Bob CollinsNature is never more marvelous that when it changes the hue out the window.
That “yellowishness” of the snow and sky, as you probably have heard by now, is all Texas’ fault. It’s their dust, picked up by the wind and scattered to flyover country. And now it belongs to us.
It's time to cue up "Dust in the Wind"🎵 Strong winds lofted dust into the air over New Mexico and Texas yesterday. The longest arrow in this #GOESEast loop points to White Sands National Monument, which was one of the dust sources. More imagery: https://t.co/DmFcq9LqF6 pic.twitter.com/S4hNKJ6Gfb
— NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) April 11, 2019
This is all nature’s way of reminding us that borders don’t count and we’re not as far away from one another as we think we are. Time, distance, and all that.
The sands from the Sahara end up across an ocean to South America. Oil-tinged birds end up in Pelican Rapids after a Gulf oil spill. The smoke from wildfires from the Pacific Northwest enters our lungs and clouds our view in Minnesota. The moisture that we’re shoveling comes courtesy of the Gulf of Mexico. So why not a little dirt as a chaser?
Blame Texas for our yellow snow – dust lofted high into the atmosphere and pushed north by jet stream winds.
It isn't often we see (yellow) snow, sleet, hail, thunder, lightning, river flooding, and drifting on the same day. Major league weather.
Imagery: @AerisWeather pic.twitter.com/3vA3yBaeqD
— Paul Douglas (@pdouglasweather) April 11, 2019
This is the meteorological and atmospheric equivalent of the famous earthrise picture which galvanized the environmental movement to remind us that no part of Earth is free from the effects of what happens on another part of Earth.
Nature, when it’s not trying to kill us, is pretty sweet as it constantly challenges us to see our planet and ourselves from a different perspective.
