2nd of February 2022. First day back here after a long time. Day of layers of cloud, first high above and down in the valley but the high cloud goes quite early and is replaced by cloud at our level. Lights that look a bit like fireworks in the dark at the end will be piste bashers working (at the far end of Les Arcs?) (3/5)
3rd of February 2022. Missed the sunrise and just caught the end of the rising sun colouring Mont Blanc orange. Then a calm cloud day with a steady stream of high cloud only thickening to full cover and lowering promise from about 2 minutes in. (3/5)
4th of February 2022. Clear sunrise with nice yellows and oranges and a little cloud bubbling to leeward off the high peaks then a clear blue sky. Late on you can tell there’s some high atmospheric haze from the slight fuzziness of the shadows of A2k and Haut Bois and there a few thin wisps of cirrus which fits with that I guess. 2/5
5th of February 2022. Day breaks with much cumulus down in the valley and some just above us and blue sky poking through. Both layers of cloud thin and the valley cloud disappears but cumulus continues to bubble and seeth on the peaks. By about 2’30” the upper cloud ahs thinned out a lot and there are brief, soft pinks as the sun goes down and the cloud thickens again. 3/5
6th of February 2022. Lovely sunrise with thin cloud in the valley and high above us. That changes to mostly blue sky with no cloud left in the valley and a little high cirrus moving across. That thickens as the day goes on into total high coverage and by two minutes in it’s looking dark but that is followed by a rather lovely parting to reveal bue sky and standing high cloud for a short time before total coverage comes back as the sun sets. 4/5
7th of February 2022. Day starts with snow still falling and blowing around (and fuzzing up the image where it hits the window). Around 57″ in there is a sudden break to show some blue sky and that comes and goes over the next few seconds (one second in the time lapse is 3’20” of real life). By about 1’20” it is mostly blue sky with a little bright white cumulus and you can see how fast the sun burns snow and ice off the black tarmac of the roads. By a gentle sunset there is just one thin layer of cumulus left at the head of the valley. 4/5
8th of February 2022. Gentle sunrise with washes of colour gradually revealing a cloudless sky. Apart from contrails and thin wisps of high cloud in the distance that’s how it stays as the day runs through to a sunset mirrorign the sunrise. 2/5
9th of February 2022. Another cloudless sunrise and that continues bar contrails and a little high haze just before a pleasant sunset. 2/5
10th of February 2022. Nice sunrise, however, that’s all we get really. I have no idea why the recording stopped but I’ll try to keep an eye on it today!
11th of February 2022. Amusing start with piste basher and snow/sleet on window creating a star effect. Then into the snowfall and a few swirls of cloud from below. Around 1’15” blue sky breaks through rather beautifully and the clouds change steadily from grey snow dumping ones to puffy white cumulu bubbling against brilliant blue sky. Lovely flares of colour as the sun sets. 4/5
12th of February 2022. Predawn work by a piste basher then cloudless dawn with contrails then gradually thin, high cloud develops. I guess contrails may be a sign that the conditions for consdensation are there. By 2’50” that cloud is pretty total in coverage and the sun sets behind it with only a brief, thin wash of pink. 2/5
13th of February 2022. Day starts with a piste basher working hard in the beginners’ area between Haut Bois and MMV and then the action is pretty well only the choughs flying around and the ant-like snow related human activity! The other interest is that a cloudless sky (all day) and the pretty pristine snow make the progress of the shadows of Haut Bois and of Aime2000 particularly clear. 2/5
14th of February 2022. Day starts with cloud streaming over just above us here and that thickens to pretty total coverage which gradually darkens until just after two minutes in the snow starts. That thickens and thins through to sunset. 3/5
15th of February 2022. Rather a fun daybreak with driving snow fairly rapidly breaking and blue sky peeking through fairly unthreatening white cloud, though the snow continues to come in showers. By 1’30” there’s enough blue sky and sun to show the snow dusted trees on Mont St. Jacques looking rather lovely, but the snow showers continue at intervals. I’m used to things changing quite fast up here but this frequency of alternating snow and sun feels quite unusual and continued until the sun disappeared. 4/5
16th of February 2022. Sun rises behind total cloud cover and that stays right through the day with intermittent wispy waves of low cumulus coming up from below too. Snow showers go through the day and the snow worshippers mill around animatedly. The steam/smoke from the Haut Bois boiler show the wind swinging around a lot and it’s fun to watch as snow ploughs and traffic fight the fallling snow to turn the road from white to black. 3/5
17th of February 2022. A pretty cloudy and snowy start to the day. From about 1’30” the cloud down in the valley ebbs and flows rather nicely below the grey cloud above. Towards the end of the day things thin out a bit and there are slivers of blue sky before we are plunged into darkness. 3/5
3rd of March 2022. Missed the sunrise: apologies! Cumulus bubbling at the peaks in the distance blows away quite rapidly to leave a bright blue sky and strong sun and that’s how it stays until late (c2’40”?) when some high peak cumulus builds again. Just after 3’0″ Mont Blanc is touched briefly with pink which was much more beautiful live! 2/5
4th of March 2022. A nice sunrise with a piste basher bashing away in front of MMV and a somewhat unusual layer of cloud high across the top of the valley. That is followed by, or morphs into, a bubbling of cumulus at the tops of all the peaks and across the head of the valley and then pretty much anywhere above the valley. Finally, brief splashes of pink on the clouds and on Mont Blanc before the sun sets. 2/5
5th of March 2022. This is “changeover day” and I think you can see that in the number of headlights going up and down the hairpins as the sun rises. As it rises there’s haze at the head of the valley that slowly thins out. After that it’s clear blue sky and the changeover day aspect is underlined by how few snow worshippers there are out there. A little cloud forms across the valley lae in the day and helps make a nice if fleeting sunset. 3/5?
6th of March 2022. Light in the sky from the start, I need to start getting up earlier! Gentle pastel sunrise and just haze in the distance, no clouds. A little cumulus (I think, it’s rather linear) puffs p from the far horizon and comes towards us in waves as the day goes on. Is it actually much higher? That’s all gone again by 2’00” and from about 2’25” there a few very small puffs that definitely are mountain cumulus on the peaks and a very pale blue sky goes through a quick phase of pink before the sun sets. 3/5 for the sheer mellowness?!
7th of March 2022. A nice sunrise with the piste basher bashing away in front of MMV and a little thin high cloud catching the rising sun prettily. Then very slowly drifting high cloud and blue sky. That’s it until a brief flash of pink as the sun goes down! 2/5?
8th of March 2022. A cloudless but hazy sunrise which is rather nice. A little high clouds starts in the far distance from about 45″ and builds very slowly, starting to send off thin high clouds that sweep towards us. That thickens to some nice shapes from around 3’0″ in time to catch a tinges of colour as the sun sets. 3/5
9th of March 2022. More intensity in the sun as it rises today than in recent days: less atmospheric haze? Then a brilliant clear sky, just varying haze in the far, far distance. That thickens but never forms cloud and the sun sets calmly! 2/5.
