Sundown over the Valley

Tonight's sunset was brief but spectacular. Here's one view, sent to us by friend of Head in the Clouds Amherst, Joshua Wolfsun. Wow!

Sundown in the Valley - Hadley, MA, 6/13/2016
Photo by Joshua Wolfsun

Noctilucent Cloud Season Starts Today (to our north)

Noctilucent clouds over Hoogeveen, the Netherlands, by A.J. Hidding
(originally posted by The Cloud Appreciation Society)

June 1st is not only the start of hurricane season, but it is also the start of Noctilucent Cloud Season in the Northern Hemisphere. Meaning ‘night-shining’ in Latin, noctilucent clouds are only visible after dark, when they shine out against the night sky as eerie, bluish ripples. They are visible primarily in the higher latitudes, between 50˚ and 70˚ from the equator. Although this is north of Amherst (and the entire U.S. for that matter), look for them if you are vacationing this summer in Canada or other northern climes (U.K, Europe, China, Mongolia, etc.).

At altitudes of around 50 miles, these are by far the highest clouds in the sky, forming in a very cold and dry region of our atmosphere, the mesosphere. Being so high up, they still catch the light long after the sun has dipped below the horizon and the lower atmosphere is in shadow. Look for these clouds during summer in the hours after sunset and before sunrise, when the lower sky is clear.

Eye on the sky

Keep your eye on the sky as today unfolds...

Weather Cooks Hadley Asparagus (Tart)

Asparagus at Amherst Farmstand (aka Hadley asparagus?!), Amherst MA
Photo by S. Vardatira, 5/15/2016

Weather Cooks entry by Marian -

Spring has arrived in the Happy Valley…lilacs are blooming and farmstands offer Hadley asparagus everywhere you drive!  Personally, my favorite way to enjoy asparagus is steamed and tossed in some butter with salt and pepper, although roasted is delicious, grilled is tasty, and I’ll confess to enjoying a few servings of decadent deep fried asparagus.  But maybe you feel inspired to experiment with something more…extraordinary? 

The recipe below is SO simple, it’s really worth the 5 ingredients and 5 easy steps.  It is absolutely elegant enough for a dinner party but so easy that you can make it any evening.  It’s delicious hot, warm, room temperature and even cold.  Enjoy!

Hadley Asparagus Tart

Flour, for work surface

1 sheet frozen puff pastry  (yes, use store bought, it’s delicious)
5 1/2 ounces (2 cups) Gruyere cheese, shredded
1 1/2 pounds medium or thick asparagus
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a floured surface, roll the puff pastry into a 16-by-10-inch rectangle and place it on a baking sheet.

With a sharp knife, lightly score pastry dough 1 inch in from the edges to mark a rectangle. Using a fork, pierce dough inside the markings at 1/2-inch intervals. This will create the edges of your “asparagus pool.” 

Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.

Remove pastry shell from oven, and sprinkle with cheese (gruyere or fontina works best). Trim the bottoms of the asparagus spears to fit crosswise inside the tart shell; arrange in a single layer over the cheese, alternating ends and tips.

Brush with oil, and season with salt and pepper. Bake until spears are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

For more seasonal recipes, see our Weather Cooks Page...

Cumulus and steam at Yellowstone

Friend of Head in the Clouds Amherst, to be known as "smf," sent us this amazing photo of Yellowstone from her recent journey out west. Those are cumulus clouds in the sky (background), with steam rising off (I am now guessing) Grand Prismatic Hot Spring. Thanks so much for sending this our way!

Cumulus and Steam, Yellowstone National Park,Wyoming
Photo by SMF, Spring 2016

Cloudspotting a Red Tailed Hawk

Red Tailed Hawk looking back, Hadley MA
Photo by S. Vardatira, 5/14/2016

Late afternoon cloudspotting drive, crossed paths with this red tailed hawk swooping across the sky and then alighting roadside. About 100 feet away, I exited my car and approached by foot. And got closer. And closer. And closer. Stopped at about 8 feet away because, well, talons and beak. Still, s/he seemed completely unperturbed by my presence and the camera.

Also enjoyed some amazing cloud vistas.

