Evening Views of San Jose

SUMMARY: Almost Phraseless Phriday.

Santa Clara Valley (San Jose et cal)--seen here--has had no measurable rain in the last three days, while the mountains in the distance received 8 inches on Wednesday alone. Similar huge disparities have occurred around the Bay Area this week, enough so that it has even the National Weather Service meteorologist puzzled. Still, we've had all the clouds, with moisture enough to flip the windshield wipers once or twice, and the result is crystal-clear air across the valley.

To top it off, Venus and Jupiter are blazing away in the western sky--even if we couldn't see stars, for a brief few minutes, the clouds thinned enough that we could see the planets. Go out and look near, and just after, sunset wherever you are--Mercury is near the horizon, Venus and Jupiter above. Quite a display.

If only I ever bothered to get the tripod out of the car to try for some crystal-clear photos. You guys have to take what you can get. (P.S. The night clouds aren't really as bright as you see here--that's a longish exposure time.)