Bailing south out of the back side of a severe thunderstorm complex, I had to stop briefly to let pass an extraordinarily dense plume of dust that outflow scoured off plowed fields. What first seemed an annoying inconvenience became one of my favorite, most evocative storm-chasing images of the season, as the deeply shadowed dust nearly (but not completely) obscured a lone tree on the open South Dakota prairie. Imagine what that hardy tree has had to endure over decades of its hardscrabble lifespan out there, among thunderstorm winds, hail, droughts, blizzards, fires, summer heat, perhaps lightning strike(s), and the abrasive action of windblown grit.
4 S Cottonwood SD (12 Jun 22) Looking SW
43.9091, -101.8997