SkyPix

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

Sunset Encounter of the First Kind

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To a few native tribes, this tower is sacred ground.  To adventurers, a challenging climb awaits.  To geologists, it's a differentially eroded igneous phonolite intrusion.  Movie buffs recognize it from climactic UFO scenes in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  Tourists and campers flock to the tower to experience the looming presence of a unique natural feature in this world.  Painters and … [Read more...]

Cirrus: Standing Waves

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These cirrus bands formed in upper level standing waves, high above the Front Range near Boulder, CO.  The waves remained in place as different levels of cloud material formed and dissipated, both on the lateral and vertical edges of the formation.  This wide-angle photo was taken from a pumpkin patch north of Broomfield, with the Flatirons visible in the distance. 3 NNW Broomfield CO (19 Oct … [Read more...]

Little Contrail and Crepusculars

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This short contrail sublimated rapidly behind an airplane crossing above a field of crepuscular rays, as seen from the west lawn of the National Weather Center.  I used "sublimated" instead of "evaporated", because even as hot and moist as the engine exhaust was, its condensation crystallized to ice within a second or two in the surrounding bitter-cold air of double digit below zero (F).  The ice … [Read more...]

Rain-Wrapped Tornado

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The Comstock tornado moved eastward, behind and to the right of the grain bins, where it briefly became better contrasted within the orbiting rain curtains.  Here was our best look at it.  Many rain-wrapped tornadoes are not even this visible!  One may get completely hidden from view, evident only if it tears through live electric wires or, in the worst scenario, moves overhead.  An overzealous … [Read more...]

Advection Fog

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Whatever its origins, advection fog gets its name from the advection, or movement by the wind, that brings the cloud mass from one point to another along the surface.  In this case, weak easterly winds were holding the stratus (fog when within) against the east slopes of the Sierra Nevada, on the edge of the Mono Basin.  This film slide was taken near the top of the same stratified cloud mass … [Read more...]

Icy Crawly

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A Volkswagen parts dealer in rural Oklahoma set up this whimsical, fanciful critter some years back.  Whether it is supposed to be a six-legged spider that masquerades as a (VW) Beetle, or a (VW) Beetle with the correct number of legs but in the stance of a spider, only the artist could say.  I do know this:  it sported fangs not only of metal, but of ice, when this photo was taken! 1 N … [Read more...]