SkyPix

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

Supercell across Lake McConaughy

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This situation is unsuited to safe boating.  Fortunately I didn't see anyone still out on the lake as a previously tornadic, always messy, now-HP supercell churned over the biggest reservoir on the central High Plains.  As seen from this overlook on the south side of the "Big Mac" dam, the newest mesocyclone was located to the left of the intake tower, strongly rotating but now obviously tornadic, … [Read more...]

Delayed Gratification

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My crew and I were not eager to make the long trip home from western Nebraska after what seemed like a terribly underachieving event.  The day held great severe-weather potential, yet this LP "barber pole" was all we got photographically.  Problems at home hung heavily on my mind, blinding me to the world of awe that would normally glow brilliantly for such a scene as this. Then, that night, we … [Read more...]

Fog in the Appalachians

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The wilderness road rose into a stratus deck high up near the ridge line of Potts Mountain, cloaking us in a cool fog so uncharacteristic of late July.  Slide film captured the look but couldn't translate the sound, smells and feel of the moment.  It was a surrealistically calm scene—very quiet and misty, the only sound being the dripping of water off leaves in the forest.  The smell was … [Read more...]

Messy Mesocyclone

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Two hundred fifty miles back and forth for this?  Why, yes!  We had started the day northwest of the warm front in Kimball, needed an electronic repair nearest done in Cheyenne, WY, while forecast-targeting the northeastern corner of Colorado, northeast of a mesolow along the front where convergence should be maximized.  I like challenges.  High-speed-limit High Plains interstate:  no problem!  We … [Read more...]

Colorado Landspout

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A "landspout" is storm-observer slang for a non-supercell tornado, most often seen in relatively dry environments with weak wind shear and high-based thunderstorms.  On this day, vertical shear favored supercells, and one did develop farther south; however, the process behind this tornado (shot on slide film) was not that of a mesocyclone.  Such tornadoes typically move slowly and take shape as a … [Read more...]

Mammatus Crawler

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This scene blends two of my favorite elements of thunderstorms:  mammatus and lightning.  After experiencing a sublime stormy sunset to the WNW, we turned our backs to the fading light as the electrical show ramped up in the eastern sky. Just a hint of indigo twilight filtered through the thin spots in the cloud deck. Meanwhile the fuzzy mammatus bags were subtly cast in a greenish hue -- the … [Read more...]