SkyPix

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

Down and Out

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This high-based and elevated thunderstorm was part of a short line that fired in Wyoming, where the Plains meet the mountains.  The line rumbled to the southeast, fueling itself on residual moisture and instability found above an outflow pool from earlier, dissipated storms.  The electrical display it offered was spectacular, as often is the case for any twilight to nocturnal storms on the High … [Read more...]

Mature Stromsburg Brute

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The final tornado of a very active storm-intercept day formed to our WNW as we approached Stromsburg.  In town, sirens wailed, and folks streamed into the yards and streets to take glances generally toward the wrong direction.  Fortunately, the growing tornado was moving abeam, then away, presenting no direct danger to the community.  By the time we got out of town and had a clean view, the … [Read more...]

From a Fischamend Field

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Our last evening of a trip to Austria offered a big, wonderfully colored and textured sky over a flat, rural river valley outside Vienna.  Were it not for the photographer's honesty, I could pass this off as one of the many fine sunset scenes from Oklahoma.  Brilliantly illuminated fractocumulus clouds arched nicely around a little area of crepuscular rays, setting a calming, appreciative and … [Read more...]

Mature Millsap Tornado

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As the formerly rain-wrapped Millsap tornado reached its peak visual organization, it probably yielded a somewhat frightening startle to westbound travelers cresting a hill, only to see this off to their right.   The gray band across the bottom of the image is a guardrail for I-20, which (unusually for an Interstate) offered some of the best viewing of this event in an otherwise forested area.  … [Read more...]

Altocumulus with an Edge

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The deeper one examines this scene, the more complex it becomes.  All the altocumulus was sandwiched between a band of lower altostratus (silhouetted above the horizon) and a little golden ribbon of cirrus.  Differences in vertical motion led to the wavy structure of the more broken altocumulus field at right, within which there appeared to be several wave trains of different orientation.  From … [Read more...]

Two-Stroke Supercell

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Well-structured July supercells are uncommon in these parts, but we found one on the way back from a trip to Colorado.  During daylight, and back in southern Kansas, the storm's prolific production of "dry" lightning (away from the precipitation regions) set numerous fires.  After sundown, the storm turned hard right, moving almost due south (right to left), and headlong into a modest low-level … [Read more...]