Spring Storm Clouds from Devil’s Courthouse
Rain clouds approaching us at Devil’s Courthouse. The dark cloud in the distance over the ridge on the right moved over us and delivered some nice spring rain and thunder as we were hiking near Graveyard Fields about an hour later.
Spring Clouds from Devil’s Courhouse (Single Frame #1), Blue Ridge Parkway, NC (12″x21″)
Streaming Clouds over Mt Mitchell after Sunset
Clouds streaming over Mt Mitchell as the sun’s light fades from the Blue Ridge Mountains. Exposure time was ~5 minutes to allow blurring of the moving clouds.
Mt Mitchell and Streaming Clouds after Sunset, Blue Ridge Mountains, NC (9″x16″)
Panorama of Clouds at Mt Mitchell
Panorama of clouds and a window in the clouds, shot from the top of Mt Mitchell, NC.
Panorama of Clouds at the Summit of Mt Mitchell, Blue Ridge Mountains, NC (16″x49″)
Window in Fog at Mt Mitchell
Nice and cool at the summit of Mt Mitchell (6,684 feet elevation), even in late July in North Carolina. The top of the mountain was draped in a beautiful fog/cloud, with a few brief windows that revealed views of the surrounding landscape. Full panorama next week.
Hole in the Clouds at the Summit of Mt Mitchell, Blue Ridge Mountains, NC (12″x18″)
Towering Thunderhead near Asheville, NC
Decided to escape the heat in the Raleigh/Durham area, so I spent the weekend hiking in the mountains near Asheville, NC. Gorgeous views of thunderstorms over the mountains out there. I ended up shooting this as a double-stacked panorama to capture the height of the building clouds.
Building Clouds over Mountains, Blue Ridge Mountains, NC (20″x32″)
Eastern Colorado Thunderstorm, Part 2
Another panorama of storms over the eastern Colorado plains off I-70 on County Road 134.
Storm Clouds and Glow on Horizon (Panorama #3), near Agate, CO (16″x37″)
Eastern Colorado Thunderstorm
I recently drove from Washington State to North Carolina. It was a haul, but there were some fantastic storms in Colorado. After passing through a wild hail/rain/thunderstorm in Denver, I pulled off I-70 on County Road 134 (near Agate) to photograph the surrounding storm clouds. There’s unfortunately no strong foreground element in this panorama, but I hope the texture of the boiling storm clouds is enough eye candy!
Storm Clouds and Glow on Horizon, near Agate, CO (16″x55″)
Santa Fe National Forest Winter Storm Clouds, 2019
Winter storm clouds gather behind cholla cacti on a plain west of I-25 between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Cholla Cactus and Winter Storm Clouds (B&W Panorama #4),
Santa Fe National Forest, NM (16″x40″)
Sandia Mountains and Clouds, 2019
The road to the Sandia Tram winds up the Sandia Foothills outside Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Road to Sandia Tram and Storm Clouds (B&W Panorama #1), Cibola National Forest, NM (16″x68″)
Road to Sandia Tram and Storm Clouds (B&W Panorama #1), Cibola National Forest, NM (16″x53″)
Sandias and Winter Storm Clouds, 2019
A lone juniper stands on a grassy slope in front of the Sandia Mountains in the high desert outside Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Juniper, Storm Clouds, Sandia Mountains (B&W Panorama #6), Cibola National Forest, NM (16″x38″)
Winter Sunset and Cottonwoods
Last rays of sunlight poke through winter clouds over cottonwoods near the Rio Grande River outside Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Winter Sunset, Clouds, and Cottonwoods, Albuquerque, NM (16″x44″)
Panoramas of Sandia Mountains and Winter Storm Clouds
A few black and white panoramas of winter storm clouds over the Sandia Mountains on New Year’s Eve, 2018.
Winter Storm Clouds and Snow over Sandias (B&W Panorama #4, NYE 2018), Cibola National Forest, NM (16″x35″)
Winter Storm Clouds and Snow over Sandias (B&W Panorama #1, NYE 2018), Cibola National Forest, NM (16″x63″)
Sandia Mountains and Winter Storm
Snow, clouds, and fog from a winter storm over the Sandia Mountains, taken from Forest Service Road 333.
Winter Storm Clouds over Sandias (Single Frame), Cibola National Forest, NM (12″x18″)
Sandia Mountains and Winter Clouds
After a winter storm dropped a few inches of snow on the Sandia foothills, I stopped along Forest Service Road 333 to photograph this panorama of the light from the setting sun on the clearing storm clouds and Sandia Mountains.
