13 January 2024

This week featured spectacular sun effects and high water.

On 11 January I captured this photo of a sun pillar at sunrise while Dave DiCello got an even better shot from the West End Bridge.

Another view from today's vibrant sunrise, this time from the West End Bridge in #Pittsburgh. Not only was the color still so vibrant by the time I got there, but there was a sun pillar that was reflecting in the river as well. What a great morning to run around the city. pic.twitter.com/vrjfuAV91Q

— Dave DiCello (@DaveDiCello) January 11, 2024

Friday’s sunrise was spectacular in a different way.

Tuesday 9 January produced the classic Gleam at Sunset in which a day of thick cloud cover ended with a gap on the western horizon and 30 minutes of sun. Here’s what the gap looked like just after sunset from the roof deck of my building.

Twenty minutes earlier I had viewed the gleam from below when it lit the tops of trees and buildings … like this.

Meanwhile we’re only 13 days into January and have already had 2.24 inches of precipitation — 1.06 inches above normal for the month. All that water ends up in the rivers so it’s no wonder that the Monongahela River was running high at Duck Hollow on 11 January.

It was raining when I woke up this morning.