Rubble: Meteorology

Showing posts with label Meteorology. Show all posts

Saturday, August 20, 2016

Canyonlands National Park: Mammatus Clouds Over the Island in the Sky

Mammatus Clouds Over Grand View Point Road

Island in the Sky Segment, Canyonlands National Park. Utah. April 28, 2016.

http://www.aflitt.com/canyonlandsnp

Photo of the Day by A. F. Litt: August 20, 2016

Weather was a huge theme on my long trip this spring. This was taken on the same day as yesterday's photo, running up and down Canyonlands' Island in the Sky segment dodging storms between hikes. While it sounds bad, it was a great way to spend the day. The stone is always there (in our human timeframe, at least), it's the skies that define the photos and make each moment unique.

These mammatus clouds formed early in the day as a huge storm was rolling through. It is hard from the photos to really understand the scale of these formations, but they are huge and amazing.

Mammatus Clouds Over Rock and Stone
Candlestick Tower Overlook. Island in the Sky Segment, Canyonlands National Park. Utah. April 28, 2016.
http://www.aflitt.com/canyonlandsnp
Copyright © 2016 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

Later on, I was talking with another photographer who was marveling at how most of the tourists were completely missing the show. Oohing and awwing at the two thousand foot cliffs, they neglected to look up and notice the very spectacular, and much more temporary show going on over head.

I must admit that I was semi-guilty of the same thing. I noticed the clouds and was in awe of them, but running through my photos today, I realized that I spent too much time with my camera pointed into the canyons instead of towards the sky while these clouds were overhead.

To be fair to myself, though, the weather was creating spectacular sights no matter where you looked at the time.

Mammatus Clouds Over Canyonlands
Candlestick Tower Overlook. Island in the Sky Segment, Canyonlands National Park. Utah. April 28, 2016.
http://www.aflitt.com/canyonlandsnp
Copyright © 2016 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

Links

Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammatus_cloud

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Photo of the Day by A. F. Litt: January 14, 2012, Seattle Snowstorm (1996) – Updated January 16, 2012

New Scan. 2012-01-16. From 1987-2001

Photo of the Day, January 14, 2012. Massive Seattle Snowstorm of December 1996. University Bridge.
This is a scan I made in 2000, reduced for my old web site (Rubble Mark I)… I may still have the print some place, I hope to find it eventually, but this is the only remaining scan I could find of it, so the quality is not that great.

If the original print ever turns up, I'll get a better version up here.
Snow is forecast for here tonight and this weekend, but nothing like the couple feet we got in this picture up in Seattle 16 years ago…

From 2012-01 (Jan)

from tag seattle

Rubble: Fremont Troll Chia Pet

from tag bridge

from tag washington

Rubble: Dream of the Suburbs - Vancouvria

from tag history

from tag transportation

from tag infrastructure

Rubble: Photo of the Day by A. F. Litt: January 8, 2012, Gresham Sunset

(more..)

Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Bad Astronomy and space round up, including Plait's favorite images of the year

20 Hz from Semiconductor on Vimeo.

Mesmerizing visualization of a geomagnetic storm | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine:

That’s the science. But there’s art here, too: the Lighthouse agency commissioned artists to create digital artwork based on science, and one group, Semiconductor, used the CARISMA data to do so. Based on the data, they translated the radio waves (which are like the light we see, but less energetic) and converted them to sound. This has been done many times before, but what’s cool is that they then created an animation based on the converted sounds, an astonishing and odd and mesmerizing animation. Watch:

TimeScapes 4K from Tom Lowe on Vimeo.

Time lapse: the VLA dances in TimeScapes 4k | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine:

I have to admit the whole video is stolen by the sequences of the Very Large Array in New Mexico as the dishes move from one cosmic target to the next (seemingly in time with the music, which is pretty cool). Tom wanted to get access to the array, and asked me for help. I steered him to my pal Nicole Gugliucci (pronounced "Grrrflappenklarven"), a radio astronomer, who was able to get him set up with the folks at VLA. So I’m pleased to have been involved with this video, even if in an indirect and small way. And this, by the way, is only a small portion of an entire film he is making. You can find out more about that and how to pre-order it on his Vimeo page.

Top 16 Pictures from Space 2011 | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine:

Every year, I pick my favorite astronomical images over the past 12 months and collect them for your eyeball pleasure... and every year it gets harder. This year, when I listed out hundreds to choose from, I realized I had a problem. So I decided to break them up into categories and then post each group as a separate gallery. It was a huge amount of work, but when you see these glorious images, I hope you'll agree it was totally worth it.

NASA’s Voyager 1 to Go Where No Spacecraft Has Gone Before

The edge of the solar system is marked by the outer reaches of the sun’s magnetic field and solar wind. Scientists estimate the ship will reach interstellar space in either a few months or a few years.

from tag science

from tag Space/Astronomy

Rubble: RAMA Arrives... What's that mysterious object near Mercury?

from tag video

(more..)

Friday, September 09, 2011

Titanic’s revenge | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine

Titanic’s revenge | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine: "I have nothing much to add here, except to make sure you understand that a chunk of ice significantly bigger than Manhattan Island broke in half.

Ships aren’t alive, and even if they were the existence of their souls would be in doubt. But still, the idea appeals to me that somewhere, somehow, the Titanic is laughing."

'via Blog this'

Friday, September 02, 2011

Space Pictures This Week: Sun Halo, Saturn Crater, More

Space Pictures This Week: Sun Halo, Saturn Crater, More:

'via Blog this'

Beautiful images... My favorites below.

Sunrise from the ISS

Solar Halo ("Such rings around the sun are optical effects caused by sunlight shining through ice crystals in high-level clouds.")

Monday, August 29, 2011

Beautiful Video... Wyoming skies | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine

Wyoming skies | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine: "If you need a pick-me-up to start your week (after a hurricane, a series of earthquakes, and just having to face another danged week at work) then may I suggest this amazing time-lapse video by Eric Hines, called "Wild Wyoming":"

'via Blog this'

Okay, so I've only seen the first few frames due to my dying computer and lousy connection, but the first few frames tell me that this is pretty much a much watch. Also, be sure to check out the Bad Astronomy column for an explanation of "of what looks like light pillars... vertical glowing columns." Having not seen the entire video yet, I am also looking forward to figuring out what he's talking about at 2:50, where "there’s a scene that better be familiar to anyone who reads" Bad Astronomy.

P.S. New laptops are great birthday presents! Really. Even better than a digital SLR (which I would settle for in a pinch)! What... No? Well, I still love you anyway!

Wild Wyoming, A Summer of Sunsets & Dark Skies from Eric Hines on Vimeo.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Hurricane Irene from ISS

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

The Arizona Dust Storm Captured In Time-Lapse Video

This is both beautiful and a bit scary...

The Arizona Dust Storm Captured In Time-Lapse Video

The Phoenix Haboob of July 5th, 2011 from Mike Olbinski on Vimeo.