Category Archives: Weather

Outdoors, Travel, Weather

Nebraska Dust Storm

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On Thursday, May 12, 2022, we were heading home from our epic 50-day road trip I’ve written about extensively in this blog. We were coming from Iowa City and had two more stops to make; St. Paul, Nebraska, and Denver, Colorado.

The following text is excerpted from my travel journal. The journal is usually made up of bullet point details to keep information organized for future trips and/or add details to photographs. However, that storm generated this detailed account.

From the travel journal with slight edits for easier reading:

Route: Interstate 80 to Omaha then Hwy 92 to St. Paul. 36 mph wind gusts. 92 was a two-lane road, passing large trucks and their wind was scary. Omaha is big. It was hazy, windy, and dusty the whole way. Not as hot as Iowa but the truck temperature reading was still 100 degrees.

PM: Judy texted to say a storm just blew through. High winds, hail, lightning tree damage, and rain.

By the time we encountered it, it had turned into a massive dust storm that swallowed the sun. We pulled over at Rising City to wait it out. We faced north, it was coming from the south.

 

The sky turned to night with black dust and dirt pounding Coyote Hawk. The truck shook,  luckily damaging hail skipped us. It was over pretty quick.

 

As it grew lighter the rain started and we hit the road.

We took the navigation system down to find a local radio station and, as expected, the tornado warnings were beeping. Not that there WAS a tornado but that a storm capable of causing one was on the march. The NWS (National Weather Service) said a severe thunderstorm was moving at 65 mph NE of Columbus. That was north of us as we took off.

Whew. That was crazy. Everyone parks in garages here because of hail. And they have storm shelters. (End journal entry)

Having grown up in the Phoenix area in the ’70’s I was accustomed to dust storm alerts and knew what to do. Dust in the Valley, however, is a light desert tan, not black topsoil from farms. Apparently, that was just a normal spring day in Nebraska! Yikes!

Once we got to our destination and popped the camper up we found dirt for days! We found dirt in places we didn’t know existed…?

 

AHPS, Arizona Highways PhotoScapes, Cultural, Historic Buildings, Nature, Outdoors, Photo Workshops, Places to Shoot, Summer, Travel, Weather

Chasing Monsoons with Arizona Highways PhotoScapes

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It was a good idea. As long as I can remember, and I’ve lived in Arizona since 1971, the monsoon season has arrived right on schedule. It generally begins when we get a consistent dew point in the 50’s and runs from about mid-July through August, give or take a couple of weeks. As the afternoons heat up the thunderheads begin to build and they can pop up anywhere. It’s not like a storm you can track from California. When I first attended Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff I could set my watch to the daily afternoon showers and thunderstorms. But with climate change, last year’s monsoon season was dubbed a non-soon. Much like 2020.

It was scheduled as a four-day workshop. The idea was that we’d convene at 9:00 in the classroom, learn about weather patterns, how to read weather apps and radar, learn where to go for the storms that just pop up in the hot Arizona afternoons, and be ready to load the vans and head in any direction from Phoenix, located in the center of the state. Thursday wound up being a tough day with a classroom full of excited photographers and nowhere to go.

It was decided that the next day we’d head in the direction of a historically rich corridor of monsoon activity, interstate 10 between Phoenix and Tucson.

We had class from 9-12, lunch from 12-1, then we headed to Tucson. With no storms forming, we photographed the Mission San Xavier del Bac. It’s always a good choice for people with cameras.

It’s crazy to think of the lives, people and stories that have wandered these grounds over the centuries.

To think of the folks who have sat in these pews and prayed.

A storm cell popped up around Benson, south of Tucson. By the time we got there, this was all there was. It had mostly dissipated as quickly as it had formed. We shot until sunset then grabbed some food and headed back to Phoenix. We got back to the classroom at 11:30.

Saturday was a similar situation. We headed south of Phoenix but this time only went as far as Florence. No storms popped up on the radar…ANYWHERE, so we photographed the desert. Again we were out until 11:00.

Sunday we spent half the day in the classroom doing photo critiques with what we DID shoot and dismissed.

Again, the idea was a good one, too bad the weather didn’t cooperate. Highways has since taken this workshop off the schedule, for obvious reasons. Maybe someday, when weather patterns settle down, we can get back to it. I still learned a lot about weather and photographing storms. They can be dangerous for you and your gear so keep a safe distance from lightning and have rain gear for you AND your camera always ready.

Stay safe out there and Happy Shooting!

Outdoors, People, Places to Shoot, Travel, Weather

Crater Lake, Smoke

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This is the final installment of my trip as Photo Guide with Arizona Highways PhotoScapes to Crater Lake National Park in August.

