storm

Winter Storm hits the NC Mountains

I had made plans a few weeks back to spend a few days in the Blowing Rock area in the hope that it might snow, and that I would capture some white, winter landscapes. Well, boy did it snow! In fact it snowed to the point where it caused significant chaos on the roads, and people were stranded all over the place. Some couldn’t travel home from ski resorts, and the roads and ditches were littered with cars planted firmly in the ice and snow. Not such a big deal up north, but certainly it certainly presented a challenge for the Watauga County public officials, stretching their resources to the limit. Fortunately for me, I was there for fun, and my Jeep Cherokee 4×4 certainly earned its stripes as it carefully transported me through a winter wonderland. One of my more thrilling and adventurous excursions!

Blustery Day at the Beach

I had some free time this afternoon and since we are still under a high surf advisory in Charleston, I thought I would take a ride out to see if the surfers were all doing their thing at the Folly Washout. Since there was hardly anyone there, I figured the waves were probably not ideal for surfing, so I headed towards the County Park thinking that I might find some kite surfers there. Sure enough, the beach was pretty much deserted except for a few crazy folks out there defiantly taking on the elements. This guy was having a blast. I could hear him hooping and hollering out to sea as he rode the wind and waves like a wild man. He sure got a workout.

After the Storm

Mine was one of very few cars driving through a downpour headed towards Folly Beach yesterday evening. On the other side of the road, cars packed with kids and beach umbrellas were gridlocked as they tried to make it home. I’m sure it had been a wonderful day, but aside from the storm, it was dinner time and the kids were tired. I had been watching the radar and knew that it was clear on the other side of the storm cell so I was hoping for some dramatic evening skies. I was not disappointed, and I pretty much had the beach to myself!

Stormy Skies over Charleston

Last weekend, the South experienced an almost unprecedented onslaught of tornadoes spawned by severe thunderstorms that swept through the area. This past weekend, more severe weather was predicted, and so we all hunkered down, preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. Mercifully, there were no tornadoes, just rain and some lightning. I visited a couple of my favorite city viewpoints to watch the clouds roll in, and captured these just before it started to rain. I do love Charleston!

The Wild Side of Folly

Some of my favorite times to experience Folly Beach are when it’s wild and gray and gusty. Sunny days with children paddling and colorful beach umbrellas are great, but so are the days when storm squalls race across the sand and you know you have no chance to outrun them. The clouds are unruly and the sand is stinging, but it’s wonderfully beautiful all the same. This was such a day.

More Summer Storms

The evening storms have been providing great photo opportunities lately. I have a gadget that attaches to my camera that is supposed to trigger the shutter when lightning strikes, but for the life of me I can’t get it to work, so these shots are the result of patiently waiting for a bolt, and tripping the shutter as fast as I can on continuous shooting mode. When I’m done, I end up with hundreds of nothing images and one or two keepers. Here are last night’s keepers, this time looking out over the Stono River.