Sunday, November 19, 2017

Winter is gearing up.

"Long ago in the north

Lies the road of emergence!

Yonder our ancestors live,

Yonder we take our being.

Yet now we come southwards

For cloud flowers blossom here

Here the lightning flashes,

Rain water here is falling!"

—Tewa song


They lived in the desert SW, an area that has seen rain fall a 1000 years ago, and then wither to nothing.
I reference the much famed Chaco Canyon here.
Water is the shaping geologic force, not just here, but over the whole planet.

----------------------------

Dark clouds blanket Bay Area but fail to drop rain due to phenomenon called 'virga'


Here's a shot i took in Nevada 9 years ago of virga - it's to the left of center, kind of like a lock of hair.
It falls from the cloud, never reaches the ground.


Of course there's always some nice cirrus, no matter the month.








And there's always something atmospheric struggling 
to get over a 2400+ ft mountain to my west, be it fog:


Or a full fledged storm system:

















Impending is a nice description of some skies:




The first wave of the 'pineapple express' blew in last week. My, my, my!!
What a blast! "Jumpin jack flash, it's a gas, gas, gas".



This is the series of storms that hit the west coast last week,
sort of like a boxer landing a series of punches:



Yosemite is always beautiful, even if the view makes you chilly.
(Not my image below)


Needles to say, skiers are thrilled.

I am a transplant from the east coast and am quite glad to live in Ca.
where snow is optional - if you want some you can always go to the mountains.
Or live by the coast where a good raincoat is a necessity, but a snow shovel?
You'd never need it.

Stop back in next month, winter is just getting started, 
i got plenty of space on my camera chip a-waiting!

Sunday, September 3, 2017

August was all about fog


Here's a satellite image of how it rolls in overnight, fills the bay, gets over some of the hills.












Below: Taken at Marin Headlands, looking SW.
The fog can't quite get over the 1000 ft. hills, but it can sneak in at sea level,
the Golden Gate is to the left.



A few days it backed off, we got some nice relief.
It almost looked like it might rain... but no such luck.





Weather out west is largely tied to elevation, and it's effect
on whatever is coming in off the ocean.
Hills and mountains squeeze the air mass.







It snows at higher elevation, it rains lower down.
The peaks of mountains surrounding Death Valley are always snow covered.
At the bottom of the valley, it can be hotter than hell. Literally.

Shot from Dante's view, looking NW at sunrise.

But not always - there' been a very persistent hi pressure system
in the four corners area, when it expands westward, 
the natural air conditioning of fog stops working. Like now:


What will fall bring us? Ocean currents creating fog start to shift, fog backs off, September
and October can be the hottest months here at the coast.
I'll be sittin' here in front of my Mac, in boxer shorts, 
Canon Powershot at the ready.


Who knows what tomorrow may bring?!


Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Rain has pretty much become history til late fall...


Never the less, an interesting month

One last gasp of rain, Thursday 6/8.
The afternoon before, you could see it coming, at least I could from my north-facing windows.













And after the rain passes thru....




6/16 Sunset!



6/19
We are thru about three days of what has been billed as a massive heat wave thanks to a hi pressure dome in the desert SW. One AM sunrise, some moisture from another system managed to sneak in, create some semblance of what photographers call 'popcorn skies' which got lit by rising sun red/yellow light.
What can I say but "MAH-VELOUS"!





Since then? Pretty boring, just blue skies from horizon to horizon.
I'll be watching the NWS forecast:
http://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=MTR&issuedby=MTR&product=AFD&format=CI&version=1&glossary=1

... in hopes of taking in some Marin Headlands fog.




Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Winter storms, Part 2


Here's the rest of my March- April- May images, 
everything from feathery cirrus to snarling anger












Summer is here if i can look westward from my fifth floor breezeway, and see a blanket of fog thick enough to slide over the peak of Mt Tamalpais (2400 ft/elev. +/-) only a few miles from the ocean.




And windy? OMG, as fog burns off the warmer air rushes inland.



No mo' rain 'til October - next post? Probably foggy - the images, i mean - 
not the text, that will be coherent.


Saturday, April 29, 2017

Winter rains are over!


March and April have been interesting months, storms have been getting progressively weaker, moving thru faster, and now it is over. The Sierra snowpack is awesome, reservoirs are even letting some water go for fear there won't be enough space to take in the melting snow. I read something about how some Tahoe ski resorts are thinking they can stay open all summer. I've taken almost 300 shots of the aerial festivities I've been treated to, edited them down to 15 - which is enough for two posts.

So in no particular order, here's the take:













 What are these odd horizontal strips about? I have no idea except to wonder.







Title for the above? "Orphan cloud"



Judy Garland would like this one.
I think Jeff Beck has done a marvelous rendition,
I'm sure you can find it on youtube.

Stop in again in a couple of weeks for part two of March/April images.