Thinking of wildflowers…

Since the forecast given HERE for large Cumulus clouds becoming Cumulonimbi did not happen last evening,  it seemed appropriate to show some wildflowers as a distraction. First, a light, purple one of some kind; second, what we here call an “Arizona rose”,  those fabulous blooms that form on prickly pear cacti.  The photos below were, in fact,  taken late yesterday afternoon as the forecast of the development of those larger Cumulus was failing to materialize.DSC_3189

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Wouldn’t it be great if we could GM these to have long stems?!

Now that you’ve forgotten the erroneous forecast of large cumuliform clouds made here yesterday, I would like to point out that the cooler air up top has finally arrived in the pre-dawn hours today, and we do have Cumulonimbi in the area; even some LTG over there by Mt. Graham around 4 AM as this is being written.

However, bases are pretty high, 7,000 feet above the ground, and so only the central cores of the rain shafts are producing much rain to the ground right now.  However#2, these are the kinds of situations that incredible photos of long virga trails during sunrise can be gotten.  Be ready!  The whole situation is moving east pretty rapidly.

Yesterday’s clouds

10:22 AM. Cumulus fractus and humilis topped by Cirrus spissatus enhance a blue sky.
10:22 AM. Cumulus fractus and humilis topped by Cirrus spissatus enhance a blue sky.
10:28 AM. Wow, a Cumulonimbus capillatus top can be seen just beyond Mt. Sara Lemmon! And it only mid-morning! This is a test. A patch of Cirrus has aligned itself above some small Cumulus clouds topping the Lemmon. We're you fooled for a moment? I hope not.
10:28 AM. Wow, a Cumulonimbus capillatus top can be seen just beyond Mt. Sara Lemmon! And it only mid-morning! This is a test. A patch of Cirrus has aligned itself above some small Cumulus clouds topping the Lemmon. We’re you fooled for a moment? I hope not.
5:13 PM. More Kelvin-Helmholtz billow clouds at Cirrus level. Pretty rare sight, actually. Shows waves in the atmosphere. Don't want to fly in them.
5:13 PM. More Kelvin-Helmholtz billow clouds at Cirrus level. Pretty rare sight, actually. Shows waves in the atmosphere. Don’t want to fly in them.  This was about the greatest cloud excitement of the whole late afternoon and evening.
6:06 PM. "Slab lifting" by our incoming upper level thingy has led to the formation of a couple levels of flat clouds, Altocumulus lenticularis, some Altocumulus perlucidus (honeycomb look), and some Cirrus perlucidus way up top.
6:06 PM. “Slab lifting” by our incoming upper level thingy has led to the formation of a couple levels of flat clouds, Altocumulus lenticularis, some Altocumulus perlucidus (honeycomb look), and some Cirrus perlucidus way up top.  Some small to moderate Cu can be seen on the horizon. Was still thinking they might “pop” as cooler air moved over us.  You might be able to see that some of the little cloudlets at Cirrus-levels started out as droplet clouds before transforming to ice.   Ma Nature likes water so much it almost always develops first before ice even at temperatures below -30 °C.  Pretty amazing, really.

Thunder just now!  Wow. 5:20 AM.  Sorry for the delay, had to go outside and check things out.  Really will be a fabulous sunrise!

6:16 PM. Still thinking it might pop. Didn't even see ice as that Cumulus turret declined.
6:16 PM. Still thinking it might pop. Didn’t even see ice as that Cumulus turret declined.

Though the clouds faded as the sun went down, there were still some highlights on the Catalinas that made it a near perfect day.

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6:17 PM. What’s to say? We’re so lucky to be able to see scenes like this in Arizona.

 

The weather ahead

Turbulent, changeable, unsettled through the remainder of April. More chances to add to our 0.73 inch total so far for this month.  Stay tuned to your favorite media weather folk!

The End

Author: Art Rangno

Retiree from a group specializing in airborne measurements of clouds and aerosols at the University of Washington (Cloud and Aerosol Research Group). The projects in which I participated were in many countries; from the Arctic to Brazil, from the Marshall Islands to South Africa.

2 thoughts on “Thinking of wildflowers…”

  1. Hey Art: I belong to a club here in Vancouver,BC that grows desert plants. Right now some of my cacti are in bloom and others will be blooming. I used to have a prickly pear that had flowers as well, but I think some of the best looking flowers are on the “bishop’s cap” type plants. (sorry I can’t remember the botanical name at the moment). Got any of those around your area?

    1. Interesting, Roland. Can’t imagine a cactus club in Vancouver, Canada! Must be some kind of desert envy you folks have there.

      I will have to ask my riding partner about Bishop’s Cap cactus; she and her husband have books out on AZ wildflowers and cacti.
      I have never seen one, myself (after having looked up some images).

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