nature, Photography

Before the Rain

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We recently have had a lot of rain, very steady and soaking, which is an excellent thing, especially against summer forest fires. I’ve noted that I can usually tell when an intensely rainy spring period is about to arrive.

There’s often a halo around the sun – the arrival of the first gauzy clouds – and the atmosphere is quiet but expectant.

In spite of the impending poor weather, this lead-in is beautiful. The sky and sun are screened by the first delicate wisps of cloud and the air becomes very soft with water vapour.

Happy Wednesday.

44 thoughts on “Before the Rain”

    1. Thanks, Allan. As a pilot I’ve always watched the weather but that was usually through a computer! Now I actually get to study it as you say. It’s definitely a retirement benefit. What followed was another deluge although slow enough to not just run off. Non-stop for about 12 hours!

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    1. Ours definitely isn’t over. We’ve had several days of steady rain but it’s a good thing because we had three drought years in a row and this is helping to raise the water table. Fingers crossed, no forest fires this year!

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    1. Thank you very much, Belinda. 😊 About 10 hours later we had 12 hours of steady rain but no one here minds. Fingers crossed there won’t be any forest fires this year!

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    1. Yes, I learned that from my dad when I was a child but had forgotten it until recently. 10 hours later we had a very steady 12-hour rain – great for our water table against forest fires.

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        1. When I lived in Phoenix I experienced a couple of tiny rain showers in December and January but that was it. Most of what I saw was virga – rain that begins to fall but evaporates before reaching the ground. A good soaker, even a short one, would be a good thing though.

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          1. That sounds right, very similar to up here, apparently you didn’t experience the monsoon rains, amazing but can be dangerous by flooding and rocks on the roads like two years ago here.

            I’ve heard of rain that evaps before hitting the ground, I suppose this is what happens to some of our monsoon rain, sadly.

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  13. I love those little clues in nature. There’s a British author (Tristan Gooley) who has written several books about finding them – I’ve read a couple. Lots of subtle things to look out for. As for the rain, I’d welcome a day or two of it in England. The recent sunshine is welcome but the ground is getting rather dry.

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    1. As you probably know we have had three very dry years in a row with record-setting numbers of high intensity forest fires. This region is right on the edge of the Sonoran desert’s northern tip, so we tend to dryness naturally, but that also means that the rain we get is vital. We have been getting more than usual this winter and spring, but our water table was well below normal so this weather has been a very good thing.

      As a pilot I’ve always paid attention to weather but usually only over a computer screen! It has been nice to return to looking for these signs in nature. Thanks for the name. I’ll look for his books. I hope you get some rain soon. Cheers.

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    1. Thank you very much, Penny. Yes, I’ve noticed that snow is predictable that way, too. Agreed; I can smell or feel the additional moisture in the air. It’s really quite a beautiful effect.

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