That's exactly what happened on Valerie and Stephan's wedding day.  When I rolled out of bed and saw that ominous radar map, my eyeballs just about fell out of my head.  I didn't think there would be a snowball's chance in hell that this wedding was going to go on as planned.  That green, yellow, red and purple blob spanned the entire width of the state of Minnesota.  That's 250 miles of wedding-photos-mood-killing-blah.

However, Mother Nature was dealing with Derek Montgomery and the DRock was 16 for 16 when it came to outdoor weddings and the weather playing out in his favor (that is an accurate number and I double-checked to be sure).  Was this to be the haymaker that dropped DRock's perfect weather average from perfection?  The Buster Douglas to Mike Tyson's championship streak?  The Jim Joyce to Armando Galarraga's perfect game?

Not quite.  It was a close call and was pouring buckets right up until it was showtime.  I'd like to take credit and say the outdoor wedding went on as planned all because of me, but I'm not really that type of guy.  On the other hand, opening up the Accuweather app on my iPhone and seeing that green, yellow, red and purple mass split up and go north and south of Two Harbors did help convince the couple to keep the ceremony outside.  And I'm glad they did because that meant gigantic diffused softbox sky and maintaining my perfect outdoor wedding average.

With the weather drama aside, the ceremony went on as planned and despite new rain clouds derailing plans for more time to do outdoor wedding pictures with Valerie and Stephan, I'm happy that we were able to squeeze in the ceremony in spite of the crazy weather that the day presented.  They were probably more happy than I was that this wedding stayed outside considering much of the groom's family made the drive all the way from Grande Prairie, Alberta.  That's 1,489 miles if you take the short route according to Google Maps.

Since then I've had a few close calls, but the perfect average remains intact.  Now that I've published this fact to the entire planet via this blog, I'm sure my average will promptly be ruined by rain clouds and thunder bolts.  I guess better to get it out of the way now than in 359 days when I get married.  Not that I'm counting or anything?

Back to menacing storm cloud wedding day... Here are a few selections from Valerie and Stephan's wedding below.  The best of luck to them in the future and may their days be filled with slightly less rain clouds than their wedding day.

As I was driving back to Duluth a couple weeks ago, I was thinking about this when I drove into some thick snow squalls just south of Superior.  Just about every square inch of the landscape turned white, which forced me to drive slower, but when things look like what they do below, it's a good thing.  And like most storms to pass through my area, the remnants of this storm lasted for a day then were gone as quickly as they came.

I have no idea how in the previous three years that I've been up here that I never made it down to the shore or up along Skyline Parkway to photograph this amazing event.  I have no doubt I will be returning later this week for some more shots.  To get these, I had to rise at 530 a.m. and drive down to Canal Park.  I made it there way too early as I waited in the parking lot for almost an hour before any light broke through the horizon.  At about 7 a.m., the parking lots began filling with other people who had the same idea as me.  They lugged their tripods, cameras, jackets and mittens out to the shore to capture what in my mind is one of nature's most awesome spectacles around these parts.  The temperature when I stepped out of the house this morning was a balmy 21 below zero with wind chills approaching 35 below.  Beautiful day.

The shots of the lighthouse were taken in Canal Park while the shots from above were taken along Skyline Parkway.  Next time I am going to have to remember to bring my tripod as I missed some cool shots right when the light was breaking through, but I'm both happy with my first effort and in awe of what Mother Nature shows us each and everyday.

All told we saw about two feet of snow with some freezing rain, sleet and high winds on top of that.  From about midday Thursday and continuing now, we have had precipitation of some form falling.  It's been awesome.

One of my favorite places to go when storms bring high winds is Lake Superior.  I didn't grow up near a very large lake so every time a storm comes into Duluth, I get fascinated by the waves and the way they crash into the rocks in Canal Park and along the lakewalk.  I think it even fascinates many native Duluthians to a degree because the parking lot on Christmas day was packed full of people coming down to check out the action.

I didn't really set out with the purpose of showing the calm of this storm juxtaposed against the fury, but that's the way it turned out.  I first set out Thursday morning to find some images of the storm.  I've always wanted to descend into one of Duluth's many streams that sit at the bottom of what amount to deep gorges carved out of the land.  Due to work and time constraints in the past, I never had that opportunity, but now I do.  One of the amazing things about Duluth is that you can be right in the middle of 90,000 people and feel like you are in the middle of the woods.  That is how I felt when I was down at the bottom of a frozen stream.  Snowflakes were falling in what seemed like slow-motion, branches were aching from the weight of newly fallen snow and a muffled gurgle from the stream was bubbling up through cracks in the ice.  It was a stark contrast to what I would experience a day later along the shores of Lake Superior.

Imagine being out in the middle of a field with no trees, no obstructions and have 60mph winds pelt you with grains of sand and rice.  That's what it was like being down near Lake Superior minus the sand and rice.  Thirty foot waves were crashing against the shore tossing chunks of ice and small pebbles against those who ventured too closely.  Vehicles in the parking lots with a front row view of the action would be routinely pelted with spray as the waves crashed over the rocks lining the shore.  These vehicles were probably sitting a good 60 yards from the shore, but the relentless winds kept pushing the water inland.

While I'm ready for a break from the nasty weather, I still wouldn't mind this happening a few times a month.