Storms in August were more plentiful than in July although there were still some extended breaks in the monsoon. Rainbows remained elusive for me. I was able to photograph a few that displayed short segments but I never captured a full rainbow. Lightning, on the other hand, was plentiful and I did well in that genre.
Here is a partial summary of August monsoon photography.
04 August 2024
Mormon Lake Overlook is a short drive from Flagstaff and affords an amazing 360° view. This was one of the many days with only a partial rainbow but the juxtaposition of the rainbow and the tree in the grasslands of Anderson Mesa was a pleasing composition. A few minutes later the Sun beautifully illuminated some light rain falling from a dissipating thunderstorm. The color was intense and only lasted a few minutes.
A short segment of a rainbow above the grasslands of Anderson Mesa in northern Arizona.A curtain of light rain from a dissipating thunderstorm is brilliantly illuminated by the setting sun.
After an early start to the monsoon in late June, the monsoon went on an extended break. For much of July, high pressure remained to our west resulting in northwest to northeast flow across the region. Consequently, tropical moisture had to take the long route over the eastern Pacific Ocean, across the Pacific Northwest, then southward across the High Plains and Rocky Mountains. By the time it arrived, much of the moisture had been depleted, especially in the lower levels. The resulting storms were generally weak and produced little rain, and even less lightning.
Here is a summary of what I did manage to photograph during that period.
11 July 2024
Weak storms produced little in the way of rain but did result in a nice sunset.
Sunset and reflected sunlight on Lake Mary.
15 July 2024
A few strong storms formed on the north side of the San Francisco Peaks and I positioned myself at the entry to Wupatki National Monument. There was very little lightning but I did get this photograph that shows the landing point of the bolt. I also got power poles.
Lightning on the north side of the San Francisco Peak showing the landing point of the bolt.
16 July 2024
Radar indicated some storms south of Mormon Lake–a favorite spot for shooting storms because of its expansive views. This storm produced only a few visible bolts of lightning but I did manage to capture this one–along with the waxing gibbous Moon.
Distant thunderstorm with lightning.
21 July 2024
While taking a short hike to Alfa Fia Tank near Snowbowl and the San Francisco Peaks I was happy to see some convection developing that had nice reflections in the water. Look closely and you will also see the ducks.
Reflection of developing storms in Alfa Fia Tank near Snowbowl in the San Francisco Peaks.
23 July 2024
I was confident that Grand Canyon would produce good storms with possibilities for lightning and rainbows. It didn’t. The best I could do was shoot this ultra-wide view of the clouds using a 12mm fisheye lens.
Ultra-wide angle view of Grand Canyon from Navajo Point.
24 July 2024
The next day in Sedona was a bit better. Although there was some lightning I managed to miss it all because it was never in the direction that the camera was pointed. Look carefully in the upper left corner of this image and you can just barely see a few filaments of the lightning stroke which occurred to the left of the camera. I should have shot this with a wider field of view. On the other hand, the sunset was pretty good.
Heavy rain falling from a monsoon thunderstorm.Another great sunset in Sedona, Arizona.Sunset in Sedona.
26 July 2024
A few days later I tried something different and concentrated on getting the very early stages of convective development over the San Francisco Peaks. A bonus was catching the reflections of the clouds in Marshall Lake. By the time I left there was lightning and I was able to capture a few bolts.
Reflection of developing clouds in Marshall Lake, Arizona.Reflection of developing clouds in Marshall Lake, Arizona.Lightning over Marshall Lake with the San Francisco Peaks in the distance.
Time-lapse of convection developing over the San Francisco Peaks (200x speed).
While shooting these still images I had another camera capturing time-lapse video. It’s always fun to see the development of clouds in time lapse.
26 July 2024
This was a last-minute decision as the radar showed storms developing west of Flagstaff. I drove to Mormon Lake hoping for sunsets, rainbows, and lightning. Two out of three isn’t bad.
Sunset colors on thunderstorms and anvil clouds.Lightning west of the San Francisco Peaks.In-cloud lightning in the anvil of a thunderstorm.Lightning from a distant storm located over Grand Canyon. Wish I had been at the Canyon.Radar screen capture showing location of storm relative to my position.
