1986. It was a beautiful summer afternoon at the Rouyn-Noranda airport (CYUY). The Transport Canada flight service station employees knew that a cold front was approaching and would soon sweep the airport. Until then, it was still a perfect day. Blue sky, light winds. At the time, the flight service specialists (FSS) did not have access to radar images or satellite pictures.
To get an idea of what was coming from the west, we were normally using an Environment Canada aviation weather forecast and the actual weather observations of two flight service stations in Ontario, Earlton FSS and Timmins FSS. Their last weather observation mentioned a wind shift and an isolated thunderstorm. But Timmins was far away and could only provide us with a rough estimate of the situation.
As I was working the evening shift on that day, I checked the wind speed indicator, as a reflex developed throughout the years. What I saw was kind of unreal. The speed indicator’s needle suddenly went from showing few knots to 20 knots, and then 40 knots, hesitated a little then went up to 60 knots and, in a final correction, reached 72 knots, which was about 134 km/h.
Everything was so peaceful around the flight service station. I looked through the window to detect any moving object. At that very moment, the wooden shed normally used by the fuel man passed in front of the station. That wooden structure must certainly have weighted few hundred kilos. The fact that it was moving at a good speed was a clear indication that the instruments were working properly. A squall line was associated with the cold front progression.
Everything that was not properly fixed to the ground started moving. In the next hour, strong thunderstorms going eastward moved in over Rouyn-Noranda. The Val-d’Or airport (CYVO) being located sixty miles east, it was clear that it would be hit directly in about two hours. I called the Val-d’Or control tower so that everyone got prepared for the squall line. That gave them enough time to tie everything correctly and damages were limited.
One hour later, everything was back to normal in Rouyn-Noranda and we profited from an ideal summer night.
For more real life stories on the Rouyn-Noranda flight service station and flight service specialists, click here:
Cumuliform clouds add energy to any photo. Even photos in black and white benefit from them largely, whether it is for a normal or an HDR photo.
Cumuliform clouds add dynamism to this Abbaye du Mont St-Michel scenery. France (1978)
Black and white HDR picture of lamp posts installed along the St-Lawrence, Quebec City 2012.
The stratiform clouds add to the tranquillity and the stability of a photo.
Daytona Beach under stratus clouds in 2011. The end of the afternoon allows the fresh air from the sea to move over the heated land, which helps create few cumulus fractus, visible near the buildings.
Clouds including a stratiform and cumuliform components (stratocumulus) produce an effect that is more energizing than the simple stratus, while avoiding the explosion of energy of the cumuliform clouds.
A stratocumulus adds to this otherwise peaceful scenery captured on board the Lyria train between Paris and Geneva in 2013.
The cold front
The approach of a cold front enhances the possibility of interesting photos. If it is a fast moving cold front of moist and unstable air, the photos will probably be more spectacular, as some thunderstorms will be associated with the system. A dew point of more than 15 C indicates the presence of a lot of water vapor which can be transformed into precipitation, thus releasing a lot of energy. When these conditions are combined with a really strong contrast between the new air mass which approaches and the one which goes away, the produced meteorological phenomena will certainly be intense.
In the photos below, the meteorological system approaching the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport also had to cross a small mountain range.
A roll arcus cloud in development ahead of a thunderstorm approaching the Quebec Jean-Lesage airport in 2012.
A roll arcus cloud in development ahead of a thunderstorm approaching the Quebec Jean-Lesage airport in 2012.
View under a developing arcus cloud at the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport (2012)
An arcus cloud ahead of a thunderstorm approaching the Quebec Jean-Lesage airport in 2012
A roll arcus cloud ahead of a thunderstorm heading for Quebec City in 2012
The morning fog
The morning fog offers many opportunities for interesting photos. You can choose an isolated tree and capture the combined effects of the morning sun and fog. Or you may choose a cluster of trees, for a completely different effect. Both photos below were taken in Domaine Cataraqui, Quebec City.
Trees in fog at Domaine Cataraqui, Quebec City 2009
Sun and fog provide for a special atmosphere at the Domaine Cataraqui, Quebec City 2009
A morning fog resulting from a cold cloudless night will persist for hours if there is no wind. The cold morning air, motionless over a slightly hotter stretch of water, creates a fog that will finally disappear just before noon, when the atmosphere has been heated enough. If there had been an overcast sky during the night, chances are that the air over the water would have remained at a higher temperature, preventing the formation of fog.
The opportunities for more interesting photos arise when you witness the first holes in the fog layer.
The Ocean tugboats during a dense fog in the Bassin Louise in Quebec (2012).
