SkyPix

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

Road and Cloud Curves

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Another beautiful end to a chase day found me a mile up a High Plains dirt road, over a hill, out of sight of the main highway, in the company of nothing but western meadowlarks, fresh cool outflow, and the departing complex of thunderstorms that produced it.  I wanted to pitch camp here, but already had a non-refundable reservation at a favorite motel in Burlington for the night.  Instead, I … [Read more...]

Grass Fire Advancing

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Zooming in even further to this lightning-started Colorado prairie fire made it seem as if the inferno were practically next to my vehicle, threatening to engulf it.  [I could feel some radiative heat, even though it was nowhere nearly as close as this looks in reality.]  Good thing zoom lenses serve useful as well as artistic purposes!   That said, a slight wind shift toward the inflow region of … [Read more...]

Lower Texas Falls, Vermont

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If you're in summer or otherwise warm, and tired of it, take this opportunity to chill, transported in the mind's eye to this peaceful, enchanting little stream in Vermont's White Mountains.  Though the upper falls of the same sequence are much taller, this lowest cascade was readily accessible to wade right in and cool off sore feet from a day of hiking. 3 WNW Hancock VT (24 Sep 22) Looking … [Read more...]

Foothills Crepusculars

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Brilliant crepuscular rays, carved out by foreground towering cumuli, contrasted themselves nicely against the dark shadow of a remnant anvil overhead, and background storms in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of northeastern New Mexico.  This sparsely inhabited area of the High Plains between the mountains and I-25 is seldom traveled by storm observers, given that a dryline sets up well east of … [Read more...]

Internal Illumination

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An electrically prolific little storm complex in the blue hour kept producing photogenic lightning, this time two closely spaced CGs essentially at once.  That was accompanied by a lot of internally illuminating lightning to reveal the convective structure in mid/upper levels.  What a fun event this was to behold, as it raced away to the southeast. 4 W Sharon Springs KS (4 Jun 22) Looking … [Read more...]

Stout Tornado in the Oil Fields

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Here, the "Midland" tornado reached its best-organized stage, as a thick, tapered stovepipe, meandering slowly and erratically through the Permian Basin drilling region south of town.  An EF3 rating was earned based on some damage in the oil fields, at about this time.  Tornadoes that wreck actively used oil-field equipment or storage facilities can create spills and a hazardous materials (HAZMAT) … [Read more...]