Wednesday, January 21, 2009

I Thought Our Air Was Clean


We have had a couple of weeks of a high pressure weather system (called an anticyclone in Britain), keeping the skies clear, the winds calm, and the nights cold. The afternoons have been pleasantly warm, but as night falls the households with wood burning stoves and fireplaces begin to kindle the evening's warmth. The dense air above traps the smoke in the valley, as you see in this view of Little Lake Valley from the Reynolds Highway, also called an inversion layer. Rain is forecast for today, and we could dearly use it.

8 comments:

Kym said...

Amen, we could use rain, too!

Babzy.B said...

beautiful scenery ,i like the smoke in the background !

Kim said...

That is a pretty, pretty winter landscape you've treated us to Ms. Elaine. I hope the rains come in just the amount you all can use.
-Kim
Seattle Daily Photo

Wayne said...

A peaceful looking scene.

Halcyon said...

It was -6 C here in Jackson today. (We only have European thermostats - so not sure what that is in F.) I'm sick of the cold. And I'd be happy to give you some of our rain too!

Chuck Pefley said...

We, too, are trapped under an inversion layer. Unlike your lovely daytime scene, though, our air remained saturated and mostly opaque during the past 24 hours. Rain would be nice to sluice things down a bit. No wood fires to chase the foggy chill here as there has been a stage 2 burn ban for several days.

Anonymous said...

I went out for a hike and received about six drops of rain. Haze or not, the views gorgeous.

I responded to the last post before I read it. My Great Grandfather or Grand Uncle left a bunch of pictures from the aftermath of the SF quake. I found them when I was cleaning out my grandmothers house.

USelaine said...

Well, thank you all for enjoying the view! I guess I was too fixated on the dastardly blanket of smoke, and the innocent little house caught contributing to it! Note to self: Don't take the scenery for granted.

PA - My grandfather was a little boy in Ukiah when it hit, and my grandmother was even littler in San Francisco that year. She and her family lived in a house just on the edge of the fire destruction up by Mission Delores. But they didn't take pictures.

Thank you all! Please come on over/up/down to Little Lake Valley, and see Mayberry/Shangri La/the Emerald City for yourself some day. 8^)