Four strikes aren't allowed in baseball, but they most certainly are from any spectacular thunderstorm I'm photographing! Actually, this was just the fourth decent discharge I caught. This storm was flinging 'em fast and hot—including several I was unable to catch with an open shutter. In this brief respite from its profuse production of miles-long lateral discharges from high aloft, the … [Read more...]
Aberdeen Wall Cloud
This supercell moved directly over Aberdeen, a regional population node also containing a weather forecast office, before cruising eastward along US-12 and treating motorists to a frightening spectacle. Fortunately for residents along and near the highway, the supercell never spawned a tornado. At this stage, the storm had endured some cell mergers and still was laden with wrapping … [Read more...]
Window to Color
Twilight on the High Plains can be an experience simultaneously soothing and awe-inspiring. We had finished a grand day of storm observing and photography, and were headed for Cheyenne and food and lodging. Quickly, a window of splendor opened in convective clouds to our southwest. Then nearly as rapidly, another window closed, unseen in the northwestern sky behind the heavy shadows overhead. … [Read more...]
Headed past Headrick
What had been a wet classic supercell seemed to gust out as it merged with other, smaller cells, but instead organized a very intense, rain-wrapped mesocyclone and surged eastward past Headrick. In this view, the arc of the rear-flank gust front is in the foreground, wrapping back into a dark, hidden, dangerous mesocyclone region. Any unfortunate persons hiking on those granite hills without … [Read more...]
Towering Cumulus and High Country Foliage
At 9,000 feet high in the Colorado mountains, deep convective clouds and brilliantly peaking fall aspens are an uncommon combination to witness. Still, the passing of a mid-upper level trough over seasonally warm and moist conditions for the area produced this outstanding high-country vista—a summertime sky over a decidedly autumnal landscape. 6 S South Fork CO (28 Sep 12) Looking … [Read more...]
Path of Least Resistance
Sometimes the path of least resitance is quite far from a straight line, visually inefficient to us but quite plausible for the atmosphere. This shot shows that, and also, proves lightning doesn't have to seek the tallest point. Someone standing near the top of the mountain here wouldn't have been hurt, though he might have gotten quite a fright from the passage of 30,000 amperes of electricity … [Read more...]
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