Atmosphere Goes Nuts

"QUANTUM SHOT" #8
Link - by Avi Abrams

Epic pictures of extreme weather instability

We'll start with a famous shot of a storm approaching over the sea. This is a tropical cyclone "Graham" forming over the Pacific Ocean (off the northeast coast of Australia) -

(image credit: Steve Todd)

Sandstorm in Iraq (apparently it's quite a common occurrence; they also have storms like this in Arizona. They call them Haboob's. Still an awesome sight.) More here

(images via)

The image below is from Arizona. The sandstorm blows over the mountain range. Enlarge the picture to see how small the mountains appear under that wave...

A lot more info about sand and dust storms and many mind-boggling pictures are in this DRB article - Dust Stroms

Morning fog in Dubai: (courtesy Harry Lambert):

(images credit: Harry Lambert)

The following is from the incredible site of North-American tornado-chasers Extreme Instabillity Check it out, they have a lot more images...

(images credit: Mike Hollingshead, Extreme instability)

Bookmark their site, they update often (every storm season, of course). Another site that documents the evolution of storms is also quite mesmerizing. Pphotography is by Ryan McGinnis, he also has prints available - the images below are all from one sinlge day of storm-chasing (read details):

(photos courtesy Ryan McGinnis and Mike Hollingshead, Extreme instability)

It's pretty cool how they appear to be beams going up from the ground when they are actually shining down...

(images credit: Extreme instability)

In Antarctica a spectacular cloud appears, born from the extreme weather conditions - a polar stratospheric cloud, cradled by more than 230 kilometers per hour winds:
(courtesy Sydney Morning Herald)

...and now after all this turmoil and unrest, here is a picture of perfect peace and tranquility. Taken from Paul Kopeikin Gallery
Check out this link, it has a great collection of top-notch photography.