Welsh Weather - the Mid-Wales image-library
Photography by John Mason of Machynlleth

Contact - email: john.mason@geologywales.co.uk tel: 01654 703638

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Themes - Geography:
The Coast, Aberystwyth to Barmouth
 The Valleys: Scenery & Wildlife The Mountains: Cadair Idris, Tarrenau, Arans, Plynlimon
Themes - Weather: Storms - stormclouds, floods & damage Snow, ice, fog and frost Light: Rainbows, sundogs, noctilucent clouds, sunsets

Storms - stormclouds, floods and damage images

© ALL IMAGES COPYRIGHT JOHN S. MASON 2000-2011: NO REPRODUCTION WITHOUT PERMISSION.
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STORM SUBCATEGORIES: Thunderstorms
 Precipitation Flooding and damage


Thunderstorms

Storm-chasing, as is is rather inaccurately termed, is the art of targeting and intercepting thunderstorms for photographic purposes. It involves forecasting skills, real-time observations, an intimate knowledge of the road-network, lots of patience and a great deal of committment! These images show storms in all stages of their lifecycle: convective updraughts boiling up, funnel clouds, mature storms with attendant torrential downpours, the low, evil looking gust-fronts that form as a storm breaks and the strange, pendulous mammatus that forms on the underside of a mature storm's anvil as cold air sinks down. These are my favourites from Mid-Wales over the past few years, some representing real "wow!" moments.

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Rock-hard cumulonimbus from Borth Beach Raging convection from Borth Beach Cumulonimbus at sunset Strong convection underway over Trannon windfarm Winter Cumulonimbus from Tywyn
Mammatus near Aberdyfi Mammatus and cow - Ynyslas Mammatus and cow - Ynyslas Mammatus at sunset - Dylife Mammatus at sunset - Dylife
Mammatus at sunset - Dylife
 Mammatus at sunset - Dylife Mammatus and incredible sheared thunderstorm anvil at sunset - Dylife Thunderstorm over Plynlimon from Llyn Clywedog Thunderstorm over Plynlimon
Tremendous downpour at sunset over Plynlimon, July 2009 Thunderstorm off Borth Beach Thunderstorm off Borth Beach Thunderstorm off Borth Beach Thunderstorm in Dyfi Estuary
Thunderstorm off Borth Beach Convection kicking off over the Cambrian Mountains Thunderstorm over the Cambrian Mountains on a sultry June evening, 2006 Convergence-line storms initiating over the Cambrian Mountains
 Possible supercell over the Cambrian Mountains
Funnel-cloud over Hafren Forest Funnel-cloud over Hafren Forest Funnel-cloud over Hafren Forest Funnel-cloud over the Machynlleth-Llanidloes mountain road Gust-front developing on storm over Cambrian Mountains
Striated gust-front from Borth Beach Gust-front surging R-L over Cardigan Bay at Ynyslas Gust-front going over at Ynyslas Gust-front going over at Ynyslas Gust-front going over at Ynyslas
Waterspout over Cardigan Bay, seen from Ynyslas, September 4th 2011 Funnel-clouds & waterspout off Ynyslas Beach, September 4th 2011 Funnel-clouds & waterspout off Ynyslas Beach, September 4th 2011 Funnel-clouds & waterspout off Ynyslas Beach, September 4th 2011 Funnel-clouds & waterspout off Ynyslas Beach, September 4th 2011
Funnel-clouds & waterspout off Ynyslas Beach, September 4th 2011 Supercell wall-cloud over Cardigan Bay
 Supercell wall-cloud over Cardigan Bay Storm at sunset, Borth
 Thunderstorm with highly sheared anvil

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Precipitation

Probably the trickiest thing to catch well - hence the low number of images. Even DSLRs hate rain. Lenses steam up, you have to keep clearing your skylight filter and in general the results are rarely worth the trouble. These are included for completeness!

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Thunderstorm in Machynlleth! Cloudburst on outskirts of Machynlleth!
 Downpour at Borth Heavy rain zoom-in Drizzle!
Heavy snow-shower approaches the coast near Tywyn Hailstorm - Machynlleth Golf-Course Raging hail-squall
 Bird's eye hail Bird's eye hail, near Tywyn Jan 2008
Caught in a thunderstorm at Ynyslas! Torrential rainstorm about to make landfall at Ynyslas Beach
 The texture of Rain






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Gales, flooding and damage

Storm-damage is rarely photogenic but the aftermath of the 2006 Bow Street Tornado, which I investigated for TORRO, provided a few exceptions to this rule (top row). The row also includes a freakish example of severe lightning-damage. Flooding can be more photogenic with results occasionally verging on the abstract, though some of the best vantage-points can be hard to reach! Finally, the incredible coastal storms of winter 2013-14 (especially January 3-6) are covered both in terms of the action and the damage.

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After the tornado - Bow Street, November 2006 After the tornado - Bow Street, November 2006 After the tornado - Bow Street, November 2006 After the tornado - Bow Street, November 2006 After the lightning-strike: Rock outcrop blown to bits on the Arans
Damage following February 12th 2014 windstorm Damage following February 12th 2014 windstorm Damage following February 12th 2014 windstorm After the Great Flash-Flood - Afon Mawddach, July 2001 After the deluge - Dyfi Bridge
After the deluge - near Machynlleth, October 2008 After the thunderstorm - near Penegoes, August 2009 After the deluge - Machynlleth October 2008 After the deluge - Dyfi Bridge, Machynlleth After the deluge - Dyfi Valley downstream from Machynlleth, January 2011
After the deluge - Dyfi Valley downstream from Machynlleth, January 2011 After the deluge - Dyfi Valley downstream from Machynlleth, January 2011 After the deluge - Dyfi Valley downstream from Machynlleth The great flood, June 2012 The great flood, June 2012
Gale force 8 at sea Storm force 10 at sea Gale force 8 at sea Gale ripping up dunes, Ynyslas Shingle covers the promenade at Aberystwyth
Storm-damage to Aberystwyth Prom, Nov 2013 The road to Aber Dysinni at Tywyn, closed by tons of shingle, January 2014 The road to Aber Dysinni at Tywyn, closed by tons of shingle after the great storms of January 2014 The Cambrian Coast railway at Tywyn, after the great storms of January 2014 The road to Aber Dysinni at Tywyn, closed by tons of shingle after the great storms of January 2014
The road to Aber Dysinni at Tywyn, closed by tons of shingle after the great storms of January 2014 Aberystwyth Prom after the great storms of January 2014 Aberystwyth Prom after the great storms of January 2014 Aberystwyth Prom after the great storms of January 2014 Aberystwyth Prom after the great storms of January 2014
Aberystwyth Prom during the great storm of 6th January 2014 Aberystwyth Prom during the great storm of 6th January 2014 Aberystwyth Prom during the great storm of 6th January 2014 Aberystwyth Prom during the great storm of 6th January 2014 Aberystwyth Prom during the great storm of 6th January 2014
Aberystwyth Prom during the great storm of 6th January 2014Aberystwyth Prom during the great storm of 6th January 2014Severe dune erosion between Aberdyfi and Tywyn, after the great storms of early January 2014


© ALL IMAGES COPYRIGHT JOHN S. MASON 2000-2011: NO REPRODUCTION WITHOUT PERMISSION.

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