No wonder folks go to the Keys to relax. How can one assume any other state of being, faced with scenes like this, fractal reflections of high clouds and sunset light off tranquil waters? The pelican seemed to agree, as he briefly departed his perch a little while later, then flew right back so as to miss no more of the experience. The sky and water looked wondrous, inspiring, … [Read more...]
“Elephant Trunk” Tornado
At its mature peak, the Sargent tornado developed this striking, tapered, elephant-trunk shape. Sunlight shone through the cloud base, thanks to dry air sinking through the occlusion downdraft (a small part of the supercell's rear-flank downdraft that carves out a clear slot and wraps around the lower levels of the mesocyclone). Those crepuscular rays beaming across the most threatening part of … [Read more...]
Crystal Falls, Cascade Creek
Slender, tall and graceful in appearance, regal and elegant in character, Crystal Falls marks the spot where Cascade Creek plunges 129 feet off a rhyolite cliff and into the valley of the Yellowstone River. Tucked in between two more famous falls (Upper and Lower Yellowstone) on the mainstem river, Crystal doesn't take a backseat to either in terms of beauty. Yellowstone National Park (14 Sep … [Read more...]
Pelican Landing for Florida Sunset
As the sun sinks behind clouds and beyond warm Gulf Stream waters, a brown pelican alights on a mooring pole, ready to join one camera-wielding human in relaxed appreciation of another wonderful Florida Keys sunset. The avian fish gulper had been resting there, departed for a several minutes, then returned, perhaps realizing (like me) that this was a great place to simply sit down and enjoy … [Read more...]
Through the Back Side
This is a rather unconventional spotting angle for a rotating wall cloud: to its WNW, standing in the sunlight behind the mesocyclone, peering through the rear portion of the hook and its wrapping curtains of rain. In the hilly crosstimbers forest of east-central Oklahoma, one takes advantage of any possible viewing vantage that's safe! Fortunately the precipitation was thin enough (for now) to … [Read more...]
Rotating Bowl
Despite the lack of road options in the area, some of my favorite supercells on the Great Plains are those that roll off the Laramie Range in June upslope events and churn across southeastern Wyoming. Whether for tornadoes, structure, hail, great sunsets or any and all of the above, they seldom fail to impress and inspire wonder. This ill-tempered bull of a storm was no exception. It drifted … [Read more...]
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