After weeks and weeks of “clear and a gazillion” conditions, I was surprised to get a “Red Flag Warning” from the National Weather Service. A chance of thunderstorms, rain, high winds, and dry lightning that could spark brush fires.
Okay! The weather app went from 0.00% chance of rain to 15%. I was not holding my breath waiting for the gully washer, despite the fact that we started to pick up some clouds over the mountains. Then the clouds got thicker and started moving west.
Right about sundown…
It was unusual in that it wasn’t colored from north to south, pole to pole, but just in one narrow little spot. There might have been more clouds down over LA or Antelope Valley that were blocking all of the sunset rays except for through one little hole in the clouds. But the display it left on this end! WOW!
No enhancements, no editing, no filters, no effects. This is straight out of the phone, exactly the way it looked.
There were spots, like here on the right, where rain was falling, but it’s “virga,” rain that never hits the ground, evaporating before it can get there since it’s falling into such dry air.
The longer I looked, the more vibrant it looked.
I was out moving back and forth between the front yard and the back, taking pictures and trying to get the bird seed feeders refilled before it got dark. But every time I hung a feeder I had to stop with that task and start taking pictures again.
The birds were impatient (they have brains that are theeeeeeees small…) but I finally got it done.
From there it was time to grab The Long-Suffering Wife so she could see, and sit out in front to watch it finally peak and fade.
So with all of the clouds, grey or crimson, I wasn’t going to be seeing the Moon, Venus, Jupiter, or Mercury tonight. But this was a pretty great trade off. It’s acceptable. I’ll take it!
We Love The Stars Too Fondly 