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.
As mentioned in an earlier post the monsoon had a late start this year–and ended about the middle of September which is fairly typical.
02 September 2023
Lightning bridges the clouds above and fog below in Grand Canyon.Lightning bridges the clouds above and fog below in Grand Canyon.Lightning strikes the walls of Grand Canyon near Desert View Tower.
I went to Grand Canyon early and was photographing storms shortly before 3 P.M. It was interesting and unusual because fog rapidly developed deep inside the canyon as the storms approached from the south. For a moment I wasn’t certain I would see anything in the reduced visibility. But close lightning bolts dropped from the cloud base above, through the clear air, and then disappeared in the fog in the inner canyon. It was really spectacular to see this.
Another storm dropped a lightning bolt into the canyon near Desert View Tower with multiple contact points. Wow!
A double rainbow over Palisades of the Canyon and Desert View Tower in Grand Canyon.A rainbow moments before sunset spans the canyon.
And then the rainbows arrived with some brilliant and colorful arcs of light over Desert View point. Finally, just moments before sunset, another rainbow stretched from the North Rim to the South Rim.
It was an amazing day.
12 September 2023
An early evening storm produced a lot of in-cloud lightning that lit up the thunderstorm at the same time that the setting Sun was illuminating it from the West. And all of this was reflected in the waters of Mormon Lake.
Thunderstorm after sunset near Mormon Lake.
13 September 2023
Storms were more isolated this day allowing for nice views of the convection. I was able to get several photographs of the storms over the Little Colorado River (LCR) valley as I was heading towards Grand Canyon. Late in the afternoon a short segment of a rainbow appeared over the LCR.
An early afternoon thunderstorm over the Little Colorado River valley east of Grand Canyon.Thunderstorm over the eastern portions of Grand Canyon.A short segment of a rainbow with Desert View Tower.
14 September 2023
I spent the late afternoon and early evening in Wupatki National Monument and was able to get some really great sunset photographs. There was lightning after dark but most of it was too far away for interesting structure and branching.
A burst of color on a rain shaft at sunset over Wupatki National Monument.Fading sunset colors over Wupatki National Monument.
15 September 2023
Late afternoon and early evening storms were present to the west of Mormon Lake. I kept hoping for some dramatic lightning with sunset color–but only got the latter. It was still pretty good!
The setting sun illuminates a rain shaft over Mormon Mountain and Mormon Lake.
17 September 2023
I was actually trying to photograph Comet C/2023 P1 Nishimura but these clouds were in the way. This was taken well after sunset and the color was pretty remarkable.
Sunset colors on a mid-level deck of clouds.
So after a late start the monsoon season produced many photogenic opportunities for clouds, sunsets, fog, and lightning. And now the long wait until next season.
Previous posts on the 2023 North American Monsoon:
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.
We are in the midst of the “Transition Season” where the summer monsoon pattern fades away and the mid-latitude westerlies and low pressure systems move across the area. Another of these events is in progress as a weak closed-low moves across the southwest bringing showers and thunderstorms to the area.
Thunderstorms begin to develop over the San Francisco Peaks.
Saturday afternoon we set out for the north side of the San Francisco Peaks hoping that thunderstorms would form over the higher terrain and then move northwestward across Kendrick Park. A few storms did form over the peaks and some of them were briefly photogenic but there was very little in the way of lightning. Eventually, approaching rain chased us from Kendrick Park to the northwest where we set up near Slate Mountain in a large meadow with good views of the peaks.
Distant lightning under the rainbow.A multi-pronged lightning strike under the rainbow.Twilight lightning over Kendrick Park.Twilight lightning over Kendrick Park. The north flanks of Kendrick Peak are illuminated by the bolt.Twilight lightning over Kendrick Park. The north flanks of Kendrick Peak are illuminated by the bolt.
These slow-moving storms continued to move towards the northwest and this time we got lightning and rainbows—and rainbows with lightning. As the sun dropped lower in the west the rainbow quickly faded and rain was again approaching our location. We retreated back to Kendrick Park—this time with the thunderstorms located to our northwest with light from the setting sun still illuminating some clouds. Lightning stikes were frequent and close enough to fill the field of view of the 17-mm focal length lens. Several of these lightning bolts struck the northern flanks of Kendrick Peak. About a half-hour after sunset it was over and the storms quickly dissipated.
Another fun day of storms and lightning.
250-mb height/winds at 0000 UTC 26 September 2021.24-hour lightning plot with a lightning cluster near the San Francisco Peaks.
An early-season trough of low pressure moved across the west on Wednesday and Thursday disrupting the winds associated with the North American Monsoon. As the trough moved across the area, copious amounts of sub-tropical moisture surged northward across Arizona and surrounding areas. Widespread rain with embedded thunderstorms occurred across the area with areas of heavy rainfall and localized flash flooding.
Water vapor satellite imagery for 0210 UTC 20 August 2021.500-mb analysis for 0000 UTC 20 August 2021 (image courtesty NCAR/RAL).
But now the trough has moved northeastward across the Rocky Mountains and into the northern Plains states. The moisture across the southwest has been swept away. This can be seen in the water vapor satellite image. The warm colors are associated with a drier air mass and this has overspread the southwest.
Medium range models such as the GFS (Global Forecast System) suggest that moisture and showers will not return to the area before the end of the month leaving us with an extended break in rainfall.
Hurricane Grace at 1800 UTC 20 August 2021.72-h forecast for the remnants of tropical cyclone Grace. (Image courtesy TropicalTidbits.com)
But there are always some features that can result in different outcomes. For example, Hurricane Grace is moving westward across the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to make landfall in Mexico. The remnants of this tropical cyclone will continue to move to the west and may emerge in the Pacific south of the Gulf of California. If this happens, there might be a surge of moisture moving northward toward Arizona that could bring a return of showers and thunderstorms sooner than models currently suggest.
