Only good fortune and a well-timed opening of the camera shutter allowed me to capture this bizarre juxtaposition of bright ground light, spooky dark sky and strange cloud formations of an approaching severe storm. Yes, this is a nighttime photo. During the exposure, faint lightning within the storm silhouetted the cloud features throughout. Meanwhile, a brilliant eruption of lightning high … [Read more...]
Orographic Stratocumulus: Waipio Valley and Beach
Easily lost in the resplendent, stunning grandeur of the Big Island's Waipio Valley overlook is a meteorological lesson—at least, amidst the northeasterly (right to left) flow so common to this area. The ragged deck of stratocumulus thickens just inland, with an edge very near the coast, for good reason: sharp uplift of the marine boundary layer over the steep terrain on either side of the … [Read more...]
Northwestern Reflections
Despite being rather readily accessible, Ruby Beach is one of the most stunning seashores in a region profusely festooned with them: Washington's Olympic Peninsula. In just a few visits, this little swath of coastline has offered wondrous experiences for me, day and night, and in between, but especially around sunset. On this sublime evening, the chill of the marine boundary layer, tolerable … [Read more...]
Shower from a Tower, Beyond the Blowing Sand
The same process caused both the blowing sand atop the nearby dunes and the deep towering cumulus in the background: an outflow pool, heaved forth by thunderstorms in mountains to the distant left. Though a small rain core descended from these towers, the rain would be short-lived and sparse for anyone beneath, as so often is the case in the Tularosa Basin (containing White Sands National … [Read more...]
Icelandic Dust Devil
Yes, dust devils can happen in moist, cool Iceland! A large field of black, alluvial, volcanic sand, heated several hours under summer sunshine, can generate enough shallow instability to spin up dust devils–even in air that feels chilly to the touch. [Mars has these too. Its atmosphere is over 100 times thinner than Earth's at the surface, and rivals Antarctica for coldness, but its gets dust … [Read more...]
Fate of the Old Homestead
Like many old Great Plains homesteads, the main dwelling here slowly decays away, a relic of a time when opportunity and promise of the good times and wetter years hit the harsh reality of dry-land agriculture in this drought-prone, windswept, volcano-studded corner of New Mexico. In the distance, Palo Blanco Mountain and adjoining highlands stand watch. Storms like this, and the cold winter … [Read more...]
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