With apologies to those of you dealing with flooding right now, I have to admit I’m praying for some wet here. We’re having one of our mid-winter inversions right now, where the weather traps the cold, the pollution and the humidity in the valley. It’s actually warmer up at Parley’s Summit than it is in the city, some 2,500 feet higher in elevation.
I took a drive up there this afternoon, just to get out of the muck and hopefully catch a glimpse of the sun. It was good for the soul, even though it was still cloudy at least the air was clear, fresh and crisp.
I’m adding this to the Thematic Photographic theme of ‘wet’ because the inevitable end to any inversion is a good, precipitation producing storm. Either the winds before the storm scrub out the valley, or the rain/snow itself cleans the air, but either way it’s going to be better the next day. And fortunately we’re expecting a storm tonight, hopefully it will be big enough to do the job.
Looking down 8th South this afternoon you can see the smog/fog trapped in the valley. Mind you, most of that is just fog, because the water that evaporates gets stuck in the valley, although we have had a week of red* days.
It get’s a little bit better as you get higher up on the foothills.
The smog does give the sun a real nice orange hue, even an hour before sunset.
Which, if you tweak the settings on the camera just right gives a deep orange, and blacks out the city even though it’s still daylight.
It’s nice and clear up at the summit.
*Red days are days where the Air Quality people issue a warning for unhealthy air. People are advised to drive as little as possible and it is suggested that anyone with lung issues stay indoors.
NEWS UPDATE: Snow is here, and so far it looks like it’s going to be big enough to clear out the valley. Updates in the morning when I can see if it really did.
8 comments:
Sunday: CLEAR!!!
And I'm jealous you got that orange sun. I tried and tried to get it the other day when it looked like something straight out of the Old Testament, but I just couldn't do it with a point and shoot. Sigh.
Everybody sing along now: I can see clearly now; the smog is gone. I can see all obstacles in my way. Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind. It's gonna be a bright, bright, sunshiney day.
Ah, yes. It is a beautiful day today. Perfect song for this morning!
You're not only lucky to live in a place that offers so much atmospheric and geographic diversity. You're gifted to recognize the opportunity, and then capitalize on it.
Most folks just let it pass them by. Not you. I find that very, very cool. Another reason why your pictures aren't just pictures.
Great photos, and the best story for each one, (I've seen smog hung about Las Vegas that is really scary) but what intrigues me most of all is Parley's Summit, thanks for bringing that up, I'll have to research it...even the name alone sounds worth seeing! Gotta love the empty bench silently waiting in winter's glory!!!...very nice Max
Karen - Parley's Summit is where I-80 crosses over the Wasatch Mountains before it's 11 mile (17km, for those of you smart enough to be using the metric system) descent down Parley's Canyon to Salt Lake City. It's one of my favorite stretches to test drive any car I'm thinking of buying. It's twisty enough to give a good idea of the handling, and the last 4 mile stretch up to the summit is steep enough to give a real good idea of the power the car has.
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As for the bench - it's in the corner of my front yard, right under a big pine tree.
After a bit more reflection, I feel I need to apologize for the lousy timing of last week's choice of theme. If I had known that Mother Nature would have a bit of a wet bird, I might have chosen something else.
Either way, it was a fun week of sharing. I can't wait to see everyone dive into the next one, too!
No need to apologize - we sure got some good pictures out of that theme.
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