay. |
Florida Keys
Key West, FL
| It has been almost a year since the amazing lightning event that happened on April 10th, 2006 here in the Florida Keys. I have never seen lightningas intense as I have on that memorable day... Click on the photo above to watch a short video clip of one of many positive lightning discharges from that night. |
| Greensburg, KS - EF5 Wedge Tornado May 4th, 2007 - 9:50:40pm |
| April 24th, 2007 - Central Kansas stormy afternoon. |
| April 23rd, 2007 - Protection, KS Tornado |
| May 5th, 2007 - A wall cloud forms just minutes before producing a large cone tornado in Kansas. |
Lightning Images of 2007
| LP Supercell in Nebraska on June 10th, 2007 |
| Feb 12 & 13th - Severe storms erupted over south Florida and the Keys during the past couple of days. A warm front passage on the 12th brought numerous tornadoes reported in Cocoa Beach area and later at night on the extreme south-west coast of Florida. Some damage to buildings and marina occurred there. I watched frequent lightning in that area from my home in the Keys. Several severe storms with tornado signatures repeatedly tracked near Chokoloskee, FL during the evening of the Feb 12th. That night stayed quite busy for the southern Florida peninsula. There were tornado warned severe thunderstorm cells from Palm Beach and points SW for several hours. This was a good severe weather episode. It helped bring much needed rain for south Florida and the Everglades. Florida sees most of it's severe weather and tornadoes in February. On the 13th - a line of severe thunderstorms blasted through the Keys. A waterspout was reported just south of Cudjoe Key. Later, another waterspout came ashore as a tornado to produce some damage in Marathon, FL. These two days brought a welcomed change to the local weather. We have had a benign weather pattern here in the Keys for several months now. It is only a couple months before the Plains are going to get busy with some amazing thunderstorms and I'll be traveling out there this year again. Last year's trips were a great success. This spring I have some exciting plans ahead when it comes to storm chasing and waterspouts in particular. I hope to bring more of the news on that here soon... |
| Feb 26 - Several waterspouts occurred in the Keys within the past few days. Then the much advertised strong cold front made its way SE across Florida. Nothing much to talk about in a way of severe weather or storms down here in the Keys. I was getting excited to finally do some lightning photography but the front let me down. Only a few distant lightning flashes and the front moved through the area without producing any real good looking thunderstorms. March is almost here and the weather pattern is going to change very soon in the Plains, I hope to be able to fly out soon for some great supercell chasing and photography. |
| April 7th - Moisture starved cloud line over Key West, FL |
| Florida Keys in April - this is one of the driest months in south Florida. But really great things are going to start happening soon. Tornado season is here and waterspouts will pick up on intensity in few short weeks. Preparations are in full gear. This summer is going to be intense I promise.. |
| May 22 - Filmed a nice elephant trunk tornado that formed over the interstate 70 in Kansas. Unfortunately it managed to turn a semi over into a ditch. One fatality reported today caused by a very large tornado in north-west Colorado... |
| May 23 - Another incredible tornado outbreak in Kansas today. Over fifty reported tornadoes with many long tracked and destructive ones. The area of Greensburg, Coldwater and Protection, KS that were hit hard last year experienced the devastation again tonight. Numerous large tornadoes tracked through there just after dark... I witnessed six tornadoes today, most of them of low contrast and wrapped in rain. This was an intense 12 hr chase as I persisted till 1am when the system finally eased into a squall line rolling through eastern Kansas. Spending a night in McPherson, KS. |
| June 11 - Wet season finally got going here in the Florida Keys with the past few days being quite stormy. Early this morning a great thunderstorm erupted over Florida Bay. I spent hours out there braving hordes of mosquitoes again, their are on the increase for sure. Perfectly still Bay waters provided for a nice reflection with numerous lightning bolts. |
| Vivid rainbow forms on departing evening thunderstorms during my last day in Kansas a couple of weeks ago. Full account coming here soon. I have been quite busy with planning a new waterspout project and waterspout / lightning chasing so far this rainy season. |
