Most of my images were taken from near the Willcox area, but this
particular shot was taken on a brief jaunt north close to the Safford area
(Swift Trail Junction, to be specific) as a storm was rolling off the
Pinaleno Mountains to my immediate southwest.
Battling nuisance light rain and trying to keep drops off the lens proved
to be a losing battle... except for this one frame looking north at the
intersection of I-10 and US Highway 191 northeast of Willcox, AZ. The
mountains on the left side of the frame are the Pinaleno Mountains.
A breathtaking scene. I was so fortunate to capture a fabulous, branched
dual lightning flash with the southern end of the Peloncillo Mountains
becoming absorbed by the rust-colored dust moving west.
I left Tucson heading southwest to intercept an organized cluster or storms
moving northward toward the Three Points area. I was hoping for some
decent lightning, but whatever lightning there was was embedded in the
heavy core. I let the rain core go over me along the Ajo Highway between
Three Points and Tucson. What followed looking north was a fairly awesome
scene of the departing storm with the fresh, wet desert landscape in the
foreground.
Not much to report on the first day in Arizona. I arrived mid-afternoon in
Tucson after attempting to photograph really weak, pathetic storms along
the I-10 corridor. None of the showers produced any worthwhile
cloud-to-ground. I was hoping one cell before sunset near Sonoita would
eventually produce some decent lightning, but it died shortly after it
tried to organize. Great views from the Empire Ranch Rd. north of Sonoita.
I made note of this spot in case there are storms down there. I drove
back to Tucson at around sunset and was hoping to reach a pre-scouted spot
along Reddington Rd. where there are some switchbacks as it climbs
elevation just east of town. I did manage to make it to the switchbacks
just in time to catch the last colors after the sun had already set. The
image tied to this post is from that location.
I left Dodge City for my 2-and-a-half week vacation and North American
Monsoon shoot early in the afternoon on July 10. My route was southwest on
Highway 54 down to Tucumcari and west on I-40. I was not planning on
shooting today, but it was certainly a possibility as storms were expected
to form over the higher terrain of central and northern New Mexico. I was
watching a cluster of storms on radar near Las Vegas, NM and figured I
might have an opportunity to photograph lightning from these if I ventured
off I-40 about 40 or 50 miles. That is what I did. I went north on state
route 129, then followed route 104 up to the Trementina area. The cluster
of storms drifted southward, and I photographed lightning for a couple
hours in this area. The best location I shot from was along an east-west
section of highway 104 southwest of the Conchas Lake State Park where I set
up the tripod along the highway and photographed lightning looking down the
road. I was able to do this because of the sparse traffic on this road. I
had one car every 15 or 20 minutes on average down this road. At around
sunset, these storms slowly dissolved, and I made my way toward Albuquerque
then south to Socorro. New storms formed after dark in the area between
Albuquerque and Socorro providing for a nice show of vivid lightning along
the way. I did stop once to photograph, but I didnt get much from this as
I was more focused on getting to the motel for the night after the long
drive.
