We had a storm front moving through - & some DRAMATIC cloud formations in the sky!
The start of a humid & warmer-than-usual few days for the Labor Day holiday weekend,
with highs averaging in the mid 80s. (this was actually night before last, Aug 29, 2013)
** Here's a panoramic view**
just as it's starting
I also show closeups left & right, below this photo.
They are all within 10 minutes: 7:40pm or so - 7:50pm.
THE SETUP
Around 7:00 we noticed the sky outside... it didn't look yellow, in fact there were bright blue areas to the Southwest (That's the left side of this photo), but it "felt" yellow. The air itself was yellow -
a thick dark yellow.
The wind was still - nonexistant, even though you could tell something was approaching from up the street. Eerie!
I went outside, the sun had just dipped down behind the mountain - the sun sets in the center of the panorama above, right where there's a dip in the crest, a passage through the mountain to the other side.
(ALRIGHT,...
I can't resist ...
imagine creepy sci-fi music playing as you read, "to the other side" above.)
Back to reality people! That "dip" in the mountains is where the local highway, the North Cross Valley Expressway, rt 309, cuts and climbs through the mountain, giving access from the major highways and the Wyoming Valley cities & riverside towns... "to the other side" (couldn't resist again), to the "Back Mountain" as it's called locally, towns of Shavertown, Trucksville, Dallas... I posted a Google map on August 14, 2013.
I digress. So... I went outside. the sky was blue, we had just had a nice sunset with greying clouds lined with streaks of pink then purple. Nice. But, the air felt yellow. I turned around and looked up the street (off the panoramic view, off from the right). The sky was an entire mass of GRAY. Heavy. Then I started hearing lots of distant rumblings. You probably guessed right - those rumblings were approaching thunder & lightning. You could palpably feel the air getting thicker, then the breezes started as I ran around the yard, prepping for a storm, in case there were strong gusts.
A FEW PHOTOS OF IMPRESSIVE CLOUDS EVENT
Then I went inside, upstairs to the window where I can get the best shots, and started shooting.
First was the panoramic view above.
Closer view looking LEFT: approx 7:43pm
Closer view looking LEFT: approx 7:49pm
Interesting how some
clouds started poking up higher & higher at the top.
Closer view looking RIGHT: approx 7:43pm
Closer view looking RIGHT: approx 7:49pm
(In this shot I zoomed back out. I wanted to catch what I could of the huge cloud at the top.)
Then the sky turned grey, almost completely cloud-covered,
as the storm arrived.
FINAL NOTE: I wish you could have been here! I'm sure you probably experienced similar weather events, so you know how powerful the visuals and feelings can get. After this, there was nothing worth recording. It was grey. there was wind. Some rain. Somewhat anti-climactic.
But this part was really quite fun. And beautiful.
*1 or 2 of these photos will be available at http://christina-verdgeline.artistwebsites.com in the "My Mountain" gallery.