| June 23rd - We have had some great looking thunderstorms for several days all over the upper Florida Keys. I managed to film a waterspout near Long Key. There is a great nightly show over the Everglades and that is where I travel today in search of severe storms and lightning. Hope the day is active. |
| USS Spiegel Grove Dive brought us down to 118 ft this time around. Diving this magnificent wreck twice a week these warm days - Spiegel Grove is the largest artificial reef in the world at 510 feet long. It sits at 130 ft. deep off Key Largo, FL. |
All Images & Text (c) 2008 FloridaLightning.com |
| July 7th - One of the two earliest waterspouts I have ever witnessed - this good one formed at 6:28am this morning just south of Islamorada, FL. It sure was great to be up so early due to thunder & lightning once again in a long while. |
| July 7th - Large waterspout with a well developed spray ring just north of Long Key, FL. Witnessed a dark spot & spiral stage from the top of Channel 5 bridge before this large waterspout fully developed. The waterspout rivaled the giant waterspout of June 24th from last year in Marathon, FL there for a while before quickly dissipating. Later, another solid waterspout formed and moved onshore in Upper Matecumbe. One of the greatest days of waterspout chasing ever. Full account & video soon.... |
| July 27 - A great pattern has set up over Florida Keys during the past few days. Good setup for numerous showers and thunderstorms has arrived and may be here to stay for a while. I am really liking this typical summer time set up. Very light winds, early morning waterspout producing showers and afternoon lower Keys waterspout producing cloud line. This is the most exciting time of the year by far. I find almost no time to sleep with plenty to photograph all day and night. And things are going to get even more amazing very soon as I should completely devote myself now to waterspout chasing on a boat, the next few weeks should be the peak for waterspout chasing in Florida Keys. Hurricanes will be an increasingly real threat to Florida Keys in the weeks to come as we near the months of August and September soon.... |
| August 5th - Filmed a short lived, quite violent waterspout ripping a boat's cargo into pieces just north of Lower Sugarloaf Key along with Jim Leonard and a British film crew. The past few days have been absolutely amazing when it comes to strong storms, frequent lightning and waterspout chasing - perfect start for a month of August. |
| Giant positive lightning bolt strikes near Tea Table Key in Islamorada, FL on August 11th, 2008. Stormy pattern has been lingering near the Keys for the past week bringing spectacular waterspout chasing & incredible late night lightning photogpaphy. One of the best nights for lightning photography I have ever experienced in the Florida Keys. Full account from this night of lightning coming soon... |
| September 5th - Hurricane Ike has been approaching the general area of Florida Keys for the past few days... there is really a good chance for a possible hurricane intercept early this upcoming week. Ike could even be a major hurricane directly impacting Florida Keys. We'll have to wait and see the exact track of hurricane Ike into late this weekend. Most likely there is going to be a mandatory evacuation of Florida Keys residents on Sunday morning as a mandatory evacuation of tourists and visitors goes into effect tomorrow morning. A land fall or even a close passage of a major hurricane could have devastating effects on Florida Keys. Hurricane storm surge and associated flooding could be especially bad. Most of the Florida Keys island chain is only a couple of feet or so above the sea level. I am staying put here to document possible hurricane Ike land fall in the Keys no matter what circumstances may arise. There is also a decent chance the cyclone will track more southerly, this would spell trouble for Cuba in particular. I will do my best to keep this column up to date until it is the time to go out and film Ike... |
| Florida Keys waterspout filmed near Sugarloaf Key September 17th, 2008 |
| Positively charged lightning strike over the Atlantic ocean. Islamorada, FL - Sept28, 2008 |
| Florida Keys waterspout in Islamorada, FL during dusk hour on September 28th, 2008. This waterspout was about five miles off shore on the ocean side of the Florida Keys. |
| Large Florida Keys waterspout just north of Marathon, FL on August 25th, 2007 |
| September 29th, 2008 - Waterspout spray ring up close and personal while on a boat. Notice the trail the spray ring leaves in its wake. Filmed near Indian Key in Islamorada, FL. |
| Florida Keys waterspout NW of Islamorada, FL. Sept 29th, 2008 |
| FloridaLightning.com |
