In this case, a thin layer of it at about 30,000′, called cirrostratus nebulosus clouds.
Quite the pleasant surprise when you’re just going out to stretch your legs!
Other critters besides me were impressed. There was a pack of coyotes, sounded like a half dozen or more, howling away and carrying on something fierce. It sounded like they were down on the next street downhill from us to the west.
Filed under Astronomy, Photography, Weather
Sometimes, you just need to MAKE time to look at the clouds.
If you didn’t get to do that today, here, please, use some of mine!
Sometimes you’ll even spot a quarter moon hanging up there in the late afternoon.
Or a hawk or two, or crows, or crows harassing hawks, or a flock of goofy juncos taking their chance to bolt for cover while the crows are harassing the hawks.
Mostly today I saw layers. Some low, dark clouds, some puffy white stuff at about 5,000′, and some thin, icy streaks at about 15,000′.
It would have been a nice day for flying.
Filed under Photography, Weather
Due to the holidays falling where they did, I ended up out in Camarillo at the CAF hangar late this afternoon. Unusual for a Sunday. The storms of last week are past and the storms of next week are still off in the Bering Sea, so it was clear and a million. No clouds, noting spectacular, but the color gradient was first-rate!
Tomorrow for most of us it’s back to work and school and into a whirlwind of activity after a long weekend, a week, a couple of weeks off.
Keep breathing. Try to keep smiling. I hope your re-entry into “life” is kind to you.
Filed under Photography, Sunsets, Weather
After more days of rain (which we desperately need, so it’s welcome!) tonight it stopped and started getting much colder, down into the 30’s. I noticed that I couldn’t see a thing out the back windows, looking toward the Valley.
I went out and found the Valley to be filled with fog, but Orion brilliantly bright straight overhead where it was crystal clear. We were just barely, right at the top of the fog layer, looking over the top of it.
It was extremely spooky. I liked it.
Filed under Photography, Weather
No Comet Leonard tonight for SoCal. But the lights on the ground are still lovely.
The rush is on to the year end. It’s yet another “Nantucket sleigh ride” as we head toward the event horizon of 2022 and beyond.
Yee-hah!!
Filed under Christmas Lights, Video, Weather
We’ve had a couple of days of decent, much-needed rain here, a bit over 3″. Given that our total for last year was only 5.38″ with annual averages of only 16.41″, that’s a good chunk of our seasonal allocation.
Today was calmer with scattered showers around, and tomorrow we’re expected to get the next big round. But scattered showers sometime mean scattered sun, and when they mix:
I’ll take helpful signs and colorful reminders that there’s good to be found in the world. I’ll take all we can get.
Merry Christmas Eve, y’all. Let’s hope that Christmas Day gives us a successful launch of JWST (in about four hours) on an ESA Ariane-5 rocket (yes, I’ll be trying to get up to watch). Let’s hope that the last week of 2021 and all of 2022 are better than 2021 and 2020 were.
Get vaccinated. Mask up. Stay socially distanced.
Let’s be smart and stay alive, folks. We’ve got a lot of great things to live for and wonderful rainbows to see in the future, both the near future and the far distant future.
Filed under Photography, Space, Weather
We’re just days away from the winter solstice. With a few wind storms and a little bit of rain, there are so few leaves left, even here in Southern California.
That blue sky and most of the remaining leaves will be gone as our first large rain storm moves in tomorrow. We need the rain, desperately.
I’m looking forward to the solstice and the lengthening days again.
Filed under Photography, Weather
And it got cold! I know we’re not talking about Vermont cold or Minnesota cold, but low 40’s, upper 30’s for SoCal is COLD.
We got a bit of rain this morning, a bunch more expected Monday and Tuesday, but this evening most of the clouds were breaking, the sunset was pink, the moon was bright, and the Christmas lights were on.
Not bad. But cold.
Filed under Christmas Lights, Photography, Weather
Busy, busy, busy, busy, busy, busy, DEADLINES, busy, busy, busy… Well, I knew the job was dangerous when I took it. (Fred!)
Going out about 16:15 to check to make sure the Christmas lights were turning on correctly (they were) I noticed the fog and haze moving in early and quickly.
(As always, click on the image to see it full sized.)
The hills of Woodland Hills and Calabasas (left and center-ish) were already getting hard to see, and even Castle Peak, less than a mile away on the far right, was starting to fade into the mist. And the temperature had dropped a dozen degrees.
Now, just before midnight, I see that it’s completely overcast and it looks like visibility is down to well under a mile. IFR flight rules out there, friends and neighbors! Stay safe.
Filed under Panorama, Photography, Weather
It was windy. A pretty steady 20+ knots with gusts to 30+. The wind chimes were working overtime.
And dry. The hummingbird feeders were empty and Little Bastard was pissed. Every time I went out into the back yard he was buzzing me, reminding me that the feeders were empty. I finally took them down, cleaned them, and put more nectar in them.
After dark the clouds and fog of the past several evenings were gone (of course!) and our three current planetary visitors were still lined up nicely.
For those of you needing an assist to ID them:
Keep breathing, folks.
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We Love The Stars Too Fondly 