September Sky 2013

The cold front had passed through Singleton Lake the previous evening switching the seasons in just a couple of hours. Summer vanished into fall and the skies changed as well. Brisk westerly winds ushered in a colder and drier brand of air.

The unstable air mass sponsored turbulent stratocumulus. From the ground it was challenging to see how these cloud streets were organized. They were certainly chaotic. The bases of these clouds are not as even or as flat as cumulus clouds. Turbulent mixing lifts the moisture to saturation. These clouds were back lit causing them to be brightest around their edges and darkest in the middle. There were a lot of colours in these clouds and I had fun with them. The sun broker through for a minute and that was the instant I stroked in the sun glint on the west basin of the lake. Otherwise the water was shaped by "wind drifts" and small waves. Occasional shafts of light lit up the trees.