Nodular ice encases lakeshore grass during a cold-air outbreak. A special and uncommon sequence of circumstances set this up: a north-facing shore of a warm lake with reddish muddy water, hit by an intense cold front with winds strong enough to make splashing waves and launch spray, and temperatures cold enough to flash-freeze it in layers along the blades of grass--all with a thin crust of rime … [Read more...]
Bennington Wide
"Wide" in this case could describe the tornado and the angle of view. We stayed in one spot for over half an hour as this large, violent tornado lumbered in a loopy path within 2-4 miles to our west, southwest and west-northwest, alternately narrowing and fattening, wrapping and unwrapping from rain at various stages, and best of all, injuring no people. I shot over 120 images, zoomed and wide … [Read more...]
Roof Down
This used to be a short strip mall on the Turnpike near Quail Roost Drive, on a site since razed and planted with palms. Note the toppled precast concrete roof support beams, with embedded rebar. Here, frontal winds of at least 120 knots blew out the east-facing plate-glass windows of the storefronts. The internal pressure forces then pushed the walls outward enough for the roof to fall in. … [Read more...]
113-Degree Day
The hottest afternoon of the hottest summer in Oklahoma history also offered gusty 20-30 mph winds, a giant hair dryer roaring amidst an exceptional drought that had left all manner of plant fuels extremely dry. Groves of cedar stood ready to erupt in flames at slightest provocation, their oily foliage badly dessicated by months with little rain, ready kindling poised atop layers of tinder in the … [Read more...]
Hailstorm Exiting
Leaving behind a wintertime appearance in late spring, the deep-slate back side of a severe supercell offered a parting rainbow as visual compensation for the trouble it caused in the form of temporarily slickened roads and slightly shredded vegetation. It also provided some much-needed rain and welcomed relief from the June heat of the New Mexico High Plains. Mosquero NM (6 Jun 14) Looking … [Read more...]
TCu (not TCU)
A classical towering cumulus (meteorological acronym: TCu, as opposed to TCU the university) shoots skyward in a low-level convergence zone connecting other, larger areas of convection. Storm observers who can see through towers don't assign them much of a future, and for good reason; they are entraining dry air aloft. Still, the shifting crepuscular rays helped to make the scene splendid as we … [Read more...]