Author: Waldmeister

Winter Storm Nadia, January 30, 2022

End of January shores at the Northern Sea and stretches in different countries were hit by winter storm Nadia. This was a low pressure system which changed weather condition in Germany after a quiet period with high pressure. Most of the days there were low hanging mist, some snowfall and lots of sun in the Alps. The weather change is not unusual for this time of the year. Winter Storm Nadia did serious damage on the island Langeroog, Hamburg and Berlin. In Langeroog the sand of a shore was swept away and what was left was some kind of newborn cliff.

Windy Sunday Morning: Fast moving clouds, waves and snow on the hills in the background

In Southern Germany there was a windy night between January 29 and January 30. The wind calmed down a bit in the morning of Sunday, January 30. There were moderate winds at the Lake Ammersee. Temperatures were up a bit after some cold days. The snow remained in the higher places of Upper Bavaria. As often there were interesting atmospheres and cloud patterns during that stormy winter day. Even the wind was only moderate on the ground, the clouds were moving fast. It was a quick change of conditions with sunlight and overcast sky. The air was very clear This is always a condition after a storm and very useful for taking pictures or taking videos.

The winter times and morning hours are also a good time for pictures and videos, since the sun is not heigh up in the sky. Therefore there are interesting cloud colours and a crisp blue sky between the fast moving clouds. It is good to avoid walks through forest even after a frontline or a storm has passed. Open places like meadows, hills or the shoreline of a lake are safer places to capture some pictures.

Driftwood after the storm night

The shoreline on the Eastside of the lake Ammersee, the second biggest lake of the so-called “Fünf-Seen-Land” south of Munich is a popular spot for photographers. It is close to the nature reserve “Ammersee West” and there is a sense of wilderness there. There is always driftwood and whole trees scattered around. If the branches or trees last longer in the water they can turn into sculptures. Nature is an artist here.

Thus it was the idea to take a stroll at the shore of lake Ammersee near that nature reserve and take some pics with the fast moving clouds on Sunday morning. It was only a quieter moment between two storm systems. The wind was taking up again on Monday, January 31. Temperatures dropped again and snow as falling. Series of storms are not unusual for this period of the year. However, we see now unusual extremes at any time of the years in some parts of the world. Whereas winter storm Nadia was more or less a “normal” storm, the U.S. was hit by extreme winter conditions. the same time.

After a cloudy morning there were more and more blue skies. In January the winter sky has that special blue color. After the front had passed the day before it was dry til the next day. Wind and waves changing the appearance of this special shore all the time.

Peter Engelmann, 31.01.2022

by Waldmeister Categories: Four Elements, Seasons, Seasons Winter, Severe Weather, Uncategorized, Wind, Windstorm, WinterTags: , , , ,

MAGIC LATE AUTUMN IN THE LECH VALLEY

Photographers, hikers and outdoor enthusiasts love autumn. The colours of leaves turn from green (Summer, August) to yellow (September), orange and red (end of autumn) The breathtaking imaginary in New England created the name Indian Summer. In Europe the name is Golden October. It is indeed some times the season with golden colours. It’s the trees but also the burning skies during sunset when the sun illuminates the clouds. The fall season has indeed many faces. It is worth to dig deeper into whats happening during autumn. Because there are so many shades. Landscape photographers can discover a tremendous variety.

The Best Autumn Experience

It depends on one side on the time of the year and on the other side where you look for an autumn experience. As said before colours turn all the time: From the first yellow leaves in September often into more orange and red end of October/early November. Any sort of tree has its own color in autumn. And any forest has a different set of colours. Beech tree forests like in Northern Germany create a more orange imaginary, as the alpine forests have a unique set of colours. There are fine colours here and these colours are changing a lot. It’s always good to check weather forecasts a lot if you plan a stay in the alps to enjoy autumn or if you plan to do some landscape photography.

In some years the colours of autumn last til November or even longer. Then the mountains forests show a huge variety of compositions of autumn colours. However weather and climate in the alpine region is harsh. In some years winter begins earlier. Or a storm ends the time of autumn colours abruptly. Thus, it is important not to miss the right moment to take pictures or do a video about the autumn season in the mountains.