10th of March 2022. Nice cloudless sunrise and cloudless until about 1’50” after which thin high cloud, and contrails, form slowly. Around 2’50” two clouds move across each other clearly underlining that the wind at different heights above us can be in different directions. A lot of paragliders in the afternoon. Nice, gentle sunset. 3/5
11th of March 2022. Sun rose with lovely colours catching rather nice clouds above the peaks and those billowed elegantly but were quickly eclipsed by a total ceiling of somewhat higher cloud that looked a bit snowy but not quite. That pattern of thickening and thinning cloud continued through the rest of the day and the shadows when they came were noticeably softer, of course, than in the recent sunny days. Sunset was really a blue fade out. 2/5
12th of March 2022. A sort of luminous sunrise under a complete ceiling of cloud. About 1’10” some blue shows through and some rather wraith-like cumulus forms across the valley and comes and goes after that as more blue gradually shades through the higher cloud. About 2’52” lovely tiered cumulus appears above and beyond Mont St. Jacques but doesn’t last and we dive into darkness. 3/5
13th of March 2022. Another cloud covered sunrise with a little pink in the far distance. The cloud cover seems lower than in the last few days and you can see the bumpy undersurface of it. From about 1’20” some blue sky shows through breaks but it remains pretty cloud covered and then it goes back to total coverage through to sunset. 2/5
14th of March 2022. Hm, sunrise is getting earlier and earlier (of course), I will have to set my alarm earlier. Sunny dawn with very little cloud, just high cirrus and contrails. That’s going across quite fast WSW (I think): rather different from recent days when it has been SSE I think. That high cloud thickens as the day goes on but not steadily though by about 2’0″ it’s covering most of the visible sky. It thickens again to quite a lowering ceiling: certainly not just cirrus and a lovely foaming of cumulus bubbles over towards us at the head of the valley just before the sun sets. 2/5
15th of March 2022. Well low cloud hard to distinguish from mist/fog as the sun rises. Total cloud cover continues with a rather sulphurous tinge to the cloud across the valley. About 2’15” the cloud breaks up a bit to show some blue sky and turns from grey and lowering to mostly white only to get another pinkish tint as the sun sets. 3/5?
16th of March 2022. Soft toned and rather beautiful sunrise with a lot of haze and then a lot of thin high cloud that thickened to fairly total but white coverage. Parapenters flash by and the haze continues fairly unusually but rather monotonously! Later that thickens to thin rain and sleet. Blueish fade to black! Lovely sunrise so just about 3/5?
17th of March 2022. Another hazy, cloudy start to the day. At times the cloud does thin to almost let blue show through but it never truly parts. At times there are drips falling, not sure if that was real rain or melting snow and ice above me. It’s worth staying to the end for a brief firework display! 3/5
18th of March 2022. Another hazy, misty, cloud covered sunrise but with low cloud down in the valley today. Around 2’35” a very little blue sky peeks through but it’s pretty rapidly obscured and the cloud changes to a mix of darker greys and white before the sun sets. 2/5
19th of March 2022. A nice sunrise to a wedge of high cloud above Mont Blanc and away to the north and west and a lovely brief flash of pink. Then it’s cirrus for a while. (I think it is cirrus though one bank seems perhaps too solid and persistent and takes ages to sweep slowly across the scene? As it thins out and finally disappears at about 2’25” it’s clearly become cirrus. Hm.) From that point on there is not real cloud though some haze. Sunset is dull! 2/5
20th of March 2022. Hm, sun rising as the video starts: I must set my alarm earlier. Lovely sunrise with succession of colours and cloud bubbling and seething over the ridges at the head of the valley, haze above that and clear blue sky higher again. About 1’30” some rather flat cumulus starts to form on the peaks across the valley and, from the shadows, above me too. That thickens until it covers the whole sky. It gets a bit more patchy before a deep blue sunset with pretty total cloud cover. 3/5
21st of March 2022. Pale hazy sunrise with a bank of cloud in the distance beyond the head of the valley. That slowly moves towards us and breaks into pieces (at least, I think that’s what’s happening!) After that goes there is haze for a bit and then lovely cirrus: real mackerels’ tails. That’s followed by high thin banks of cloud I don’t really know how to name but they cast lovely racing shadows like wraiths from Lord of the Rings on Mont St. Jacques, and at the last, a rather wan sunset! (3/5)
22nd of March 2022. Nice phases of yellows and oranges then the common colour lurch and the rising sun in a pretty cloudless sky sweeps a sort of band of light across the slopes on the far side of the valley. High air must be pretty dry as there are no clouds and no contrails and the shadows of A2k as they start to sweep across the covered car park are sharp edged. Perhaps that there is little colour in the sunset also follows from little moisture? 2/5
23rd of March 2022. Yet another pretty cloudless sky as the sun rises. (The snow is melting away fast.) As yesterday, no contrails and no clouds all day. 2/5
24th of March 2022. Another cloudless, gently coloured sunrise. Some parapenters directly ahead about 1’19”. Apart from that it’s just the march of the shadows and a nice russet light on the larches on Mont St. Jacques before a gentle sunset. (2/5)
25th of March 2022. The sun rises to a little drifting cirrus catching the light and colour. That continues to drift across in nice patterns. Some parapenters but not easy to catch. By 2’20” the cloud has gone and by 2’50” a little cumulus starts to bubble beyond and above the peaks across the valley. Finally a slow, mellow sunset with the piste bashers in the distance in Les Arcs and Tignes like fireflies. (3/5)
26th of March 2022. Whoops, I missed the sunrise. Remember waking to the alarm but think I switched the radiator on (unnecessarily), not the phone camera! A lot of early piste basher activity but not much in the sky! Some parapenters? A single tiny cloud appears above Mont St. Jacques at about 2’39” and disappears as quickly as it came. A little pink colour as the sun sets. 1/5
27th of March 2022. Distant haze catches rising sun to give lovely warm colours in the first seconds of the video. High cirrus drifts slowly across from behind then more from the right (I must sort out compass bearings accuratedly here). That thickens to equally slow moving high cumulus I think and slowly comes to cover most of the sky and the shadows as the sun moves over are very diffuse. Pale sunset (2/5).
28th of March 2022. Nice sunrise with just a little haze and cirrus and the haze in the valley creates rather fine “atmospheric perspective” early on. Then we move to much less haze and no clouds. About 2’25” the cirrus comes back, and contrails and the cloud cover is almost complete but sunset has not a hint of warm colours. 2/5
29th of March 2022. A blue sunrise with layers of high cloud that tinges with pink as the sun gains altitude and as it does the cloud thins a bit. That reveals that it’s moving fast up there, much faster than the last few days and in the timelapse that creates flickering light on the slopes. From about 2’0″ there is a haze of very light snow or drizzle falling, the former up here and the latter in the valley I’m sure. That thickens after 3’0″ but there are glimpses of blue again behind the cloud before the sun sets. 3/5
30th of March 2022. Light snow falling as the sun rises (invisibly) and the colour balance flails around. by 2’0″ the snow/cloud thins enough to see MMV and by 2’30” it breaks but we are still under a solid layer of grey cloud above. There’s a brief flash of warm colour as the sun sets and some reflections of the firework display that followed but that was behind me! (2/5)
31st of March 2022. Light snowfall and cloud as the sun rises given that lovely “slot window” view at times peering out between the cloud above and below. By 40″ there is a brief glimpse of some blue sky but it doesn’t last. Snow showers come and go but, though it will settle where there is already snow, you can see that it’s melting immediately on the road and roofs. From about 2’0″ there is more sun coming through but again it doesn’t last, there’s another such break around 2’50” and 3’20”. All in all, a turbulent and rather lovely day to watch! 3/5
1st of April 2022. Light sort of just fades in and we have cloud above and the cloud full of cloud and intermittent snow until about 40″ when some blue sky peeks through but that doesn’t last long and we’re back to snow and it thickens to a moderate fall at times after that. By late afternoon it has settled across the roof of Haut Bois and is starting to settle on the road. 3/5 for all the snow?
