Sunrise 143: Ault Park (Thick Humid Sunrise, Airplanes & Helicopters)

A Humid Sunrise 143 over the Little Miami River Valley

The Tree of Heaven rising into the sky as our organic spaceship spins towards the solar globe that is giver of all life.

After missing a brilliant magenta show during the early stages of Sunrise 142, I was determined to get up to the overlook with time to spare… just in case. As it turned out, Sunrise 143 was not unlike some of the early April sunrises. It was incredibly humid this morning, with a dense mist that limited visibility. The distant ridge line faded into the gray atmosphere and the thick moisture prevented the sunlight from scattering into the upper atmosphere. During these humid mornings, the sun rises slowly without an introduction. She typically comes up through the gray horizon, glowing a deep majestic purple that one can stare at for a few minutes before the curvature of the earth and the less dense mid-atmospheric air allow more light to get through.

Sunrises such as this are likely the reason why I was so surprised to find that a low-humidity sunrise can begin lighting up the sky up to an hour before scheduled sunrise time. It isn’t all that surprising to see a “Spring Seasonal” sunrise right now, considering that the temperatures of the last few days have risen up into the mid 60s. In fact this morning was so pleasant that I didn’t wear my winter jacket and ended up removing my gloves for most of the sunrise. While I am enjoying this unseasonably warm weather, it makes me wonder what kind of winter surprises Mother Nature has planned for us in early spring. I’m hoping for an April snowstorm, personally 🙂

The early twilight sky was dark with only a light glimmer of orange developing against the gray. Black and White mode helped bring out some of the contrast in the low light.

The lower overlook and the single tree that hangs out over the valley, a favorite hangout spot for the local birds. The birds were quite active this morning, by the way. They’re loving this February spring weather.

About ten minutes before “First Light”, the sky shows little sign of the impending sunrise.

Heekin Overlook against the misty valley.

High overhead a big airliner ascends into the upper atmosphere. I’m going to take a guess and say that it recently took off from Dayton Airport, given the fact that it was still rather low and it was not heading for Cincinnati Airport  from what I could tell.

If you’re on the front page, please click to continue. 14 pictures total in today’s humid pseudo-spring sunrise post.

I swear, these humid sunrises really sneak up on you. First Light @ Sunrise 143. The sun rose up in a deep dark shade of magenta

Humid sunrise over the Little Miami River

Vertical Sunrise

By this point I had forgotten to check out the Tree of Heaven down at the lower overlook. Luckily the sun was still a dimly lit ball in the lower atmosphere, so it made for a nice little addition to the silhouette series.

Tree of Heaven against a humid ridge line.

Final shot of Sunrise 143.

Just as I was getting ready to head home from the park, I heard a loud “THWUP THWUP THWUP” coming from Lunken Airfield. A helicopter was heading straight towards the overlook! I hoped that my camera was set up for the shot, and ran over to the edge of the hill. The picture turned out better than I expected!