The second thing is to find the right place. Of course if it comes to watch the autumn colours decidous forests are a first choice. However a larch wood in autumn is also great. The needles are getting a orange color which looks great. What about a riparian forest?

A riparian forest has its own set of plants and trees. However, original riparian forests are rare. There is often flood measures or other regulations of the rivers in Europe. There are only a few real original river landscapes in middle Europe. One of them is the Lechtal in Germany and Austria. The Lech was once a wild river coming from high up in the mountains and ends in the river Danube. There is not so much left from this once intimidating river. However the Lechtal in Austria between Vorarlberg, Austria and the German town Füssen in the Allgäu region is still a unique wilderness in many places. It is a place of incredible beauty. A place for adventures, long hikes and a place to learn about nature. In this wild river region there are still impressing riparian forest. They change all the time. During autumn they present a unique scenery.

The Treetop Walk In Ziegelwies, Austrian-German Border, Füssen

Thus the river lech region around Füssen and the Lechtal in Austria is a great place to see these riparian forests. But what’s even more fascinating is to see that riparian forests from above and to learn more about it. The Ziegelwies Baumwipfelpfad offers an unique perspective. It is some meters above ground and allows to be at the same level as the tree tops. The entry is directly near the German-Austrian Border. A parking space is near the street between Füssen and Reutte in Tyrolia. It offers fantastic oportunities for landscape photography.

Here is a view from the entry area of the treetop walk. The riverbank of the river lech is in the background.

The treetop walk on the left side allows many scenic views and is an unique experience. At the highest point there is a platform above the forest.

A view from the platform of the treetop walk

The forest on the other side of the river Lech is a healthy mixture of many different tree species. The river changes the landscape all the time. Flooding kills some trees but also creates new spaces.

Riparian Forest with brighter colours. The wilderness near the river bank.

The treetop way has a length of 480 metres and a height of 21 metres. The entrance fee is 5 Euros. There is an exhibition and a playground for children. Furthermore there is riparian forest trail below. The well-known “Lechfall” is a famous photo-location and sightseeing location. There are walks to the famous Neuschwanstein Castle, the Schwansee, a geo-path and a mountain forest trail with certain stations where you can learn more about the forest and the region.

by Waldmeister Categories: Uncategorized

MAGIC ATMOSPHERE ABOVE THE CLOUDS: HIGH-FOG IN THE ALPS

Ideas for landscape photography in the colder season

Autumn is just around the corner. This means the days are getting shorter. The colours change. In some regions like the Alps there is more often high fog, a weather pattern where hills and peaks sometimes are above the clouds.

Fog is interesting for photographers in many ways. It adds mood and atmosphere to the pictures. Fog is useful in landscape pictures to add structure. Of course if the fog is very strong and there is nothing but a white wall it is an obstacle.

Misty days occur mostly in autumn, spring and winter. The change of temperature and moisture creates fog. There are a lot of interesting phenomena connected with fog. Sometimes it is a thin veil above a meadow. On other occasions there are thick layers of fog and the fog lasts the whole days. Sometime the fog is moving, sometimes not. In time-lapse videos the movement of fog is somehow similar to water. The shrouds of mists “float” along mountain peaks.

Since misty air is colder the fog can “fall” like a water-fall for example when fog floats over a ridge into a valley. Fog begins to form often before sunset and lasts in the morning hours. When the sun shines the mist often disappears during the day. However in river valleys like the Danube valley the mist can last much longer. It is often significantly colder in these day.

Fog is more often in regions with wetter soil like bog or wet meadows. It happens in summer too. Shrouds of mist appear after hail showers or after thunderstorms too. In July the first mornings with fog are early harbingers of the changing season. As the days become shorter and the nights getting colder misty mornings happen more often.

Its often hard to say if the fog lifts or disappears during the day. There are many different weather conditions. Fog can be also dangerous when it suddenly forms and the visibility turns to near zero. Drivers are surprised and can’t see a thing. Since conditions on a foggy day can always change quickly it is good for drivers to slow down particularly on motorways and highways when a layer of fog appears.

