Skywatch Friday - Clouds and Snow

We've had just about every type of weather in the last week, sunny days with temperatures as high as 73 F (about 23 C), thunder, snow, hail, and even thundersnow on Tuesday evening. So here are some recent photos of clouds that I liked, as well as the snow in my front yard on Wednesday morning.

With thunderstorm season fast approaching, hopefully I can get some good thunderstorm photos, and maybe even catch some more lightning. In the meantime, visit the Skywatch Friday web site for lots of great photographs.

My World Tuesday - Broken Trees

For this week's My World Tuesday post I'm going to show the negative consequences of that heavy spring snow we had a couple of weeks ago, taken in Fox Run Park this weekend while walking the dog. Normally the trees do fine in the snow, but this time the snow was so wet and heavy that it damaged a lot of trees. You can see the results in this first picture, showing several trees and branches down.

Looking up, some of the trees simply snapped off half way up.

Some trees bent all the way over to the ground - here's a flexible one but I don't think it will recover.

Others snapped but are still barely connected.

It's sad to see but it's part of the natural cycles. We sometimes see the same thing from windstorms.

Scenic Sunday - Royal Gorge Tramway

For this week's Scenic Sunday post, here's a very scenic but vertigo-inducing post from the Royal Gorge Tram.

It claims to be the world's longest single-span aerial tram, with a length of 2,200 feet (671 meters).

It glides 1,178 feet (359 meters) above the Arkansas river. And you feel a lot higher than that!

Here's the view from it when you first get on.

It provides great views of the Royal Gorge Bridge.

Don't miss this if you're at the Royal Gorge!

Skywatch Friday - May Snow

Most of the year we have beautiful weather here in Colorado. But it can be very unpredictable - 60 degrees F (16 C) in January and snow in May. For my Skywatch Friday posts, I try not to post the boring pictures of blue skies, but instead the more interesting skies when it snows or rains. And this week's pictures are of some snow we received this past Sunday, May 2. First is the gray/white sky with snow starting to stick to a pine tree behind our house, then the threatening clouds after the snow, and finally snow on a pine tree.

For warmer skies around the world, visit the Skywatch Friday home page.

My World Tuesday - Airing and Animal

Near my part of the world, in downtown Colorado Springs, there is some type of artwork on many of the sidewalks. Here are a couple of pieces I enjoyed last time I was there. The first is simply called Airing, by Alex Corno, from Italy.

And I believe this second is probably The Catbird Seat, by Bill Noland.

For pieces of other peoples' worlds, visit the My World Tuesday web site.

Scenic Sunday - Seattle Aquarium

Down near the waterfront Seattle has a good aquarium. First I'll show a scenic view from the aquarium, for the Scenic Sunday meme.

We saw divers through the glass, talking to a group of schoolchildren.

There was a pool in which people could touch starfish and other saltwater creatures.

The highlight was the undersea dome, through which all kinds of creatures could be viewed.

From this dome it was possible to look up at the surface of the water.

And finally, I think this is a seal of some kind.

This aquarium makes for a very fun day out, especially with children.

Skywatch Friday - Misty Pine Trees

At our elevation, sometimes we're in the clouds others are looking up at. This happened to us last week for about 24 hours straight, so I took the opportunity to go to Fox Run Park (one of my favorite places to walk Socks) and take a few photos for Skywatch Friday. They're not full of sky but I think they are still sky-related.

For more pictures of skies around the world, visit the great Skywatch Friday home page.