Believe it nor not, this somehow still was a cumulonimbus cloud, barely attached to higher-level anvil material off the screen at right. It had been a small supercell, but got increasingly tilted and sheared over, until the narrowness of the updraft and its internal rotation no longer could stand whole in the face of strong shear, and especially, the dry entrainment from surrounding air, to which … [Read more...]
Odd Sky out in “Nowhere”
Southwest of La Junta, the High Plains gets quite lofty and desiccated indeed, only green in some years due to the sort of unusually wet winter and spring it had. This is, for most folks, the middle of nowhere, foreboding and forbidding. Yet this landscape draws me out magnetically, appreciatively, immersively, as on this evening where a strangely composed sky texture unfolded then folded again, … [Read more...]
Rainbows through the Woods
Rainbows are fairly common, but seldom show out this brilliantly, and with a faint double to boot. Whether dominating the sky out on the open Great Plains, or comfortably framed by woodlands, they're always a treat to behold. As with all double rainbows, the outer one reverses the order of colors seen on the inner. Norman OK (3 Jul 23) Looking ENE … [Read more...]
Sub Sandwich Sky
Whenever you see a storm that looks like a submarine sandwich, you can count on strong outflow winds shortly. We had left a messy, occasionally supercellular storm complex that was heading into the deep woods of east Texas, only to buzz through Mexia (pronounced ma-hay-uh) for this middle storm cluster, then after letting its multi-deck arcus go by, find another set of storms in the Hill Country … [Read more...]
Eastern Sky Spectacle
Spectacular sunset light on a storm such as this would be a glorious, crowning moment for any storm-observing day, regardless of whatever happened before. That this supercell displayed astounding structure for hours made it all the sweeter. The wondrously twirling, rolling cloud mass spun itself through the sunset and beyond, with a blend of laminar, convective and ice-crystal (anvil) forms that … [Read more...]
Looming over Bare Landscape
To the uninitiated eye, or casual viewer not accustomed to Texas Panhandle storm scenes, this may seem like the looming pall of ultimate doom descending upon an already post-apocalyptic world. Indeed, the shelf cloud did underlie a deepening updraft area that was developing into an outflow-surfing supercell, but in the meantime, casting an impressive shadow over a landscape of bare, unplanted … [Read more...]
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