SkyPix

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

Turbulent Underslope

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Rib-like cloud formations rose up the slope of the inside of a shelf cloud, also known as the "whale's mouth",  turbulently ascending atop the cold density current extruded from a line of severe thunderstorms.   Simply staring at the chaotic motions in such clouds can be mesmerizing, almost hypnotic, such that one must not lose awareness that a wall of wind and rain soon will hit. 1 N Lexington … [Read more...]

Rain-Wrapped “Pseudonado”

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In the deepening darkness of twilight, a scene such as this is lower in contrast and dimmer to the eyeballs than to a camera set to long exposure and low f-stop.  Spotters need to concentrate intently on suspicious features, particularly when they are persistent and "in the right place", such as the conical lowering shown here.  A fortuitously positioned rain shaft appeared to connect the lowering … [Read more...]

Krafla Milk

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For the jaded, this scene might bring to mind some frightening documentary on egregious industrial pollution.  Instead, the milky appearance of this creek, draining the Krafla volcanic caldera of northeastern Iceland, comes from turbulently stirred natural sediments.  Ultimately, this stream empties into beautiful Lake Myvatn,  a clear body of water where the load of suspended particles settles … [Read more...]

Supercellular Resurrection

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Every year of storm observing, I see amazing new things in the sky, despite hundreds and hundreds of supercells experienced over the decades.  The atmosphere almost always succeeds in teaching a fresh lesson and offering a novel experience.   On this day, a big, messy multicell briefly became a supercell, then lost the mesocyclone and enlarged into an even more swollen, clustered mess.  From that … [Read more...]

Olympic Coast: Sunset in Wet Sand

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One unusual but uniquely pacifying way to view a sunset is by enchanting oneself with its reflections, ever-changing waves and currents offering a view of the colorful evolution of two fluids at once.  Here, the water coats and washes over beach sand while offering rippled, quicksilver-toned mirroring of the northwestern sky.  While the handful of other photographers were aiming upward and … [Read more...]

Ragged Bowl

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The previous circulation of the Hollister storm undermined itself with outflow, but another brief, well-defined wall cloud quickly developed.  It also quickly dissipated, falling victim to the same outflow surge that doomed the prior attempt.  Regardless, in its couple minutes of existence, this modestly rotating, scuddy, bowl-shaped wall cloud earned due attention. 7 SSE Hollister OK (10 Apr … [Read more...]