Exit78 Photo of the Day #8

West Central Arkansas – After the Ice & Snow Storm, December 7, 2013 (Pentax K-r)

Event Summary^[1]  (Updated 6pm 12/6/2013)

A major winter storm impacted eastern Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas, beginning early Thursday, December 5th, and continuing through late Friday, December 6th. Significant ice accumulations and sleet and snow accumulations occurred. An arctic cold front pushed through the region during the daylight hours Wednesday, December 4th, dropping temperatures from the 60s in some locations to below freezing in a matter of hours. Precipitation did not develop along the surface front, but instead, waited for a series of upper-level disturbances to move northeastward across eastern Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas on Thursday and Friday.

Freezing rain, mixed with sleet at times, developed through Thursday morning, primarily to the southeast of the Interstate 44 corridor. Temperatures were warm enough initially in far southeast Oklahoma and a small part of west central Arkansas that the precipitation began as rain before quickly transitioning to freezing rain by mid morning. Cold air gradually deepened from north to south during the afternoon and evening, allowing some of the freezing rain to transition to sleet and finally snow. Additional precipitation blossomed overnight Thursday and into Friday morning, bringing some of the first measurable snow or sleet to areas north of the Interstate 44 corridor, as well as locations in southeast Oklahoma and west central Arkansas that previously saw significant ice accumulation.

Far southeast Oklahoma and west central Arkansas were hardest hit with ice accumulation and related impacts. Areas from Hugo to Antlers, Poteau, and toward Greenwood and Ozark saw between a half inch and an inch of ice accumulation. Widespread power outages occurred. Snow and sleet accumulated to 3 to 6 inches across a large part of northeast Oklahoma, east central Oklahoma, and northwest Arkansas. The largest snow and sleet accumulations, a foot or more, were recorded in far northwest Arkansas across Benton and Carroll counties.

Officially, Tulsa, OK received 4.9″, Fort Smith, AR 5.0″, and Fayetteville, AR 7.0″ of sleet and snow during this event.

Major winter storm moves through Arkansas^[1]

Icy blast leaves thousands without power; conditions expected to deteriorate

This article was originally published December 6, 2013 at 4:36 a.m. Updated December 6, 2013 at 3:06 p.m.

Police say they responded to numerous wrecks Friday as winter weather moved across Arkansas, including one that injured an Arkansas State Police trooper.

State police advised against travel through the rest of the day and especially overnight.

“Highway conditions across Arkansas are expected to worsen overnight as the result of colder weather expected to sweep across the state,” spokesman Bill Sadler wrote in the statement. “Unless it is absolutely necessary or an emergency, highway travel across much of the state is not recommended.”

1. December 5-6, 2013 Winter Weather Event – National Weather Service
2. Major winter storm moves through Arkansas – ArkansasOnline

Exit78 Photo of the Day #7

Autumn color at home, west-central Arkansas, November 8, 2007 (Pentax K10D)

Autumn leaf color¹

Autumn leaf color is a phenomenon that affects the normally green leaves of many deciduous trees and shrubs by which they take on, during a few weeks in the autumn season, various shades of red, yellow, purple, black, orange, pink, magenta, blue and brown. The phenomenon is commonly called autumn colours or autumn foliage in British English and fall colors, fall foliage or simply foliage in American English.

In some areas of Canada and the United States, “leaf peeping” tourism is a major contribution to economic activity. This tourist activity occurs between the beginning of color changes and the onset of leaf fall, usually around September and October in the Northern Hemisphere and April to May in the Southern Hemisphere.

1. Autumn leaf color – Wikipedia

Exit78 Photo of the Day #6

Picnic shelter at sunset, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area,  Lake Powell, Utah just north of Utah-Arizona line, October 2, 2011 (Pentax K-r)

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area’s Wahweap¹ was a nice place to stop for a couple of nights on our meandering travels in 2011.  The location is right on the state line between Utah and Arizona. Lodging, camping and the marina are in Arizona, while the picnic area, boat ramp and boat trailer parking are in Utah.  Our camp site was so close to the state line that the time on our smart phones was swapping back and forth between Utah and Arizona time!

1. Wahweap RV Park & Campground – Lake Powell Resorts & Marinas

Post-processing¹ #9

Navajo Loop Trail, Bryce Canyon National Park, October 7, 2015

1. Image editing to enhance the photo closer to what the eye “saw.” Images in this series are selected within a day or so of being edited and are either posted at the time or scheduled for posting at a later date.

