Clouds Forming Over the Badlands

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Badlands National Park in southwestern South Dakota is one of those places that defies description.  The park itself covers more than 240,000 acres, much of which is characterized by erosion-carved buttes, pinnacles and other geologic formations.  The vastness of these features cannot be adequately captured in a photograph, and the wide open sky above adds to the feeling of limitless space.

Scattered along the roadsides through the park are overlook points that afford the visitor breathtaking views.  They also are excellent spots for weather-watching, offering unobstructed views across the surrounding prairies that seem to go on forever.

On the morning this photo was taken the sky was as clear a blue as can be imagined.  By midday this picture-perfect fleet of clouds had accumulated and the first of several passing rain squalls appeared over the buttes.

Stormy day on Hawaii's Big Island

Location: Kohala Coast,Big Island, Hawaii

We knew a storm was headed our way, so I was not surprised to see this scene when I looked outside at about 8:30 this morning.  As it turned out, the storm dumped torrents of rain on some parts of the Big Island, and a waterspout was spotted off the Kona coast (well south of us).  Local news Web site Hawaii 24/7 has published a page with pictures of damage from today's storm, and a video clip of the waterspout.

Our district heard the thunder and got some rain, but not so much as elsewhere on the island.  Still, the rain was enough to make the flowers in our garden perk up.

Bright morning with altocumulus clouds

Location:  Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii

The early morning light was bright, even though the sky over our garden was partly covered by these altocumulus clouds.  The flowering tree in the foreground is a Rainbow Plumeria.

Pre-sunset Gold

Location: Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii

I haven't posted a sunset picture in awhile.   I shot this photo about a week ago, less than an hour before the sun went down.  It was a little hazy that day, but I liked the way the light looked on the surface of the ocean.

Felicia's Rainbow, #3

Location: Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii

After the sun had been up for awhile, all that remained of the early morning rainbow -- brought to us courtesy of tropical depression Felicia -- was a faint wisp of color beneath a cloud over Kawaihae Bay.

Note: This is the third in a series of photos of Felicia's Rainbow. Here is the earliest photo of this rainbow; here is the second photo of the rainbow.

I posted two more photos of this rainbow to Twitpic: double rainbow here; and another shot of the bay here.

Felicia's Rainbow, #2

Location: Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii

Here is another view of the rainbow brought to us early this morning by Felicia, formerly a hurricane, now a tropical depression sitting to the east of the Hawaiian Islands.  The air at dawn this morning was so thick with moisture that it was hard to catch a breath, but we appreciated the unexpected sight of this rainbow.

Felicia's Rainbow

Location:  Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii

For the past week or so, we have been anticipating the arrival of a tropical cyclone named Felicia.  At one point, Felicia was a Category 4 hurricane.   Fortunately, she gradually decreased in strength as she crossed the Pacific.

This morning, Felicia is a tropical depression and her center is situated a couple hundred miles east of the Hawaiian Islands.  Shower bands ahead of the storm have made the air thick with moisture.  First thing this morning, we looked out toward the ocean and saw this rainbow above our hedge, glowing in the dawn light.
 I took several pictures; this is the first.

Layer of clouds in a sunny morning sky

Location: Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii

Several days ago the sky above my house looked like this in the morning.  The sun was up, and the sky was a pretty blue, but a pesky layer of altocumulus clouds formed overhead.  Usually when we see clouds like that they eventually thicken into an overcast, but not this time.  The sunny blue sky prevailed in the end and the clouds simply evaporated!

Wispy Cirrus Clouds in the Morning

Location: Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii

I went into my garden early one morning to photograph some flowers.   I looked over the top of our oleander hedge and noticed these wispy cirrus clouds painted across the blue sky.

Killer Sunset in Hawaii

Location: Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii

Our back garden faces west, so we are well situated to watch sunsets.   But there are sunsets, and then there are killer sunsets.  This one fell into that latter category.

This photo was taken about five years ago.  The sky was thickly overcast.  The cloud cover acted like a giant diffuser for the light from the setting sun, and then reflected the light onto the surface of the Pacific Ocean.

If you visit Hawaii and the weather is cloudy, don't despair.  That means you probably will have the opportunity to see a killer sunset!

The Cat at the End of the Rainbow

Location: Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii

You probably have heard the legend that there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, right?   I'm here to tell you that the legend is false.   I present this photo as proof that there is, in fact, a cat at the end the rainbow.  Look carefully and you will see our cat, Buster, sitting in the corner of our garden, right under the end of the rainbow.

