Al's Photography Blog

Al's Photography Blog
Pikes Peak As Seen From Our House

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Desert Skies

Back in early May when we were driving back from Las Vegas, we hit one of my favorite parts of the drive just before sunset, in the Utah desert where the views can be expansive as the highway approaches a break in the cliffs and drops down.
It's not uncommon to see clouds where the rain doesn't get to the ground, known as virga (this is also common where I live). Right at sunset this can create some wonderful effects.
In my next post on Friday I'll show you the very nice views when you turn around from where this last photo was taken. Until then, visit Skywatch Friday for more incredible skies.

For those interested in weather (an appropriate Skywatch topic), here's an illustration of the dramatic shifts from winter to summer here. At my house, our low temperature this year has been -19.5 °F (-28.6 °C) back in February. We've been as high as 91.2 °F (32.9 °C) this month. That's a shift of over 110 °F, or 61.5 °C!

30 comments:

  1. que belleza de imagen.
    besitos amigo

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fantastic captures and breathtaking skies! Such a beautiful place! Hope your week is going well, Al!

    Sylvia

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great shots like always! :) You are voted! Congrats! LG Tina

    ReplyDelete
  4. A beautiful landscape and dramatic clouds :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. What rugged beauty ~~ and that syk is stunning.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a stunning picture of the Utah desert! The views are really beautiful and the rocks are fantastic. Thanks for sharing such wonderful place.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yep, I can see why you like it there. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow - those virga clouds are stunning!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh Al, those rocks!
    How I would love to touch them.
    and red sand against blue sky: wonderful image.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great photos, good shot of the Virga:)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Beautiful scenery and skies! I like the dramatic shot. Happy skywatching!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Beautiful!

    That clouds look so heavy and ready to fall...

    ReplyDelete
  13. Beautiful skies -- and I look forward to seeing the "rear view" when you turned around.

    And gee Al -- I thought the temperature in Colorado could change that much in a single day ;>)

    (I've seen all those layers for any contingency in the back seat of our kids' car!)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Beautiful scenery..and what great photography!
    Shirley

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wonderful; shots Al, here too we get summer rain if we are very lucky but all too seldom see it hit the ground.

    ReplyDelete
  16. This is so beautiful! Great landscape and the clouds are both soft and dramatic.
    Happy weekend!:-)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh the weather has been a source of topic for just about everyone this year! I was complaining about how hot it was then all of a sudden we had 2 days when it felt like fall last week. So weird!

    Your photo is lovely! Especially the one with the interesting clouds!

    ReplyDelete
  18. ExcellentPictures
    ThankYouForSharing
    see you

    ReplyDelete
  19. I've been out of the loop for a while, these are gorgeous! Happy SWF:-)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment - I love reading them and look forward to viewing your blog. If you only allow Google+ comments I won't be able to leave a comment in return.

Related Posts with Thumbnails