SkyPix

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

Roswell Sparkles

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Receding away from us in the deepening New Mexico twilight, this splendid storm and dying supercell had a parting shot for us before it merged into some newer convection developing farther east and south.  The bolt fortuitously struck surface along the same line of sight as (but many miles beyond) the bright light on the building at distant middle, offering the illusion of an explosive grounding.  … [Read more...]

Stromsburg Vortex Narrowing

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Moving just slightly east of due north, the Stromsburg tornado was getting away from us.  A quick jaunt a few miles northward put us almost abeam of the tornado again, just as it began to narrow into a writhing, tubular form reminiscent of the bathtub-drain vortex.  This stage of the tornado's lifespan usually portends its imminent demise, but also, can present a gracefully beautiful form of … [Read more...]

Reflective Winter Sunrise

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Reflective scenes in nature often trigger reflection within; this was no exception. A rare wintertime juxtaposition of calm wind and mild temperatures backdropped the more common sight (for these parts) of a glorious sunrise, together offering a transcendent experience of serenity and gratitude to the ultimate Creator of the scene. Norman, OK (30 Jan 15) Looking ESE 35.2079, -97.3767 … [Read more...]

Twilight Smoke, Atlantic Beach

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Burnscape at a beach? You bet.  One of the last things a North Carolina coastal visitor expects to see is a thick pall of smoke in the sky, but there it was, silhouetted sharply by the fading twilight. Much of the state had been in a drought, creating conditions ideal for wildfires in a normally moist part of the country. During the portions of three days I spent in the Newport-Beaufort area, … [Read more...]

Strike from a Wall Cloud

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A new mesocyclone developed on the front flank of a fast-moving, mean, nasty, heavy-precipitation supercell, then raced past us to the NW and N. For a short while, the rotating but ragged wall cloud area wasn't wrapped completely in rain yet, and this brilliant CG split the fading daylight. My satisfaction with seeing this--at least our fourth supercell of the day in western Iowa--later was … [Read more...]

Sunset Coating

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Soft pastel hues of icy, cold low clouds made a fine wintertime sunset scene, as backdrop to a comb of icicles dangling from a tree branch.   Notice the inversion of the clouds' color ordering in the thickest part of the ice layer.  The ice acted like a lens, refracting its distorted extension of the image upside-down, in a peculiar yet common optical effect. Norman, OK (22 Dec 13) Looking SW … [Read more...]