{"id":4866,"date":"2012-04-24T04:00:52","date_gmt":"2012-04-24T10:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=4866"},"modified":"2026-04-01T10:07:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T15:07:17","slug":"virga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/04\/24\/virga\/","title":{"rendered":"Virga"},"content":{"rendered":"

The weather forecasters were wrong again, I guess that shouldn’t surprise me at all. Bird photographers need light to photograph birds so quite often I depend on the weather forecasters to relay accurate information. Below is a screen shot of what the weather was supposed to look like yesterday:<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Weather<\/a>

Weather forecast for the Salt Lake City area for April 23, 2012<\/p><\/div>\n

Actually yesterday the temperature was supposed to break an all time high for April, I was hoping it would get hot enough to cook the biting gnats (no-see-ums) that have hatched on Antelope Island State Park that will bite you no matter HOW much insect repellent you use, ridding us of them for the rest of the year. I can dream, right? Right?<\/p>\n

Once again the weather forecasters blew it. Their predictions were wrong. They missed the boat. If weather predictions were a dice game… they crapped out.<\/p>\n

There were clouds before the sun rose over the crest of the Wasatch Mountain Range. The clouds were moving north on the radar and it was possible they would be gone before arriving at the entrance to Antelope Island State Park.<\/p>\n

Insert raspberry here: _______<\/span><\/strong> Pflllllt<\/p>\n

\"VirgaVirga over the Great Salt Lake and the Wasatch Mountains – Nikon D200, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 250, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 56mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

As you can see from the photo above there was some sunshine but there were plenty of clouds. In what Universe is it “Sunny”?<\/p>\n

Pardon the boring clich\u00e9 but I’m known as a person who looks for the silver lining; you guessed it, in clouds. Some people have even nick named me Pollyanna, they know who they are.<\/p>\n

I did take some bird images yesterday that I truly like but I also had to take images of the sky because of the cloud formations I saw; more specifically, Virga.<\/p>\n

From Dictionary.com<\/strong>
\nvir-ga [vur-guh] noun ( used with a singular or plural verb ) Meteorology – streaks of water drops or ice particles falling out of a cloud and evaporating before reaching the ground<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div><\/div><\/div>

The dark gray cloud above is an example of virga where the streaks of rain can be seen but it doesn’t reach the ground.<\/p>\n

\"VirgaVirga near White Rock Bay – Nikon D200, f7.1, 1\/3000, ISO 250, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 31mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking south from near the Group Campground on the way to White Rock Bay I could see more virga just beyond the crest of the hill.<\/p>\n

Virga is common in deserts and temperate climates, in North America it is commonly seen in the western United States and the Canadian Prairies.<\/p>\n

\"MoreMore virga from near the Visitor Center – Nikon D200, f7.1, 1\/1500, ISO 250, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 60mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The wide open skies over Antelope Island make it easy to see and photograph various cloud formations. In this frame I can see dark and light-colored virga.<\/p>\n

\"VirgaVirga from the causeway after leaving Antelope Island – Nikon D200, f7.1, 1\/4000, ISO 250, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm at 18mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

There was also this view with so many streaks of rain that evaporated before it touched the earth that I gave up counting them.<\/p>\n

To the weather forecasters who might one day read this, does it look like it was a “Sunny” day??<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

PS: It only reached 84\u00b0 F.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to view more of my miscellaneous photos.<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Once again the weather forecasters blew it. Their predictions were wrong. They missed the boat. If weather predictions were a dice game… they crapped out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":173805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,1022,26,7641],"tags":[4101,4098,1454,519,4035,1455,1453,4091,4111,1452,7640],"class_list":["post-4866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-davis-county-utah","category-utah","category-weather-phenomena","tag-clouds","tag-desert","tag-meteorology","tag-nature","tag-nature-photography","tag-plains","tag-precipitation","tag-virga","tag-weather","tag-weather-forecast","tag-weather-phenomena"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/virga-mia-mcpherson-7085.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s11Mom-virga","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":76602,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/12\/31\/2020-photographic-year-in-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":4866,"position":0},"title":"2020 Photographic Year In Review","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 31, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This is my 2020 photographic year in review. I'm selecting some of my favorite photos from 2020 and a few that just make me happy to see them.","rel":"","context":"In "Bald Eagles"","block_context":{"text":"Bald Eagles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/diurnal-raptors\/bald-eagle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Golden Eagle in flight, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-9219.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-9219.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-9219.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-9219.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5031,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/05\/20\/yeah-utah-rocks\/","url_meta":{"origin":4866,"position":1},"title":"Yeah… Utah Rocks!","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Sometimes a picture says more than words so I'll just say Flaming Gorge is awesome at sunrise with storm clouds moving in.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Flat"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Flat","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-flat\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Flaming Gorge at sunrise under stormy skies, Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/flaming-gorge-mia-mcpherson-8101.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/flaming-gorge-mia-mcpherson-8101.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/flaming-gorge-mia-mcpherson-8101.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/flaming-gorge-mia-mcpherson-8101.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108923,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/21\/happy-winter-solstice-2022\/","url_meta":{"origin":4866,"position":2},"title":"Happy Winter Solstice 2022","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Happy Winter Solstice! 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