{"id":7027,"date":"2013-01-05T13:58:48","date_gmt":"2013-01-05T20:58:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=7027"},"modified":"2022-04-22T11:24:12","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T17:24:12","slug":"a-winter-inversion-along-with-10-degrees-fahrenheit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/01\/05\/a-winter-inversion-along-with-10-degrees-fahrenheit\/","title":{"rendered":"Winter Inversion Along With -10 Degrees Fahrenheit"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few of my non-Utahn friends have asked me what an inversion is after I have mentioned it, this image might help to show what an inversion can look like.<\/p>\n

\"Tooele<\/p>\n

Tooele County, Utah – Inversion at sunrise<\/span><\/p>\n

Inversions here in the Salt Lake City area happen during mid-winter. It is not pretty and it can be very unhealthy. I took this\u00a0photo this morning as we headed to North and South Willow Canyons in Tooele County, Utah to look for birds to photograph. If you squint your eyes and look just to the right of the sun you can see the Oquirrh mountain range which is all but hidden in the haze.<\/p>\n

From Wikipedia<\/a>:<\/p>\n

One of the most significant weather events in Salt Lake City occurs in mid-winter, when temperature inversions sometimes form, resulting in cold and extremely foggy, hazy weather in the city while the surrounding mountains enjoy warmer temperatures and sunshine. Temperature inversions are extremely unhealthy and can occur weeks at a time, and are most pronounced in the heart of winter, although may occur in other seasons to a lesser extent. Humidity is only high enough and temperatures cold enough for fog to occur in the heart of winter, although haze and smog can be found year-round. Inversions occur when strong areas of high pressure park themselves over the Great Basin. It usually takes a cold front to force out or break down the high pressure. Consequently, inversions are very rare in spring and fall, when the atmosphere usually takes on a progressive pattern, with fronts moving through frequently.<\/em><\/p>\n

It was very cold this morning when I took this image at -10 degrees Fahrenheit<\/em>, it was bone-chilling to say the least.<\/p>\n

These nasty inversions can create challenges for bird photographers when photographing birds in flight that have the inversion layer behind them because the sky can have some weird hues to it.<\/p>\n

Salt Lake City actually has five seasons, winter, spring, summer, fall and Inversion. Okay it is not truly a season, but it ought to be.<\/p>\n

Did I mention it is not pretty?<\/p>\n

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

A few of my non-Utahn friends have asked me what an inversion is after I have mentioned it, this image might help to show what an inversion can look like.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11934,"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":[358,26],"tags":[4101,3830,4175,4109,2059,771,519,4035,2057,343,2058,4018,4190,4055,2060,30,373],"class_list":["post-7027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tooele-county","category-utah","tag-clouds","tag-fence","tag-fog","tag-grasses","tag-haze","tag-inversion","tag-nature","tag-nature-photography","tag-oquirrh-mountain-range","tag-photography","tag-pollution","tag-sky","tag-sunrise","tag-tooele-county","tag-unhealthy","tag-utah-2","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/tooele-county-utah-inversion-mia-mcpherson-4040.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1Pl","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":55323,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/12\/17\/winter-inversions-why-it-is-depressing-to-head-home-during-our-inversions\/","url_meta":{"origin":7027,"position":0},"title":"Winter Inversions – Why It Is Depressing To Head Home During Our Inversions","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 17, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I do get depressed some days on the way home from being up in the mountains and our winter inversions are why. Sorry for being a downer today.","rel":"","context":"In "Stansbury Mountains"","block_context":{"text":"Stansbury Mountains","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/stansbury-mountains-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Inversion building over the Great Salt Lake, Stansbury Mountains, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/stansbury-mountains-inversion-mia-mcpherson-103547.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/stansbury-mountains-inversion-mia-mcpherson-103547.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/stansbury-mountains-inversion-mia-mcpherson-103547.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/stansbury-mountains-inversion-mia-mcpherson-103547.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":61299,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/11\/09\/west-desert-rock-squirrel-on-top-of-a-juniper\/","url_meta":{"origin":7027,"position":1},"title":"West Desert Rock Squirrel On Top Of A Juniper","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 9, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"A soft blue sky, a juniper and a Rock Squirrel made me pretty happy two days ago because I don't have these squirrels in my viewfinder nearly as often as I'd like to.","rel":"","context":"In "Rock Squirrels"","block_context":{"text":"Rock Squirrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/rock-squirrels\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rock Squirrel at the top of a Juniper tree, Stansbury Mountains, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-juniper-sky-mia-mcpherson-9697.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-juniper-sky-mia-mcpherson-9697.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-juniper-sky-mia-mcpherson-9697.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-juniper-sky-mia-mcpherson-9697.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55313,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/12\/16\/winter-ferruginous-hawk-lift-off-and-flight-series\/","url_meta":{"origin":7027,"position":2},"title":"Winter Ferruginous Hawk Lift Off And Flight Series","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I was able to photograph two Ferruginous Hawks yesterday morning in the West Desert in Tooele County. The light was good, I had birds in my viewfinder and I was away from our building inversion so I was one happy woman.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ferruginous Hawk in flight in front of snow covered mountains, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-flight-mountains-mia-mcpherson-4731.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-flight-mountains-mia-mcpherson-4731.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-flight-mountains-mia-mcpherson-4731.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-flight-mountains-mia-mcpherson-4731.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":75960,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/12\/10\/photographing-bald-eagles-at-farmington-bay-wma-during-an-inversion\/","url_meta":{"origin":7027,"position":3},"title":"Photographing Bald Eagles At Farmington Bay WMA During An Inversion","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Think carefully before you make a trip to Utah to photograph our overwintering Bald Eagles in the valley. The inversions are awful and can be life threatening.","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":"Adult Bald Eagle in flight over the frozen marsh at Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0539.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0539.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0539.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0539.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108991,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/25\/christmas-day-american-kestrel\/","url_meta":{"origin":7027,"position":4},"title":"Christmas Day American Kestrel","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this Christmas Day American Kestrel in 2020 at Farmington Bay WMA. That Christmas Day was bright and sunny, today isn't going to be at all.","rel":"","context":"In "American Kestrels"","block_context":{"text":"American Kestrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/falcons\/american-kestrel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Christmas Day American Kestrel, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-kestrel-christmas-day-male-mia-mcpherson-3425.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-kestrel-christmas-day-male-mia-mcpherson-3425.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-kestrel-christmas-day-male-mia-mcpherson-3425.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-kestrel-christmas-day-male-mia-mcpherson-3425.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8314,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/05\/07\/mule-deer-doe-in-the-stansbury-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":7027,"position":5},"title":"Mule Deer Doe in the Stansbury Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this Mule Deer doe while camping in North Willow Canyon in the Stansbury Mountain Range of Tooele County, Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Mule Deer"","block_context":{"text":"Mule Deer","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/mule-deer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mule Deer doe in the Stansbury Mountains of Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/mule-deer-doe-mia-mcpherson-9108.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/mule-deer-doe-mia-mcpherson-9108.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/mule-deer-doe-mia-mcpherson-9108.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/mule-deer-doe-mia-mcpherson-9108.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7027\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}