clouds » 39° North Photography

Stormy Weather

Jul 152011

We’re been having some really amazing downpours in this area lately. Here are some shots I took when I was coming down from Mount Evans on Sunday. I had stopped at the Dos Chappell Nature Center to check out the flower garden there and I got caught about halfway around the nature loop in a torrential downpout that briefly turned into hail. Thunder has such a different quality up in the mountains. It echos and rolls on forever. Very impressive. I was glad I wasn’t on TOP of the mountain. I was able to get to the nature center building to wait out the storm and then I did the nature loop again.

In the Clouds

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Jul 032011

This post is dedicated to the memory of Anita, a young Iraqi woman with whom I worked in Kirkuk, Iraq. Anita passed away this past week in South Africa at the young age of 27. She was a kind, sweet girl with a radiant smile. You’ll be missed, dearest Anita.

Rest in Peace, Anita.

Lenticular Clouds

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Jan 312011

I was hanging out in the grocery store parking lot in Nederland, Colorado early yesterday morning when I spotted these funky clouds:

Lenticular Clouds over Nederland, Colorado

These are called lenticular clouds. They’re not terribly common and they are my very favorite type of clouds. Here’s what Wikipedia has to tell us about how lenticular clouds form:

Where stable moist air flows over a mountain or a range of mountains, a series of large-scale standing waves may form on the downwind side. If the temperature at the crest of the wave drops to the dew point, moisture in the air may condense to form lenticular clouds. As the moist air moves back down into the trough of the wave, the cloud may evaporate back into vapor. Under certain conditions, long strings of lenticular clouds can form near the crest of each successive wave, creating a formation known as a ‘wave cloud.’ The wave systems cause large vertical air movements and so enough water vapor may condense to produce precipitation. The clouds have been mistaken for UFOs (or “visual cover” for UFOs) because these clouds have a characteristic lens appearance and smooth saucer-like shape. Bright colors (called Irisation) are sometimes seen along the edge of lenticular clouds.

Cool stuff. I feel very fortunate that I was at the right place at the right time to see them.

Wordless Wednesday: Paris Sky

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Nov 032010

Last Sunset…

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Sep 032010

…of August 2010, that is.

The sky put on a lovely show on Tuesday to usher out the month of August. As I often (ok, sometimes) do when I see a nice sunset developing, I hightailed it up to the pond near my house to see what I could see. Here are a few of the resulting images:

I’ve mentioned crepuscular rays in the blog on a number of occasions. The next photo shows “anti-crepuscular rays.” They are similar to crepuscular rays but show up opposite from the sun. I don’t recall ever seeing anti-crepuscular rays before so I was pretty excited about it.

August 2010 Wallpaper (FINALLY)!

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Aug 062010

FINALLY the August wallpaper! I know – it’s about time! I’m hoping that not too many of you have missed appointments due to not having the current month’s calendar on your computer’s desktop!

This photo of Long Lake with the Indian Peaks beyond doubles as the final post of my Lake Isabelle hike a week ago.

If you’re not sure how to set a photo as your desktop background, follow the instructions HERE.

For 1024 x 768 click HERE.
For 1280 x 856 click HERE.
For 1440 x 900 click HERE.

If you need a different size for your background, email me at 39DegN@gmail.com and let me know what size you need.

Enjoy!

Ominous Sky

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Jul 282010

I was working in my yard last evening under very overcast skies when the sun suddenly peeked out between the clouds. Determined to capture photos of the blooming teasels up by the Highline Canal in decent “golden hour” light, I dropped the post-hole digger, grabbed my camera and rushed off to the canal. Unfortunately, the sun had retreated by the time I got to the teasels. All was not lost, though. I met a neighbor who was walking there and had a nice conversation about birds and things. And I got this photo of the very-scary-looking sky. For all of its ominousness, nothing really came of it, but it certainly was impressive.

July Sky

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Jul 092010

I went for a walk yesterday evening after the threat of rain had passed, and came home with this image of the July sky:

July sky

Clouds are so cool.

Spring Storm

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May 192010

We had a lovely little spring storm last evening, complete with a wee bit of hail and a tornado warning. I went for a walk just before the storm hit to watch it develop. I do love me a good storm.

That’s one mean looking cloud!

Taking Photos from an Airplane

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Jan 182010

Even more so than taking pictures from a car, moving or otherwise, I love taking pictures from airplanes. There are many variables that can contribute to the relative success of one’s taken-from-an-airplane photos: the position of the sun, the scenery on your side of the plane, the condition of the window itself (scratches, dirt, ice crystals), where your seat is in relation to the wing, cloud cover, etc. On a flight between Amsterdam and Minneapolis once, I was so excited that we were going to fly directly over the northern edge of Iceland, only to discover that the entire island was covered in clouds. Major bummer.