If the weather is cold fog can lead to hoar frost. Ice crystals form and surround twigs and trees. This a particularly interesting phenomenon.

There is one form of fog which is great for photographers if they are in a regions with hills or mountains. Mostly in autumn there are days with high fog. This happens when a thermal inversion occurs. This means you have low ground temperatures and a layer of higher temperatures above that prevent the convection currents. These convection currents usually mix in the atmosphere. You can think of a thermal inversion like a saucepan lid. It keeps the colder moist air layer with fog from rising. This happens a lot in basins and during periods of high pressure weather when there is not much wind.

The video below was taken in the morning of February 28, 2021 with a Canon 5d Mark2. The time-lapse shows the movement of the shrouds of mist above the hillside between the Hohen Peissenberg and the peaks of the Bavarian mountains. There is a quick change in visibility and a change in lighting condition. For video it is good to go into manual mode and fix aperture before shooting.

At the border between the layer of cold air and the warm air on top the cold air layer there are very interesting effects which are useful for pictures and videos. The challenge is to predict where that border is: Where does the blue sky break through the thick layer of mist? And when does it happen? Actually this is a lot of try and error.

Knowing some good places is “money in the bank”. You might want to get to a hill or mountain which is easily accessible and high enough that you can get above the cold air layer with mist. In Germany, Bavaria the Hohen Peissenberg with its famous old weather observatory is a good spot. Mostly because there is a road to the top of this mountain. The top of the Hohen Peissenberg has an elevation of 987 metres. However on some days the layer of mist will be above your heads and you need to find a higher mountain.

The pictures were taken on a spring day in 2021. That day there was a typical thermal inversion. In the morning the Hohen Peissenberg mountain was in the middle of a thick layer of high fog. But in the following hours the sun broke through and there was a very interesting scenery with fast changing moods and impressions.

The Forest between mist and light

Hoar Frost after a cold night in the mist. When the mist disappears the whitened trees create a unique scenery
Looking towards the Allgäu Mountains

The wilderness near the top of the Hohenpeissenberg Mountain. The fog creates an otherworldly atmosphere.

by Waldmeister Categories: Autumn, Mist, Photography Tips And Tricks, Seasons Autumn, Uncategorized, Weather lookout point

Extremwetter mit starken Gewittern in Süddeutschland im Juni 2021

Peter Engelmann,  3 Juli, 2021

2021: Mit einem kalten Frühling blieben die Temperaturen im Mai unter dem Durchschnitt. Zum Glück gab es in vielen Teilen von Deutschland endlich viel Regen nach einer seit 2018 anhaltenden Dürre. Diese hatte in einigen Regionen zu Waldschäden und führte bereits zu Sorgen über die Zukunft des Wasserhaushaltes und der Trinkwasserversorgung. Im Juni folgte eine Hitzewelle. Im Unterschied zu früheren Jahren kam es aber nicht zum Aufbau langanhaltender stationärer Hochdrucksysteme über Europa. Die Wettersituation war nicht über lange Zeit stabil. Die Hitzewelle wurde durch extreme Wetterereignisse beendet. Wieder einmal gab es Situationen, zum Beispiel in Südwestdeutschland (Reutlingen) oder einer Überflutung in Landshut, wie es sie so in der Erinnerung der Menschen noch nie gegeben hat. Darauf folgten viele Diskussionen, ob dies eine Folge des Klimawandels sei oder einfach einzigartige Wetteranomalien.

Nach der Hitze änderte sich in Bayern das Wetter am 20. Juni 2021. Die Tage davor war es überwiegend trocken gewesen mit Ausnahme erster Gewitter im Südwesten Deutschlands und ind den Alpen. Am 20. Juni begann es am Standort am westlichen Ammersee zu grummeln und ein Gewitter mit nur sehr wenigen Blitzen war dort zu sehen. Wie immer gab und gibt es große regionale Unterschiede auf kleinem Raum: Bald gab es starke Gewitterstürme, aber manchmal passierte ein paar Kilometer weiter gar nichts. Das ist nicht ungewöhnlich und bis heute eine Herausforderung für die Wettervorhersage.

