The Deer Creek and Turner Gulch fires both now have burned through more than 15,000 acres. Smoke wasn’t nearly as visible yesterday as previously, and it has been weirdly (eerily?) not very windy. Rain has been in and out of the forecast (mostly out … and it hasn’t rained), but we could sure use some actual “wetting rain” that actually makes landfall and drenches the land and its vegetation AND its fires.
Terra, above, and her band had just come up from a water seep in the Spring Creek arroyo and were grazing their way peacefully toward (potentially) another little water source. They know where to find water, and fortunately the water sources in the basin are holding steady. Any little (or lotta) bit helps.
The Deer Creek Fire, burning at the southeastern base of Utah’s La Sal Mountains, just west of the state line with Colorado, is now at 10,000-plus acres with 0% containment. (Note: As of 10 p.m. Monday, it had grown to more than 11,000 acres.)
That’s the fire closest to us, and fires at Grand Canyon and Black Canyon of the Gunnison national parks have resulted in the destruction of the historic Grand Canyon Lodge (and other structures) and evacuations of visitors and National Park Service employees, not to mention people who live in affected areas nearby.
Many other fires are burning across the West’s drought-dry landscapes, as well as in Canada, while floods devastate other regions. My heart has a hard time taking it all in.
*****
I drafted the above post (showing Sancho in a very smoky Spring Creek Basin a few days ago) and scheduled it … and then I went out to Spring Creek Basin last night and saw that smoke from two more fires – Wright Draw and Turner Gulch fires near Gateway (about halfway-ish between Disappointment Valley and Grand Junction or about an hour and a half away as the vehicle motors) – is visible on our northern horizon. Argh.
Vantage point: above Spring Creek (mostly dry but with pockets of water from which at least a few bands of mustangs are drinking) in Spring Creek Basin looking north/northwest. The canyon is not far to my left. The obvious smoke starting at the left side of the image is from Utah’s Deer Creek Fire. Smoke from the Wright Draw and Turner Gulch fires shows as a yellowish line of smoke immediately above the bumpy-hills horizon just right of center.
Post-sunset from outside Spring Creek Basin. Utah’s La Sal Mountains are visible at left, and smoke from the Deer Creek Fire stretches across the entire horizon. … It looked like virga, which was completely wild and surreal.
We need “wetting rain” as I read recently. Hopefully it’s coming Friday/Saturday … along with thunderstorm chances (we do NOT need the lightning!!!). Please keep all those in the paths of the wildfires (everywhere), as well as those battling the blazes, in your prayers. And please, please, please, stay safe.
We interrupt your regularly scheduled mustangs for an important news update:
WE GOT RAIN!!!!!!!
When you don’t get rain for weeks and weeks, even a little rain is newsworthy. When Mother Nature unleashes a direct hit over Spring Creek Basin, well, that’s major news, that is!
This crazy sky (please tell me the name of those clouds if you know? mammatus or something similar? I read an article about them recently, but I can’t remember the name) was AFTER the rain. Upon entering Spring Creek Basin, I had seen some silver slivers in the distance that had me very excited … but first I saw this sky, and then I saw mustangs, so I had to stop (I ran out of time and patience to choose and process any mustang pix, but they’ll be coming; nothing super exciting as they weren’t super cooperative with that sky above them, chasing the rain-fresh grass!).
Then … THIS:
SPRING CREEK!!!!!
Can you tell that straight across (left side of the pic) is the road? At far right is the curve just after the water passes through the old breached dam (I did a post about it a little while ago). The water is flowing from right to left – and it was loud and muddy and glorious. 🙂 You can see how high it was when it first ran; already it was feet lower by the time I got out there.
Many (most? all?) of the rocks in the foreground are from previous floods. That, my friends, is the power of water in the desert.
