SkyPix

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

Scales of Spin

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Jon Racy, John Hart and I  saw at least six tornadoes with two supercells on this major outbreak day, but under generally lousy, low-light photography conditions, after being unable to get to the Panhandle in time for the most visually striking tubes farther southwest.  Regardless, this was an outstanding storm-intercept day.  The southern of two intermittently tornadic storms recycled itself just … [Read more...]

River Rock Ripples

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Returning from a visit to the legendary Grove of the Patriarchs, in Mount Rainier National Park, I thought we had seen something amazing.  We had.  Douglas firs, western hemlocks, and western red cedars, nearly a thousand years old and sheltered on an island in the Ohanepecosh River, evoked a grand sense of smallness amidst the stately giants.  Yet setting out upon the trail, little did I realize … [Read more...]

Looming Threat

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Loaded with severe winds and small hail, this storm was nearly as menacing as its appearance.  Since childhood, one of my very favorite views of the sky has been this ominous transition from light, cool gray to deep, slate-gray as a severe storm approached, preferably with a booming audio accompaniment.  Where others became frightened and prone to hide or flee, I was attracted like a moth to … [Read more...]

Morning at Narada Falls

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Beyond a sunlit knoll of grass and wildflowers, one of the most delicately beautiful cascades of the Cascades spills a steady volume of water off the flanks of Mount Rainier and into the surrounding temperate rain forest.  Some waterfalls look great in the rain; while others make magic in the sunshine.  This waterfall's best exhibition is either in ghostly twilight, or wrapped in a rainbow on a … [Read more...]

Western Banded Brilliance

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Deep-zooming into a series of thick cirrus bands at sunset yielded a marvelous melange of orange tones, with the nearer sky more muted and bluer in shadows.   Though the field of view was limited, it was far from limiting; in fact, elements of the sky normally overlooked at wide angle or even a "normal" 50-mm focal perspective become a greater parts of the picture, and allow deeper … [Read more...]

Tornado through the Rain

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The '98 Dover tornado, about to dissipate four miles to my east-southeast, was shredding and uprooting trees along US-81 at the time of the photo.  The diffuse grayish-pink area to is near right was made of veils of rain circling the mesocyclone, aglow in the cloud-muted pastels of early-stage sunset light. For most of the tornado's lifespan, the supercell also forced good precipitation–updraft … [Read more...]