Gewitter in den frühen Abendstunden des 20. Junis bei St. Georgen, Diessen, Ammmersee:

Kurzlebige Gewitterzelle am 20. Juni 2021

Die nächsten Tage gab es eine andere Wettersituation: In den späten Nachmittagsstunden oder am Abend kam es zu sehr starken Gewittern. In Süddeutschland wurden auch rotierende Superzellen beobachtet. Noch viel extremere Gewitter gab es in Frankreich, wo eine Luftmassengrenze tagelang für regelrecht katastrophale Zustände sorgte. Die großen Gewittercluster formten sich in Frankreich immer wieder und zogen nach Belgien und Nordwestdeutschland.

Starkes Gewitter am 24. Juni, ca. 18.45 bei Diessen (Ammersee, Oberbayern)

Sich näherndes Gewitter am 24 Juni 2021

Das extreme Wetter mit schweren Gewittern, Sturzfluten, extremen Hagel dauerte in Deutschland mehrere Tage an. Der Grund: Die Luftmassengrenze in Europa verlagerte sich nur sehr langsam. Sie funktionierte wie eine Maschine und erzeugte immer wieder neue Gewitter. Ein Zeitraffervideo vom 21. Juni 2021 gibt eine Idee davon, wie schnell sich oft die Gewitter entwickelten:

Es war interessant zu beobachten, dass ganz unterschiedliche “Typen” von Gewittern auftraten. Am Beobachtungstandort im Südwesten der Ammerseeregion gab es sehr kurzlebige Gewitter, ein Gewitter, das unglaublich schnell aufzog und dann wieder ein Gewitter, das sich nur sehr langsam bewegte. Bei so einem Gewitter konnte man sehr gut Bilder machen. In der Nacht gab es auch etwas, was von manchen als “Stroboskopgewitter” bezeichnet wird. Gewitter, bei denen man gar nicht so viel lauten Donner hört, aber wo es eine unglaublich hohe Rate an Blitzen gibt. Bei den Gewittern gab es auch welche mit sehr starkem Wind aber auch welche, wo kaum ein Wind wehte.

Das Gewitter am 24 Juni erzeugte einige großartige Blitze:

Gewitter am 24. June 2021

Der Gewittersturm unten zog am 28 Juni 2021 auf und war von intensivem Blitzgeschehen begleitet, jedoch völlig anders als das oben erwähnte “Stroboskopgewitter” in der Nacht davor. Die Blitze waren hier viel besser sichtbar. Nach einem der Gewitter gab es auch einen dicken Nebel nach Sonnenuntergang. Später gab es aber am gleichen Abend noch ein Gewitter mit vielen Blitzen. Die stärksten Gewitter kamen dabei meisten aus der Richtung der Alpen.

Gewitter am späteren Abend, 28. Juni 2021, ca. 22.00 Uhr:

Blitze am 28. Juni 2021

Sturzfluten und Superzellen

Schließlich kam es zu einem Austausch der Luftmassen. Die warme, feuchte Luft wurde durch kältere Luft ersetzt. Der 29 Juni war der vorläufige Höhepunkt dieser Gewitterserie in in Deutschland: In Bayern intensivierte sich ein Superzellengewitter, das aus Baden-Württemberg kam und brachte in Landshut in Niederbayern unglaubliche Regenmengen, die die Stadt regelrecht unter Wasser setzten. Die Tage davor kam es zu einem Tornado in der in Tschechien( Czech republic). Das Video unten zeigt die Situation nach dem großen Gewitter am 29. Juni, bei dem es in Oberbayern auch starken Wind gab.

Hier ist ein Punkt, der auch für Photographen und Filter interessant sein kann: Die meisten Leute sind daran interessiert, ein Gewitter aufzunehmen, wenn es heranzieht. Aber es gibt auch noch viele interessante Stimmungen und Momente, wenn das Gewitter durchgezogen ist. Das Video unten zeigt die Atmosphäre nach dem Gewitter am 29. Juni.

by Waldmeister Categories: German Version (Deutsch)Tags: , ,