2nd of April 2022. Dark and blowy start to the day and sunrise is blue then back to grey. Snow falling and just about settling on the road even, at least at first. This is late season changeover day so much more road traffic than in weekdays. About 1’25” the clouds open enough to see down into the valley a bit and see how much snow has settled down there (quite a bit!) Then low cloud bubbles up from the valley but mostly some snow continues to fall though the level varies. Interestingly the “Golf” seems to be out of action and I think the lift up “S’s little black” is too (just beyond MMV). I guess that may be avalanche risk. Eventually we just fade to dark. 3/5.
3rd of April 2022. I never really know what is fog and what is cloud up here but it was one of those as the sun rose, mostly cloud I think. It stayed that way, with a very little snow falling , through to about 1’40” when we can see through to the other side of the valley for a short time. About 2’14” blue sky suddenly appears and white cloud bubbles just above us and that mix continues until a rather nice sunset with Mont Blanc visible for the first time in days (a week?) (3/5)
4th of April 2022. We start in fog/cloud again which goes to a rather fine “blue out” and then to the more usual white out and then to bubbling cloud sweeping over us but with glorious blue sky above and all the peaks in the distance crystal clear to see for the first time in a week or so. The rest of the day is lovely with a constant bubbling of cumulus just above us (I guess about 2500-5500m generally). That casts lovey shadows on the slopes. It thins out about 3’20” to a pretty cloudless sunset with a glow on Mont Blanc. (Much more beautiful live!) 4/5
5th of April 2022. Ah, the thick cloud of the last few days had meant I’d not adjusted to the steadily earlier sunrise so I missed the very start but the dawn that follows is lovely with long linear cloud in the very distance catching the sun beautifully. From then on it’s mostly clear blue sky and brilliant sun with just a little high cumulus in the far distance beyond and a bit above the high peaks. As the afternoon winds on the shadows show hard edged by the absence of haze or cloud and the brown of the larches on Mont St. Jacques catch the warm sunset and we fade out to black. 3/5 (mostly for the sunrise!)
6th of April 2022. Lovely blue sunrise turns through white back to blue (OK, you can’t expect any camera to keep colour balance through that!) The sky is cloudless until 1’37” when contrails and puffs of cumulus off the peaks start up and thicken rapidly (and the cumulus moves to the centre of the valley. By 2’40” some of the cloud is a lowering dark grey and showers sweep across from about 3’17”. Not sure if that is snow, sleet or rain but as the sun sets it’s definitely snow falling. 3/5
7th of April 2022. The sunrise is essentially undectable behind snow showers and these just thin out to reveal the view. After that we cycle through showers, disappearing into cloud and clearer patches in which the two layers of cloud above, and down in the valley are very clear. Not a lot of people on the golf lift, it must have been rather grim out there really. 3/5?
8th of April 2022. Another sunrise hidden by cloud and snow falling and for a while the snow falls quite heavily. The avalanche blasters boomed loudly a fair bit in the morning. The fall thins and a clear gap between cloud above and cloud below appears for a bit (around 1’55”) but gets swallowed up again and that oscillation continues through the day and I cut things out after quite a Wagnerian end to the day. 4/5?
9th of April 2022. In cloud and snow as the sun rises again and we move into more of a mix with clear blue sky showing through and the snow covered slopes across the valley visible from time to time. Yo can see one of the snow ploughs working in the Haut Bois/Aime2000 car park early on. I think the snow across the valley recedes rapidly as the day goes on despite continuing cloud and some snow showers. Fade to black. 3/5
10th of April 2022. Lovely sunrise with Haut Bois puffing away and a little thin cloud down in the valley that burns away very rapidly. By about 1’40” a little thin, high cloud is forming and slicing across and softening the light a bit and that’s how things stay until a pastel sunset. 3/5
11th of April 2022. Busy piste basher below as the sun rises and then contrails move in. Interesting to see that there are clearly two different lots of them: the air highways above us. Then cirrus starts to drift across swamping the contrails. Some nice shapes in the cirrus and interesting to see the shadows of the contrails in it more than to be able to see them directly. The cloud cover thikens later in the day. Nice blushes of colour on Mont St. Jacques after 3’40” and a lovely pink in the sky as the sun sets. 4/5
12th of April 2022. I liked this sunrise with the high cloud moving away from us in a stately way and the colours flushing it warmly. Looking at Mont Blanc it’s clear, or rather, because it’s so hazy and unclear, that there’s not only a lot of high cloud but a lot of haze from us (2000m) upwards and a lighter haze down in the valley. There’s a steady dripping from melting snow above flicking across the view (in case you were wondering what those white flickers are). By the evening the cloud cover is total though still white to light grey, not snow laden. However, it’s enough to pretty much strangle out and sunset colour. 3/5 (and mostly for the sunrise)
13th of April 2022. A very grey, misty, overcast morning as the sun rises. The high cloud is moving faster than of late and is more dappled too. Around 1’40” it’s as if someone hit the brakes, at first I thought the video had stopped but the ski lifts are still running. The cloud passage slows really abruptly and then the high cloud thins out and blue sky comes through late afternoon, still very slow moving. Around 3’40”, shortly before the sun sets, there are two layers of high cloud, the lower almost stationary and the upper moving right to left. Fun! 3/5
14th of April 2022. Lovely sunrise with only a very little cloud around, most of it behind the peaks across the valley. After that the snow worshippers bustle but the sky remains gloriously blue and empty. By about 2’15” there is clearly a little high haze in the far distance and from abotut 2’45” little cumulus a bit above us and on the far peaks develops forming rather fine pillars across the valley and to the right of Mont Blanc. Eventually we fade to black. 4/5
15th of April 2022. Nice sunrise with a a little high cloud, a progression of gentle colour changes and a succession of contrails shooting through. Some parapenters around 1’10”. Then some cumulus puffs up just above the peaks and builds and casts fun shadows on Mont St. Jacques. That thickens but thins again as the sun sets and the movement of the cumulus comes to a halt so what there is catches the setting sun nicely. 4/5?
