RE: [APML] AZ and CO Fires

[Matt Russell <MatthewR@edusourcepc.com>]

Jon, Chris and everyone else,

I live in Minneapolis and evacuated from the RMSS, a star party put on by
the Colorado Springs Astronomical Society when the Hayman fire started on
the 8th.  Oddly enough, we are getting smoke here in Minneapolis too from
those fires.  Just the other night, the 3-quarter moon was red from the
smoke.  Colorado Springs is 1,000 miles away and its traveled that far.

I also wonder if those fires are responsible for the terrible weather we've
been having here since that time?

Matt


-----Original Message-----
From: Jon Kolb [mailto:jkolb@datawest.net]
Sent: Tuesday, June 25, 2002 10:10 PM
To: astro-photo@seds.org
Subject: RE: [APML] AZ and CO Fires


Chris and all,

> About 2 hours drive east.  the fire is moving away from us, 
> but the transparency is now getting quite poor over most of 
> northern arizona.

Chris' photo is an excellent example of pyrocumulus clouds being
generated by these massive fires as they release hot water vapor into
the atmosphere.  You can see them above the darker smoke cloud in the
photo.  We had two hail storms and several rain showers at my home in
Colorado Springs that were directly attributed to the Hayman fire
pyrocumulus.  Too bad they weren't over the fire.  

We've had smoke in Colorado Springs ever since 08 June, when the Hayman
fire started near my usual close-in dark site.  That fire is almost
contained, but now we're getting smoke from the Missionary Ridge fire
near Durango, the Million fire near South Fork, and that enormous
Rodeo-Chediski fire in Chris' photo.  The smoke has at times rendered it
impossible to see Pike's Peak from town on an otherwise clear day, and
at the worst of the Hayman fire reduced visibility to under a mile on
the Air Force Academy grounds.  The smell makes it seem like camping,
but without any of the fun.  Ash has fallen at times from the weird,
orange-brown sky we have every day now.  

My usual dark site on state trust land is apparently off-limits, since
it is surrounded by the Pike National Forest, which is closed to all
use.  There is so much smoke here that I doubt I'll be able to shoot
anything again until maybe September, unless I head for the NW part of
the state and hope Utah doesn't catch fire before I get up there.  At
least all of my colleagues and friends who were evacuated are safely
back home now.  All 4th of July fireworks are cancelled around here,
some being replaced with laser shows.  The annual motor race up Pike's
Peak (a wild affair with everything from motocycles to semi tractors)
is still on for Saturday, since the city owns the road through the NF.
A freak two-foot snow dump across the state (and on the Mogollon Rim)
would be great right about now.

Sincerely,
Jon Kolb
Adventures in Astrophotography
http://home.datawest.net/jkolb/
jkolb@datawest.net





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