Exit78 Photo of the Day #5

Split-rail Fence, Mountain Farm Museum, Great Smokey Mountains National Park, near Cherokee, North Carolina, June 15, 2012 (Pentax K-r)

Split-Rail Fence¹

A split-rail fence or log fence (also known as a zigzag fence, worm fence or snake fence historically due to its meandering layout) is a type of fence constructed in the United States and Canada, and is made out of timber logs, usually split lengthwise into rails and typically used for agricultural or decorative fencing. Such fences require much more timber than other types of fences, and so are generally only common in areas where wood is abundant. However, they are very simple in their construction, and can be assembled with few tools even on hard or rocky ground. They also can be built without using any nails or other hardware; such hardware was often scarce in frontier areas. They are particularly popular in very rocky areas where post hole digging is almost impossible. They can even be partially or wholly disassembled if the fence needs to be moved or the wood becomes more useful for other purposes. During the American Civil War, these split rail fences were a major source of firewood for both the Union and Confederate armies.

1. Split-rail fence – Wikipedia

Exit78 Photo of the Day #4

Sunrise Point area, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, October 8, 2015 (Pentax K-3 II) shot from 37°37’41″N 112°09’47″W

Sunrise Point Trails¹

Sunrise Point serves as the trailhead for the easy to moderate Queen’s Garden Trail that descends into a section of hoodoos ruled by the Queen Victoria hoodoo. This viewpoint also represents the end point for the Navajo Loop/Queen Victoria combination, one of the most popular hikes in the Park. Just to the north of this overlook, the Fairyland Loop climbs back up to the rim continuing north to where it completes its 8-mile journey at Fairyland Canyon overlook. For those who prefer shorter hikes, descending this section of the Fairyland Loop as far as the Tower Bridge and returning back up to Sunrise point, offers a 3-mile “out & back.” The Tower Bridge Hike has a difficulty rating of moderate.

1. Sunrise Point – Bryce Canyon National Park, National Park Service

Exit78 Photo of the Day #3

Bronze Sculpture of Desert Bighorn Sheep Ram, Visitor Center, Arches National Park, Utah, September 21, 2011 (Pentax K-r)

Desert Bighorn Sheep¹

Desert bighorn sheep are some of the most intriguing mammals of canyon country. They are wary of human contact, and blend so well into the terrain they inhabit, that sightings are a special event. Once feared of becoming extinct, the desert bighorn are making a tentative comeback in southeast Utah due to a comprehensive reintroduction effort by the National Park Service.
Desert or Nelson’s bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) are considered by most biologists to be a unique subspecies. Desert bighorns have adapted to hot, dry climates, unlike their Rocky Mountain cousins, and have longer legs, lighter coats and smaller bodies. Bighorn sheep are common in ancestral Puebloan and Fremont pictographs, an indication of their presence and prominence in indigenous cultures. Explorers in the late 1600s estimated that more than two million desert bighorn once roamed the southwest.

1. Bighorn Sheep – National Park Service, Arches National Park

Exit78 Photo of the Day #2

Cirrus clouds over Mossy Cave trail, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, October 8, 2015 (Pentax K-3 II)

Cirrus clouds are a type of cloud characterized by thin, wispy strands.  The name is from the Latin word cirrus, meaning a ringlet or curling lock of hair. Cirrus clouds form anywhere from 16,500 ft (5.0 km) and 45,000 ft (14 km) above sea level.¹

Composed of ice crystals that originate from the freezing of supercooled water droplets and generally occurring in fair weather, cirrus clouds point in the direction of air movement at their elevation.²

1. Cirrus cloud – Wikipedia
2. Cirrus Clouds – University of Illinois

Exit78 Photo of the Day #1

Cabin Cruiser on Lake Dardanelle in Winter, viewed from Lake Dardanelle State Park, Arkansas, February 12, 2011 (Pentax K-r)

At first glance, this photo looks like it might be from a more northern lake, instead of Arkansas.  Snow does  fall here, but only a couple of times a year, usually, and, some years, not at all.  The cabin cruiser is unusual, as well.  Most vessels on the lake are open boats, usually some sort of bass boat, jon boat or pontoon boat, or, on occasion,  tugboats pushing barges through the lake, which is part of the McClellan–Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System.