16th of April 2022. Drifting cloud just above above us and in the distance as the sun rises with some warm colour flushes. That’s followed by a surge of low cloud up from the valley and things don’t really settle until 1’20” when we get to a mix of puffy little cumulus on the peaks this side of the valley on and above the high pasture on the other side. The high cloud disappears but the cumulus continues to dance and seethe and cast fine shadows. At times it feels a bit like watching a shadow puppet play. That all stops shortly before sunset which is rather dull though foreshadowed by a nice warm flush across the larches on Mont St. Jacques. 4/5
17th of April 2022. An almost cloudless sky as the sun comes up and atmospheric haze, particularly in the valley, shows the sun beams as the sun rises. From about 1’25” puffs of cumulus rise from the high slopes opposite and then off Mont St. Jacques. Those rather sweet little puffs of cloud cme and go and gradually thicken and start to cast their wraith like shadows. Then much more high cloud comes in from beyond Mont Blanc and parades across above us until the sun sets. 4/5
18th of April 2022. Mellow sunrise with cumulus rapidly melting away as the sun hit it and nice sunbeans into the valley through haze. Then into a phase of thin high cloud skidding across while cumulus boils on the peaks and on the high pasture opposite. That’s how things stay really though the cumulus thickens and thins. The general movement seems to stop shortly before the gentle, blue sunset. 3/5
19th of April 2022. Really lovely sunrise with thin high cirrus streaming across and catching the sun and the changing colours. From about 50″ there’s a fascinating stationary high cloud for a few seconds. Later, about 1’30” in?, a bubble of cumulus forms in direct line between use and Mont Blanc but I think actually quite a way from MB. Whey there? In fact it turns into quite a day for stationary, reforming clouds. Things sort of settle down before the sunset of deepening blue. 4/5?
20th of April 2022. Blue and green tints before the yellows and orange as the sun rises. Then there’s a lot of thin high cirrus and some contrails and the cirrus. Around 1’30” there’s a run of contrails that show as shadows before they show themselves. From perhaps 2’20” the high cloud cover is pretty complete and quite thick cumulus forms beneath that and gets to look a bit louring as the evening comes in. It doesn’t go beyond louring though and we fade out through blue. 3/5
21st of April 2022. Heavy layer of high clouds as the sun rises gives a nice projection screen for a flash of colour and there are nice wisps of cumulus in the far distance against a slit of sky. That’s all lost quickly and a wall of cloud forms at the far head of the valley. However the high cloud thins and light cumulus starts to bubble on Mont St. Jacques. That in turn spreads to cover teh sky and by 2’20” there are sleety showers. Then back to blue sky and cumulus. A very changeable day! Back to overcast then a brief mix of blue sky and pink sun on the cumulus before we fade to black. Lots of action but none of it very exciting or beautiful! 3/5
22nd of April 2022. Dawn has banks of high cloud drifting very slowly and a little cumulus bubbling beyond the peaks across the valley. Slowly the direction of the high cloud changes and it simply covers things completely. It thickens and thins as the day goes on and the cumulus bubbles up on and around all the peaks. By 2’40” a little blue sky can be seen but it is short lived, same at 3’30” and then the sun goes and we fade through blue to blackout. 2/5
23rd of April 2022. A lot of cloud streaming over just above us as the sun rises and that continues, with occasional showers until the first blue sky shows about 1’30” in. That doesn’t last and there are more showers later, and a little more blue sky. Alll in all a pretty grey, sleety day! 2/5
24th of April 2022. Nice blue sunrise with the high cloud streaming away from us over head and catching a brief, lovely flash of orange and some thin cloud eddying around down in the valley. As the light gets through it’s clear that quite a lot of snow fell in the night (6″ to a foot on the terrace). The cloud down in the valley thickens sweeps up our little side valley in waves eventually, about 2’15” reaching us and then, about 2’55” becoming or being replaced by, a layer of cloud above us and a little snow falls from that from time to time. That cloud becomes very dark and louring as night falls and we’re in for more snow. 3/5
25th of April 2022. Dawn in cloud and with snow falling. Cloud swashes up and down from the valley and there’s clearly a good layer above us. First brief glimpse of blue sky at 1’25” but it disappears pretty immediately. Things only really change after two minutes in when the snow cloud has clearly gone and we have mostly cumulus at about our level or just above. When there are big enough gaps there is some high cloud sitting above it. Nice flashes of orange on the cumulus as the sun sets at about 3’50”. 3/5
26th of April 2022. Feels rather an unusual sunrise with multiple layers of cloud: think in the valley and thicker above and the light slowly lighting up between the two. By one minute in things are rather different, all white cumulus puffs rather than layers and blue sky peeping through above. As the day goes on that sort of returns more to layered cloud though still cumulus and mostly at about 3000m and above and much more blue sky. By 3’30” there is very little cloud at all and the sunset that follows is slow and mellow. 3/5
27th of April 2022. A cloudless sunrise with the sun sweeping up and shining though a light haze in the valley. From about 55 seconds in there are hints of high haze coalescing into thin cloud but it doesn’t happen. It’s not until two minutes in that the upper atmosphere clearly gets to a mix of temperature and water content to get some contrails and after them there is a procession of very think cirrus until the shadows start their daily march across the view and finally the sun sets. 3/5
28th of April 2022. Glowing sunrise with a little foaming of cloud in the pass at the head of the valley. Then hazy with contrails shooting over (they really do go over at different speeds don’t they?) About 1’35” the cloud briefly foams up in the pass again but it doesn’t develop. There’s a nice glowing light on Mont St. Jacques before the sun sets on what had been a nearly cloud free day. 2/5
29th of April 2022. Glowing and lovely sunrise with a fair bit of high cloud drifting across and catching the colours. That slow progression of cirrus continues with the occasional contrail visible shooting across above it. From around 2’50” some cloud bubbles off the peaks across the valley so we have two layers but the low one is very localised. Meanwhile the high cloud thickens and we fade out through blues to darkness. 3/5 (mostly for the sunrise!)
30th of April 2022. Strange sunrise with a little light right at the head of the valley first and then rather fine mix of two layers of cumulus the higher one scudding across and the lower one anchored on the local peaks. That phases into blue sky and the lower cumulus now less anchored. By 3’0″ showers, first rain I think then sleet and snow follow. By 3’50” there’s a nice flash of colour as the sun sets. 4/5?
1st of May 2022. Nice sunrise with lots of cloud drifting in rapidly to engulf us and a river of low cloud down in the valley. All very dramatic as the sun cuts through all that and cumulus bubbles up off specific bits of high pasture and things don’t settle into a more regular pattern of cumulus just above us until about 1’50”. The dusting of snow that had fallen overnight burns off by then. The lifts are stationary as the ski season finished yesterday. Around 3’20” the cumulus above darkens but doesn’t come to anything and pulls back nad turns white to catch the glow of the sun as it sets. 4/5
2nd of May 2022. Lovely sunrise with haze in the air but no real clouds other than a tiny ridge of cumulus just at the head of the valley. From about 30″ in a very little thin, high cloud forms and from 1’15” the cumulus starts to foam off all the peaks below blue sky with very think cirrus drifting across. Some cumulus bubbles in the middle of the valley and the shadows on the sprawl of pasture opposite are fun to watch. As so often the shape of the cumulus changes late afternoon with rather grand piles across the valley but that fades as the sun sets. 3/5
3rd of May 2022: no video because the old ‘phone rebooted for updates (I think, though it still insisted I take it through umpteen more upgrades and reboots after I realised!)
