[Part 2 of 2] The storm complex responsible for all these clouds may have been weakening rapidly, but it left behind a marvelously complicated sky of cirrus and convective turrets for sunset illumination. Higher parts of a line of elevated towers also caught the last rays of the sun, adding color and texture to this peaceful scene. To the east, the deepest tower at left cast a shadow across the … [Read more...]
Mammatus and Shadow
[Part 1 of 2] An outflow-dominant supercell merged with some other storms, and the resulting complex blasted SSE past me, blowing itself out, save for one newer supercell that was unreachable. So with some time to kill before sunset, I settled in for a quick meal on the back side, then headed out for this quite pleasant sunset scene in the rolling hills, cornfields and rain-cooled summer air of … [Read more...]
Surging Bow Rush
Complex storm evolution in nearby parts of Mexico led to a small but severe bow that raced eastward across the Rio Grande Valley and nearby coastal plain of south Texas. Deep and extensive turquoise coloration characterized the core behind the arcus the entire way. We gave up on staying ahead after this, figuring the time was right to think about both lodging and a sunset. Aiming for the … [Read more...]
South Texas Stormy Sunset
After a long, difficult yet rewarding chase, with a supercell, bow echo, road and urban flooding, wind damage around which to navigate, and miles of hard driving through heavy rain and bright lightning, this was one of the sources of fulfillment. The rainbow-festooned mammatus sunset on the back side of it all didn’t last long, but gave folks on the photography tour something to shoot and … [Read more...]
Bow in the Borderlands
No border wall, armada of armed agents or import tariffs could stop this. Teasingly, a supercell had right-moved parallel to the Rio Grande, on the Mexican side, remaining too far away to see its tornado. Storms then formed in an initially loosely organized line to its northeast, toward Del Rio. An embedded cell started rotating, grew a big mesocyclone, then bowed out the whole complex in a … [Read more...]
Mesocyclone in the Outflow Corner
Rolling down the eastern edge of an instability gradient, a supercell underwent heavy-precip, outflow-dominant transition, during the last moments when the mesocyclonic region (beyond the distant red barn) was at least somewhat visible. Though the storm was tornado-warned here, and most of the rest of its lifespan, its chances of legitimate verification, here and hereafter, plummeted … [Read more...]