Saturday, October 22, 2016

Graupel!!

The weather forecast called for 'graupel'!  I had never even heard of it before, but it turns out to be your typical late fall wet snow.  The weather folks who make up this stuff call it a cross between snow and hail, sort of like mushy hail, or splatty rain.  All I know is that you can see the tiny white bits in the air, and it splats wetly on my windshield.

But first, a few barns.  As I drive around the rural roads seeking pictures of fall colours, it's inevitable that a few of my pix will capture a barn or two.  They add a nice point of interest, and are set off nicely by a few fall colours.

This was my initial view; the one above was the picture I like best.

And without moving, but looking in a different direction, another barn.  This was a couple of weeks ago, so the fall colours were just starting; now they're almost over.

I really enjoy just driving down rural roads that I'm familiar with.  I know what farmsteads are coming next, what views to expect, and often, what was growing in the fields this year.

This barn, just south of the village of Kimberley, is no longer in use I don't think, but it was owned by an older friend of mine 30 years ago, and housed his small herd of cattle.  Just southwest of Old Baldy.

Roads provide lots of nice fall colour view themselves, especially when they disappear around a bend or over a hill like this.

And this is the hill - Sideroad 7 northwest of Kimberley.  Drove both directions down here and back last week when I was out leading a walk.

Today the leaves are well on their way to disappearing, except for this bright yellow Tulip Tree in our yard.  The forecast was for 3 days of rain, but we missed much of it because the very cold arctic air came marching south across the Great lakes and pushed that warm moist air moving up from the south away from us.  It stayed mostly dry here yesterday.

But then that arctic air got set up over southern Ontario, and brought frigid air straight down out of the north.  As it crossed Lake Huron and Georgian Bay it picked up moisture off the relatively warm water, and turned it into snow at high altitudes.  Down came the snow, turning to 'graupel' as it moved through the warm lower air.  And we ended up with one of those changeable fall days alternating between dark gray clouds and patches of blue sky, periods of rain and 'graupel' when the clouds were heaviest.

Can you see a few tiny bits of white in the photo above?  The warmer lined pants have come out of the closet, the winter coat has been retrieved from the basement, and it's hat and glove weather now.

Linking to:

The Barn Collective



21 comments:

  1. You picked the perfect time of year to get barn photos...lots of color to frame them.

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  2. Beautiful country scenes! Graupel does not sound appealing at all.

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  3. Beautiful barn pics with those trees, and the snow, hail, slushy sleet or Graupel, looks like the winter gear is very necessary from now on.

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  4. New word to me. Our leaves are blowing far and wide and trees turning to skeletons. I can see a bit of graupel in that photo above.

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  5. As always the fall colours are looking great in your part of the world.

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  6. I never could really figure out the difference between graupel and sleet. Anyway, sunshine on autumn leaves makes for much nicer pictures than slushy white stuff - whatever it's called.

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  7. Looks German? Or is it one of those mythical so-called/alleged 750 (or whatever) "eskimo words for snow"?
    Well, if you do get graupel, wrap up warm.
    And you have a Tulip Tree? How jealous am I? What a great tree that is. Such beautiful flowers.

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  8. Graupel, that's a new word for me. I suppose that is what we had yesterday too. : )
    Your barn pictures are beautiful as are the fall colors.

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  9. That is a new word for me. You have some wonderful fall scenes in your area.

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  10. i have never heard of grapple, the new generation being creative i would guess!! fall is crisp, clear and beautiful in your area of the world. happy sunday!!

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  11. spell check changed my graupel to grapple...i should have checked!!!

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    1. My spell checker did the same Debbie, but I managed to sneak up on it and change it back.

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  12. Beautiful fall colours! We did get the rain. Today's clear but cooler.

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  13. Some pretty fine looking countryside! Thanks for sharing, stop back when you can.

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  14. Pretty autumn colors and scenes. Thirty-five years ago we would have had snow flurries a couple of weeks ago -- no longer, unfortunately.

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  15. Glorious photos - such contrasts and beautiful colors.

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  16. I've experience graupel many times while skiing on Mt. Hood. Our mild wet climate means we get a lot of "transition" snowstorms that produce wet snow. Or very slushy rain....aka "snain."

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  17. How beautiful! Gorgeous autumn colors!

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  18. Hard to see the graupel in those pictures. They all look pretty to me. Yes, it's time to pull out the winter duds. :-)

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  19. Beautiful Autumn Color!
    We had 'graupel' here a few winters ago, and I had to look it up to find the meaning, too.
    We have not had snow for the last few winters. I feel like the odds are that it will come this year.
    Have a great week!

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