SkyPix

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

Tough Day on the Trail

By

Good thing this was in 2003 and not, say, 150 years earlier!  At this location, the Santa Fe Trail crosses U.S. 400 in southwestern Kansas.  It was hard enough traversing that pioneer path of promise and pestilence, under threats from hostile natives, more-hostile nonnative robbers, lack of water, rattlesnakes, and of course unexpectedly late or early winter weather, bracketing the withering … [Read more...]

Flickering Twilight Supercell

By

Sometimes the demise of a long-lived, briefly tornadic supercell around sunset doesn't mean the end of a chase day.   We thought it would, having escaped south from the gusty and hail-filled demise of the Loyal/Kingfisher/Piedmont/west OKC storm, which itself dropped hailstones up to 5 inches across.  However, a new supercell formed quickly on an intersection between the old supercell's outflow … [Read more...]

Sea Foam

By

Never the same as ever before nor ever again, swirling forms of foam on the ocean twist themselves into an infinite variety of shapes, shapes within shapes, and shapes still deeper.  I could have taken a thousand unique photos; but this among a few will suffice.  When I was a child, I sometimes would blow on a foamy cup of hot chocolate or bowl of soup to watch the fluid spin little cyclones and … [Read more...]

HP Drum

By

This large supercell sported an intense, nearly circular, heavy-precipitation (HP) core of flooding rain and severe hail (reports to near 1.75-inch diameter).  Had there been a tornado in there, we couldn't have seen it safely, and HPs with drum-shaped cores like this rarely "recover" back to classic structure with better visibility.   As such, we soon left this big, dark mess for another storm to … [Read more...]

Surf the Fog

By

Ocean, land and air diffuse together into the distance, a symbolic (and partly literal) testament to their interdependence.  These quiet beaches along the Strait of Juan De Fuca, the northern edge of Washington's Olympic Peninsula, are wonderful for losing oneself in the fog.  This might be a pleasant dream for the seeker of solitude; but for many a ship captain, such a scene is a nightmare. 2 NE … [Read more...]

Ada Adieu

By

We had spent much of the afternoon on a separate supercell farther south, watching its tornadic exhibition.  Although we missed (by mere minutes) getting a shot of the Ada supercell's last tornado, its twilight structural extravaganza didn't disappoint.  On the southern outskirts of town, we found a vantage to view the storm's colorful splendor.  A ragged funnel cloud dangled from the base, … [Read more...]