SkyPix

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

Roof Lightning

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From the roof of the National Weather Center, we cast a wide gaze across the breadth of the OU campus and the city of Norman.  A dazzling montage fills the northern sky:  a high-based multicell thunderstorm, its cloud base subtly tinted by the filtered tones of the sunset light, the internal convective generator blasting forth a big spark to punctuate and bracket the scene.  This was a welcomed … [Read more...]

Submerged Road Paint

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At first glance, one would surmise, "Lake Texoma isn't supposed to be covering this freshly paved and painted roadway." Oh yes, it is -- at least when it reaches near-record high levels. The road curves across a wide, grassy, earthen floodway that leads to the lake's emergency spillway, south of Denison Dam. The floodway stays dry the overwhelming majority of the time, and even contains … [Read more...]

Spray Falls, Lake Superior

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Most waterfalls erode themselves well upriver from the terminus of their streams, instead of unloading right at the mouth.  Spray Falls, which empties Spray Creek into Lake Superior, is a wonderfully picturesque exception.  It shoots 70 feet directly off the edge of the hard, resistant, Precambrian sandstone cliffs, within Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.  The cliffs themselves erode shoreward … [Read more...]

Smoky Okie Sunset

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A fine afternoon of driving, hiking, picnic-eating, and wildlife observation with my kids concluded with one of the strangest sunsets in awhile, seen from high up the west slope of Mount Scott. Even though 2007 had been a wet year, a fire somewhere on Fort Sill property spread smoke through the late-day skies of the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge. Wisps and ribbons of the smoke slowly … [Read more...]

Cold Moonlit Night

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Down at these latitudes, it isn't that common to get more than a few inches of snow in any given winter. To see the countryside upholstered in several inches, then, is a special treat when timed to coincide with a bright, full moon. The amount of light available under such conditions allows for surprisingly short duration exposures at low f-stop settings, so that the stars don't move much while … [Read more...]

Cool Cleansing

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A refreshingly cool fog moved inland from Lake Superior, flowing effortlessly through the adjoining boreal forest of northern Ontario. The immersive sensation of being hidden out in the open, already powerful in a relatively remote place, magnified inside the fog, the only sound being the lapping of waves against the sand. For a short spell prior, even the gentle surf couldn't be seen anymore … [Read more...]