Waves from Hurricane Sandy
It’s hard to see from this picture, but the waves were higher than the pier.It’s usually pretty flat here. Wishing our friends up north a safe ride through the storm.
“You’re Gonna Miss the Rain”
That’s what people would tell me when I would say that I was leaving Oregon and moving to Florida. If there’s any truth to that it’s that living here in Florida made me appreciate the rain a bit more. The rain in Oregon is cold, constant and makes most people miserable, myself included. I’ve always been a sun worshiper and a fish out of water, even when I lived in Oregon. So moving here was much like returning an injured turtle back to sea, and put me in my element.
It does rain here in the Sunshine State, quite often actually. In fact there’s an entire season dedicated to it, it’s called hurricane season. You may have heard of it. Annual precipitation in Florida is about 1/3 MORE of what it is in Oregon, but it’s a warm monsoon type rain. It often comes in heavy and leaves as quickly as it started and before you know it, it’s back to the business of blue skies and sunshine again. I love the Florida rain.
So do I miss the rain in Oregon you ask? As my friend Cory recently put it, “Do you think people that move from LA miss the smog?”
The Endless Summer
Now that Labor Day is over, it is the “unofficial end of Summer” for most of you. Here in Florida it goes year round though. So when you need a break from Oldman Winter, remember that Florida’s just a plane ride away…
Balance of Sun
The chaos of soon to be Hurricane Isaac has finally died down tonight. After another day of high winds, heavy rain and flash flood warnings from the National Weather Service, paradise has finally been restored for South Florida.
Dark & Light
Today is the 20 year anniversary of Hurricane Andrew, and with Tropical Storm Isaac expected to hit parts of Florida this Sunday, I thought this photo of an incoming storm in the Keys seemed fitting for today’s pic. It’s amazing how quickly the weather can change here, as you can see from the contrast of the darkness on the left, to the pure white sky on the right of the photo.
Warrior of the Clouds
What do you see?
The Lonely Kayaker
I shot this one from the dive boat last week. I thought it was cool how the reflection showed the clouds on the left and clear sky on the right.
Northern Sunset
This is the view looking north from my balcony. It was the only evidence that the sun actually set that night, since the rest of it was blocked by clouds of a passing storm. This is what it looks like when the sun sets in the north instead of the west.
Blue Streak
Another wet grey day here in the Sunshine state, so I thought I’d keep the sunless theme going. I took this one a while back when I was driving back from the beach in Dania. Not sure what that blue streak is, I have never seen anything like it before. A friend suggested it might be a chemtrail (for all you conspiracy theorist) which makes sense considering the location of the airport is right around there.
The Sunless Sunset
Today was a day of rain. Not the usual crazy stormy weather rain, but just plain old rain…constant all day rain. It was enough to spark a flood watch for most of South Florida and to cause Fort Lauderdale to cancel the final day of the air show. Seeing grey days like this makes me wonder how I did it so long in Oregon where it would rain like this for weeks on end without a break. It’s not easy to live without the sun, but many have learned to do it. I know I did, but obviously I could only do it for so long. Here’s a sunless sunset pic and a reminder of what’s on the other side of the clouds.
After the Storm
As promised, this is a photo taken just hours after the one in “The Perfect Storm” posted below. Both pictures were taken at the same place too I might add, my balcony. That’s a sliver of a toenail moon you see there.
The Perfect Storm
Everyone knows about how rainy it is in Oregon and that there is a lot of it. What they don’t know about is the rain in Florida. It never rains in the Sunshine State unless there’s a hurricane there right? Not true. In fact the annual average rainfall of Miami is almost twice as much as it is in Portland, Oregon. So how can Florida maintain it’s Sunshine State title with all this rain you ask? Because it has the perfect storms. Storms that are so condensed and efficient that they roll in without much notice, take over the city and flee the scene all in a matter of minutes. Dumping tons of rain, wind and lightning before it’s on to the next town to wreak havoc upon them. Before you know it, the sun is shining and it’s business as usual again. Portland has a constant drizzle that puts out 36 inches of rain every year. Miami’s sh*t or get off the pot attitude puts out 62 inches on average each year.
This is a photo of a mild storm this weekend, there were even tornado warnings with this one. My next post will be from this same night.
Beauty of Florida 