Then I rolled around back downstream to just upstream of Spring Creek canyon, through which Spring Creek runs on its way out of Spring Creek Basin. All of the basin’s arroyos feed into the big arroyo that is Spring Creek. This is looking eastish toward that iconic horizon. The canyon is right behind me:
The water flows from right to left, around the curve on downstream, through the short stretch of zigzagging canyon and on across Disappointment Valley to join Disappointment Creek, which ALSO was flowing with rainwater (the flow of the creek ended around solstice weekend), and eventually to the Dolores River way out there where the sky is particularly (and still) dark with rain.
Mammatus (also called mamma [1] or mammatocumulus, meaning “mammary cloud”) is a cellular pattern of pouches hanging underneath the base of a cloud.
People also ask
What does it mean when you see mammatus clouds?
AI Overview
Mammatus clouds, with their distinctive pouch-like or udder-like appearance, often signal the presence of severe weather, particularly thunderstorms, though they can also appear after the storm has passed. While they don’t directly cause storms, they are a visual indicator of unstable atmospheric conditions and can be associated with heavy rain, hail, lightning, or even snow in winter.
Here’s a more detailed explanation:
Formation: Mammatus clouds form when sinking air creates pouch-like structures hanging from the base of other clouds, most commonly the anvil of a cumulonimbus cloud (thunderstorm cloud).
Significance:
They are often seen before, during, or after a thunderstorm, indicating the turbulent and unstable air within the storm system.
Severity:
While not a direct sign of severe weather, their presence suggests the possibility of other dangerous weather conditions like lightning, hail, or strong winds.
Pilot Caution:
Pilots are often advised to avoid cumulonimbus clouds with mammatus formations due to the potential for turbulence.
Not Always Dangerous:
It’s important to note that mammatus clouds don’t always guarantee severe weather. They can also appear after a storm has weakened or dissipated.
Visual Cue:
Despite their potential association with storms, mammatus clouds are known for their striking appearance and are often photographed by weather enthusiasts and meteorologists. –> including this photographer! 🙂
Well, the ponies certainly put out the memo and made themselves available for summer solstice evening!
Heat, wind (“fire-weather (red-flag) warning/watch” and “wind advisory” – no joke), haze and dust aside, it was a gorgeous evening with four bands at the western boundary above Spring Creek canyon.
Winona and her band were the last left in the last light at the very top of the rimrocks, and she’s *always* a gorgeous model. Solstice night was no exception. 🙂 God and we love her.
Seneca and her band were just on the north side of Spring Creek canyon. You can see the continuation of some of that rimrock right behind her. It made a nice frame for her wild loveliness.
*****
We got TREMENDOUS rain this past week. For this old curmudgeon and pessimist (with regard to forecast rain that doesn’t actually end up falling; I’m actually mostly fairly optimistic), it was the loveliest of grey, soggy, rainy weeks (but this is Colorado, so you know we also had abundant sunshine throughout – and of course, at least one rainbow!). The total between Monday and Friday accrued to 1.15 inches of rain!!!!!!! Total since Dec. 1: 3.03. So that’s more than a THIRD of our entire moisture total (I’m talking about moisture from snow, too) since the beginning of the winter. Yes, we’re dry. Yes, we just got a wonderful, amazing, fabulous, marvelous, fan-freaking-tastic amount of moisture. 🙂
Cassidy Rain, never one to get too close (or allow closeness) moseys downhill toward a little ridge, the better to hide behind. … But isn’t she soooo lovely. 🙂
It’s been about a week and a half now since I took this (and many more) pic of Winona with a storm clearing and swirling above Utah’s La Sal Mountains on the northwestern horizon. The day was *gorgeous*.
It’s a good thing those mountains and Colorado’s have snow … but it’s not a lot. It’s less day by day. And none of that snow reaches Spring Creek Basin. Not even Disappointment Creek, which has had only sporadically running water so far this year, is doing very well (and it doesn’t run through Spring Creek Basin at all).
The view is gorgeous, but the outlook for this summer is grim.
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 