By Scott Shephard

Years ago, before I started to sail and camp on Lake Oahe in central South Dakota, I believed that Oahe and it’s environs were risky places to go, largely because huge storms could build ominously over the western plains and then sweep in over unsuspecting sailors, campers and fishermen.

The reality was that if you watched the weather and the horizon, this was a safe place. Only once did I get caught in a bad storm while anchored at my favorite place on Oahe. And it did blow me, my friend Scott P. and my 2 ton boat off the water. But that’s another story.

This past Saturday I was camping at the Little Bend Recreation Area 30 miles or so north of Pierre and the weather forecast for Lake Oahe was for relatively light winds and chance of thunderstorms here and there. It was clear in the morning but as the day went on, the clouds moved in. But the good news was that all we got was an amazing cloud show - no rain, no hail and no 60+ mph winds.

When I was processing this photo the next morning, I realized that his cloud looks pretty ominous and I was reminded of the scene in “Close Encounters of a Third Kind” when the cute little kid gets pulled out the dog door of their house in the middle of the night by . . . . something. The horrified mother, who witnesses this, runs from the house and it greeted by a huge, ominous cloud that is lit from the inside with a strange, glowing light.

You’ll be happy to know that when I saw the cloud in my post, I didn’t run from my Winnebago towards it. Instead, I launched my drone and took a few photos. I’m guessing that if I had been anchored in a bay, I might not have felt so gratified by this amazing show of nature.

DJI Mavic 2 Pro 1/160sec f/4.5 iso 100 5 frame HDR.