SkyPix

A digital photographic storybook of clouds, weather and water by Roger Edwards.

Dark Severe Surge

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As messy and beset with precip and outflow as this complex supercell was, with this tremendous surge happening just to the south of one of a few embedded mesocyclones along US 277, I wouldn't have imagined that a couple of fortunate friends and scientific colleagues were seeing a legitimate tornado on this other side, and especially, able to see it in the darkness and rain.  They somehow found an … [Read more...]

Addition by Division: Supercell Style

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Homing in on a big, nasty (but nicely structured) HP supercell from the northeast, we didn't expect that it would divide into a multiple-mesocyclone complex as we got close enough for a look beneath.  Yet it did.  This was the northernmost of them, seemingly doomed for two reasons:  1) a dense cascade of precipitation already was plunging through the cloud base in the southern (nearest) part of … [Read more...]

Another Northwest Texas HP Stormzilla

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This was a day for messy supercells:  first a complex and beastly storm in Motley and Dickens Counties that ultimately undercut itself with outflow and gusted out, then after about an hour and a half of transit to its north and east, this big, heavy-precip stack of wildness in the distance of Haskell County, on the southern end of what by then was a large cluster of storms.  Long ago I nicknamed … [Read more...]

Complicated Supercell

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A complex supercell that already had done one prominent mesocyclone jump (to a new occlusion point) was in the process of another here.  This was quite evident once we navigated a gnarly but passable dirt road southeastward to avoid the forward-flank core, then zigzagged back southwest into the updrafts' broader path.   A wildflower-festooned foreground field was a nice touch; it soon would take a … [Read more...]

Mesocyclone Jump

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Here is an entry that is more educational than photogenic, but I'm including it because of the valuable lesson.  It involves one supercell, two mesocyclones, and a distressing situation for all storm observers piddling around under the far one!  This sturdy and mature supercell, right as it was entering a substantial void of paved roads, "jumped mesocyclones" to a new occlusion point along the … [Read more...]

Organizing Edwards Plateau Mesocyclone

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A young supercell, its mesocyclone finally getting well-organized, sported a nice, two-tiered wall cloud with scuddy, shelfy characteristics on the near front side.   The heart of the low-level mesocyclone was at distant rear, beyond the limestone ridge.  Between the choppy terrain and common presence of scrubby mesquite and cedar trees 10 to 20 feet high, lowest-layer storm viewing on the Edwards … [Read more...]