SkyPix

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

North Iceland Lenticular Stack

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From amidst a melange of multilayered clouds, a fine little stack of altocumulus lenticularis peeked to reveal a standing wave.  Although altitudes aren't too high in Iceland—mostly under 5,000 feet except for the very highest peaks—the high latitude ensures strong middle-level winds for much of the year that are suitable for generating waves that create such formations.  Nine days prior, we were … [Read more...]

Slot Canyon in the Tent Rocks

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Water erosion in flash floods, with relatively minor contributions from wind (eolian) processes, erodes slot canyons.  In this case, the process is speedy by geologic standards, thanks to the young, soft, sandy, pyroclastic deposits here, emanating from eruptions around six million years ago in the nearby Jemez volcanic complex.  The result is a sweeping set of sandwiched curves, a natural art … [Read more...]

Western Blast

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High amperage sizzles several square inches of a mesa north of a southeastern Nevada town as a high-based storm cluster lumbers westward.  After the requisite delay at the speed of sound, a deep report of thunder boomed across the valleys and hills, echoing off mountainsides and mesas, reminding all within earshot of what was in charge of the moment.  If this was to be the last night of photogenic … [Read more...]

Beware Storms with Mustaches

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One of the late, great NWS meteorologist Al Moller's favorite admonitions to storm spotters, chasers, students, and others in rapt audiences was:  "Beware storms with mustaches!"  That folksy wisdom, from a keen scientist and father of storm-spotter training, had strong foundations.  Although this storm was not tornadic, some supercells with persistent, mustache-shaped wall clouds are, and many … [Read more...]

Updraft Base, Amarillo Hailer

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After producing baseball-sized hail near Four Way, a few other wall clouds and even funnels, this marvelous, high-based supercell turned almost due southward across the High Plains of the Panhandle, in a defiantly rightward display of deviant motion.   Here it moved directly over the east side of Amarillo, whose downtown can be seen at distant middle left of this wide-angle view, producing hail … [Read more...]

Rain-Wrapped CG

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A young supercell, freshly cast off the formative southern end of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, made its way southeastward across the scrublands of eastern New Mexico, with nearly continual rumbles of thunder aloft and an occasional distant boom from cloud-to-ground strokes.  As with this one, most of the CGs were buried in the main core adjacent to the updraft, though we certainly were vigilant … [Read more...]