Regarding the image in
The San Francisco Bay missile would have been launched from Vandenburg AFB, so it is quite far downrange and at very high altitude; therefore, the very wide plume. It is beautiful, but not really comparable to the skunkbayweather.com image. The San Francisco Bay image appears to show high-altitude staging. In the skunkbayweather.com image, the "missile" is resolved; the altitude and range not very great.