This is the last in a series of three posts, all depicting monsoon cloud action visible from my neighborhood in Corrales, New Mexico, over a three-day period June 10-12, 2025. This post contains images from June 12. You can see the previous days' posts by scrolling further down below this post.
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Most of this day was overcast, with an occasional short sprinkle of rain . . . a typical monsoon pattern.
But approaching sunset, the clouds began to break up in the east . . .
. . . and in the west the sun dropped into a narrow gap between the heavy clouds and the horizon, kissing the tops of the sagebrush and trees with "golden hour" backlight.
Seeing what was happening, I grabbed my camera to shoot whatever the sunlight would illuminate for as long as it lasted.
Moments later, shadows blanketed our yard, but the sun still shone on the higher-elevation Sandia Mountains and clouds to the east . . . and that's when the show began:
Five minutes later, the whole sky was ablaze with color on the clouds . . .
And we even got one end of a rainbow . . .
Looking south (90 degrees to the right of the photo above), brilliantly-lit virga was reaching for -- but not making it to -- the ground:
And further around to the southwest, the setting sun was illuminating the underside of the cloud layer:
The whole show lasted only about 20 minutes . . . but, as you can see, it was glorious!
If you would like to see these images in a larger format, please visit my website, Todos Juntos Photography, by clicking here.
Enjoy!