Morning Fog at Mormon Lake

September 3, 2021

A few days of tropical moisture—remnants of Tropical Depression Nora—brought widespread rainfall to much of northern Arizona. As the moisture was replaced by drier air in the middle- and upper-levels but was unchanged in the near-surface layer, we were left with a situation in which fog might form in the early morning hours.

So, up before dawn to drive out to Mormon Lake and the surrounding basin. And there was fog—at least in one corner of the basin. Here is a 30-minute time lapse compressed down to 17 seconds showing the movement of the fog as it sloshes back and forth.

As this was taking place, the sun rose through a shallow layer of fog.

Bonus: on the previous evening the sun was setting through layers of smoke from the western wildfires.

Edit: updated image.

Moonrise over Grand Canyon

March 11, 2021 / 2 Comments

The late February full Moon presented an opportunity to photograph the Moon rising between the dramatic Wotans Throne and Vishnu Temple in Grand Canyon.

Moonrise between Wotans Throne and Vishnu Temple in Grand Canyon.

Moonrise was about a half-hour before sunset. This meant that the distant walls of the canyon would still be illuminated by late afternoon Sun. On the other hand, the eastern horizon was still pretty bright as the Moon rose from behind Wotans Throne. So bright, in fact, that it was difficult to see the Moon. As a result, I got better results about 15 minutes later as the Sun moved lower and the Moon moved higher in the sky.

Moonrise with Earth's shadow over Grand Canyon. — Moonrise with Earth’s shadow over Grand Canyon.

The second shot was taken just a minute or two before sunset and only the uppermost portions of the canyon rim remain illuminated by the sun. In addition, Earth’s shadow can be seen just above the horizon.

Several groups of hikers ascending the South Kaibab Trail in Grand Canyon.

Bonus shot: While waiting for the Moon to rise I took photographs of hikers ascending the South Kaibab Trail just below and above Ooh-Aah Point.

The 2020 nonsoon-Monsoon

September 4, 2020 / 1 Comment

This is the second year in a row in which the North American Monsoon has failed to deliver its normal weather to Arizona. The monsoon had a late start in July with only a few isolated rain events early in the month and the main event starting around the third week of July. But even that faltered after a week and the final week of July was dry.

August was even worse with no measurable precipitation until after mid-month and even then the amounts were light. The National Weather Service in Flagstaff has posted some climate data for the area for August. It was the hottest August and the 2nd driest on record in Flagstaff and most of the west experienced similar conditions (Figure 1; Figure 2; Figure 3).

Photographing summer monsoon storms has been a challenge this year because there were so many dry periods. Even so, there are always interesting weather events and clouds that make it worthwhile. So here is a collection of the most interesting weather photographs from this summer.

Convection

A time-lapse movie shows that the ducks are more interesting than the convection.

Developing Cb's over the San Francisco Peaks. — Developing Cb’s over the San Francisco Peaks.

Small cumulus clouds over the Painted Desert.

A weak thunderstorm near Two Guns, Arizona.

A well-developed thunderstorm over the Mogollon Rim viewed from Sedona.

Rainbows

Full rainbows eluded me this year butI did manage to photograph a rainbow segment.

Lightning

As with rainbows, lightning was elusive this year. It was typically a case of being in the wrong place on the wrong day and at the wrong time. But I did get lucky with the following image.

In-cloud lightning illuminates a small Cb near the Grand Canyon. I was trying to photograph the comet so I got lucky with this storm.

Lightning at sunset over the Mogollon Rim viewed from Sedona.

Weak storms over the San Francisco Peaks produced these two bolts of lightning.

In-cloud lightning partially illuminates Grand Canyon while the nearly-full Moon provides additional illumination.

Sunsets

And when there is no lightning and no rainbow, one can be content with the sunset.

A small rain shaft is illuminated by the setting sun.

Distant rain catches the last light of the sun and provides backlighting for the Cockscomb.

A thin band of clouds partially blocks the sun and creates an array of crepuscular rays of light.

The sun sets over ruins in Wupatki National Monument.

The setting sun illuminates both Cathedral Rock and the clouds above.

Miscellaneous

Crepuscalar Rays---Wupatki National Monument. — Crepuscalar Rays—Wupatki National Monument.

Crepuscalar Rays---San Francisco Peaks. — Crepuscalar Rays—San Francisco Peaks.

Even thought it is supposed to be the wet and rainy season, we still managed to get cap clouds on the high peaks with stars above.

Perhaps 2021 will be a normal monsoon year.

Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)—VII

July 28, 2020

The waxing Moon is getting brighter in the evening sky and this makes it more difficult to see Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE). In fact, I was unable to see it with the unaided eye but both binoculars and long-exposure photographs easily brought out the comet.

Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) above Grand Canyon.

On the other hand, the presence of the first-quarter Moon illuminates the inner canyon while the comet is faintly visible above.

The image is a composite. The first image is on a fixed tripod to get a sharp result of the moonlit canyon. The second image is on a tracker to get sharp points for the stars and comet. The two images are then combined. Camera settings are 24mm, ƒ/4, 120 seconds, ISO 400.

Thunderstorm with lightning near Grand Canyon.

As a bonus, a late evening thunderstorm developed just west of Page and moved to the northeast while producing a lot of lightning. Although no cloud-to-ground strokes were noted, the lightning easily illuminated the cloud from the inside.

Sunset with crepuscular rays over Grand Canyon.

Second bonus: there was a nice sunset, too.

Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)—VI

July 26, 2020

Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) remains visible in the northwest sky after sunset. It is slowly diminishing in brightness (current estimated magnitude of +2.8) and the waxing crescent Moon is making it harder to see the fainter portions of the tail.

These images overlook Grand Canyon and show the comet above the North Rim and Kaibab Plateau.

Flagstaff Altitudes

Tag: Grand Canyon