SkyPix

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

Hail-Hurling Hook around Sulphur Tornado

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Once the vegetation-filled part of the "atmospheric blender" largely had passed, the precipitation hook surrounding the Sulphur tornado got more dense for a time, including the cluster of hailstones being flung across the right-hand side of the shot.   [Click on the image to see the larger version and a better look at the centrifuged and falling hailstones.]  Meanwhile the tremendous roar of the … [Read more...]

Atmospheric Blender

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As the Sulphur tornado neared Highway 177, its circulation became more rain-wrapped, roaring loudly while an intense rear-flank downdraft slammed across the scene.   These winds just outside the tornado contained a blend of heavy rain, small hail, and assorted tree debris, from leaves to small twigs, flying past at highway speeds.  It was hard to tell what of this debris was caused by the … [Read more...]

Tornadic Funnel Tip

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A relative gap in the near-ground precipitation curtains certainly was convenient for continued monitoring of the Slapout tornado's surface whereabouts.  Its condensation form began to look rather tubular, its visible form stretched vertically and still bending with height back into the mid-level mesocyclone, as the moat of occlusion-downdraft scouring of surrounding clouds continued.  Make all … [Read more...]

Ultimate Generator

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The second supercell to roll eastward past us that dreamy night was nearly as structurally alluring as the first, and even more electrically active! Strands and loops of lightning flashed for miles and miles across intracloud chasms of clear air, overcoming incredible resistance to conductivity, and doing so many times per minute over a span of half an hour or more.  This is but a minuscule … [Read more...]

Latrine in the Lake

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Months of above-average rainfall, capped by several spectacular heavy-rain events in its immediate watershed, sent Lake Texoma over its floodway, upon which this latrine and other park facilities reside.  I hope it had been cleaned before the water rose into the stalls within! 5 NNW Denison TX (8 Jul 7) Looking W 33.8164, -96.5735 … [Read more...]

Sulphur Wedge Approaching

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As the roar of the Sulphur tornado got louder, the ambient light darker, rain wrapping thicker around the circulation's hook, the vortex's shifting neither left nor right was a sure sign of its direct approach, and of our need to evacuate this position with some time to spare before it closely approached the highway.   An idyllic rural dream scene of wildflowers, spring-green grass and trees, … [Read more...]