Few sights on the American plains are as dramatic as seeing a thunderstorm roll through -- except perhaps for a tornado. Fortunately I've never been near a tornado, but I have seen lots of prairie thunderstorms.
Many of these storms are quite limited in size, often only a four or eight miles across. They darken the sky and obscure the horizon with their heavy downpour which is often mixed with hail. Sometimes the hail is as large as tennis balls and can do great damage to vehicles and homes, not to mention anhilating crops and injuring livestock.
These photos were taken in southeastern Alberta, about an hour's drive east of Medicine Hat. I stopped for about 10 minutes and watched the progress of the storm, which headed southwest, so I only got caught at the edge of it and fortunately missed its hail.
The photo below is a panoramic view -- a slightly different perspective.
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