I’m not gonna lie…the amount of smoke we encountered at Crater Lake was discouraging. But, what can you do? We shot anyway.

This first image is to show just how hazy it was out on the road around the park.

Lumix DMC-GX8, ISO 400, 85 mm, 1/160 of a second at F/5.0, handheld

This image is facing away from the lake. Crater Lake is behind me. The hills full of large beautiful pine trees are barely visible.

Lumix DMC-GX8, ISO 6400, 70 mm, 1/125 of a second at F/2.8, handheld

The afternoon we arrived at Crater Lake Lodge the smoke was beginning to surround us and make visibility very difficult.

Lumix DMC-GX8, ISO 400, 31 mm, 1/250 of a second at F/10, handheld

The morning shoots were better and the smoke gave us weird colored, dramatic skies.

Lumix DMC-GX8, ISO 6400, 100 mm, 1/640 of a second at F/2.8, handheld

Here’s the gang shooting a “Ghost Tree”.

Lumix DMC-GX8, ISO 6400, 39 mm, 1/200 of a second at F/6.3, handheld

It gave a new meaning to sunrise. We weren’t waiting for it to rise above the horizon but above the thick smoke that had laid down overnight.

Lumix DMC-GX8, ISO 400, 150 mm, 1/800 of a second at F/2.8, handheld

The natural beauty of the location was hindered but the storytelling was in full swing.

Lumix DMC-GX8, ISO 400, 35 mm, 1/640 of a second at F/3.2, handheld

Shooting Crater Lake is like shooting Grand Canyon. Pictures don’t do it justice. The sheer magnitude of what we were looking at was difficult to capture in a picture. And with the smoke, we were sorely lacking the brilliant blue color of the water and sky Crater Lake is famous for.

Lumix DMC-GX8, ISO 1600, 13 mm, 1/100 of a second at F/8, tripod

Feeling he had nothing to shoot, this photographer just sat down and enjoyed the view.

Lumix DMC-GX8, ISO 400, 14 mm, 1/400 of a second at F/4, handheld

Seriously, when you can aim your lens directly at the sun and shoot without destroying your eyes or sensor you know you have thick smoke.

Lumix DMC-GX8, ISO 400, 150 mm, 1/320 of a second at F/5.6, handheld

Don’t be discouraged when conditions aren’t perfect. Sometimes the imperfect makes for a better image and most certainly a more interesting story.

Happy Shooting!

Outdoors, Places to Shoot, Travel, Weather

Tahoe and the Weather

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This blog is being written to showcase the extreme difference a day can make in the weather. It is also being shared to encourage you to go out in it, the weather I mean, and take advantage of nature’s drama unfolding before you.

Over President’s Day weekend this last February I had the good fortune of being  a part of a family retreat in South Lake Tahoe. I had never been there and was really looking forward to it. I was half expecting snow covered ground but realized they were probably getting similar weather patterns to Flagstaff, where I live, and on Saturday, our first full day there, the sun was shining, the water was calm and in the sun it was a lovely temperature.

Here’s a wide shot of the swimming hole created by the docks right below our cabin. The water was SO clear and the water had slight ripples on it from a light breeze.

The shoreline felt like a small pond, not a 23 mile long lake. My wife and I decided this would be a GREAT place to bring our stand up paddle boards back to and do some exploring.

Literally the calm before the storm. We kayak and SUP a lot on Lake Powell and usually  can only experience  calm waters like this early in the morning. We call it glass. The water is like glass and it is SO beautiful and serene to paddle board on.

Here is a nice image of my cousin and her family sitting on the corner of the pier enjoying the warm afternoon temperatures.

Vessels like this paddle wheel can only float on calm waters. These kinds of boats were not made for the waves that would come the next day.

We spent a lot of time on those docks that first day. It was so pretty and warm. I’ve never seen a seaplane land on Lake Powell! I’ve only seen them near ocean towns so this was a real treat. But again, it could only do it on calm waters.

 

  

By Saturday afternoon the winds were beginning to pick up. Here you can see the difference in the chop of the water.

By Sunday the winds were gusting at over 50 miles per hour. This brave, or foolish, soul was braving the waves on the once serene dock. Due to the spray I stayed back with my camera gear so as not to get soaked.

The once calm shoreline turned into angry ocean size waves. It was spectacular to be out it. I had to really set my stance so as to not get knocked over by the wind.

The waves did this thing where they would start at one end of the dock and move to the other end. It was really cool to watch.

This is that calm corner of the pier that my cousin and her family were sitting and calmly visiting just 12 hours before. This wave would have sent them swimming!

I highly encourage you to go out in weather and shoot. But be smart! Don’t go out when lightning is close and be sure to protect your camera gear from the elements.

Happy Shooting!