SkyPix

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

Gulf Horizon

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A long travel day ended in just the right way, gazing spellbound across the breadth of the Gulf of Mexico for another of southwest Florida's famous sunsets.  This view is a deep zoom into the most intense reds and yellows near the horizon, as seen through the largest possible quantity and density of air that preferentially filters away the cool colors.  The next dry land to the west is … [Read more...]

Cone in Rain on the Plain

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The lower reaches of the "Slapout tornado" assumed a fuzzy cone shape, while the upper portion tilted visibly westward back toward the slower-moving, mid-level mesocyclone.  The rainy occlusion downdraft carved a narrow moat of relatively cloud-deprived air around the upper part of the visible tornado, though which fascinating hues of blue-green shone from above.  Meanwhile, a few suction vortices … [Read more...]

Glory and 737 Shadow

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As the plane descended, an otherwise drab deck of ragged stratocumulus took on this optical glory, which of course followed the apparently expanding shadow of the Boeing 737 all the way into the top of the cloud layer.  For an explanation of how the phenomenon works, check out a previous entry featuring a glory seen from too high above its causative clouds to make out the shadow. over northern … [Read more...]

Evening at the Port of Barcelona

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My one viewable sunset in Barcelona was a special one, looking from the commercial quay across the harbor to the industrial docks, with resting kayakers, and gulls on their last flights of daylight before roosting.  The Port Vell Aerial Tramway's 351-foot Torre Jaume I (King James I of Aragon) tower, at left, links a smaller terminal tower behind the view to the hill in the distance; the tram has … [Read more...]

Altostratus in the High Sierra

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Altostratus and fractostratus drift by during a light snowfall in the Sierras.  It had been an unusually moist winter, with 5–6 feet of snow already on the ground.  I took this photo from just under the top of a snow ledge behind a building, where the snow had been cleared to ground level so the back door could be used.  Altostratus is the stratoform cloud type which occupies mostly middle layers … [Read more...]