SkyPix

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

Early Aurora Tornado

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I ran across the street to get this wide-angle view of the growing Aurora tornado, loudly but gratefully requesting that the driver of the other chase vehicle kill his headlights.  The dust plume from the previous shot had been absorbed into the main debris fan.  Meanwhile, a subtle but beautiful turquoise tinge encircled the tornado vortex at cloud base, while bottom-lit scud in the foreground … [Read more...]

Dam Release: Fort Gibson

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Several days of heavy rains in its drainage basin left Ft. Gibson Reservoir more than 15 feet high, forcing releases from its massive hydroelectric dam just to bring down floodwaters surrounding the normal lakeshore.  This necessary process turned the downstream Grand (Neosho) River into a speedy and turbulent torrent wholly unfit for any manner of navigation! 5 NNE Fort Gibson OK (16 Oct 9) … [Read more...]

Sunset Storm under Moon

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Minutes after the moon became visible above this fantastic band of storms, its anchoring supercell thrust a deep, overshooting cloud dome skyward, as the deepening warm tones of sunset cast a convective eastern sky aglow in a bedazzling way.   Times like this stop time in its tracks, and make all the road miles, cheap motels and gas pumps that festoon the journey well worthwhile. 7 NW Carlsbad NM … [Read more...]

Street Flooding

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Town crews wisely put up these barricades just in time to prevent traffic from dangerous encounters with rising floodwaters, then they became part of the flood. The town was closed off from all access near the river before we could determine if these ultimately floated downstream. Story City IA (8 Jun 8) Looking N 42.2876, -93.5862 … [Read more...]

Blue Pools on Greenland Ice

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Every summer, meltwater ponds dot the surface of Greenland's ice sheet, which also gets covered in darker material (dust and smoke particles advected from the North American mainland, mainly).  The water, cold and pure and as it should, refracts out all but blue wavelengths preferentially, reflects that blue light off the ice bottoms of these ephemeral lakes, then filters the light spectrum the … [Read more...]

Looking Down at Sunrise

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When flying around sunrise or sunset, I try to grab a window seat facing that direction; one never knows what sort of visual wonder may await.  On this OKC-HOU leg, middle and high clouds from areas of showers both enriched and muddled the scene for much of the path, except for when one clearing brought a pleasant view of distant cirrus bands and the low–middle-level cloud deck.  Then, suddenly, … [Read more...]