SkyPix

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

Emmeram Spinup

By

Driving to reposition away from some hail, and to get out of a valley for better viewing of an intensely convergent mesocyclone, I spotted a slender, conical funnel atop a small, rotating dust plume—tornado!  Fortunately, a good pull-off appeared on the uphill side of the valley just in time to park, jump out and shoot this one shot of lovely, rolling Great Plains landscape with the tornado barely … [Read more...]

Twilight at Kirkjufell

By

Multiple cold cascades tumble over a basaltic ledge, on the last leg of their journey to the sea from which Kirkjufell rises so dramatically.  The mountain, famous worldwide for its singular beauty and magnificence at any time of day or night, offers a striking backdrop for waterfalls that would be greatly photogenic by themselves. 1 WSW Grundarfjordur, Iceland (12 Aug 14) Looking NNW 64.918, … [Read more...]

Altocumulus over Aufkirchen

By

Tufts of altocumulus clouds reflected the pastel hues of the setting sun, silhouetting a commemorative maypole in the center of this little Bavarian town.  This was a relaxing and fitting conclusion to a two-week central European trip; we would fly out of nearby Munich the next morning. Aufkirchen, Germany (4 Aug 5) Looking WNW 48.3056, 11.8638 … [Read more...]

Harrah Hailburst

By

The vinyl siding on the west (near) side of this home was riddled with holes when a 70 to 90 mph downburst drove hail up to baseball size into the wall.  Note the "shadow" under the roof overhang where there was little damage.  Based on the width of the overhang and the westerly wind direction, one can easily figure the impact angle of the hail, then deduce a reasonable range of wind speeds based … [Read more...]

Prelude to an October Tornado

By

Yes, the date is right; this was in the fall!  Striking, banded supercell structure is on display in this slide, with a long tail cloud extending off to the right.  The lack of precipitation in this storm was remarkable, with visibility through the entire base to the other side.  Can you pick out the spot at left where the tornado is about to develop?  The innocuous-looking little wall cloud at … [Read more...]

Back in the Panhandle

By

Dual wall clouds from separate but closely spaced mesocyclones lead a heavy-precipitation supercell eastward across eastern parts of the Texas Panhandle.  Both were rotating, but not fast enough to cause much concern for a tornado.  Yet another mesocyclone, deeply occluded and buried in rain and hail to the left, was spinning fast enough; indeed we heard a roar inside when letting it approach E of … [Read more...]