4th of May 2022. There are two videos for this as the ‘phone reboot on the 3rd turned out to have reset the time interval for the videos so there is one version which is 8-10x slower than usual and lasts about half an hour. That is here, however I hate to let IT issues beat me (SO much of my life lost fighting those battles!) so …
4th of May 2022 shortened! Quick blue flash of sunrise under a lot of cloud scudding over at I guess about 3.5km. By 39″ that has thinned to light cumulus and then nothing at that level and the sun coming through boils some low cumulus up in the valley and on the pastures across from us where they catch the sun. By 1’40” the cloud has thickened again and shows start to march across beneath them. Nice shadow dance/march too. The upper cloud turns solid and is dowsing the whole scene with rain/sleet as the sun sets. Nice day for seeing how it all happens. 3/5
5th of May 2022: same issue as I hadn’t realised the situation with the old ‘phone until too late so here is the very long version, and …
5th of May 2022 shortened. Another blueish sunrise pretty much hidden by cloud above but this time the valley is full of cloud too which starts to swish up towards us and to bring in snow falling quite hard for a short while, but then it settles to steady but very think snowfall and/or cloud all over us. At times it’s so thick that Haut Bois is almost disappearing and it’s not until just before sunset that MMV is visible. Grey/white old day! 2/5
6th of May 2022. A dark and cloudy start and the sunrise is blue! Once the sun is up we continue to be in waves of cloud both from below and above. There are showers as the day goes on, rain or sleet and only glimpses of sky through the whole day. 2/5
7th of May 2022. Nice sunrise with a slit of clear sky , blue light and cloud above and below. The scene changes pretty dramatically about 3″ in and we shift to bright blue sky above but a real foaming up up thick white cumulus from the valley often pretty much blocking out the view. Gradually the cloud down in the valley boils off but the cumulus just above us thickens by then and white and grey cloud alternate until about 2’40” when some really lovely showers start up and thicken for a bit. Then things change again to pretty total cloud coverage a bit higher above us and cloud seething down below again and that’s how it stays until sunset. 3/5
8th of May 2022. Sun is rising as video starts and this is a fine sunrise with the valley full of cloud catching the sun gloriously and a bubbling wall of cloud at the head of the valley and spitting waves of cloud coming up from the billows in the valley early on. The valley cloud burns away by about 1’30” and the cumulus on the peaks starts with some high cloud drifting over above. Around 2’30” the peak cloud turns dark and the rain comes in to be followed with phase after 3’0″ with two layers of cloud moving in opposite directions and at 3’40” there’s a lovely rainbow. Sunset is lowering and dark. 5/5?
9th of May 2022. The last now until June! A gentle sunrise with a thin finger of cloud around 4km up across the head of the valley. That burns away and about one minute in rather glorious smoke signals of cumulus shoot up off Mont St. Jacques and are gradually copied by brews off pretty much all the peaks. They thicken gradually and create lovely dappling shadows across the valley. About 3’20” we get rain showers and lovely rainbows followed by a rather nice sunset. 4/5 and a nice way to end for now.
11th of June 2022. First bit: Back in my eyrie! This is only about 36″ as I had forgotten that the sun hits the window up here and overheats the old ‘phone. Still a lovely sunrise. 4/5
Second bit: This was the restart of the recording. Beautiful blue sky with occasional little puffs of cumulus above the far peaks. Gentle, watercolour pale sunset. 2/5
12th of June 2022. Missed the sunrise (forgotten to reset my alarm). Another glorious pastel sunrise. Then some waves of high cloud but they pass and by one minute in the sky is pretty clear again. From about 1’2o” there’s one of those lovely times when cloud forms on Mont Blanc and it creates a phase of great cloud shapes which continue in lovely dance all around the vista. About 3’40” the darker clouds do seem to have produce a brief shower over the valley that is followed by sun beams and a lovely fade out to black. 4/5
13th of June 2022. Dawn shows banks of cumulus streaming in over the peaks on the left and initially dissipating over the valley then warm colour seeps into the mix and the clouds hold on and create lovely sunbeam searchlights. By about 1’50” there’s some blue sky and the shadows of the puffy cumulus mottle the pasture across the valley nicely. By 2’50” the cloud thickens temporarily and a rain shower sweeps across the valley but it is short lived and then the cloud thins to puffs above the peaks (and above us). The cloud is almost gone as we go into a lovely pastel sunset. (3/5)
14th of June 2022. Nice sunrise into a cloudless sky, a bit of haze lies in the valley. Everything looks pretty soft focus early on, I wonder if that was condensation on the camera. A few paragliders flit around and after two minutes in some cirrus and some cumulus above the peaks develop. The cirrus spreads to about 3’20” and then things again only for a rather different, much more “mackerel” cirrus to come in and for it to go too before the sun sets in lovely gentle colours. 3/5
15th of June 2022. Sun rises with banks of cumulus skidding across at about 5km I guess. Nice sunbeams as the sun comes through the gaps. That is followed by total coverage higher up and then both that and cumulus and some light showers until at about 1’44” a brief thunder shower (if that’s not a contradiction) comes across. I know it was thunder as I saw and heard it! Then things get lighter: little cumulus below blue. Around 3’20” there is a brief phase of showers again and after that steadily moving cumulus continues until the sun sets pretty colourlessly. 3/5?
