This is the reason I take lightning pictures, and the reason I choose to face a tiny but still disturbing risk of instant death by merely stepping out of a vehicle near a thunderstorm. [No matter how safe one tries to be, there is always some risk!] Returning from a supercell intercept near the Red River, we encountered a small cluster of elevated thunderstorms—cells rooted in a layer of … [Read more...]
Canadian Narrows
The 2015 Canadian (TX) tornado made a protracted show out of narrowing and then dissipating, here transitioning into a deceptively graceful-looking early rope stages after its unwelcome and destructive rampage through a Panhandle oil field. An arch of scud swirled around the upper-middle part of the condensation funnel as if an orbiting planetary ring. 2 NNE Canadian TX (27 May 15) Looking … [Read more...]
“Flat Sun” from Florida
About 1-1/2 years after photographing a solar flattening illusion at the other side of the continental U.S., the same physical processes yielded another off Sanibel Island. This actually is a common phenomenon wherever the horizon is at or very near true horizon and unobstructed, as across large bodies of water. Like the Mackinac example, the true sunset was over, the sun below the … [Read more...]
“Flat Sun” from Michigan
How can the sun still be visible, even though it already has set? Strong refraction of light is happening in this case, where enough of the sky below the horizon is bent into a visible layer just above the horizon, to keep a flattened image of the sun visible. The bottom image represents the fleeting last second of this curious process, before all parts of the solar orb lie too far … [Read more...]
Tempest Interstate
A light volume of traffic moved fairly evenly either way on I-20 in West Texas, seemingly undeterred by the dark sky and associated wall of wind and rain advancing steadily and rapidly eastward. We had watched the first storms of what became this complex erupt over and north of the Davis Mountains in late morning, and stayed ahead of it all day, all the way to twilight in Abilene. Along the … [Read more...]
Ocean Reflective: Sailing Captiva
Thoughts of sailing on placid, sunny Florida waters soothe the troubled spirit, rest the tired mind, and bring solace and tranquility to the aching heart. In that spirit I offer this image for calm and contemplation. Relax, and let your imagination drift with the trade winds to a pleasant place and time free of worry and full of warmth. 2 SSE Captiva FL (16 Nov 15) Looking SW 26.4828, … [Read more...]
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