SkyPix

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

Fractocumulus—Orographic Scud

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Air condenses into ragged, cumuliform scud, while ascending the steep incline of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo (a.k.a. Drei Zinnen in German).  This three-pronged mountain, part of the range known as the Dolomites, is one of the most famous features in all the Alps, with the highest peak reaching 2,999 m (9,839 ft) above sea level.  We were fortunate to catch such fine late-afternoon lighting on its NW … [Read more...]

Stovepipe Tornado

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This long-lived (over half an hour) tornado was obviously well-organized and probably quite intense at times, capable of great damage to a populated area. During its early and small stage it injured two kids in an overturned vehicle along I-80 and destroyed some unanchored mobile homes.  Fortunately, the vortex missed nearby settlements and passed over open farm and ranch land as it briefly … [Read more...]

Collapsed Store Roof

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This store roof caved in near the intersection of Krome Ave. and Silver Palm Dr., in the "Redlands" just north of Homestead.  Note the sockets on the top of the wall at right, which did contain the roof connections.  Cables, formerly attached to the roof, dangled from an overhead wall (unseen).  The great majority of Andrew's destruction in South Florida was, like this store, wind damage well … [Read more...]

Forest in the Sky?

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Trees in the nearby forest seemed to be floating in the sky, as if they're levitating outside the windows of the airplane.  Instead they appeared fleetingly in the gaps between geothermal vapors that rise out of the ground and blow sharply rightward on south winds.  Those strengthening breezes heralded the eventual arrival of a band of thunderstorms that cast a darkening pall over the distant … [Read more...]

Life and Death in the Caldera

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In the caldera of a super-volcano, nothing is secure but the inevitability of disruption, upheaval and reordering, whether on scales of seconds and inches as scalding steam hits a bug or plant, or every 600,000 years in a series of blasts the likes of which mankind hasn't witnessed.  In between those scales, over years to decades, we see the landscapes and waterscapes of Yellowstone palpably … [Read more...]

Sunrise over Icy Pond

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Recent hard freezes built a thin veneer of opaque and reflective ice on a pond that I frequently visit for wintertime sunrises (when awake and not on shift at work, of course).  One relatively tall tree stands out as it thrusts skyward into the colorful dawn, punctuating a fluid kaleidoscope in the sky with each such event.  This has become a favorite event for me on those uncommon occasions when … [Read more...]