On a foggy morning, steam rises from the relatively calm waters of a section of Malibu Creek in Malibu Creek State Park, California

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Wildflower and Yucca blooms along the trail around Sandstone Peak in the Santa Monica Mountains

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Seemingly to the complete surprise of nearly everyone a thunderstorm moves into Santa Monica just before sunset on March 7th, a day after more typical rain storms had seemingly finished moving through. Down on the beach unsuspecting runners and bikers are about to get dumped on along with this photographer who would make a retreat just after clicking this shutter. While there were a few distant clashes of thunder this storm would do what most similar storms have done in the past which is to immediately begin to die upon entering the Los Angeles Basin. Without the forced uplift provided by the Santa Monica Mountains, there just wasn’t an environment to keep the convection going much longer. That would not stop the storm from dumping its accumulated moisture. It was a nice surprise and provided spectacular clouds just before sunset.

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The morning light in Malibu Canyon reveals the edge of the battle between patchy dense fog and the Santa Monica Mountains. On this morning the Santa Monica Mountains are victorious in holding back the fog, but on other days the clouds can be overwhelming. I find great joy at the front lines as the grey is broken apart and the light dances across the landscape such as here. An hour later when I returned, the fog had been pushed back almost to the very edge of the coast and more mundane blue sky reigned supreme here while mundane grey overcast from the fog hugged the coast. In my many trips through his canyon I have often desired to capture it and on this occasion I allowed myself extra time and brought my camera.

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The marine layer does battle with the heights of Sandstone Peak and its many outcroppings of rock.

Tags:   backbone trail bloom clouds dirt fog mountain mountains outcropping rocks sandstone peak santa monica mountains sky trail Malibu CA United States

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