SkyPix

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

Dusty Texas Sundown

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Another storm intercept day ended with a vivid Great Plains sunset, this time through both colorful high clouds and a pall of fine dust in the western sky. Although the storms developing behind our backs did little of note before darkness set in, and were not even particularly photogenic prior to this, a brilliantly blazing Panhandle sundown saved the day.  Indeed, our main interest before … [Read more...]

Relic of the Great Plains

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A teetering, towering testament to a bygone era, within about eight years this grain structure mo longer punctuated the High Plains skyline.  I don't know whether its downfall was a downburst, tornado, blizzard, or simply the pressure of one final gust against the wrong wall.  If it had a voice, I wonder what stories the building could have told me of the Panhandle storms it weathered.   Now it … [Read more...]

Recovery Log

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A more charred log rests neatly and in perpendicular atop a naturally split one—both felled during one of the many substantial fires that have toasted large parts of the Yellowstone National park landscape over the previous couple decades.  The cold climate of this mountainside, at altitudes above 7,000 feet, has helped to preserve the remains of the fallen conifers against the rot that would be … [Read more...]

Pinatubo Dust Glow over South Florida

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Early in the morning twilight, the eastern sky glowed with a peculiar copper tint, arching upward and outward from the future sunrise point in progressively darker hues, like an optical band shell.  Light from the predawn sun was refracting through a stratospheric ash layer courtesy of the Mt. Pinatubo eruption 17 months before, in the faraway Philippines.  The volcano had lofted enormous volumes … [Read more...]

Blizzard Streamers

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True blizzards don't happen very often in these parts; but on Christmas Eve of 2009, we had a historic one for central Oklahoma.  My only prior one was in March of 1989, with more snow but less wind and time duration, and much less willingness to get our amidst the maelstrom and shoot photos.  This time, I was out there in its full and frigid fury, fascinated by the fluid flows traced by streamers … [Read more...]

Twisting Tall in Twilight

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After displaying amazing daytime cloud structure and spinning forth the last of several tornadoes, the legendary Aurora supercell of 2009 slowly spun down and weakened while approaching York.  Citizens of York rejoiced, and justifiably so!  Still, they might have been spooked at least slightly by this menacingly beautiful twilight scene of the approaching storm column, twisted like visible … [Read more...]