Moods of the sky behind our weather instruments 2021-22

[elagache]

Dear WeatherCat observers of the seasons turning,

We are almost a full month after the autumn equinox and it is at last appearing more like fall in northern California.  So it is time to turn the page and start a new annual thread for photos of the weather featuring our weather instruments the foreground.  Not surprisingly, this morning offered such a photo op:



At this time of year, the forecast models can be cruelly deceptive.  However, for a few days the National Weather Service has been including this very important word in the forecast for next coming week: rain!    One should never count one's chickens until they have hatched, but any significant rainfall would provide the plants much needed relief.  By implication, it would greatly reduce the risk of wildfires.  That in turn reduces the risk of those dreaded "Public Safety Power Shut-offs."

I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Cheers, Edouard 

[Steve]

Autumn; which from this point of view looks exactly like May though November.

[elagache]

Dear Steve and WeatherCat shutterbugs,

Autumn; which from this point of view looks exactly like May though November.

Thanks for sharing that picture.  It had just enough of an artist's touch!

Cheers, Edouard 

[xairbusdriver]

Greetings from western TN!

[elagache]

Dear X-Air and WeatherCat shutterbugs,

Greetings from western TN!

A very nice photo!    Thanks for sharing!

Now that we have some inspiration.  Anyone else bold enough to get out their camera or smart phones? . . . . .

Cheers, Edouard 

[elagache]

Dear WeatherCat shutterbugs,

Daylight savings will end in the United States this Sunday.  Until then, sunrise has been very late and I'm getting up in close to full darkness.  This morning I peeked outside and spotted the crescent Moon not too far from my anemometer:




As always, you can click on the image for an enlargement on SmugMug.  You can also delve into technical details like the exposure was 0.4 seconds - a bit less than 1/2 a second.  That's not too shabby for a hand-helded photo!  I suppose I wasn't awake enough to shake!! 

Cheers, Edouard 

[Blicj11]

Greetings from western TN!

Wow. Nice photo. Unfortunately, our fall foliage has been dead and gone for a month, so I'll just have to be content with looking at yours.

[elagache]

Dear WeatherCat observers of the seasons turning,

Alas I continue to be overwhelmed so time for photos is few and far between.  However, this morning I spotted these bands of colorful clouds before sunrise:



After taking the photo, I learned about the so-called "Colorado" fire south of Monterey in the Big Sur region of California:

https://wildfiretoday.com/2022/01/22/wildfire-north-of-big-sur-prompts-evacuations/

This morning's National Weather Service forecast discussion had a sub-topic on fire weather - something that is unheard of for January.  Here is the first paragraph:

.FIRE WEATHER...as of 3:45 AM PST Saturday...Colorado Fire started last evening near Palo Colorado Rd/canyon in Big Sur. Fire has remained stubbornly active overnight. Pictures on social media suggest some pretty surreal fire behavior given the wet Oct and Dec that was observed across the region with multiple AR events. Looking at historical fire data it appears the fire is burning south of Palo Colorado and towards Bixby Creek along Long Ridge in an area with little or no fire history (the 2008 Basin, 2016 Soberanes and 2013 Pfeiffer fire didn`t burn here and not even the 1977 Marble Cone or 1999 Kirk Complex). Anecdotally it seems as though the long term drought is acting like a chronic illness where even recent rains and cold winter wx isn`t helping to keep fires from developing.

The emphasis is my addition.

We all form opinions about the weather from our personal experience.  It is different when a professional meteorologist comes to conclusions as stark as this given their wealth of experience and knowledge.  We live in new kind of world and we must all do some soul-searching as to how to cope with it.

Edouard

[Weatheraardvark]

cold here

[bcurry]

Red Sky in morning (behind my anemometer)

[elagache]

Dear Bill and WeatherCat shutterbugs,

Red Sky in morning (behind my anemometer)

Very nice photo Bill!  You did a great job of filling the image to the very corners with the redness of the sky.  Thanks for sharing!

Cheers, Edouard

[Blicj11]

Another majestic photo, Bill. Thanks for sharing.

[elagache]

Dear WeatherCat observers of the seasons turning,

If you are attentive to such things, then you know that the Vernal or Spring Equinox is quite literally before you.  For some, you won't get back to the WeatherCat forum until the event has occurred.  Here is a webpage with the local times of the equinox all over the world:

https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?iso=20220320T1533&msg=March%20Equinox%202023

About two weeks ago, I spotted this spring-like sunrise and thought it would make an appropriate mood-setter for the occasion:



Spring is traditionally the most hopeful of the seasonal transitions.  Alas tradition alone isn't enough to make our outlook hopeful.  May we all take a moment to ask ourselves were hope can be really found in a world that is so troubled in so many different ways.

Edouard

[elagache]

Dear WeatherCat observers of the seasons turning,

I haven't managed to take another photo worthy of posting in a long while, but we are at another change of season.  Astronomical summer is marked by the sun's most northern position in the sky.  You can use this webpage to see when that happens in your locale:

https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?iso=20220621T0913&msg=June%20solstice%202022

Spring has been relatively benign in northern California.  This photo captured high clouds in the late afternoon:



Alas, outlook for this summer isn't very encouraging, in terms of meteorology, or otherwise.  We'll just have to make the best of it - what else can we do?

Edouard

[elagache]

Dear WeatherCat observers of the seasons turning,

California is famous for its fog.  In past years, we had fog morning and night.  That was our natural air conditioner.  Recently, the fog has been conspicuously absent, but in July and early August it has returned.  Yesterday, I took this photo of the fog breaking up:



Unfortunately, the weather pattern seems to be changing.  Here is the graph with yesterday's temperatures and that of the day before:



Less fog means more sunshine and higher temperatures.  Temperatures were around 10 degrees hotter yesterday than the day before.  Today it got even hotter still.  We are making the transition from mid-summer into late summer and autumn.  Alas for us, the hottest time of the year.

Cheers, Edouard