Naples’ Sunsets – Part 1 (H. Michael Mogil, CCM, CBM, NWA-DS*)
The Naples area has had a plethora of rainfall during the past 35 days. Locally, amounts have topped 25 inches at many locations, with one report in the Piper Cove area (of north Naples) in excess of 30 inches.
Lakes levels are up; mosquitoes are swarming; snails are heading for high ground (actually climbing on my garage door and outside home walls); and sunsets have bordered on spectacular.
It is the latter that warrants attention today.
About a week ago, I wrote about cloud watching in Naples. Today, I’m sharing just two recent sunset images that I captured from near my home in north Naples. Unfortunately, I wasn’t at the beach to capture unobstructed scenes. That’s on my agenda for this weekend; so please stay tuned.
The first image was taken just after sunset on Sat., Jul. 1, 2017. It shows the sun’s rays emanating from a near-horizon location and lighting the underside of leftover thunderstorm debris clouds (most likely altostratus at an altitude of about two and a half miles above the ground). Clouds near the horizon were blocking some of the sunlight and caused shaded/shadowed regions (which allowed easier viewing of the sun’s rays).
The second image (taken Thu., Jul. 6, 2017) also has crepuscular rays, these coming up from the lower left corner of the image. These rays are illuminating “fall streaks” or areas in which rain or snow is falling from the clouds. These streaks are more vertical than the crepuscular rays.
Obviously, the sky colors are something to behold, as well. But, that will be the subject of a future article.
So consider this article as the appetizer for more sunset stories. I plan on having some of the future sunset images include Gulf Coast beach perspectives.
© 2017 H. Michael Mogil
Originally posted 7/8/17
* The National Weather Association Digital Seal (NWA-DS) is awarded to individuals who pass stringent meteorological testing and evaluation of written weather content. H. Michael Mogil was awarded the second such seal and is a strong advocate for its use by weather bloggers.