Aurora Borealis Visible from Northern Arizona

April 25, 2023

Aurora borealis on 23 April 2023 as seen from northern Arizona.

The aurora borealis that occurred Sunday night (23 April 2023) was an impressive event. The storm parameters* were all indicative of a major event so it was worth the effort to drive to a nearby dark (or at least reasonably dark) location and try to get some aurora photos.

I assumed that the aurora, if visible from northern Arizona, would be low on the northern horizon so I wanted a location without city lights to my north. The best location would have been the South Rim of Grand Canyon looking over the North Rim but clouds were plentiful in that region. So I headed south from Flagstaff and ended up on Anderson Mesa which has many good viewing locations.

Upon arrival I looked to the north but saw nothing with the unaided eye. A quick photo test, however, revealed that the aurora was in progress and visible through the clouds that were to the north. I took photos from about 2045 until 2330. The aurora was at its best from 2100 to 2145. It was much weaker and very faint after that time although still visible. At its peak, the auroral colors extended upwards 30–40 degrees in the sky!

I tried to see the aurora with the unaided eye but was never able to see it. I think that was because there was some light pollution from Flagstaff (yeah, it’s a Dark Sky city but it puts out more stray light with each passing year) and lights reflecting off the low clouds that were present to the north.

Time-lapse of aurora from 2053–2228 MST 23 April 2023.

But the camera had no difficulty capturing the subtle colors. I was shooting with a Nikon D750 and a Tamron 17–35mm wide angle lens set at 17mm, aperture was f/2.8, exposure was 15 seconds, and ISO 3200. I was using an intervalometer set to take a photo every minute. The camera was also set to do LENR (long exposure noise reduction) so that the actual time the camera was active was 30 seconds out of each minute. This gave me a chance to quickly review images after each shot was taken and that was useful. On the other hand, taking exposures without LENR and shooting, for example, every 15 seconds would have resulted in a much smoother time lapse. Good stuff to know for the next time we get an aurora event this far south!

*I was using SpaceweatherLive.com to monitor storm parameters.

Arizona Monsoon Clouds — July 2018

August 6, 2018

The North American Monsoon arrived in northern Arizona during the first week of July—which is an average start date. Within just a few days, we quickly transitioned from Extreme Fire Danger to High—and within a week or two—to Moderate.

Summer monsoon season is my second storm chase season—the first is in late spring across the High Plains. Second season is more about lightning, clouds with dramatic scenery, and colors at sunset. This July has been a bit more challenging than other seasons but still successful.

Here are some photographs of storms and storm-related activity during July 2018.

Early stage Cumulonimbus

A pair of developing cumulonimbus as seen from Kachina Wetlands.

Cumulonimbus over Hart Prairie.

Outflow boundaries and arcus clouds

Gust front and arcus clouds advance across Wupatki National Monument.

Gust front and arcus clouds continue to advance across Wupatki National Monument.

This complex of storms was moving westward across Wupatki National Monument. I had originally planned to photograph the system from the Doney Mtn. Picnic Area but the system arrived at that location before I did. So I retreated back to US-89 and the entrance to the Monument. Both of these images are panoramas that span the northeast through south. The San Francisco Peaks can be seen at the far right of both images.

Rainbows (and maybe a tornado?)

As convection approached a rainbow developed and I was busy trying to reset the camera to capture the full bow. Only later, when examing the images, did I notice what might be a vortex bisecting the rainbow. Because I did not see it in real time I cannot say whether there was any rotation. It may just be a random bit of cloud debris.

Lightning

The best part of the thunderstorm season is trying to capture lightning. It’s more than just getting a photograph of lightning—it’s important to get lightning in an interesting location.

Lightning over the Painted Desert as seen from South Rim of Grand Canyon.

A composite of four images showing multiple lightning strikes on the San Francisco Peaks. These storms dropped almost 6 inches of rain in under 3 hours.

Menacing thunderstorms

Sometimes I chase storms—other times they chase me. We were mountain biking on Observatory Mesa when this thunderstorm developed and enveloped the San Francisco Peaks. It was definitely time to turn around.

A thunderstorms envelopes the San Francisco Peaks.

Sunset after the storm

And, of course, sunset after the storms can be pretty amazing,

Sunset over Grand Canyon as seen from Lipan Point.

A distant thunderstorm is backlit by the setting sun at Grand Canyon.

