Today's photo was shot on May 26th of 2006 in central Kansas. What you're looking at are the "mammatus" clouds being blown off by a nearly stationary supercell that had been churning away in one spot for the better part of an hour. Mammatus clouds are not threatening (they're not going to drop down out of the sky and suck you up), though they often suggest that the storm you're targeting packs a punch. Now that darkness in the distance -- that's plenty threatening. I shot this photo while hanging out the passenger window of our moving chase car -- we were in a bit of a hurry at that point to get into and ahead of this thing, as it was finally starting to show signs of movement.
17 comments:
Your pictures are breathtaking.
I think this is one of your shots that seems to make the e-mail rounds occasionally.
It's always funny to me when that happens because I stop and correct the sender (as if they care) by telling them that I know you took the pictures.
Then they always ask if I "KNOW" you, and it turns into this awkward conversation about how I have never really met you in "real" life, but have always followed your Flickr feed & blogs and suck, and so on. "Knowing" someone in 2009 is a lot different than in 1989.
Hi there,
I always wondered what kind of clouds those were. I caught a photo of some similar clouds over our home. I'd never seen anything like them before--it is quite odd, since I live in the Willamette Valley where we don't have huge storms such as the ones you follow.
Thanks for sharing your photos. They are truly awe inspiring.
WOW those clouds are AMAZING... I've never seen clouds like that before.
Spectacular. I love how the clouds overwhelm the scene and land below looks so helpless in comparison. It tells the story.
Incredible photos, how correct you are in explaining they are not going to drop from the sky, which is exactly what they look like they are going to do. Like something out of a science fiction movie. Thanks for sharing them.
I love your blog and really was inspired by this photto. So much so that I weant to paint it. Then I realized that no one would believe a painting with clouds like this--they don't exist in nature, do they? . . .
Bu fotoğrafa bayıldım,çok güzel.Sevgiler BÜŞRA
An awesome image. Took my breath away.
It's hard to believe, when looking at your pictures, what nature is really capable of.
I would trully love to go on one of those chases and most likely pee in my pants :)
I love your blog! I think it's one of the very few I always go back to.
Hi Ryan,
I love your photos of storm chasing. I live in Australia and we don't have Tornados over here but I am truly fascinated by them. We have had similar cloud formations like this one in Australia but they are from a typical Aussie thunder storm. In every photo of yours you have truly captured the awesome nature and power of the tornado.
Thanks for the great pics to look at.
WOW!!!Wonderful picture!
all of your pictures are just stunning...almost makes my heart speed up since I can almost feeling the emotion in the air.
Some photographers have a serious gift. You are one of them. This is stunning.
WOW. I love your pix.
This is a beautiful shot. Love it ! Thanks for sharing :)
cette photo fait peur
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