From this view, these look exactly like what they were: two pillars of smoke rising from Kansas fields toward a dark cloud base. A wide-angle perspective reveals the base to belong to a classically sculpted supercell, leading to a scene that might be confused as tornadic by an inexperienced, hurried and/or very distant spotter. Don't laugh; seasoned storm observers have confused smoke plumes … [Read more...]
Southern Kansas “Smokenadoes” Supercell
Beneath a nicely structured supercell's rain-free base appeared two suspicious-looking, tilted pillars in the distance. It didn't take very long for this experienced eye to recognize those features for exactly what they were: not tornadoes or debris clouds, but smoke plumes being drawn into the updraft. This storm had been extremely active for lightning strikes from its downshear anvil, for … [Read more...]
Elevated Updraft and Mammatus
The storm intercept was over before it began, in a way, as a gigantic complex of thunderstorms (mesoscale convective complex, or MCS) erupted over much of the Texas Panhandle early in the afternoon. Its cold outflow pool surged outward in every direction, hosing out all surface-based instability, and causing us to give up on any hope of a tornado or supercell for the day. Having secured a room … [Read more...]
Hot Spew
A small, continuous geyser with a heart-shaped vent, and an algal skirt of the most unfashionable shade of green, blasts boiling water and steam skyward, sounding a constant whistle reminiscent of a large tea kettle with crusty crystals clogging the spout. The mineral deposits in that case are the same basic composition as this: calcium carbonate, reconstituted from solution by rapid cooling of … [Read more...]
Bronze Convective Spotlight
A broad slab of sunshine, reflecting off deep storm towers, narrowed as the sunset moment approached, and as the warm tones deepened in the incoming rays. I captured this peculiar effect by zooming in tightly on (and metering for) the most spotlit portion of the towers themselves. 4 W Burbank OK (9 Jun 9) Looking ESE 36.6949, -96.8064 … [Read more...]
Light & Shadow Sandwich
As a broad thunderhead receded into the eastern sky, a sliver of sunlight appeared and grew wider across its middle-upper reaches, thanks to the yawning gap in a deck of high clouds behind us. That welcomed release of sunlight reflected marvelously off the deep convective towers, first nearly white, then as the sunset grew moments away, deep bronze. The more diffused, ghostly light reflecting … [Read more...]
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