Indigenous Wisdom and Clouds in Mexico ... and Alaska!

Today's weather forecast for Mexico is:

"Heavy rains are predicted across the entire country, including the Valley of Mexico" — Translation: Mexico City. 

For all the clouds we've seen in the last six weeks, we could have moved to Seattle!

Neither Reed nor I do very well with gray skies, but yesterday the air was clear, so I leaned out the bedroom window to check on Ajusco Volcano to the southwest. Here's what greeted my astonished eyes!

Cloud Formation on Ajusco Volcano - Click to Enlarge!
(Photo: Reed with my little Canon)

I have been on the lookout for this effect for at least five years. Why? An anthropologist studying the indigenous people of Mexico was told by his informants that clouds rise up from the mountains. Without success, he tried explaining scientifically how clouds are formed.

Then one day, he saw a formation like this one, and he had to admit that the traditional version was based on an understandable interpretation of their observation.

But believe it or not, la naturaleza, Natural World, wasn't quite done with me yet. On the same day, I opened up Facebook only to discover this photo taken by a friend who lives 25 miles north of the Arctic Circle in Kobuk, Alaska:

Camp Taiga, Kobuk, Alaska - Click to Enlarge!
(Photo: Gregory Jurisch)

Never mind the incredible cloud formation, I can't get over the flecks of white flowers, which seem to reflect the spots of snow remaining on the mountains.

Here's another of Greg's photos taken June 20 and captioned:

"Today's Weather Report, 'Hot Air Rising'."

"Hot Air Rising" at Camp Taiga, Kobuk, Alaska
(Photo: Gregory Jurisch)

Is that what's happening? Hot air rising off the mountains? Yet again, America's original peoples have it right. By America, I mean in its true sense of all residents of North, Central and South America.

Note: I just googled the phenomenon and found this wonderful diagram and explanation at Windows to the Universe:

When wind blows across a mountain range, air rises and cools, 
and clouds can form.

"Some clouds form when air encounters a mountain range or other types of terrain. When this happens, the air will rise and cool, but this cooler air is no longer able to hold all of the water vapor it was able to hold when it was warm, so the extra water vapor begins to condense out of the air parcel in the form of liquid water droplets that form a cloud."

Thus confirming what the indigenous people told the skeptical anthropologist:

"The clouds rise up from the mountain."

And, of course, the mountains are sacred not just to Mexico's indigenous peoples, but to indigenous people all over the world.

It's also important to remember that Mexico City is at 7,000 feet [2,133.6 meters]; Ajusco Volcano is 12,893 feet [3,930 meters], with a prominance of 1,217 3992.782 which means that warm air is rising 3,992 feet [1,217 meters] along the volcano's flanks. Hence, it makes sense that warm air would condense as it rises along the flanks of high altitude mountains whereas it condenses at the top of mountains rising from sea level.

Then this morning, I wakened to the first sighting in two weeks of our volcanoes to the East: Iztaccíhuatl and Popocatéptl.

Iztaccíhuatl (left) and Popocatépetl Volcanoes
Bathed in Shades of Gray
(Photo: Jenny)

Ending on an upbeat for me means Mexico full of color. So here's the image of Iztacc and Popo I captured on a clear, clear morning:

Dawn's Early Light on Iztaccíhuatl and Popocatéptl Volcanos
(Photo: Jenny)

And another of Ajusco Volcano I captured on an exceptionally clear day during the dry season.

Ajusco Volcano Captured on a Rare Clear Day
(Photo: Jenny)

Over the last twenty-four hours, the natural world has treated me to quite an adventure!

P.S. More confirmation of the phenomenon comes by way of the photo I took today at sunset of a cloud 'rising up from' the flank of Iztaccíhuatl Volcano. Mother Nature never ceases to amaze and delight!

Cloud Rising From 
Iztaccíhuatl Volcano, 7/21/2014
Photo: Jenny

Still Curious?

• Here Comes the Sun!;
• Mesoamerican Culture: The Human Bond With Nature;
• Mexico's Volcanoes & Mesoamerican Mythology.