16th of June 2022. Another day split into two parts as the old ‘phone had slowly unglued itself from the window (warm sun on rubbish “whitetak”). I’ve tried to back it up with books now! First part: Nice calm sunrise with a little cumulus off the high peaks. I like the phase after 30″ in where the sun becomes visible above Mont St. Jacques. That is followed with blue sky and quite fast moving (this is speeded up 400x) cumulus casting shadows below. From about three minutes the ‘phone starts to slides its point of view down which is quite amusing. 2/5
Second part: From late afternoon to a gentle sunset similar to the sunrise with pale colours and cumulus on the high peaks and tumbling from them. 2/5
17th of June 2022. Sun rises with haze and tiny cumulus clouds silhouetted in the far distance than then to haze everywhere creating lovely atmospheric perspective. Cirrus drifts over quietly and I have the impression that there was a lot of humidity up high linking with the haze. Paragliders! Then it’s just hazy blue and a slow progression of cirrus until about three minutes in when a little cumulus puffs up. By about 3’40” the direction of travel of the cirrus has swung a bit and is coming towards us. Very nice sunset with pale pink colours. 2/5
18th of June 2022. Another day split into two bits as the ‘phone overheated. Part 1: Another hazy dawn with an intense flash of yellow and the sun absolutely burns as it rises above Mont St. Jacques … and then cut to black as the old ‘phone overheated again. 3/5 Then Part 2. This restarts at 10:22. Hazy air again and contrails are a bit like fireworks: quick and disappearing rapidly. After about 50 seconds in very small cumulus clouds start to puff up pretty generally and they form and reform rather prettily for a while but around two minute in the cloud above thickens and darkens and was pretty dramatic looking straight up into it and I thought were in for a thunderstorm, but I think it was too thin for all the water in it and it passed and the sunset is dark and rather fine. 4/5
19th of June 2022. Tiny slivers of thin cloud on the horizon as dawn breaks: flat cumulus or higher? They go fast as the dawn glows golden and the white bright as the sun rises into a hazy but cloudless air. Around 1’50” some cumulus puffs up above Mont St. Jacques and that is followed by more on most of the peaks. After three minutes that darkens and comes to cover the sky and to rain (it was huge drops and then hail on us). By four minutes that had thinned and the sunset is gentle with only a little flattened cumulus. 3/5
20th of June 2022. Vimeo wouldn’t let me trim this so dawn breaks about 11 seconds in and is lovely with cumulus tumbling off Mont Blanc and then Mont Blanc and most things in the distance disappearing into haze as the sun rises and only really starting to become visible again by one minute in. The golf lift gets tested and a little cumulus bubbles off above and from peaks as the day rolls on with the sizes and numbers of the puffs of cloud waxing and waning until we’re back to them just tumbling near Mont Blanc again as the sun sets gently. No need to play on from the first darkness: nothing new there, I just couldn’t trim it off. 2/5
21st of June 2022. Dawn shows two layers of cloud moving at completely different speeds: a high layer almost stationary and lower cumulus (but still up at 4-6km? moving fast. Lovely sunrise but that is rapidly replaced by a complete cloud cover at 3km I would guess and it’s fast moving and rain carrying cumulus. From about 1’50” that is less dark for a bit but rain showers continue. A lot is going on at ground level below us. The archery butts seem to have been recreated. About 4’19” the cloud drama suddenly calms and we head into night! 3/5
22nd of June 2022. We switch from darkness to grey light suddenly about 18″ in and we switch from darkness to grey scudding clouds and they bring in rain showers and then little bits of cumulus form down in the valley. That’s how things continue: dark ceiling of cloud at about 3km(?) streaming across and little clouds down in the valley. It’s not until two minutes in that we first see any blue sky after which the cloud has changed to classic white fluffy cumulus bubbles. Then around 3 minujtes in we are back to rain and dark clouds. There’s a lovely intense rainbow in the bottom right at 3’19” and it comes back a couple of times before 3’45”. Then pretty fine dark sunset. 4/5
23rd of June 2022. Slept through my “timelapse alarm” so missed the early dawn and we open on the sun rising and burning above Mont St. Jacques and raising a little cumulus across the valley. Later cumulus bubbles off the peaks around 3 to 4km. after 1’40” this builds into a complete ceiling of cloud initially with a lovely ribbed lower surface. That thickens and thins, darkens and lightens until about 2’40” when showers start and produce a flash of a rainbow at 2’45” and there’s another (briefly double) at 3’13”. No more rain between that and a dark and lowering sunset. 4/5
24th of June 2022. I have zero understanding of why the recording stopped twice so there are three bits:
first: just 46 seconds, Nice dawn with a lot of cloud down in the valley and moving into lovely orange and blasts of light as the sun rises. 4/5
second: corrupted and gone!
third: from 13:54, 2’16” Now a very grey and rainy day, 23″ in blue sky emerges but we for a while we still disappear into cloud swashing up from the valley. From time to time we can see stationary cloud through the lower layer of steadily moving lower cumulus and eventually we move into a gentle sunset. 2/5?
25th of June 2022. Just cumulus on the high peaks as dawn breaks and that’s pretty much gone by the time the sun comes up behind Mont St. Jacques and then it’s clear blue sky until very thin cumulus forms centrally and a little thicker cumulus bubbles on the high peaks of the horizon ahead. It’s not until about 1’50” that more pure white cumulus bubbles on most of the peaks and above us here. That very slowly thickens and eventually darkens and after 3’10” at times it completely covers the sky though mostly patches of blue remain. From about 3’55” it changes shape a bit and we phase into a rather pallid then just dark sunset. 2/5
26th of June 2022. Gentle dawn with a little high cloud skimming over and quite a bit of cumulus bubbling on the horizon. Very bright white sunrise to disappearing higher cloude and some cumulus above the peaks and lenticular and other ragged shapes a bit higher (c 6km?) The cumulus thickens as the day goes on and its shadows dance across the land. By four minutes it’s thinned again. Gently fading blue sunset. 2/5
27th of June 2022. The ‘phone overheated again so two parts and I’ve decided to give up doing the descriptions to try and create a bit more time in my life so … part I (4/5) … and … part II (4/5).
29th of June 2022. Two parts (overheating again):
part 1 1’08”
part 2 3’8″
30th of June 2022. Glorious sunrise (what is the object, Venus? rising above Mont St. Jacques?) Stormy late evening. 4/5
1st of July 2022. 2/5
2nd of July 2022. Three bits again (overheating, may have fixed it with cooking foil?!)
Part 1 3/5
Part 2 1/5
Part 3 1/5
3rd of July 2022. Fine first minute and good last minute. 3/5
4th of July 2022. 3/5
5th of July 2022. Another very fine first minute of changes (3/5)
6th of July 2022. Nice sunrise again. Lots of coloured processing artefacts I haven’t seen before. (2/5)
7th of July 2022. What IS that object that rises above Mont St. Jacques before the sun rises these days? Nice day. Unusually warm light as sun falls. 2/5
8th of July 2022. Yet another fine sunrise and first minute or more and fine but not uninteresting day 3/5
9th of July 2022. Yet another lovely sunrise 2/5.
