SkyPix

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

Electrical Ray near Sunray

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One of the meanings of "rayo" in Spanish is "lightning flash", which makes sense given that they are natural electricity rays.  [Not to be confused with "electric rays", the jolting fish...] This "ray" cooked a bit of ground in the north-central Texas Panhandle, and formed a starkly beautiful High Plains scene in combination with the textured underside of a shelf cloud in the high foreground.  … [Read more...]

Amarillo by Mesocyclone

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A menacingly low wall cloud, especially for the High Plains, rotated moderately, compelling close watch for anything tighter.  We did so, but it didn't produce a tornado.  Fortunately this was also close enough to the Amarillo forecast office that they could see it from the back door, from this stage on through the next 20 minutes or so.   A lot of precip already was falling behind the … [Read more...]

Panhandle Swirl

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A severe and imposing supercell offered hail as big as tennis balls within the core, and stacked-plate structure seen from the inflow, while it churned from the north side of Amarillo east-northeastward past our location.  The High Plains annually offers such stunning storm formations for beholding by the eyes of appreciative observers.  Make no mistake, however, this is not a welcomed sight to … [Read more...]

Flag o’the Flow 4

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[Part 4 of 4] Following the passage of the gust front, the squall line raged forth with sustained winds above 50 mph and, at the nearby airport,  hurricane-force gusts that broke tree limbs, even in a place well accustomed to intense winds from thunderstorms and other causes.  This caused the lowest of the two flags, directly in front of a car wash where I was sheltering, to stand up horizontally … [Read more...]

Flag o’the Flow 3

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[Part 3 of 4] Just before I jumped into safe harbor (now unseen to the right) to avoid an atmospheric hosing, the squall line's shelf cloud raced overhead and eastward, from right to left, while the flag stood up in the outflow winds.  Very shortly thereafter, heavy rain and severe gusts hit, validating my decision to just let this maelstrom pass overhead from the relatively safe shelter of a … [Read more...]

Flag o’the Flow 2

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[Part 2 of 4] A quintessential Great Plains sky of doom descends upon the burg of Hill City, which is no stranger to such things.  The northerly winds in the inflow region calmed as the immediate edge of the more intense outflow air (gust front)  hit, just ahead of the striking arcus cloud.  Within less than one minute, the entire shelf would move overhead, issuing its own version of a "shelter … [Read more...]