January was a strange month. It started off with some storms and then, just like that, it dried up. It was cold but the sky was clear. Only a couple days in the latter 3 weeks of the month had any activity in the sky, let alone precipitation, of which there was none. This meant that it was a boring month, once the storms departed. I know a good photographer can make something happen no matter what the conditions but it was hard to break up all the other busy (and it was really busy!) things going on to get out there when the conditions weren’t compelling. Still, the month did start off with some beautiful sights:
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The pools were quite full and made for great reflections. However, once the storms left, the started to dry up quickly.
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We had a sunrise with a bit of a lenticular, which is always a welcome spectacle. They just haven’t been showing up like they used to the last few years…
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This particular image wasn’t that amazing (or at least the conditions weren’t), but it was nice to say that as of that day, we owned the land I took the image from. Not a bad view!
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Same spot as before, but note how much the pool has receded. The dry, boring weather was arriving.
It took nearly a month, but weather finally made it back to the area. Folks were ready for a storm, but that didn’t change the amount of work it takes to clear the snow. As welcome as the snow is, the work that comes with it is always a pill one has to swallow.
Here is my usual storm progression in my backyard. The first one is NOT a filter. There was a break in the storm at sunset and the light got really crazy.
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In the end, we got a little over 2 feet of snow. However, it has been frigid, so it is most definitely not melting off any time soon.
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I love the look of Mount Shasta City after a good snow. I think we have a pretty nice little town here.
When the snow finally stopped, the day was just coming to an end and though the sky had cleared, the clouds still clung to Mount Shasta and the mountain was not visible. That would have to wait for the next day, which was a bluebird day:
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Needless to say, it was gorgeous. It was both frigid and glorious all at once. However, the real treat was what happened in Shasta Valley. Normally that area gets little to no snow. It got nearly a foot. That will have to wait for its own post though…