Photography : Land & Sky : Monsoon Sunset

The Southwest gets its rain all during a few months in the Summer (referred to as "monsoon season") in the most spectacular storms I've ever seen. I saw this gorgeous storm while I was at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. We don't use telescopes if there's a chance of the mirror getting even the slightest bit wet. Needless to say, the telescopes didn't open that night. The consolation prize of bad observing weather is fantastic sunset pictures. The only reason I was observing during monsoon season was that my object got the highest above the horizon during that time. In spite of how ferocious the weather looks, I actually got fantastic data!