Friday’s Sunset
I’ve been waiting for these sunsets since I moved back here, and now that Mother Nature has started firing them up, I’m not disappointed. These shots are from Friday evening. I was sitting at the computer and happen to glance out the window and my jaw about hit the floor. I grabbed the camera and headed down the road.
I was hoping that maybe some lightning showed up in the shots ’cause there was some in these clouds. But I didn’t get that lucky. There was also a very faint rainbow that was right over the lighthouse, but it was to faint and it didn’t show up in the shot.
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Posted in Photography, Wisconsin |
Wow! Hope you are away from the flooding and staying dry.
The flooding isn’t affecting me personally, but it has affected the area all around. A lot of the corn and soy bean crops are lost. They were late getting planted because of the wild winter and now, just as they’re getting going, they’ve been drowned.
Wow those are fantastic Steve? Just curious - how far is the lake from where you live now? Also, since you can’t see the opposite shore, does it feel like it’s a lake, or the ocean?
Hey Karl,
I’m right across the street from Lake Michigan. I can see it right now.
It feels very much like the ocean when you’re at the lake. But it’s also different because the air isn’t salty and you don’t have that ocean smell. Most days there are waves on the lake unless the wind is calm or blowing from the west. On days when the wind is out of the east, north-east, or south-east there can be some good sized waves.
There are lots of sea gulls hanging around and earlier in the spring we has a bunch of terns. The terns have pretty much left now.
I’d say it’s as close as you can get to being on the ocean without being there. We even get a nice cooling effect from the lake. 3 miles inland the temp is 10 degrees hotter than here at the house. The same cooling also seems to help the thunderstorms loose some of the nastiness by the time they reach us.
Steven - never really thought about this before, but do the the great lakes have high and low tides or do they stay about the same level?
Hey Terry,
I wondered the same thing so I did some research online and there appears to be evidence of small tides on Lake Michigan. About .5 - 1.5 inches a day.
But a much bigger factor with the lake’s level is the wind. I noticed this right away. When the wind is blowing into the shore, the lake level will rise by feet. When the wind is blowing off shore the level can fall by many feet. So when the wind is blowing, the shoreline that it is blowing into will always be higher than the shoreline directly opposite. A couple weeks ago the wind was blowing hard out of the north-east and the level of the shore line was about 7 feet higher up the beach than normal. Just yesterday the wind was out of the west and shore line was about 3 feet lower than normal. I can tell this by an old concrete pier that’s along the beach not far from here. You can also see it by the debris the waves leave along the shore. The highest debris lines are a good 15-20 feet above the shoreline on a normal day.
Steven -
pretty interesting. except for major storms, i never would have thought that the wind would have that much effect on the lake level. well, one question leads to another, are there seasonal changes in the lake level?
That I don’t know. I would imagine the lake gets a little higher when the snow melts in the spring. I’d also think that it’s a little higher right now because of all the rain we’ve had this month.
I’ll keep an eye on it come winter and let you know.
How pretty these are Steven!! Thanks for sharing.
“Wow” is right! Awesome shots Steven. Thank you!
Spectacular Again!! What a treat to enjoy your good work! Thanks, Steve!!