Late afternoon sun briefly lights up Cathedral Rock in Sedona.

The setting sun lights up the clouds as shadows race up the face of Cathedral Rock.

Reflections

Reflections in pools of water can produce interesting images. Several days of heavy rain resulted in ponds of water at Crescent Moon Picnic Area.

The setting sun illuminates Cathedral Rock which is reflected in a small pond.

Rainfall amounts

As is typical, rainfall amounts can vary widely over even just a few miles. Here is a map showing the rain gauge amounts for July on the east side of the San Francisco Peaks southward through Flagstaff and beyond. Amounts range from 2.5 to 14.5 inches.

August continues to bring thunderstorms, lightning, and flooding to northern Arizona.

Monsoon thunderstorms continue across Northern Arizona

August 4, 2017

The North American Monsoon continues across the Southwest bringing thunderstorms almost every day to northern Arizona. Rainfall amounts across much of the state have been well above average with Flagstaff receiving 4.5″ compared to a normal of 2.6″ in the month of July,

Of course, all this storminess brings opportunities for photographing interesting skies, lightning, and sunsets.

I was heading towards the South Rim of Grand Canyon when I decided that Wupatki National Monument might be more interesting. Although there wasn’t much in the way of lightning there was a nice sunset with a thunderstorm in the distance.

Sunset at Citadel Pueblo in Wupatki National Monument.

Another day brought a great sunset with beams of light illuminating the inner canyon.

Sunset from Lipan Point, Grand Canyon National Park.

I found myself in Sedona a few nights later hoping for lightning at sunset. The lightning was there but clouds to the west blocked the light of the setting sun. This spectacular bolt of anvil lightning traveled horizontally for a great distance before terminating above Cathedral Rock.

Lightning over Cathedral Rock, Sedona, Arizona.

Early afternoon cumulus development near Marshall Lake on Anderson Mesa resulted in this small cumulus cloud producing a very photogenic shadow.

And, later that afternoon, we found ourselves at Lower Lake Mary watching another cumulus cloud develop to our east and reflected in the water.

Cumulus cloud reflected in Lower Lake Mary.

I’ve been trying to capture evening thunderstorms and lightning (image) over Grand Canyon with a crescent moon illuminating the interior the canyon. Not very easy to do. I was able to get the moonlit canyon. And there was lightning but it was over 100 km away and resulted in teeny, tiny bolts in the phots. Well, I’ll just keep trying.

A crescent moon illuminated the interior of Grand Canyon. (120 second exposure, f/4, ISO 200, 16mm)

Lightning Across Northern Arizona — 2017

July 20, 2017

The North American Monsoon is now in full swing across the southwest and Arizona. This brings thundershowers almost every day to northern Arizona along with a chance to photograph lightning.

I have been photographing lightning for a long time with my earliest images using an old manual focus/exposure camera with film. Those were challenging because you had to guess at the exposure (although there were many fine articles online even then on camera settings). There was no way to do a quick check of the exposure to see if it was good. On the other hand, we usually shot in the evening or nighttime hours using long exposures of several seconds or more so you were usually pretty certain whether you had the shutter open at the right moment.

With digital, everything has changed. You can instantly check your image and see whether or not you captured the lightning. There are several lightning triggers on the market that will fire the shutter for you.

Here are some recent images taken in several different locations over the past few weeks.

Twilight lightning over the North Rim, Grand Canyon.

These were mainly in-cloud flashes so the best option was to leave the shutter open for 10-15 seconds. The longer exposure also allows some stars to appear in the image.

Lightning near Kendrick Peak in northern Arizona.

Early evening thunderstorms move into Flagstaff, Arizona.

Winter mountain biking in Sedona

March 25, 2016 / 1 Comment

Winter is fading away in the higher elevations of northern Arizona. Snow has melted across much of the area allowing the trails to be used again for walking, running, and, especially, mountain biking. While the trails were covered in snow this winter we did most of our mountain biking in Sedona. Although snow does fall there, it rarely lasts long. Here are a few photographs from Sedona mountain biking this winter.

Chuckwagon Trail in the Dry Creek area. Snow lingered in the shadows making for interesting travel.

Occasionally we had to walk around the ice. This is in a mostly dry wash near the Rabbit Ears.

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Flagstaff Altitudes

Tag: Arizona