An arcus cloud with your morning coffee? Thunderstorms to the north sent a cold pool of outflow rushing outward to force up a nocturnally cooled near-surface layer of air, rendering this beautiful formation to start the day. The outflow at the surface extended miles past the shelf cloud, as evident in the stiff breeze whipping the flags, and revealing the shallow slope of the whole stable-layer … [Read more...]
Arcus Lenticulars
Lenticular (lens-shaped) clouds don't just form over mountains. Any forced, tightly focused lift of sufficiently moist air will work, regardless of the cause. Here, lenticulars developed above an arcus (shelf) cloud from a cluster of thunderstorms moving north to south, toward the viewer. Morning arcus formations can be some of the most spectacular and peculiar, thanks to the time of day. … [Read more...]
Storm Lit Four Ways
Lightning activity died off after an earlier incarnation of this storm produced a spectacular three-pronged stroke; so we settled into our nearby lodging for the night. After awhile came the sound of thunder and the sight of flashes to our north, over town, along with reports of severe hail in the news. The storm had rejuvenated! Back up the road into Scotts Bluff National Monument we headed, … [Read more...]
Hell on Earth: The Vault
This vintage shot, from Provia slide film, shows a night view of a tornadic supercell's vault region—near the interface between main updraft tower and downshear precipitation area—bathed in continuous lightning. The cyclonically curved mid-level bands (middle right) arc inward toward the storm, while the flared, laminar low level cloud deck (lower left) marks the east edge of the main … [Read more...]
Silhouetted Towering Cumulus
Nearby thunderstorm towers (behind the view) shadowed a thick, nearly symmetric, mound-shaped, towering cumulus formation, silhouetted against the background of another storm's higher cloud mass, for an interesting, high-contrast effect. The storm behind us evolved into a respectable supercell. This was one of those grand afternoons afield when fascinating features periodically pockmarked the … [Read more...]
Saw Blade Penetration
This image illustrates why a tornado endangers the human body. Fortunately the tree, instead of someone's face, intercepted this deadly missile. Tornadoes in more densely populated areas are basically enormous blenders, churning tons of broken glass, tools, nails, boards, bricks, pipes, sheet metal, kitchen knives, wire and all manner of other shrapnel, at speeds up to 300 mph. Flying debris, … [Read more...]
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