10th of July 2022. Yet another fine sunrise: first 30 seconds. 2/5
11th of July 2022. Nice sunrise again then blue sky and gentle cumulus progressions and a pale sunset. 2/5
12th of July 2022. Yet another lovely sunrise this time with some brief deep red colours. What IS that object rising above Mont St. Jacques?! Then another day with little cloud drama though some nice cirrus brushstrokes. 2/5
13th of July 2022. Cloudless dawn with light catching Mont Blanc nicely. Nice sunset too, little cloud action in between. 2/5
14th of July 2022. Interesting sunrise with two layers of cloud moving almost at right angles to each other. A few 14th of July fireworks visible up the valley as the sun sets. 2/5
15th of July 2022. Another lovely sunrise, I like the pale colours around 30″ in. Similar clear colours from about 4’15” as the sun sets. Much sun and blue sky in between! 2/5
16th of July 2022. Only a very little high cirrus and contrails through a nice sunrise and until about 1’50” when a little cumulus bubbles up from the peaks. 1/5
17th of July 2022. Nice cloudless sunrise and ditto sunset. 1/5
18th of July 2022. Vividly coloured sunrise with two very sparse layers of high cloud. I can’t decide if the smudge that seems to occur a bit to the right of centre and 2/3 of the way up the image is a thin cloud or some artefact of the window or ‘phone. One very high parapenter. 1/5
19th of July 2022. A yellow flare of a sunrise then lovely sunbeams across the valley. From about 3’30” things cloud over into a fine dramatic sunset. 3/5
20th of July 2022. This is very different from the recent run of sunrises, this time there is cloud and haze and the haze continues well into the day and fairly solid piles of cumulus bubble on all the peaks and blot out Mont Blanc. 3/5
21st of July 2022. Grey dawn for a change followed by tumbling cumulus at our level that we haven’t seen for days, perhaps a week or two. Then back to blue sky and just a bit of cumulus on the peaks and finally just hazy blue sky and a warm sunset. 2/5
22nd of July 2022. Vivid yellow and orange sunrise with no cloud but gentle haze. Cumulus off the peaks later. Quite a lot of high cirrus and highish cumulus toward sunset. 2/5
23rd of July 2022. Cloudy sunrise for a change looks fine from about 30″ to 45″. Much scudding cumulus from there on! 2/5
24th of July 2022. Cloudless but beautifully hazy sunrise. Apart from parapenters and a tiny amount of cumulus off on the shoulder of Mont Blanc that’s pretty much it! 1/5
25th of July 2022. Another cloudless, glowing sunrise with haze in the air. When some cumulus does appear it seems oddly far downwind of the peaks and ridges. Complete cloud cover later and rain from 3’30” ish. That disappears rapidly around 4’0″ but cloud covers again as sun sets. That’s it for a month! 2/5
25th of August 2022. Back again! This starts much further into the day than it should have done even though I knew I hadn’t set a literally “crack of dawn” alarm to wake and set it going. Not sure what happened there. Lovely sunny day with a shoals of low peak height cumulus with their shadows rolling across the slopes. Quite a sombre final nightfall. 2/5
26th of August 2022. Hm, video cuts off way before the end. What is it with IT and me?! Beautiful sunrise with a lot of cloud filtering the light. Then grey, two changes of cloud direction Ithink and rather lovely shapes as the cloud thickens and thins … and then the recording stops! 3/5
27th of August 2022. A flat layer of cloud below the top of Mont Blanc catches the sunbeams nicely as the sun rises. Then into blue sky above and cumulus bubbling off all the peaks. That continues until we get some lovely pinks and greys as the sun sets. 2/5
28th of August 2022. Muted sunrise with rapidly disappearing cumulus, contrails above and mist in the valley. Then cumulus bubbles up on the peaks. That is then complemented with a little high cirrus. From around 3’20” it’s interesting to see seem a couple of cumulus pillars really grow, one across the valley then one in the distance. Nice pink sunset. 3/5
29th of August 2022. Nice cloudless but misty sunrise. From about 40″ in the only “cloud” is clearly contrails which rather underlines the issues about their contribution to climate change. From 47″ in (or thereabouts!) the usual cumulus bubbles up from the peaks but that stays fairly small and later there is some cloud that I think is cirrus not contrails but hard to tell until quite late on. Two lovely flushes of colour on the clouds as the sun sets. 2/5
30th of August 2022. Lovely mellow sunrise then quite an overcast day with much cloud cover changing constantly. From about 2’35” rain sweeps across fairly dramatically but it’s followed by the most blue sky all day then back to rain and sunset. 3/5
31st of August 2022. Valley full of fluffy cloud as dawn breaks and that waxes and wanes as the sun rises abut as it does, cloud rises to sweep around us. They very blue sky for a bit and then back into cloud … and so it went on for a bit. By two minutes in there is a rather fine wall of cumulus bubbling on the peaks. Some intriguing shapes in the high cloud from three minutes in and then we fadde out with rain battering the other side of the valley and into sunset. 3/5
1st of September 2022. Nice sunrise with a band of cumulus high across the valley bubbling up initially than thinning and breaking up as the sun hit it properly. That was replaced by the usual cumulus bubbling from the peaks and cirrus and a lot of contrails. The transhumance has brought the cows back to our level and they are milling around down between hauts bois and MMV. They make some sudden mass shifts which are quite amusing at this speed. From about 3’25” there are rather nice stationary high cumulus forms and the sun sets gently. 3/5
2nd of August 2022. Particularly lovely sunrise and interesting changes once the sun is up breaking up a bank of high cumulus. Later the day is a progression of changing high cirrus and peak and above height cumulus. From two minutes in rain drives across for a bit but by three minutes in we are back to blue sky and little evaporation clouds dancing over the slopes of Mont St. Jacques and finally a blue sunset. 3/5
3rd of August 2022. Dark start with a shower in the valley and then low cloud down there. By about 40″ some blue sky has emerged and the sun is clearly driving moisture from the recent rains up to form very small puffs of very low cloud, or are these almost more mist/fog patches down there? Same physics I guess. After they melt away the day is just a lot of fairly high (3-4,000m and up) cumulus rushing along. Grey sunset rather mirrors the sunrise, as quite often. 2/5
4th of August 2022. Nice sunrise with a slit of real light in the distance between cloud and a stream of cloud down in the valley developing to become like a river running down the valley under and almost clear blue sky. As the day goes on cumulus really boils up vertically over Mont Blanc and at times elsewhere in a way I don’t recall seeing before. Eventually the cumulus thins out and Mont Blanc re-emerges as the sun sets warmly then to blue and black. 3/5
5th of August 2022. As almost always, sunrise is fine, this time with a bubbling horizon of cumulus turning from a black silhouette to white as the sun rises. That wall on the horizon continues to bubble as a little cirrus, contrails and cumulus come and go above. From around 2’50” there are the sorts of stationary clouds that fascinate me: staying tightly in place while other clouds stream past them and they themselves can be seen not to be really static but just constantly reforming in place. From about 3’30” things change to a more louring sky but that doesn’t come to rain before the sun sets. (3/5)
6th of September 2022. Very nice sunrise with a cap of cloud tumbling on the top of Mont Blanc catching the sun. Interesting to see that the dairy workers are clearly at that feeding & milking station before sunrise every morning (c.05.40 I would guess). Later mostly blue sky with a bit of high cirrus and contrails at times and a little but more constant high cumulus. By about 3’0″ the cumulus is thickening and darkening until the cloud cover is complete and very dark by 3’30” when I think we had a lot of thunder but no lightning visible here. Fade to black. (2/5)
7th of September 2022. Nice flash of sun about 15″ in as it rises then a foam of cumulus around Mont Blanc and contrails and high cirrus. As the day goes on the cumulus gradually thickens until it’s nearly continuous over everything with a layer ceiling of cirrus above that and things continue pretty covered from 3′ to the sunset. (3/5)
8th of September 2022. Nice sunrise with rapidly thinning cloud above and a wash of cloud thinning and then rebuilding down in the valley. Blue sky above. Things fluctuate a bit as the day goes on and after 3’0″” there are nice stationary cloud. Brief flush of pink before the sunset. 3/5
9th of September 2022. Fair bit of cumulus passing across as the sun rises and strikes rather grandly across the valley. they just little puffs off the peaks and wisps off the upper pastures and rich blue sky and warm sun (take my word for that bit: dried my washing nicely!) Around 2’40” there is this recent late afternoon phenomenon of stationary clouds which persist to a low key, blueish sunset. (2/5)
10th of September 2022. Cumulus streaming over as the sun rises rather blue and pale until the sunbeams start to cut across the valley, 30 or 40 seconds in. After that it’s cumulus bubbling off the peaks and high pasture. The mobile milking shed has moved on (quite a way behind us). It’s mostly an uneventful day with blue sky, contrails/cirrus (mostly the former?) and the cumulus gradually thinning in later afternoon and evening to almost none as the sun sets in a pale mirror of how it rose (minus the morning cumulus!) 1/5
11th of September 2022. Cloudless sunrise with colours changing slowly and then sunbeams across the valley (though not very intense: little mist/humidity? It’s not until 1’40” that a very little bit of cumulus bubbles up off the peaks across the valley but that, and some tiny cirrus/contrails are all until about 2’40” when a little more cirrus and more contrails appear. Sharp edged shadows climb across the scene in the afternoon underlining the very dry, clear air and the sunset fades out gently. 1/5
12th of September 2022. Almost cloudless sunrise then from about 20 seconds in rather nice small, stationary cirrus (and contrails). After that there’s no real cloud action but a lot of martens flying around until about 2’20” when there’s a bit of a return of cirrus and contrails and that’s how the cloud picture stays until sunset. 1/5
13th of September 2022. Nice stationary cumulus as the sun rises with a glow of yellow as it does. Then phase over to fairly total thin, high cirrus (?) cover. Occasional patches of blue sky show through and lower cumulus sheets develop as the day goes on (4-5km?) The cumulus darkens from 3’15” and is total as we fade out to black. 2/5
14th of September 2022. Blue then grey dawn and then rain sweeping across as fast as the lowish ceiling of was streaming across. Wisps of cloud form down in the valley later presumably from some warmth starting to evaporate some of that rain again. About 55″ in the cloud direction changes and later some blue sky does come and go but mostly this is a day of cloud streaming over. Some nice sun peaking through after 3’10” then things cloud over again to black out. 3/5?
