Take time to look towards the sky, notice the various cloud formations and lovely colors created by the sun’s light.
The photo challenge topic this week is Stormy. Many things can be referred to as being stormy but generally I think about stormy weather such as snowstorms which often occur in Maine, rainstorms, severe storms which can be most anywhere and then there are also hurricanes and nor’easter which are formed over water and occasionally move over land leaving a lot of destruction in its wake. Having lived most of my life along the eastern coast of the United States, I have experienced a fair number of storms, especially Nor’easters and hurricanes, which occur yearly.
I decided to show a few pictures taken during some stormy weather in Maine. The first one shows the Cape Neddick Nubble Lighthouse in York, Maine. This was taken in September, 2017, as Hurricane Jose passed by right off the coast. Fortunately, the high surf and tropical storm conditions did not cause major damage. (Double click on the picture to enlarge it.)
This next picture was taken at Marginal Way in Ogunquit, Maine, in late August of 2011 as Hurricane Irene passed by. High winds and extensive flooding occurred in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine in addition to it also impacting New York, and New Jersey. This turned out to be a deadly hurricane which caused extensive property damage and loss of life.
These last pictures are showing stormy looking clouds over our house in Wells, Maine. The shelf clouds pictured below formed over the nearby Atlantic Ocean on a hot August day. I remember how colorful the sky was as they moved overhead. Not knowing much about the different cloud formations, I read that shelf clouds are really arcus clouds and they often form along the leading edge of a thunderstorm. They are typically associated with strong winds and can appear as dark, ominous bands or several shelf-like layers in the sky.
The next stormy looking pictures were taken on two different occasions as wall clouds (murus or pedestal clouds) passed over our house. Not knowing what they were, I read they are localized, persistent clouds that quickly form from the base of a cumulonimbus cloud (or “thunderhead” cloud) and may be a precursor to tornadoes. Thankfully for everyone closeby, they just quietly drifted by heading towards the Atlantic Ocean.
Hope you enjoyed see these few stormy weather pictures. Thanks goes to Beth for selecting this great topic. Also, I want to congratulate her on recently becoming one of the host for our Lens-Artist Photo Challenge!!
Last but not least, it is great to be able to post on my website again! Several weeks ago some behind-the-scenes changes needed to be made on my site, which took much longer than expected. Fortunately though, the site is working well now! I am very grateful for the talented specialists who worked getting it back online.
My closing thought: As you go through your day please remember “Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.” – J.M. Barrie
I love your clouds, Sylvia but my favourites this week are the first two with the stormy sea. You captured the raw power so well.
An excellent choice for the challenge Sylvia – and welcome back! Glad to hear your computer issues are resolved!! Loved your Nubble lighthouse image – a place I remember well from our visits.
Great photos. I can only imagine how terrific or was is it terrifying, to stand and watch the waves crash.
Sylvia, thank you for this wonderful gallery of stormy images. The huge waves really show the power of the seas during a big storm. Thank you for identifying the clouds over your house. I have no idea what kind of clouds I see over the Atlantic when a storm is moving in. Also, thank you for your warm welcome to the Lens-Artists team. I have having a lot of fun with it.