Euler Angles

Summer Clouds, originally uploaded by Greg Woodhouse.

Out here in California, particularly in the coast, we are not accustomed to especially hot summers, much less thunderstorms and the severe weather traditionally associated with the midwest. Thankfully, nothing like that happened this time. But as the temperature reached 105 degrees F, and wildfires continued to burn in the area, with new fires starting all the time, clouds began to appear. Many of them were very dramatic and the types of cloud formations seemed to change very quickly. I well remember the first lightning bolt I saw, somewhat incredulous that it actually was lightning. But the pace only picked up throughout the late afternoon and evening – often causing more fires. I know this may sound very ordinary to many of you, but this just doesn’t happen out here in this part of California. At least it isn’t supposed to.

Later that night, I turned on a local television station to watch the news (and especially the weather). It was strangely vindicating to see elaborate graphics illustrating how the radiant heat affected the air circulation, leading to the weather patterns that we were seeing. Fortunately, the weather here has cooled down a fair amount, but the fires are still burning, and now I understand there is a fire in Big Sur, the very place that spurred my interest in photography in the first place. I know fire is inevitable, and the California Department of Forestry (CDF) is doing an excellent job of preserving life and property, but I can’t help but be concerned.