My broad expanse of windows faces east only. To the west, a hillside, hiding the sun a good 90 minutes before it sets. Hence, sunsets tend not to be a big deal for me. However, an exception yesterday.
As a rule, Arizona sunsets -- the
Arizona Highways kind, anyhow -- tend to be skies, not clouds. As a rule, our clouds up here in the mountains are usually thinning out late in the day. However, for two days we've had a big, blustery cold front moving in from the northwest, drawing strings of clouds up from the south.
And they've been scudding along in a fashion that's almost a reminder of the offshoots of hurricanes I recall from my Florida days.
Certainly not quite as fast, but... In any event, this particular cloud was flattening on the top.
And some inky wisps were showing up, even as shadows from the mountains to the west were darkening the lower clouds.
The final colors begin a brief display...
And fade to grey except at the very top. I should add that despite the forecasters' optimism, we received about 15-20 drops of rain out of two day's worth of wind storms.
As a rule, Arizona sunsets -- the Arizona Highways kind, anyhow -- tend to be skies, not clouds. As a rule, our clouds up here in the mountains are usually thinning out late in the day. However, for two days we've had a big, blustery cold front moving in from the northwest, drawing strings of clouds up from the south.
And they've been scudding along in a fashion that's almost a reminder of the offshoots of hurricanes I recall from my Florida days.
Certainly not quite as fast, but... In any event, this particular cloud was flattening on the top.
And some inky wisps were showing up, even as shadows from the mountains to the west were darkening the lower clouds.
The final colors begin a brief display...
And fade to grey except at the very top. I should add that despite the forecasters' optimism, we received about 15-20 drops of rain out of two day's worth of wind storms.
pink clouds in the sky
ReplyDeletepuffs and balls moving to form
dramatic figures
I really love this series of photos, watching the ever changing formations and colors right along with you..
ReplyDeleteWe won the precipitation lottery with about 30 minutes of pelting rain in the night!
Very nice photos. Too bad you missed out on the rain.
ReplyDeleteSteve
Look at those anvils!
ReplyDeleteRe - to comment or not to, you ahve a point about the posts people don't comment on, I suppose I might feel a bit miffed, but it is interesting to know what they obviously skip over and what makes them linger to comment! And I think I'll knock my comment verification thing off too.
It poured here in the middle of the night on Thursday...a really very fine soaking. Sometimes you hit the lottery, sometimes we do....
ReplyDeleteAh, what a beautiful sunset brings...
ReplyDeleteAn excellent haiku from Olivia...
Pleasure -- and a weather report from lucky Brain...
Commiseration from Steve...
Weather comment and comment comments from Lucy.
Thank you all for visiting -- I think I'll post sunsets once a week! But then we're back to cloudless skies for a while. Can't make such promises.
Hey, sbird -- you snuck in while I was doing my reply. So you and brain were the lucky ones this time!
ReplyDeleteFantastic photos!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, those clouds are what we call thunder heads. Not a welcome sight when flying in a little Cessna 150. But beautiful, all the same.
Thank you for your comment on the balconies in my Photos-City-Mine blog. And wait till you see the entire house {which the bottom balcony is part of}. The whole house has a "Dark and stormy night" feel to it. ,-) Even though I was shooting in bright sunlight.
Mari-Nanci
Wonderful cloud pics! I never tire of watching cloud formations-have published many pics on my blog!
ReplyDeleteThe energy in your photos is wonderful.
What a shame you didn't get much rain!
Hello, These are very pretty photos. The different hues in your photos are lovely.
ReplyDeleteSnS -- Anything with a dark and stormy night ambiance gets my vote. Every neighborhood should have one, just so the kinds can speculate & shiver.
ReplyDeleteMeggie -- As a rule, I consider our summer rains a more interesting phenomenon to write about & so neglect those clouds that we do get. Our bright days are truly bright (and often -- just read OmegaMom on what it's like to move from AZ to AK, from sunshin to winter's dark gloom.
Welcome, Lydia. Please enjoy amd come back again!
Nice shots. I saw those clouds too, Fast moving and colorful, with a flash of lightning every now and then. I liked how they turned very silvery before dark.
ReplyDeletePrescottstyle -- good to hear from you again! I missed seeing the lightening; it would have added to the scene.
ReplyDelete