Seen This Week: Sky Magic

Spectacular sunrise in Pittsburgh, 1 January 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

4 January 2025

In addition to two merlins in Schenley Park …

Merlin at Schenley Park, 30 Dec 2024, 5:17pm (photo by Kate St. John)

… and a brant this week …

… the sky put on a good show.

On Sunday 29 December the high was 65°F (jacket weather!) but day by day it moved toward freezing. Rain on New Years Eve 31 December brought colder temperatures and a rainbow.

Rainbow on the last day of 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

Sunrise the next morning was bright red with a sun pillar (at top) to usher in the New Year. The red held for many minutes after the sun peeked above the horizon. “Red sky at morn” presaged more rain.

More of the sunrise on New Years Day 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Yesterday it was snowing steadily as I walked to Schenley Park. Flocks of Canada geese passed overhead, checking for exposed grass on Flagstaff Hill but it was snow covered so they turned in the sky and headed for the river.

Canada geese fly past Flagstaff Hill in snow, 3 Jan 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Later a snow squall reduced visibility to only a few hundred feet. This was the only view that shows how hard it was snowing.

Snow squall in Pittsburgh, 3 Jan 2025, 3:54pm (video by Kate St. John)

This coming week the temperature will continue to drop day after day. By early Thursday morning 9 January it will be 14°F in town.

One thought on “Seen This Week: Sky Magic

  1. Happy New Year, Kate! Yes, Winter is here but each day affords us more daylight as well as moving us a day closer to Spring. Thanks for the beauty you capture of the sights and sounds around us that we easily overlook. Here’s to a great year!

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