SkyPix

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

Beautiful Mess

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A deeply dimensional blend of outflow-riding fractostratus scud and sunset-lit mammatus textured the sky into a chaotic, messy, wondrous spectacle following the passage of a photogenic HP supercell and accompanying thunderstorm complex.  Moments later, in the opposite corner of the sky, a rising moon and reddening sunset color closed out not only a marvelous storm-observing day, but our 2017 chase … [Read more...]

Dichotomies

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Upside down, rightside up, wet and dry, light and shadow, life and death...all exist in a place peaceful yet born of incomprehensible natural violence.  These dichotomies and more manifest in just this image, where reflections of the sky and straight views of the pool's bottom vie for visual attention.  Cistern Spring's overflows have flooded parts of a lodgepole pine forest, killing the trees and … [Read more...]

Decades After the Wind and Fire

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Forest growth goes slowly at the high altitude and cold climate of Yellowstone, yet this is more than most "experts" expected after two devastating events at this spot, four years apart.  In 1984, an extremely severe downburst roared across areas near the Norris Geyser Basin, streaking for miles eastward at high speed, leveling hundreds of thousands of lodgepole pines, and leaving only a few … [Read more...]

Cactus Carcass

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An area of planned burning didn't char this three-armed prickly pear thanks to its high water content, but it was, in meat-cooking parlance, well-done.  This process replicates the natural tendency for periodic fires to take out excessive cactus growth in the grassland, benefiting large mammals such as buffalo that already have to sidestep boulders while trudging through the area. 5 W Medicine … [Read more...]

Ice Damage at the National Weather Center

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Decorative adornments that curve around the outer roof line of the National Weather Center became coated with ice during a freezing-rain event.  Lubricated by meltwater during ensuing days, the ice slid off and tumbled six stories, busting this safety glass above the first-floor entryway.  Fortunately this windowpane was under the icefall and not someone's living skull. Norman OK (1 Feb 10) … [Read more...]