An infrared satellite loop, shortly before dawn, showed a deck of high clouds overhead, thinning eastward. This cloud setup is one of a handful that I most like to see for a nice sunrise, and loudly proclaimed the command: "Get yourself and camera up to the roof!" Though the best coloration was short-lived, it was memorable and well-textured, thanks to alternating bands of wavy and smeared … [Read more...]
Distant Multivortex
After developing quickly into a conical shape, the Tipton (KS) tornado's visual cloud form expanded, going through this rapidly evolving, tumultuous, multiple-vortex phase. This is a common evolution I've seen with longer-lived tornadoes in helicity-rich and high-humidity environments, such as the Dover/Kingfisher event from 2010 , the Minco tornado from 3 May 1999 (even faster-changing, … [Read more...]
Back LIT
Behind the initial gust front, and under the associated shelf cloud, this cloud base briefly but strongly rotated, making us wonder what it could do, despite the cool, seemingly stable air blasting past us from the north (right). As expected, the outflow-undercut spinning didn't tighten further nor last long, but captured out interest long enough to keep us around an extra minute or two, just in … [Read more...]
Altocumulus Translucidus Undulatus
The last day of 2001 featured a fair, dry, mild afternoon, ideal for wheeling around the north rim of Denton with my young kids on the way to visit friends. The last thing I thought I would do just minutes before would be to pull off and shoot a cloud slide...until I did. The winter sky over North Texas came aglow with undulating, translucent altocumulus (hence the title's nomenclatural … [Read more...]
Carlsbad: Spikes Down
Spotlit stalactites stand out starkly against the lumpy cavern floor in this section of the famous Carlsbad Caverns. Each point represents the current terminus of a dripline of mineral-rich water, where evaporation causes each drop to deposit a some calcium carbonate and staining iron minerals that had been dissolved from the limestone layers above. Even though southeastern New Mexico doesn't … [Read more...]
Colorado Cumulus Mix
Epitomizing the wide western skies of American legend, and peaceful summertime scenery in the high country, various iterations of cumulus mediocris, cumulus humulis and fractocumulus drift beyond and before the Sawatch Range. Quite often, in another hour or two after this level of cloud development, the serene Rocky Mountain skies will grow volatile as convection deepens off the mountains, with … [Read more...]
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