On the High Plains, no two stormy skies ever look identical. I strongly doubt any other sky I see will look identical to this, either! The supercell, evolving into a merger with nearby storms, was among the most peculiar and spectacular that I have seen. Its base appeared carved with a sculptor's knife into a shape reminiscent of the footprints of the greatest reptiles, while framed by slivers … [Read more...]
Fuzzy Cone
Once a series of tornadoes I observed near the Wichita Mountains dissipated, a residual mesocyclone cruised NE. Projecting to stay just ahead of its track in a zigzag route, I headed E then N, fully expecting an Oklahoma rendition of the "gales of November" to ensue in the inflow (hey, it was November!). Only the old circulation that it would have been immediately to my W vanished in little more … [Read more...]
Haboob
Dense outflow from a line of severe thunderstorms over southwest KS generated this convectively generated sandstorm—a haboob. The angled edge of the dust and sand plume, extending downward and leftward from the arcus cloud's tip, sharply marks the outflow pool. Yes, we let it engulf us, to be greeted by measured winds up to 68 mph and intense blasts of sand which scratched and pitted my … [Read more...]
Plume Preceding Squall Line
On a zigzagging NW drive toward a growing line of storms, we noticed an expanding, fast-rising, rather voluminous smoke plume appearing to emanate from some point directly along our projected path. This wasn't simply someone's pre-rainfall trash-burning exercise either--at least not anymore. The smoke was wafting northwestward within the inflow air mass of the thunderstorms. Thin anvil cirrus … [Read more...]
Black and Blue
Black outcrops of vesicular basalt jut into and out of the Blue Lagoon, offering otherworldly microcosms of a strange and stark place. Though the lake is artificial, the water is not--drawn from underground at high pressure, tapped for steam-turbine and heat energy, then disposed into a series of low-lying areas on a nearby lava field. Part of the lagoon is a spa resort; other areas (such as … [Read more...]
Eastern Austrian Eventide
A gloriously lengthy sunset east of Vienna evolved from a splash of overhead cloud color to this brilliant orange-yellow banding on the textured base of an altostratus deck. Notice the reflected reddish glow on the east-facing, normally dark side of the stratus deck, beyond the trees. That light came from the higher, brighter clouds, zigzagging its way from the sun to the lens (and ultimately … [Read more...]
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