SkyPix

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

LP Supercell in the Golden Hour

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A brilliantly sunlit low-precipitation (LP) supercell formed to our north and cruised east-northeastward, up the Turner Turnpike toward Tulsa.  The storm put on quite a gaudy show with its flared base, corkscrew appearance to the main updraft tower and ice-crystal collar in the middle levels.  Very little precipitation fell from this supercell for most of its early lifespan, except for severe hail … [Read more...]

Whirling past Wapanucka, Part 3

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[Part 3 of 4]  The Wapanucka (Bromide) tornado apparently narrowed and weakened as it approached, but roared louder, and still was potentially dangerous.  Even though I was in a good photo spot, the tornado still was moving toward me.  It was time to scoot out of the way.  Though not looking as large as earlier, the true size of a tornadic vortex is hard to gauge when condensation is thin and … [Read more...]

LP Supercell and Radome

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A near-sunset, low-precipitation (LP) supercell shined in the northeastern sky, with an experimental NEXRAD radar dome I had employed in another favorite image, but shot from the roof of the former NSSL/SPC building.  I scanned this wide-angle slide at high resolution and cropped it into an effective panoramic.  That backshearing collar of ice-crystal clouds below its top, at a decidedly lower … [Read more...]

Whirling past Wapanucka, Part 2

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[Part 2 of 4]  I first spotted this tornado as a fuzzy, poorly defined, rotating cloud-base bowl, with dust and diffuse multiple vortices beneath.  It evolved quickly, as tornadoes often do.  I darted a short distance from safely parked vehicle to this spot to compose the first photo in the set, where condensation mostly had filled beneath the bowl, then shot this, as the vortex approached and … [Read more...]

Needmore Rotation!

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The big, horseshoe shaped wall cloud was rotating fast, with a growing dust pall beneath.  I later got within 1/4 mile of its rim.  By then, there was clearly an intense mesocyclone on the ground, causing a broad wheel of rotating dust; but I could see no certain tornado within.  Lubbock NWS had just issued a tornado warning based on a tornado vortex signature (TVS) on their Doppler radar.  [The … [Read more...]

Whirling past Wapanucka, Part 1

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[Part 1 of 4]  Just a shade under four years earlier, I came home from a night shift, went to bed, and told my wife, Elke: "Wake me up if there's a supercell within a couple counties of us, west of I-35".  There was, she did, and after a quick look at satellite, surface chart and radar, I threw on clothes and bolted off.   While unable to get down the Interstate in time for the first of a tornadic … [Read more...]