SkyPix

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

Red Bird in a Redbud

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This woebegone, fluffed and snowflake-flecked little cardinal stood out brilliantly against the backdrop of wintertime shades of gray.  The branches of his perch of choice—a redbud, the Oklahoma state tree—hung encased in broken nodules of ice.  His mate didn't seem any more pleased about having to endure such conditions. Norman OK (29 Jan 10) Looking SW … [Read more...]

Tall Wall beyond the Wheat

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This High Plains beauty didn't last very long, but made a couple of spellbound storm observers pay very close attention for several minutes. Although the parent supercell was outflow-dominant, the resulting rush of cold air from the precip at left held back just enough, in the face of strong inflow winds, to allow a tight, deep, narrow mesocyclone in low levels. Vertical motion up the right wall … [Read more...]

Unintended Archway

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Ice-laden young trees behind the University of Oklahoma's Cate Center buckled under their burden of ice, and over a sidewalk.   Fortunately, given their small size and flexibility, these trees lost few substantial limbs and could be retrained back into the vertical, once relieved of the load by melting. Norman, OK (21 Dec 13) Looking W 35.2034, -97.4445 … [Read more...]

Cheyenne Wells Landspout

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From underneath otherwise innocuous looking towering cumulus clouds sprang forth this "landspout" tornado, so called by storm spotters because its appearance is similar to tornadoes over water (waterspouts). One of three that occurred in a ten minute span from these towers, this was the only one with good, sharp definition. We were cruising W along US 40 in extreme eastern Colorado, watching a … [Read more...]

Hail Fog in New Mexico

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Hail fog forms when the air just above it experiences direct ("sensible") cooling, as the ice brings already high-humidity air near the surface to saturation, condensing the moisture into fog.  Between the melting hail and the temporary flooding from heavy-rain runoff, these thirsty trees took a welcomed water break from the antecedent severe drought afflicting the area. Mosquero, NM (6 Jun 14) … [Read more...]

DFW Airport Fog

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Sometimes serene and beautiful, fog takes on a sinister side when it comes to aviation, leading to economic losses on a daily basis somewhere around the world, and on occasion, casualties from related plane crashes. More commonly, on flight dockets already strained to the limits by over-scheduling, even brief fog episodes at major airports can hurl substantial portions of the national commercial … [Read more...]