This storm was located over Grand Canyon and was producing lightning bolts into the canyon. I wish I had been there instead.
How hot was July, anyway?
July 2024 was the second hottest July on record. Only July 2023 was hotter.
Number of days with the maximum temperature >=90°F in Flagstaff. 2024 was the second hottest July; only 2023 was hotter.Mean monthly temperature for July. 2024 was the second hottest July on record; only 2023 was hotter.July total rainfall from the Flagstaff raingauge network.
Total rainfall for the month was below average but not anywhere near record territory. Thank goodness for that!
The North American Monsoon has produced many days with spectacular thunderstorms and lightning. Below are some of my favorite lightning photographs from this summer. These were taken in Grand Canyon, Sedona, San Francisco Volcanic Field, and Flagstaff.
Lightning over Northern Arizona in summer 2022.
We are now in the midst of a monsoon break but moisture will return over the next several days to northern Arizona bringing another chance for thunderstorms and photography.
Thunderstorms develop in the late afternoon near Wupatki National Monument.
Time lapse of thunderstorms developing near Wupatki National Monument.
Once again I traveled to Wupatki National Monument to photograph thunderstorms and lightning–and even the Moon.
Thunderstorms had generated several outflow boundaries and two of these boundaries converged and produced new thunderstorms to the southeast of Wupatki NM. The top image and time-lapse video shows the developing thunderstorms along with an appearance of the waxing Moon.
Lightning over the San Francisco Volcanic Field.Lightning over the San Francisco Volcanic Field.Lightning over the San Francisco Volcanic Field.
Thunderstorms had also formed on the mesas and plateaus of northeast Arizona earlier in the afternoon and were moving to the west and southwest. These storms would likely arrive in the vicinity of Wupatki NM by late afternoon and early evening. Of note, the high-resolution weather forecast models indicated that the storms would dissipate as they moved across the lower elevations of the Little Colorado River valley. I was more optimistic based on the afternoon radar and satellite data.
These storms continued to move westward and generated a weak haboob–the second in two days in this area. The thunderstorms also generated plenty of lightning as they moved across the San Francisco volcanic fields.
As noted in a previous post we had an early start to the North American Monsoon which brought thunderstorms and rain to northern Arizona in the second half of June. This was most welcome as it had been a very dry spring. Then we went into a down period for the first third of July with very little activity. That was completely reversed as we entered a period of very strong monsoon activity which brought frequent heavy rains and flash flooding.
So the first part of July had few targets. The remainder of July had above normal amounts of total precipitable water and very high surface dewpoints which produced an environment with mostly cloudy skies and very low cloud bases. None of this is particularly conducive to photographing storms with beautiful light (i.e., golden hour, blue hour). Nonetheless, if you head out often enough you will get some good photographs.
A cluster of late afternoon storms that lingered into twilight produced some beautiful lightning over the San Francisco Volcanic Field.
An isolated thunderstorm produced lightning at sunset over the San Francisco Volcanic Field.An isolated thunderstorm produced lightning at sunset over the San Francisco Volcanic Field.
This day in Sedona produced very little lightning but did get a nice sunset and a partial rainbow.
Lightning beyond Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona.A brilliant and colorful sunset in Sedona, Arizona.As the sun set, a partial rainbow formed.
Convection often starts early over the elevated terrain of the San Francisco Peaks. These storms eventually produced flash flooding over recent wildfire burn scars.
Convection starts early over the peaks.
Convective towers mix with laminar wave clouds over the San Francisco Peaks. Shot from Marshall Lake–now just a dry grassland.
Morning convection and wave clouds over the San Francisco Peaks.A cloud-to-cloud lightning flash over Mormon Lake, Arizona.
Sometimes you don’t have to travel any farther than your back porch to see lightning.
Lightning from my back porch.
After several days of heavy rain and high dewpoints fog would form in the shallow basins. But getting photos of fog at sunrise in July means a very early start!
Morning fog with the San Francisco Peaks in the distance.Morning fog with the San Francisco Peaks in the distance.An example of what happens with too much moisture: overcast skies and low cloud bases.Sunset panoramic image from Flagstaff.
Maybe August will be better. The photo above is a sunset panorama (10 images stitched together) taken on the first day of August.
