New Year’s Day brought some interesting wave clouds to the San Francisco Peaks. I headed west to Brannigan Park to get both good views of the clouds and sunset colors on the peaks. In addition, I shot time-lapse video that shows the amazing motion of the wave cloud above the peaks and the cap cloud that obscures the summit.
Time-lapse video of wave clouds and cap clouds.
It has been a dry October and the last measurable precipitation at the Flagstaff airport was September 26 until rain and snow fell on Sunday, October 27.
Forecast models had been showing a slight chance of rain and/or snow with the passage of a cold front but precipitation amounts were light. The GEFS plumes showed generally less than 0.03 inches. The airport actually measured a bit more than that as 0.05″ of rain fell with a trace of snow.
Overall, not a bad forecast. So I was not surprised that rain and some snow arrived with the cold front. I was surprised that it was accompanied by thunder and lightning.
It’s always interesting to observe Thundersnow!
A look at the lightning map shows that the only place where there was cloud-to-ground lightning was in the vicinity of Flagstaff.
And now we return to our dry weather pattern.
It’s been an unusual monsoon season across Arizona this year. After both a wet winter and wet spring—with above normal precipitation amounts all the way into the month of May—things went dry. The North American Monsoon started late this year with the first significant rainfall not arriving until the second half of July. This was unfortunate as the dryness partially contributed to a very damaging wildfire (Museum Fire) burning across portions of the San Francisco Peaks.
Just a few days later, the rains finally arrived. And, then, they stopped again. And it has been that way much of this monsoon season. A few days of rain, then a week or more of dry weather. A normal pattern would have rain falling perhaps four days out of seven for a two-month period. Folks around here have dubbed this monsoon the “nonsoon”.
And, of course, with the lack of moisture and thunderstorms opportunities for photographing storms, heavy rain, lightning, and sunsets has been a challenge. But it only takes one great photograph to make it a successful season. I’m still trying to get that photograph.
Here are some of the more interesting photographs from this “nonsoon monsoon” season.
The Thunder Mountain Trail (TMT), near Bryce Canyon National Park, has been on our To-Do list for a long time. We’ve driven by the trail many times while crossing that portion of Utah. We even did some mountain biking on the nearby Cassidy Trail many years ago—but didn’t include TMT.
Several times this spring we were ready to head out to Utah to ride TMT only to be thwarted by inclement weather. This has been a cool and wet spring across the southwest and many trails remained muddy or even snow covered through April. Again and again we postponed the trip.
Finally there was a break in the weather. It was expected to be warm and dry enough to dry the trails but not too hot as to make the ride uncomfortable. We also planned on riding a section of the Arizona Trail near Jacob Lake on our drive day. This would give us a few hours out of the car and on the bikes. Nothing too spectacular about the views on this section of trail as you are in the trees the entire time. Still, riding around at ~8000 feet elevation is something you notice.
We finished the day with food and lodging in Kanab, Utah. I have to tell you about our meal at Sego Restaurant in Kanab. They specialize in small plates and suggested that for two people we order 3–5 items. We went with five amazing dishes. Each was very different but with wonderful flavors and aromas. Worth doing again!
The next day was cool with overcast skies. This was unfortunate because it resulted in very muted colors and landscapes in a land where color defines the landscape.
We opted to park at the bottom of the mountain and ride up the paved bike trail to the gravel Forest Road and then, finally, to the Thunder Mountain trailhead.
And now it’s snowing, again, on Thunder Mountain Trail. Looks like we timed it just about right.
In celebration of Grand Canyon National Park’s centennial, the Grand Canyon Conservancy has published Grand Canyon National Park: 100 Views.
In celebration of this legacy national park’s centennial, the work of some of the country’s most talented photographers is paired with essays by canyon veteran Scott Thybony in a love letter to an irreplaceable place. Like candles on a birthday cake, 100 breathtaking photographs capture the deep and abiding appeal of Grand Canyon—as Thybony so eloquently writes, its “pure geometry of earth and sky.” This book is truly the “collector’s item” for Grand Canyon National Park’s centennial year!
I’m pleased to note that three of my photographs were selected for inclusion in this book.
The first image is an example of not giving up. I was packing up my gear to leave Lipan Point and drive home when a small cumulus appeared. I stopped what I was doing and watched it for awhile and realized that it might become a thunderstorm. So I unpacked the gear and set it up again and waited. The sun went down and then the storm started to produce lightning. And I got this shot of lightning exiting from the top of the storm, heading down in the clear and then going through a layer of low clouds before hitting and illuminating the ground.
The following two images were shot the same day. Thunderstorms were slow to develop but there was this interesting band of clouds just above the horizon. I waited until the sun was behind the clouds and the result was these beautiful beams of light and shadow spreading across the canyon.
Finally, after the sun had set thunderstorms developed across the North Rim of Grand Canyon. There was still plenty of twilight to backlight the storms and to produced some reflected light in the canyon.
“Leave it as it is. Man cannot improve on it, not a bit. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it.”
-Theodore Roosevelt
You cannot see the Grand Canyon in one view, as if it were a changeless spectacle from which a curtain might be lifted, but to see it, you have to toil from month to month through its labyrinths.
-John Wesley Powell
Thank you, Mr. Roosevelt and Major Powell.