Sky ahead of front, looking west from Amherst MA
(Cumulus, altostratus, cirrus - maybe also cirrostratus or altocumulus?)
Photo by S. Vardatira, 5/14/2016

Lilacs now in the dooryard bloom

If only I could somehow post the scent of lilacs to this blog....

Lilacs Bloom - North Amherst MA
Photo by S. Vardatira, 5/11/2016

Clouds Calling

Truly, I was having a hard time looking anywhere but up today. The clouds were calling...

Clouds on the move (Light and Dark)

Providing a counterpoint to Amherst's annual UMass graduation frenzy (yes, this is that weekend!), we offer up 'Light & Dark’, a calm-inducing 50 second cloud video by Hong Hu, from Singapore. Here in Amherst, we've got a uniform gray sky without variation (stratus clouds, if you are keeping track). Just dreary.


Cloudspotting #001 / Light & Dark from Hong Hu on Vimeo.

Click here if the video does not display automatically:
https://vimeo.com/152128989

Geomagnetic Storm Watch for Today

More minor geomagnetic storm activity is predicted for today due to effects from a positive polarity coronal hole high speed stream. Which means greater potential for aurora borealis (northern lights) at higher latitudes, to our north, and even possibly northern parts of Western MA over the next few nights.

Watch the video to learn more, but disregard the bizarre accompanying music - in fact I advise turning the sound off entirely. For those of you who cannot access the video from this page, click here. 

April Rain Song

Rain drops on window, Amherst MA
Photo by S. Vardatira, 4/22/2016

Let the rain kiss you
Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops
Let the rain sing you a lullaby
The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk
The rain makes running pools in the gutter
The rain plays a little sleep song on our roof at night
And I love the rain. 

- April Rain Song, by Langston Hughes

Oh, I should probably mention that it's going to be a stormy afternoon and evening, as a cold front moves through Western Massachusetts, bringing much needed rain along with thunder and lightning, and occasional hail.

Snow in the Woods (in April, not January!)

Spring stream in snow, April 5, 2016
Photo by Laura Eve-Cowles, S. Deerfield MA

  You may be cursing the darkness, or rather the "whiteness" if you will, but moments like these don't last. Try to enjoy this late spring snow. It's beautiful out there! Fortunately, friend of Head in the Clouds Amherst, Laura Eve-Cowles, graced us with more beautiful photos of the woods in snow. The bottom photo on this page is the same vernal pool she photographed on Sunday (posted by us yesterday), only this time with even more snow. The sun is out now, and by Thursday this will all be fast melting away.

Snowy April Sunrise, April 4, 2016
Photo by Laura Eve-Cowles
S. Deerfield MA

Vernal Pool in Snow, April 4, 2016
Photo by Laura Eve-Cowles
S. Deerfield MA

Not exactly spring peeper weather...

Vernal pool in snow, South Deerfield MA - 4/3/2016
Photo by Laura Eve-Cowles

Hang on peepers, spring really is here - it's just gone into hiding at the moment. I wonder if peepers are stressed by this strange (early then absent) spring we've been experiencing?

Thanks to friend of Head in the Clouds Amherst, Laura Eve-Cowles, for this photo from yesterday - we love it when social media lights up with photos of unusual weather. Enjoy today's continuing snow, everyone, along with this unexpected snow day! (Yup, Amherst-Pelham schools are closed today.)

Winter Weather Advisory (yes, you heard that right)

Spring night sky with snow

What fun - snow in April.... !

Yes, indeed, a Winter Weather Advisory has just been posted for 3 am to 11 am Sunday (that would be overnight today into tomorrow). Areas to be impacted include all of Southern New England except for the South Coast, Cape and Islands. We are likely to experience 1-3 hours of heavy snow during that period, strong winds, and near whiteout conditions. Accumulation will probably be between 1-3 inches around here, all the way up to 5-6 inches at the higher elevations. 

Along the way, we’ll be treated to a whole range of weather phenomena (thank you, New England), starting out with high winds and maybe a rumble of thunder (isolated power outages possible), followed by rain spreading over the region, probably in the wee hours of Sunday morning around here. Snow will quickly come to an end by late Sunday morning.  NWS is calling this a potentially “high impact” but “short duration” event. So all you Saturday night revelers might want to head home early or plan to stay the night wherever you might be.