SkyPix

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

Sunset through Vog

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Vog is a cheap and easy mishmash of the words volcanic and smog, and is a notorious phenomenon on the Big Island of Hawaii.  The vog here comes from two active craters of Kilauea, including this one, shown producing the gases that turn to vog.  When lava enters the sea (that had stopped weeks before this photo), those famous steam clouds contribute to vog also.  Either way, the volcano belches … [Read more...]

Spotlit LP on the Great Plains

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While observing a closer, more precip-dense supercell from its inflow region, another storm of low-precipitation character floated past in the opposite direction that was marvelous in its own way.  Double the fun!  This storm plied the southwesterlies just outside the shadow of its larger neighbor for about half an hour after developing, which was just enough to catch its sunlit splendor behind … [Read more...]

Anvil Shadowing Altocumulus

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A small patch of altocumulus (Ac) is bisected by an anvil shadow from a supercell.  The Ac was moving rapidly from sunlight into shadow, which was SSW-NNE.  Storm observers can use cloud motions at different levels to get a rough idea about the wind shear.  In this case, I could tell there was good shear from the eastward spreading of the high anvil, the SSW-NNE Ac motion, and some low … [Read more...]

Turquoise Core

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To create this effect in thunderstorms, sunlight refracts through tens of thousands of feet of rain, hail and wet convective cloud mass, filtering out reds and leaving greens and blues.  The green hues preferentially exit areas of heavy precipitation with large drops and hailstones.  Aside from the potentially flooding rainfall and damaging hail, this core developed inside a rapidly rotating, … [Read more...]

Hail Flood

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Upper Dugout Creek gathered a large mass of both rain and hail that fell from a memorable supercell, then washed down assorted local drainages.  Since hail is ice, it floats, and was carried downstream by the overflowing creek, intermingling with assorted plant material and other detritus along the way.  The resulting mixed-composition drifts washed up along the edges of the flash flood, which … [Read more...]

Sunset Sail off the Kona Coast

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Calm Pacific seas and a Hawaiian sunset:  what better way to close the day?   The warm scene of tropical sailing evokes calm, peace and serenity—states of being so direly needed in the rushed world of social media and continual distraction.  My request, therefore, is simple:  study this image, then close your eyes for a few moments and imagine the mild ocean breeze and the … [Read more...]