Category Archives: weather

  Life in mountain valleys is usually life without sun pillars. The problem is that pillars are really striking only when the Sun is low in the sky. Around here, the Sun generally appears from (or disappears) behind a mountain … Continue reading →

  I went birding, and all I saw was lacunosus—but what spectacular lacunosus it was. Lacunosus occurs in thin clouds when bubbles of buoyant dry air from below the cloud rise and poke holes in the cloud. I have shown pictures of … Continue reading →

  Iridescent colours arise in a different manner than most of the colours we see. Flowers, paints, clothing, and cat fur show colours from selective absorption. Some wavelengths (colours) are absorbed while others are reflected. The colours formed by iridescence … Continue reading →

  Winter in the valley of Kootenay Lake often offers a low ceiling of stratus—the claustrophobic overcast that prompts some people to suffer cabin fever. Yet, it is not always thus. On clear days, the view of the surrounding mountains can more … Continue reading →

  I am an enthusiastic sky watcher. By any standard, yestermorn’s sky was magnificent: a medley of haloes embellished with crepuscular rays. Shifting in brightness, the haloes would come and go. Seen (top to bottom) were: circumzenithal arc (with brilliant … Continue reading →

  The coming of steam fog signals the coming of fall. Steam fog forms when the lake water is much warmer than the air over it. This often happens when the surface water is still warm from the summertime, but … Continue reading →