SkyPix

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

Rotation Undercut

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This large, wet, ragged wall cloud rotated strongly for several minutes, and I was watching very closely for signs of a developing tornado that ultimately never happened.  Convergence was quite pronounced at the center of rotation, to the left of the highway and at lower middle of the photo.   However, outflow soon would shoot under the mesocyclone as it surged rightward to just a mile from me on … [Read more...]

Destiny of the Abandoned

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Back into the Sandhills, in a hidden valley a few miles from the highway, the long-ago products of homesteaders' hopes and dreams decays and slumps over, board by board, nail by nail, year by year, destined to disappear into the grassy sands.   One of the reasons is epitomized by the background storm:  a severe, rear-flank core and gust front trailing a heavy-precipitation supercell.   Combine … [Read more...]

Rotation Incoming

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This fast-approaching wall cloud came from a supercell that already had spun up a brief, small tornado just over the state line, in Kansas.  Now in Nebraska, and even deeper into large hodographs within a warm-frontal zone, I was confident a tornado could form any time.  This wall cloud rotated rather rapidly, with occasional, very short-lived chunks of scud shooting up from behind the trees.  … [Read more...]

Sundown over Small-Town Water Tower

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A fluid melange of clouds in low, middle and upper levels decorated the sunset sky over a small town in southeastern Nebraska.  This was the finale of a multi-day chase trip, and at the time, I thought it might be the last chase day of the year.  [I was glad to be wrong!]  Regardless, in the moment, it was yet another sunset blessing to end a series of days on the road, among many I've … [Read more...]

Circulatory Sky

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A cluster of thunderstorms in a marginal-shear environment nonetheless evolved into a couple of nice daytime supercells, this being the first.  The second was younger and organizing in the background.  This nearer, older storm sported a weakly rotating wall cloud off and on, which in this view is being undercut by both forward- and rear-flank outflow.   All of that was happening beneath a series … [Read more...]

Late Winter at Upper Cataract Falls

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The winter of 2020 wasn't cold enough to keep these waterfalls frozen into late February, offering a nicely hydrodynamic scene that was most welcomed after a morning spent on airplanes.  Light snow was falling at this time, accumulations gathering in the background forest floor, with intermittent heavier bursts from a passing "clipper" disturbance.   Yet for the snowfall, conditions were … [Read more...]