After the lightning barrage abated, the previous wall cloud's mesocyclone occluded quickly and passed the rotational baton to this one, which didn't rotate as fast but which lasted a little longer. Accordingly, we jumped east a few miles to set up the next shoot. During much of its lifespan, this peculiar supercell moved only during occlusions, jumping eastward 3-4 miles in steps instead of … [Read more...]
Sudden Appearances
We had been tracking a rather scruffy and marginally organized supercell for about an hour—a storm that had gone through one short lived mesocyclone and high based wall cloud of little consequence. We knew it was moving toward a very moist and favorably sheared outflow boundary left over from the previous day's storms, so we stayed with it. In the time span of driving north just a few miles … [Read more...]
Stern-Chase Surprise
This example, while not high contrast, is a fine spotting illustration of how a partly rain-wrapped tornado may look from the back (departing) side of a mesocyclone. During much of the mature supercell stage, we had been in good viewing position for the fast-moving supercell. Then it "barfed all over itself," heaving a well defined gust front and a large, cold pool of outflow that appeared to … [Read more...]
Pasterze Glacier Zoom
The photo zooms in to the Alpine Pasterze's glacial debris bands, and shows crumpled patterns of ice under both sun and shadow from the clouds above. Isn't it amazing how much different the very same natural feature can appear if one looks at it close-up? 5 NW Heiligenblut, Austria (1 Aug 5) Looking NW 47.0756, 12.7508 … [Read more...]
Pasterze Glacier in 2005
The largest glacier in Austria and in the eastern Alps, the Pasterze drains ice mainly from the peak in the background (Johannisberg, 3,463 m or 11,362 ft), while scraping along the foot of the Grossglockner mountain at left, both in the Hohe Tauern range. Grossglockner is the highest mountain in Austria, at 3,798 m (12,461 ft) above sea level. This glacier has been receding in fits and spurts … [Read more...]
Cattails in the Grotto, Minerals on the Walls
As a quiet, shaded oasis in a desert path to California, the walls of west-central New Mexico's El Morro, and this cattail-festooned pool below, gave comfort, rest for the weary, and a medium for graffiti, to many generations of native and European-heritage travelers throughout the pre-automotive era. Since 1906, new markings have been illegal, except of course for the natural kind. Seeps of … [Read more...]
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