SkyPix

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

Mountain Sunset from Sea Level

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In the conterminous U.S., a scene of this nature only can be shot from one place: Puget Sound, looking across the sound and the Olympic Mountains of Washington. [Mountain sunsets from below sea level are possible at Death Valley, but not with permanent water in the foreground; all other bodies of water adjoining mountains to their east are well above sea level.] Breaks in an altostratus deck … [Read more...]

Night Storm Reflections on Cropland Flooding

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Receding off to the southeast, the supercell responsible for this fantastic electrical show (and more) had unloaded a fusillade of hail and localized flash flooding, including the water seen here. The largest channel in lower foreground was running water, frozen in time in this view by the spontaneity of the electrical illumination. The old Doors hit, "Riders on the Storm", came to mind as I … [Read more...]

Road to Tumult

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When more distant, the areas ahead of and behind this beautifully menacing, supercellular shelf cloud to the north had been fairly prolific lightning producers, but that temporarily stopped as I set up for the shoot, trying to catch a daytime blast in the waning moments before sunset. Even without such luck, the scene was marvelous, though I couldn't stay to enjoy it for long. Fortunately, we all … [Read more...]

Stacks and Logs in Fog

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Fog belongs here. Onshore convergence of the cool, moist Pacific boundary layer condenses the water vapor readily when humidity is high and only slight cooling is needed. Still, aesthetically it lends an aura of mystery and uncertainty to the stacks and the ocean residing beyond, whose waves carved these basalt formations over eons. Strolling just a short distance beyond them transports one … [Read more...]

Non-Supercell Funnels

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Sitting there at a west-facing indoor window, observing growing convective towers on a convergence line and eating tacos, what did I spy with my aging eye, but a funnel cloud? So I dutifully retrieved my cameras, strolled to a vantage, extended that tube-zoom lens way out, and started shooting. The skinnier one to the left lasted several minutes; the one to the right developed near the end of … [Read more...]

High Plains Fog

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In the parlance of aviators, this definitely represents IFR (instrument flight rules) conditions. This air mass lay about 50 miles north of an outflow-reinforced stationary front, a boundary that soon would focus supercells to the south. For now, however, it simply focused fog and sporadic drizzle on its cool side, cloaking one of the many commercial wind farms of the Texas Panhandle. An older, … [Read more...]