SkyPix

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

Electrical Curve

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Shortly after the "Two-Spark Twilight", more sparks flew forth from a high-based, elevated storm riding atop extinct convection's outflow. Thunder from this and other discharges rumbled sharply across the wide-open landscape, despite its distance. They're not possible that often, perhaps a time or two per chase vacation, but post-supper short chases such as this, based from nearby lodging … [Read more...]

Menace after Merger

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Complicated things happen in supercells! After the original (and most substantial) tornado of this storm finally dissipated, a newer storm formed to its southwest and merged with the original, rendering the whole thing a mess with little visual storm structure. However, the tornado work wasn't finished. As we relocated southward through town to seek another high vantage, in response to the … [Read more...]

Congestus and Pileus

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A mass of deep towering cumulus clouds, so large as to make the desert mountains of far west Texas whose lift spawned it look puny, here began its transition to a short-lived supercell thunderstorm. The tallest convective battlement at left, a tilted wall of congestus, shot upward through a layer of pileus that formed just above it, seconds before. Vertical motions in this cloud cluster were … [Read more...]

Kansas High Plains Tornado

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One tornado photo that didn't get away was a long time coming. Of the tornadoes I had seen on a decade of storm chases prior, this was the first of which I captured a non-distant slide where the tornado was in focus, properly exposed, and clearly defined as such. This vortex spun up beneath a wet-classic supercell out in the open country northwest of Liberal and east of Hugton, KS, endangering … [Read more...]

Davis Mountains, After the Storm

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Eerie light, of an uncommon shade between auburn and sepia that seems more Martian than earthly, occupied a diffusely cloudy section of distant Davis Mountains sky behind a weakening supercell. The storm's leftover outflow rose onto the mountains and condensed to scud, reflecting brighter, whiter light originating farther aloft, and adding to the somber softness of the scene. Far west Texas on … [Read more...]

From Behind the Tree, Please!

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The Prospect Valley tornado of 2018 elongated southward from its cloud-base location, the foot of the vortex shoved along gently by downdraft air wrapping around the ground-level mesocyclone. I had a nice vantage for viewing this spectacular specimen, except for the minute or less where its ground-contact area migrated behind the largest tree in that distant clump. That experience brought to … [Read more...]