SkyPix

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

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...]

Supercellular Independence

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A well-developed, somewhat outflow-driven but still surface-based supercell churned across many miles of Nebraska Panhandle grasslands, its ragged wall cloud (center) sometimes rotating very enticingly but never producing a confirmed tornado.  We had observed this one for a rather long time from a parking area on a high spot overlooking the North Platte valley, but this would be our last good view … [Read more...]

More Roof Lightning

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For a multicell thunderstorm in mid–late summer, this was a profuse electrical generator and a beautiful sight to behold, regardless of lightning.  As the high base spread outward, the storm crashed numerous hot bolts between cloud and ground, several that were very long-lived with multiple visible flashes, and a few of which I photographed with just reflexive shutter pushing. Norman, OK (8 Aug … [Read more...]

Wind Farm Tornado: Two Tubes

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For a brief time, the "Wind Farm tornado" bore two distinctly visible tubes, as main vortex reorganized and one of the western subvortices tightened and condensed better.  Chances are, however, other unseen swirls were happening in this broad, chaotic and rapidly evolving tornadic circulation.  In the storm-scale environment, including the broader mesocyclone, the blades' rotational planes pivoted … [Read more...]

Sunset over Skardsfjordur

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Just moments after another uniquely wondrous and ethereal scene just a few hundred yards away, magnificence blossomed across the Skardsfjordur fjord, beyond the lights of Hofn, and over the distant, snow-capped peaks of southern Iceland.  A deep zoom lens allowed me to capture this most intensely colored part of a splendid scene this bountifully majestic northern landscape. 6 E Hofn, Iceland … [Read more...]