Fire Snow and Fire Sun

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This is a different kind of snow. It is not the nice fluffy, cool, moist snow that you might think of... No... It is fire snow. Most people call it ash. But the sky was as black as any snow storm might make it and the outside, at least through the kitchen window, made you think that when you walked outside it would be cold. It was a cool, crisp 80 degrees at 7 am.

This is Ashy Splashy! Yes, those are ashes on his head and near his eye. He just had to get involved.
This is the ash on my TBird's windshield at 7 am. By 7 pm, it has doubled in quantity. If you stare outside, you would swear it was indeed snowing, the particles that are coming down are that big and noticeable. I feel like pig pen when I walk as my pant legs create enough wind to fluff up the ash as I walk. There are tens of thousands of acres burning all around us. The heat has been turned up and we're running in the 100's to 110's and the fires are just loving it, eating up more and more land as the winds push them along.
And this is 12 miles from where I live and about 30 minutes after the above pictures were taken. The sun is just beginning to over power the smoke and poke on through. The ash rains down there too.

And this is only the beginning of summer. Wait till we hit the "REAL" fire season.

Comments

Sheila @ Dr Cason.org said…
How are the sunsets? I remember through all that ashy pasts that the sunsets were unreal!
July 9, 2008 at 4:26 AM
TJ Moutard said…
Where I live, I don't get to see sunsets per se, but I am sure they are spectacular. The smoke is too thick to see much of a sunrise - it is 730 or later before the sun makes its way high enough to get through our smoke.
Temperatures today could get to 115. Extreme Fire Behavior is expected.
July 9, 2008 at 6:35 AM
Kelly said…
geez...and I though the smoke and ash were bad here...they must be incredible where you are...
This morning we can't even see the sun!
July 9, 2008 at 7:19 AM
foxyfrogmomma said…
WE ARE THINKING OF YOU ALL IN YOUR NEW HOME AND SENDING ANGLES OF PROTECTION YOUR WAY.THE SMOKE OVER HERE IS ALSO AWFUL BUT HARD TO COMPLAIN WHEN OTHERS ARE BURNING UP...
July 9, 2008 at 9:24 PM
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