Another legend debunked!

Rain clouds rolling in

Location:  Waimea, Big Island, Hawaii

Early this morning, we went to the little town of Waimea to do some shopping.   It was sunny on the coast where we live, but as we approached Waimea, rain clouds began to roll in over the surrounding hills.   We stopped near this old farm road on the outskirts of the town so that I could take a few pictures.

Waimea is a small town  surrounded by farms and ranches, on Hawaii's Big Island.  Situated well upslope from the coast at an elevation of about 2,500 feet, the air temperature in Waimea usually is about 10 to 20 degrees (F) cooler than at sea level.  This is true year round.

Color Layers at Sunset

Location: Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii

The sky was layered in colors as the sun set on this particular day.   Aloft it was still blue, with wispy clouds.   Closer to the surface of the ocean was a layer of 'vog' (volcano smog) from Kilauea Volcano, which is erupting at the other end of the island where I live.  The smoke and particles in the vog are not nice to breathe, but they do scatter the light in a way that often gives us spectacular sunsets.

Early Morning Cloudscape

Early Morning Clouds

Location: Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii

We've been seeing quite a few clouds in our skies for the past week.  Yesterday it was heavily overcast, and today it is raining, but one morning last week the sky above my house had this interesting mix of clouds.  Do click on this photo to enlarge it, so that you can see the details of the cloud textures and colors.  The photo has not been retouched in any way, except to crop and reduce its size.

Big Round Moon

Location: Photographed from the Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii

Here's the moon, looking like its about to settle on a wispy cloud.  The photo was taken one morning last month, about 36 hours after the moon was officially "full."

Colorful Sky After a Storm

Location: Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii

We had quite a rainstorm several days ago.  The rain began early in the morning, and it continued to pour all day long, finally dissipating shortly before sunset.   The left-over clouds and moisture in the air refracted the light beautifully as evening approached.

Endless Clouds

Location:  40,000 Feet Above the Eastern Pacific Ocean

As I flew from Hawaii to the U.S. mainland earlier this month, the cloud cover was nearly solid for most of the way.  We didn't get many glimpses of the ocean some eight miles below us, but some of the cloud formations aloft were quite striking.

Flying High Above the Weather

Location:  40,000 Feet Above the Eastern Pacific Ocean

Flying across the eastern Pacific Ocean earlier this month, we passed over a significant weather system.  Here is the evidence: a vortex in the clouds far below the plane.

Mixed Clouds Over Kawaihae Bay

Kawaihae Bay

Location: Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii

I live on the northwestern coast of Hawaii's Big Island, and my house is on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  From our garden, we have a clear view of sunsets and weather phenomena over the ocean, and these are among my favorite photography subjects.  This wide-angle photo was taken from my hill a few days ago, in the late afternoon.   It shows a small ship heading for Kawaihae, a port just a few miles down the coast from where I live.  Overhead the sky had been covered for hours with a constantly changing array of clouds ahead of a weather system that was about to move in.   I'm happy to report that this time we did get some rain, although not nearly as much as we need.

To see more SkyWatch images click here, or click the SkyWatch button at the top of this post.

Morning Sky in Rural Hawaii

Location: Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii

Never go out for an early morning walk without your camera.  If you do, you'll surely see something worth photographing, and you will have to run back to the house for your camera, just as I had to do a few days ago.  Fortunately I had only walked about 200 meters down the road from my house when I saw this scene.

This was the sky I saw a little past 7 AM that day.  The sun had just cleared the top of Mauna Kea -- the mountain in the far left of this photo -- and was shining brightly into the clouds as if trying to melt them.   Indeed, the clouds overhead were starting to dissipate without giving us any rain again!!  We really, really need rain in my area.  If you don't believe me, look at the color of the grass in the field in the foreground.

In the center of the photo is Mauna Loa, the second highest mountain in Hawaii.  It was partly obscured that morning by a layer of "vog" that had drifted over from Kilauea, a volcano that is erupting vigorously at present.  "Vog" is what we call the haze produced from volcanic emissions here in Hawaii. (Kilauea is not visible in this photo.)

The mountain on the right hand side of the photo -- the one trying to hide behind the coconut trees -- is called Hualalai.   Later in the day, Hualalai became completely obscured by the vog, but at this point in the morning, the sky above it was clear and blue.

To see more SkyWatch images click here, or click the SkyWatch button at the top of this post.