SkyPix

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

Abandoned Playhouse under Deep Cumulus

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On the grasslands of northwestern Nebraska, an abandoned stand-alone theater slowly fades, destined to crumble into the prairie soil.  On this fine day, however, it still stood nobly, both sturdy and frail, having withstood many blizzards, hailstorms and that relentless Great Plains wind.  Overhead, a mix of cumulus mediocris, towering cumulus, fractocumulus and a distant, small cumulonimbus … [Read more...]

Across State Line

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A classic supercell erupted during mid-afternoon on the Laramie Mountains of Wyoming.  That was in the farthest corner of my forecast target area from where we originated that morning—Hays, KS!   For safety I needed to sleep in late after being up 36 hours straight the prior day, coming off a night shift. Given that situation, Elke and I considered it almost miraculous to have seen this tornado at … [Read more...]

Balloon Sun

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At this brief moment, the sun's light penetrates the greatest possible amount of atmospheric fluid possible for direct viewing.  This is a good thing, of course, in that all that air acts as a great filter, protecting our eyeballs from damage during one of the two times of day (sunrise being the other) when we can peer directly at our nearest star.  With the sunset against a flat … [Read more...]

Hail Salad

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Even small hail can shred vegetation, but the hailstones shown here were mostly innocent of the crime.  In this case, much bigger hail (1–2 inches) also contributed to the deed, but floated away in a shallow street flood.  Smaller hail still accumulated as the water subsided, intermingling in elm leaves that mostly had fallen already.   You can find the specific tree that lost these leaves by … [Read more...]

Night of Destruction

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The light of a sodium-vapor street lamp, scattered through heavy fog, silhouettes a destroyed elm tree.  This scene symbolizes thousands of others like it across the region, after one of the worst ice storms in state history.  Although the accumulations weren't as deep as some other events, the 2007 freezing-rain episode was enough to pull down uncounted thousands of trees and large branches … [Read more...]

Cirrus in the Dallas Sky

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Thrusting 72 stories upward, the mathematically regulated, rigid and reflected angular grid of my hometown's tallest skyscraper contrasts with the fluid chaos of cirrus clouds high aloft.   This remarkably deep blue, clean summertime sky was delivered to this lens and your screen courtesy of Hurricane Ike, whose remnants passed east of the Metroplex the day before. Dallas, TX (14 Sep 8) Looking … [Read more...]