July 9, 2014
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Holiday
On July 4, I took a quick trip down to the waterfront -- there was NO parking by early afternoon, as people were setting up for evening fireworks. I stopped at a favorite viewpoint for a few shots of the clouds. Even in our drought, when the weather is hot, the eastward flow of air brings clouds to the mountains behind Los Angeles. They are thunder clouds -- and they will drop a little water during the afternoon. They build up into beautiful thunderheads like these, then suddenly collapse, and drop their water in quick rain squalls. There's not enough rain to be measured in these little storms -- just enough to wet the pavement, and to cool the air for a few minutes.
There are a row of houses across from the park where I took the cloud shots -- one of these houses was wonderfully decorated for the holiday!
And while I was there, I looked into the canyon and shot the following shot of the local Aliso Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Beach) water recycling plant. In this complex, waste water is filtered and treated, and converted into water that, although not potable, is useful for landscape watering. This water is most often used in civic locations (lawns, water fountains), golf courses, community landscaping, etc., and helps keep our towns from looking completely brown in the drought.
Comments (28)
we got rain this month already and my brother in Chino Hills said that that is how much California gets all year.
Our annual average is 15 inches a year -- last year we had less than 6 inches!
Wonderful clouds
. The house is very cheerful for the 4th! peace always
The clouds have been really neat on hot days -- they bump into the mountains and accumulate until there's enough for a thunderstorm!
I am so sorry that you are not getting enough moisture. However, I am happy that at least there are thunder clouds not too far from you all, and perhaps soon the rains will come. Lovely shots of the clouds and the canyon.
We truly will not have more rain until September or October, and then only if we are lucky! The thunder clouds are beautiful, and they usually contain a little rain to go with the lightning -- it's scary, though, in the summer because they can also be dry, and the lightning causes wildfires in that case. I learned this evening, too, that the water in Lake Mead -- Colorado River water behind Hoover (Boulder) Dam is also very low, and approaching a crisis level. That's the source of a lot of our water, particularly in the agricultural areas east of San Diego, AND of a lot of electrical power for the entire area! I'm glad you enjoyed the photos!
When we lived in Calif. I don't remember it ever raining in the summer. It usually rained some in the winter, but that was all. Nice decorations on the house. I wonder what it looks like at Christmas?
We don't usually get rain between March and September, although we do sometimes see thunder clouds against the mountains when we have hot spells. It's actually good to see a thundercloud against the mountain, after we've had 3 years of drought here!
Love the rain clouds - too bad you don't get a good drenching every now and then. The wastewater treatment plant sounds like a great use for the water for the city's landscape. I wonder if they do that in Indiana?
The thunder clouds are so pretty -- but they really don't hold much water -- maybe 10 minutes of 'intense' rain, but not enough to be measurable! The treatment plants are continually upgrading and expanding -- and builders of new complexes are encouraged in the permit process to use recycled water for any non-potable uses they can. I don't know about Indiana -- but I would think it might not be so necessary there, with the rain you get. I think it's fairly expensive water, because of the cost of the plants, but better than using our drinking water right now!
I would like to see our monsoons head west for a bit and give you folks some relief.
The "monsoon flow" is increasing our humidity a bit, but we haven't had any rain from it. I would love to see some of your rains come west for a while -- BUT I just learned that Lake Mead is at almost the same crisis level that we have here!
Really beautiful photos!
Thank you!
Desert places are beautiful. I love living where there is rain. I would miss it. Radar would always be kind of boring. Yet, I like boring sometimes, a lot, uh huh, pretty much don't like bad storms.
Most of the time our radar is pretty boring, but thunderstorm cells do bump against the mountains. This area is many types of beautiful -- but it would be moreso if there was a little rain!
Inspiring clouds. We never are tired of them .
No waste water here and this saves LIFE.
Love
Michel
Thanks, Michel. "Wastewater" here is the same as sewage -- in that plant, it gets filtered and refiltered, and purified until it is safe enough to use for irrigation -- that is how large organizations (cities, golf courses, etc.) keep their lawns green!
the clouds in the summer skies here have been so beautiful lately ~
Most of the time we've had "not a cloud in the sky," but the ones we have had have been beautiful!
Too much water out East and not enough out here.
Love your photos as usual.
Thanks, Frank!
May you have an abundance of water soon.
Thanks, John -- I think our best chance is to hope for rain in September or October, and then in January or February for a couple of months!
I never tire of beautiful clouds. I too wish we could share some of our ran. I think we had rain every evening this week.
Well a little daily rain would help us immensely -- as long as it's not too heavy -- the fear now is of deluges!
Americana and America the Beautiful at its best!
Thanks!
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