 "Arm of God," by Mitch Dobrowner. Taken in Galatia, Kansas in July 2009. |
Mitch Dobrowner’s no typical storm chaser. For the past year and a half, he’s been following Mother Nature’s moods—and the extreme weather that follows—then capturing these natural phenomena with his camera. Eight of his awe-inspiring images appear in the November-December Audubon, now available online.
With the help of an expert guide, Dobrowner has had what senior editor Julie Leibach describes as a front-row seat to the bluster, chasing severe weather across the Great Plains. His favorites are supercells, huge thunderstorms distinctive in part for their persistence. “[Supercells] are like these living things,” he says. “They do everything they can possibly do to stay alive. And every one’s very different.”
The science behind these storms is fascinating, too. “As the supercell travels, it can devour other burgeoning storms in its path, gaining steam,” Leibach writes. “By deviating from the primary air current, this billowy beast can elude death for hours, avoiding what often quickly kills a garden-variety thunderstorm: its own cool precipitation.”
Check out the rest of Dobrowner’s photos here. Don’t miss the rest of the November-December issue, which includes a camera guide by David Schloss, a piece about New Zealand by Mel White, as well as the story of the 34,500 volunteers who signed up with Audubon to help after the Deepwater Horizon spill, plus much more!