Filmed in Estes Park , Colorado ... By the BBC ?
watch it large via youtube.com
Sent by John...Thanks !
Eclectic Perambulations in the Noosphere
Sent by John...Thanks !
"A record-breaking snowstorm struck Colorado in early February 2012, closing an interstate highway, grounding flights, and dropping more than a foot of snow on the Denver area. After moving out of northeastern Colorado, the storm left heavy snow across Nebraska.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image on February 5, after skies had largely cleared over the region. Snow and mountain peaks create a mottled appearance in western Colorado. Elsewhere, the snow cover forms a wide, uneven track over Wyoming, Kansas, and Nebraska.
This snowfall did not break all-time records in Colorado, but it did break records for the month of February. The storm deposited 15.9 inches (40.4 centimeters) in Denver and 22.7 inches (57.7 centimeters) in Boulder. The National Weather Service also reported up to 18 inches (46 centimeters) of snow west of Omaha, Nebraska.
NWS meteorologists explained that northeastern Colorado generally experiences storms of this magnitude in March or April. This February storm showed some of the same characteristics of powerful spring storms, as a weather front from the Pacific Northwest converged with moisture from the Gulf of Mexico."
Photographer: Richard H. Hahn
"The photo above showing a phenomenal display of lenticular clouds was observed near Estes Park, Colorado on the evening of January 5, 2012. I was on the south side of Deer Mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park when the setting Sun lit up the western sky in shades of copper and tangerine. Lenticular clouds are a type of wave cloud that typically occur on the lee side of mountain ranges and form when air is forced upward as it moves over higher terrain. In winter, these clouds are often accompanied by downsloping winds ushering in warmer weather to the Front Range of the Rockies. The lack of snow in the foreground is evidence of prior downsloping and of the relatively warm, dry conditions that have prevailed in Colorado during the early winter. Photo taken at 5:02 p.m."
Estes Park, Colorado Coordinates: 40.372778, -105.519167
"When I first spotted this storm, 17 mi (27 km) north of Fort Morgan, Colorado, it appeared to be a mesacyclone. However, by the time I gathered my photography equipment and drove toward it, I could tell that it had changed quite a bit and was no longer so threatening. Nonetheless, the way the waning sunlight interacted with the fast moving storm clouds was breathtaking; indigo, ink and violet clouds swirling above a red-rimmed horizon. Note the rain shaft in the distance. Photo taken just before sunset on June 20, 2011."
by Robert Arn
"The Pawnee National Grasslands in Colorado is an exceptional place both to observe nature and to stargaze. Observers have a nearly unobstructed view of the horizon. During the summer months, lightning can be seen miles away, and the night sky is generally free of annoying light pollution.
While waiting for skies to darken at a star party near Keota, Colorado last month, I directed my scope and camera toward a summer thunderstorm plowing across the plains. Its accompanying lightning; especially the cloud-to-ground lightning was quite dramatic. As shown above in a time lapse photo, a dozen or more strokes were recorded in less than half a minute. Each bolt typically generates 100,000,000 volts of electricity, and the more energetic strikes can reach temperatures of 54,000 degrees F (30,000 C). Before too long, the storm moved off, and I was able to turn my attention to the clearing and darkening sky."
"Bill Swets used to be a farmer. Now he's a zookeeper -- except that his zoo has no living creatures. The animals in the "Swetsville Zoo" were all built by Bill -- from car parts, farm machinery, and scrap metal."
Swetsville Zoo Address:
4801 E. Harmony Rd., Fort Collins, CO
Directions:
At Timnath, I-25 Exit 265, south of Ft. Collins on Harmony Road east, right by side of highway.
Admission:
Free, donation.
Phone:
970-484-9509
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