SkyPix

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

Visual Vault

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In radar terms, the vault is a region of a supercell downshear from the updraft (usually to the E or NE of the mesocyclone), where large precipitation reflectors like hail arch high over the relatively precip-free inflow air, forming a vaulted reflectivity pattern in cross-section. [Very large and damaging hail sometimes does fall to the ground from there, however!] This is a clean view directly … [Read more...]

Florida Sea-Breeze Convection

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Almost daily during summertime, a rampart of convective towers forms along the sea-breeze fronts over Florida—one near the Gulf Coast, one near the Atlantic Coast. Here is a splendid example of the latter, with a cumulonimbus to the distant north and a neat row of towering cumuli extending southward to very near my location: the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, along the northeastern … [Read more...]

Lone Tree

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A single, weather-worn old elm tree stood tall: a lonely sentinel amidst the desolate chill of the snowy prairie. The ground fog of sunrise hung low over winter's blanket, casting a hint of eerie mystery across frigid stillness. What if the tree could talk? Its stories would put to shame those of even the most grizzled old human weather observer. A violent tornado passed over this spot in … [Read more...]

Nocturnal Hail Drift

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Runoff from heavy rain carried hail to this spot near a curb, where it floated into drifts. The largest stones were about an inch in diameter—barely severe by official standards, and not damaging to cars or windows we saw. A fascinating variety of hail opacity appeared here despite the lack of variation in size. Also, the color shift between the white hail in most of the photo and the tan hue … [Read more...]

Stratocumulus in Austrian Architecture

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Eastern Austrian architecture is interesting on its own merit. When partly decorated in the form of cloud and sunlight reflections, it becomes magical: aged and static, yet ephemeral and fluid. Slowly moving, quickly evolving, the interplay of light and shadow around stratocumulus clouds and off the left window offered an endless variety of scenes played across a small glass panel. Wiener … [Read more...]