We can take into account the season to estimate the speed of the diurnal reheating of the lower atmosphere. A morning fog will need more time to dissipate from late autumn to early spring: that leaves more time for the photographer to prepare. The forecasts can announce the disappearance of fog while it will not be the case if, over your sector, there is an invading layer of stratocumulus preventing the morning sun from reaching the ground.
To determine if the fog is going to dissipate as expected or will remain and possibly intensify, watch the difference between the temperature and the dew point on the hourly meteorological observations issued by weather stations near your place of residence. If the temperature and dew point spread increases, the fog is going to lift. If the difference between those two decreases, the fog is going to persist and possibly intensify.
The mist
The mist can be qualified as such when the visibility is superior to ½ mile, but do not exceed 6 miles for an observer on the ground. If the visibility is of ½ mile or less, it is called fog. This photo of the Bic National Park, near Rimouski, shows the interesting effect that the mist adds to a beautiful landscape.
Mist in the Bic National Park, Province of Quebec (2009)
Hot and unstable air in winter
When there is a warm and unstable air advection (about 0 degrees) while winter has already settled, there are good opportunities for photos. A moderately developed cumulus produces significant snow showers and this snow sticks on all the surrounding objects. All that snow would have begun to melt on contact of objects if the latter had had a temperature superior to zero degree. But, the winter being already settled, the snow persists. It gives enough time to capture some souvenirs.
A Quebec City street after a snow shower
The local effects
A photographer might benefit from learning about the meteorological local effects influencing the regions he intends to visit. The local effects are often simple to understand and they repeat themselves regularly, according to wind and season changes. The knowledge of these effects allows the photographer to be ready and position himself even before the phenomenon occurs. It limits the comments like: “If I had known that it would occur, I would have settled down here one hour earlier!“
The local terrain as well as large size bodies of water produce predictable meteorological phenomenon that can be used by a well prepared photographer. It can consist of persistent fog, repetitive snowstorms over a small sector, strong winds, cumuliform clouds alongside the mountain summits, etc. By being positioned at the right place, at the right time, the desired photo can be realized.
A change in the wind direction
A change in the wind direction suddenly increases the opportunities of interesting photos. It might announce the approach of a cold front, a warm front, a sea or land breeze, etc. In the photo below, a bit of fresher air suddenly began crossing the St-Lawrence seaway at the end of the day, thanks to the approach of a weak cold front. The water was still relatively warm and the moisture which was present over the surface became visible due to the cool air supply. The conditions were now ideal for a short-term thin fog, as long as the wind speed would not increase. Just in time for a photo.
The new wood pellets silos in Anse au Foulon in Quebec City en 2014
Familiarization with weather radars
It can be useful to get acquainted with weather radars which, for the needs of photography, remain simple to interpret. Multiple echoes of small dimension with a steep gradient of various colors indicate precipitation resulting from cumuliform clouds. The showers associated with these clouds are often moderated or strong and will be the result of approaching towering cumulus or cumulonimbus (thunderstorms). A towering cumulus presents a dark base and a white summit to the photographer. At sunset, their vertical development can be used to emphasize the last rays of light.
The side of a towering cumulus (TCU) is benefiting from the remaining sunlight over Quebec
Large echo areas of similar colors of low intensity indicate a relatively stable air generally producing steady light rain or drizzle. This should be understood as a possibility of increased humidity limiting the visibility through mist or fog.
Hoar frost
Hoar frost is a short-term phenomenon. It is thus necessary to capture the scene before the sun melts everything. The photo below shows some small twigs on which hoar frost has settled. It was taken at the beginning of the seventies. Although the quality of the photo is not exceptional, the meteorological phenomenon is well demonstrated.
A combination of snow and hoar frost observed on a Quebec field in 1976.
Forest fires
Wishing to make photos of western Canada during summer 2014, I came up against a season where hundreds of forest fires were raging. The smoke was covering some parts of Alberta and British Columbia. Some fires were important enough to require the closure of the sole highway connecting Lake Louise to Jasper. I thus decided to include the effects of those fires in the holiday souvenirs.
A visibility reduced in forest fire smoke allows a photographer to obtain, without special editing, sunsets with interesting colors.
Sunset and smoke from forest fires in Kamloops in 2014
The smoke also produces an effect similar as fog, but a fog which would be impossible to obtain at the end of a summer afternoon while the sun shines and there is a 38 degrees Celsius temperature.
An area near Kamloops, Canada, that was touched by forest fires in 2014
At dusk, the residual smoke is visible near tree tops while the setting sun strikes the mountain side. The effect is of two horizontal lines of complementary colors, blue and orange.
Forest fire smoke and sunset combined in Lake Louise, Alberta en 2014
