SkyPix

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

Ribs Aloft

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Two striking supercells can occupy different parts of the sky at the same time!  In this case, an older storm was being absorbed into this one's forward flank (off view at right, but here's a look).  This one already was producing a large amount of outflow, but managed t maintain enough surface-based inflow in its notch to the north to keep pounding along after the storm merger.  Meanwhile, the … [Read more...]

Supercell Absorption

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Since I left Norman early that morning, I hadn't stepped foot out of the vehicle for more than about 10 minutes each, twice, to get gas and grab grub, while driving on the straightest path to this spot.  The second half of that 8-hour trek, from just north of Salina to here, saw a supercell form midday, deep in the Sandhills, and wander east-southeastward, looking ever-more impressive on radar.  … [Read more...]

Oklahoma Aurora Vertical

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Here is a vertical view, for scale, of the amazing auroral band that hovered south of Norman's latitude for a couple hours in mid-spring 2024.  Clearly visible aurorae at this latitude are quite rare, truly a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence for many, the second for me, and the first since I've shot digital.  This display glowed from the impact on earth's upper atmosphere of an X-class flare and … [Read more...]

Tornadic Dust and Rain Tilt

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As the prominent Kimball tornado grew slowly closer, some of the dust settled, and the circulation also took on more rain.  I don't think the tornado narrowed yet; it simply shed some of the dust it had lofted and centrifuged, which still made the vortex look somewhat bigger than it was.  It also tilted more, lending this classically spectacular tornadic appearance.  At this stage, vehicles in the … [Read more...]

Missouri Cornfield Supercell

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The corn wasn't quite yet as "high as a man's eye", but was well on its way to producing harvestable ears when this southeastward-moving supercell came along to batter it with severe wind and hail.  Crops in the Heartland depend on spring and summer rains to succeed, but often that rain arrives alongside damaging aspects of spring to early summer thunderstorms.  The wall cloud with this supercell … [Read more...]

Union City Cone Emerges

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Two tornadoes from a separate, elongated mesocyclone region became rain-wrapped to the NNE (distant middle right), with at least part of the bigger tornado's condensation funnel still visible through rain at distant middle.  As I was losing easy views of those tornadoes, a separate and older mesocyclone near Union City, at left, was producing a tornado already; its cone came into clear view while … [Read more...]