Weather - David Mathre Photography

Eight-Years Ago (28-August-2011) — New Jersey

Hurricane Irene. Central New Jersey.

My Sunday morning post from eight-years ago. Today we are watching Hurricane Dorian as it tracks toward Florida.

I spent Friday and Saturday getting prepared for Hurricane Irene. The storm intensity started increasing late Saturday night. At about 11:30 PM, I heard a crash and the lights went out. When I got up Sunday morning the wind and rain had decreased significantly. I guess this was when the eye of the hurricane was moving up the coast of New Jersey directly east. When I went out I saw that a tree had fallen next to the road and took down the power, cable, and phone lines. I tried to call in the fallen lines to PSE&G, but couldn’t get past the automated emergency reporting system. My wireless Internet connection also didn’t work. A lot of branches and tree limbs were down in the yard, but thankfully no damage to the house or vehicles. The following images are of the nearby Rock Brook and local woods. Normally at this time of the year, the brook is almost dry. The road closed sign was right in front of my driveway.

Road Closed. Hurricane Irene. Image taken with a Leica X1 camera. (David J Mathre)

Rock Brook Flooding. Hurricane Irene. Image taken with a Leica X1 camera. (David J Mathre)

Seven-Years Ago (27-August-2012) — North Atlantic Ocean

Gone to see Europe. Semester at Sea. Fall 2012 Semester Voyage on the MV Explorer. Day 05: At Sea, North Atlantic Ocean.

The day was a bit rough as we crossed the North Atlantic. Splash from the waves made it up to the portal in my cabin on deck 5 of the MV Explorer. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5, 1/320 sec).
I didn’t get sea sick, but there were not many of the students or staff that showed up for lunch or dinner. Most of the decks were off limits due to the heavy seas and winds. In the early evening I was able to set up a camera in a protected area to capture the sun going down for a time-lapse video.

Heavy Seas. Waves breaking up to my cabin window. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5, 1/320 sec). (David J Mathre)

Ten-Years Ago (25-August-2009) — North Dakota

Gone to See North America Road Trip. Day 04: Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota.

I woke up early for a sunrise shoot. A thick fog enveloped the campground where I parked the RV. I packed up and drove the scenic drive towards the River Bend, and Oxbow overlooks hoping to get above the fog. It was still dawn when I arrived at the River Bend viewpoint where there is a stone building overlooking the Little Missouri river valley. The valley was still covered with fog, but the sky above had some beautiful pastel colors (Belt of Venus, and the earth shadow). I drove a bit further until the sun started to be visible, and got several shots of the sun rising above the fog filled valley. When I arrived at the Oxbow overlook, there was a faint rainbow because of the fog. I find rainbows always difficult to photograph. Then remembering something Winston Hall taught me “always look behind you, because that is where the best picture is” — and sure enough there was a Bighorn Ram coming over a grass covered ridge. Quickly switching for a camera with a telephoto lens, I got some great silhouette images including one with the Bighorn in midair as it started to run away. Once the show was done, I drove back to the park entrance. The fog was beginning to rise when I came upon some Bison crossing the road, and into the fog.

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Fog Rainbow and Photographer's Shadow. Little Missouri river overlook. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 14-28 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/16, 1/40 sec). (David J Mathre) — Fog Rainbow and Photographer’s Shadow. Little Missouri river overlook. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 14-28 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/16, 1/40 sec). (David J Mathre)

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Ten-Years Ago (24-August-2009) — North Dakota

Gone to See North America Road Trip. Day 03: Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota.

Painted Canyon Panorama. Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Composite of 9 images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 85 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (ISO 200, 85 mm, f/16, 1/40 sec). Raw images reprocessed in 2019 with Capture One Pro (BM-02 Teton Style). Composite generated with AutoPano Giga Pro. A 48 x 17 inch print is available for sale. The individual images going into the panorama are included below.

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Friday (23-August-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Daily Walkabout, today with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 200 mm f/2 lens. It was cloudy with light rain. Also 20 degrees cooler than yesterday. The Fuji X-T3 camera is supposed to be weather resistant. [I did have a Fuji X-T1 camera fail six months after visiting Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, and was told that the camera was not repairable due to water damage to the electronic circuits.] No butterflies or hummingbird moths out since it was raining, so today is all Sunflowers.

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Daily Electric Energy Used (43.0 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (21.2 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Cooler outside temperatures reduced the need for cooling, but much less sunlight reduced the solar energy generated, for a net deficit of 21.8 kWh. Cooler weather expected tomorrow!

One note — the WaterFurnace Symphony software indicated the system used 4 kWh, however the Sense Energy monitor indicated that the geothermal heat pump used 7 kWh. I tend to believe the Sense numbers since they more closely the energy being recorded at the external power company (PSE&G) meters. I’ve asked the WaterFurnace folks in the past about the discrepancy, but they didn’t have a good answer. The Sense folks told me they thought that the WaterFurnace/Symphony system was only measuring one phase of the energy even though the system is powered by the 220V circuit (using two phases). I wish an electrical engineer that understands this better would correct me here.