SkyPix

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

Textured Sunset

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One of the beauties of sunrises and sunsets, aside from simple aesthetics, is that every single one is unique from all others, given the presence of clouds to to reflect or silhouette the light.  The atmosphere being a chaotic fluid form, one could see ten thousand colorful sunsets over a lifetime and shoot several times that many unique photos, given the changes to the sky over time window of … [Read more...]

Sastrugi—More than One Sastruga

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Sastruga is a rather obscure word but one with a clear definition in meteorology:  a wind-created ridge on a snow surface.  The process is not greatly different from that which forms sand dunes.  Snow-dune or ripple formation isn't just a larger-scale effect of sand over many square miles; it can happen on scales of feet inches under the right conditions.  Here, miniature transverse dunes, with … [Read more...]

Mirror Imaging

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Tranquil wind and water mirrored the angular high clouds, visualizing a fractal form as the sun's citrus-colored rays illuminated cirrus clouds far above the Front Range.  Nature writer Gretel Ehrlich once wrote passionately of the "solace of open spaces"—titled a tome with those very words, in fact—and moments such as this reward those who seek places of reflection in the spirit of … [Read more...]

Trego County: After the Storm

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An extensive pool of moist, stable air covered the Great Plains countryside after the passage of a severe-storm cluster that still cast a dark and ominous pall across the eastern sky as it departed.   With the storms being very high-based and outflow-dominant on the front end, and no legitimate chance of a supercellular tornado, we hopped over to the back side to enjoy the cool air, rain-freshened … [Read more...]

Twilight Supercell over Sierra Grande

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One pleasant evening of storm observing in northeastern New Mexico ended when a final supercell, weak but photogenic, formed SW of Sierra Grande and moved over the mountain for a few final flashes and a fine display of post-sunset colors.  An extinct shield volcano reaching 8,723 feet above sea level, Sierra Grande is the easternmost point in the U.S. with such a high elevation. 2 SE Des Moines … [Read more...]

7-11 Lightning: Strike Three

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Soon after the second such forked stroke from well aloft in the storm's upper reaches, this third (that I caught) tremendous blast split the sky south of Norman, from just slightly east of the last.  This wasn't like baseball; strikes four, five and more were on the way too.   Some folks around Noble were enduring a very loud evening!  The main updraft was on the north (front) side, and the storm … [Read more...]