SkyPix

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

Storm Season on the High Plains

By

As spring becomes summer, the peak period for thunderstorms on the High Plains brings not only the welcomed promise of beneficial rains, but a simultaneous offering of beauty and danger with every passing tempest.  This view was nearly 180° opposite a deeply textured part of the shelf cloud's underbelly that was moving away, but the cores themselves moved abeam—neither closer nor farther—all while … [Read more...]

Splitter with Overshoot

By

For all the beauty, wonder and immensity of the Great Plains, and all there is to see on every scale from hundred-mile skies to busy little ant trails, storms such as this are, first and foremost, what draw me across their long miles of roadways each spring.  This classic supercell exploded along a warm front to our NE while we were beneath a high-based, low-precip (LP) storm on the dryline about … [Read more...]

Tilted Current

By

Brilliant, forked lightning cuts its own tortuous "path of least resistance" at speeds greater than the eye can resolve, surely roasting several square inches of ground amongst the dissected grasslands that carpet the Colorado-Nebraska state line.  The illusion of the upper part of the bolt's looping on itself is caused simply by our viewing it in two dimensions; one segment actually crossed in … [Read more...]

Altocumulus Mix

By

A beautiful blend of altocumuli—floccus, undulatus and hints of castellanus— drifted across the refreshingly clean sky of the coastal Pacific Northwest.  This view was made possible by a segment of Ahlstrom's Prairie—a flat, wetland opening in the otherwise dense rainforest cover between Lake Ozette and Cape Alava, in Olympic National Park.  As happens so often near the Washington coast, fog and … [Read more...]

Dusty Pastel Storm

By

[Part 4 of 4] Our final view of the Sheridan Lake storm complex was this:  an otherworldly layer of pastel hues from cool tones above to warm below, late in the magic hour of light immediately preceding sunset.  Storm observing on the Great Plains entails moments of beauty and uniqueness that go far beyond the hopelessly misleading TV portrayals of "storm chasing" as thrill-a-second adrenaline … [Read more...]

Sunset and Moonrise: Wind Cave National Park

By

Flaming tones of salmon illuminated lower portions of a convective plume, turning golden on the cloud crowns aloft.  Meanwhile, the full moon rose over rolling green shortgrass hills that both nourish bison and soothe the soul of an outdoor enthusiast.  No "saturation adjustment" needed! What you see is how it was, and it was glorious indeed. 7 NNW Hot Springs SD (14 Jun 11) Looking SE 43.5268, … [Read more...]