Sun and Clouds after Winter Storm, Cibola National Forest, NM (16″x46″)
Winter Storm Clouds from Placitas, NM
While visiting with friends in Placitas, NM I and stopped to photograph the approaching winter storm over the Sandia Mountains.
Approaching Winter Storm and Sandia Mountains, Cibola National Forest, NM (16″x48″)
Winter Storm and Sandia Mountains (Single Frame), Strip Mine Trailhead, Cibola National Forest, NM (12″x18″)
Hazy and Clear views of Mt Sopris
After the fires this summer, views of Mount Sopris from Carbondale and the surrounding area were sadly hazy and smoky. A few evening rain clouds blew in over Sopris, but there wasn’t enough precipitation or wind to fully clear the air, leaving the views of one of my favorite mountains slightly obscured.
Sopris, Clouds, and Smoke, near Carbondale, CO (12″x18″)
Fortunately, on my last night in the area, the winds changed direction and pushed some of the smoke out of the region. It felt like I’d put on glasses- the view of Mount Sopris appeared crisp and well-defined as the setting sun cast a pink glow on the flanks of the mountain.
Sopris and Evening Clouds, near Carbondale, CO (12″x18″)
Storm Cloud over Central District
I intended to focus my photo shoot on the Sound and the downtown Seattle skyline, but when I arrived at the Jose P Rizal Bridge, an impressive storm cloud was lumbering over the Central District. I shot a few panoramas of the sky as the clouds changed shape, and this is my favorite.
Storm Cloud over Central District at Sunset, Seattle, WA (16″x72″)
Monsoon Clouds 2017, NM
Last July, I had the pleasure of seeing this spectacular thunderstorm roll over the Sandia Mountains while I was back in New Mexico for a conference. I pulled off NM SR556 to shoot a few single frame photographs and panoramas of the passing rainstorm as it dumped precipitation on Placitas.
Monsoon Clouds over Sandias (2017, Pano #1, Color), outside Albuquerque, NM (16″x65″)
Monsoon Clouds over Sandias (2017, SF #1, B&W), outside Albuquerque, NM (12″x18″)
Tucson Mountains Saguaro Cacti
I went for a January pre winter storm (in Tucson read: rainstorm) hike in the Tucson Mountains. Cactus spines and arms stood out in front of the approaching clouds.
Cactus Top and Clouds, Tucson Mountains, AZ (12″x18″)
Saguaro Cacti in the Clouds, Tucson Mountains, AZ (12″x18″)
From Clear to Foggy
As I mentioned in last week’s post, rising air on the flanks of the Himalaya brings moisture to ~14,000 feet by around 11:00AM. We could see clouds gathering by 9:00 AM as we hiked across an open, rolling landscape to reach one of the slightly higher lakes (first panorama). By the time we cored the lake twice, visibility was down to a few feet- getting wet out on the water with no sunshine made the work miserably cold (second panorama).
Hike to the Upper Lake and Distant Clouds, near Jumla, Nepal (14″x82″)
Fogged in Upper Lake, near Jumla, Nepal (16″x74″)
Far Western Nepal
We stopped at a hotel near the Indian border in Bhimdatta, Nepal to stay over night before coring a lake in the nearby Himalayan foothills. From the hotel roof, I photographed the line of approaching storm clouds in the evening then the surrounding town in the morning. If time had permitted, I would have explored and photographed the half-constructed cement structure in the morning (left side of second panorama)…but we had to get to work.
Evening Pre-Monsoon Clouds, Bhimdatta, Nepal (16″x48″)
Morning View of Bhimdatta, Bhimdatta, Nepal (16″x73″)
End of the Tucson Monsoon
Another angle on the monsoon storm over Tucson.
Monsoon Storm over Tucson from Windy Point, Coronado National Forest, AZ (14″x48″)
Storm Clouds over Catalinas
One of the final 2016 monsoon storms over Tucson and the Santa Catalina Mountains.
Monsoon Clouds over Catalinas from Windy Point, Coronado National Forest, AZ (16″x48″)
Lightning Storm from Boulder
After arriving in Boulder, I noticed flashing light off to the east through the trees. I couldn’t hear the thunder, but lightning was striking every half second in the thunderstorm over the plains. I drove up the hill near the NCAR Mesa Lab and took a few 30-second exposures of this storm cloud before heading to bed.
Lightning Storm from South Boulder (#2), Boulder, CO (12″x18″)
Lightning Storm from South Boulder (#4), Boulder, CO (12″x18″)
Luke Parsons Photography 