15th of September 2022. A lot of low cumulus scudding over and nice warm glows as the sun rises. Then rain showers come and go and from time to time the cloud in the valley comes up to engulf us. Some blue sky visible intermittently from about 1’50”. Nice moments when single holes in the cloud create dancing lights on the slopes across the valley. Total cloud cover as the sun sets. 3/5
16th of September 2022. Interesting sunrise with a grey light and that led into a swashing lake of cloud in the valley and a cover of cumulus above too. Some blue sky does get to appear and 1’30” there is quite a lot of it. Then slowly the cumulus thickens and darkens, becoming quite louring at times but no precipitation. A lot of contrails above when the cumulus thins enough to see through. Light rain in the valley I think as the sun sets. 2/5
17th of September 2022. Streaming cloud with sun rising above it and snow has fallen overnight. As the day goes on the sun burns through and where it hits it melts the pretty steadily at our altitude (2,100m). Rather unusual direction of clouds later, coming pretty much straight towards us and making nice patterns on the high pastures. Direction swings as the afternoon goes on. Nice pastel sunset. 3/5
18th of September 2022. Blue sky sunrise, I like the sort of rising floodlight, almost searchlight, effect as the sun rises. After that some contrails and a little cirrus drifts across rather prettily. From about 3’00” one of the peaks below Mont Blanc takes up smoking and is a bit like a solitary adolescent not realising s/he is being given away but the downwind plume, and there’s a nice enough flush of pink and orange as the sun sets, but really a blue day! 2/5
19th of September 2022. Interesting to watch the little cap of cloud on Mont Blanc burning away as the sun rises to what becomes a cloudless sky. About 2’35” a bit of cloud develops around 3500-4000m around Mont Blanc and a bit from Rognais across the valley but then the lighting engineer fades things to black. 1/5?
20th of September 2022. Cloudless sunrise is nice enough and then a sunny, blue sky day. A few little clouds on Rognais an other high peaks between us and Mont Blanc from about 2’40” then a warm looking fade out. (It’s not, it’s quite rapidly going cold up here despite the intense sun.) 1/5
21st of September 2022. Sunrise shows a nice single cloud centre stage which burns away fast. Then just a little cloud bubbling in the pass at the head of the valley way in the distance. Around 1’45” a little diaphanous high cloud, that really is cirrus, not just contrails, starts to form and then a more solid layer of it in the far distance. That spreads and a little cumulus bubbles on peaks around 4-5km … and we fade to black. 2/5
22nd of September 2022. Tiny puffs of cloud on the horizon as the sun rises and then some contrails and mist in the valley and up high in the distance. From about 1’05” a bit of cumulus across the valley on the peaks (and dust from work going on at the foot of Haut Bois, out of sight but blowing up!) Warm sunset 1/5?
23rd of September 2022. Quite a bit of thin high cloud catching the warm colours as the sun rises. That slowly thickens and muddles with, and is cris-crossed with, contrails as the day goes on. By 2’30” the high cover is pretty much complete and thickening and total cover continues to darkness. 1/5
24th of September 2022. We were clearly completely immersed in cloud up here as the sun rose and the much of the first minute is just cloud swirling around us in near white out. From a bit over a minute in things evolve a bit to little cloudlets on the slopes and heavy cover above, and then to more than just cloudlets and at times that sweeps up to cover us again. Around three minutes in some blue sky and sun is seen but only momentarily, and then the sun sets. 3/5
25th of September 2022. Slept through alarm to set old ‘phone recording so we with the sun rising into a pretty overcast day with some low cloud swishing down in the valley. That thickens as the day warms a little and it swashes up to us and snow starts but never settles at this height. There are flashes of blue sky after 1’50” and about 2’23” there’s a very brief little rainbow down in the valley. However, mostly this was a damp, cold day in the clouds! 2/3
26th of September 2022. Clear sky overhead but a lot in the valley. Both change quite a bit as time goes forward with the cloud sweeping up and engulfing us intermittently. In fact it was quite a day for cloudscape changes and I was surprised that by nightfall it hadn’t ever rained or snowed that I could see! 3/5
27th of September 2022. The sun had been rising behind the cloud for some time before any real sunlight reached us to reveal snow on everything and then cloud swirling up and around us. By a minute in some blue sky is revealed and cumulus is scudding across as the snow melts. There are light showers as the hours pass an at times it’s rather fine watching them sweep the opposing slopes and sometimes wash up to us. 2/5?
28th of September 2022. Showers and cloud as the sun rises and really thick overhead cloud only just above us and cloud from the valley swishing and swashing around and up towards us. There are cracks of blue sky around 1’30” but they are short lived. The showers turn back to snow around 3’00” and then we fade out. 3/3?
29th of September 2022. No recording: hopelessly out of focus.
30th of September 2022. In two bits at the moment (aarrgghh how much I hate IT)
a 3’18” and b 11″. Perhaps one day I’m work out a nice easy way to splice them together, probably not.
1st of October 2022. Dawn breaks dramatically and beautifully with layers of cloud above and below and briefly reaching up to us. The higher cloud cover turns total and grey and cloud swirls up from below again and for the rest of the day we’re mostly in the eddying cloud. 3/5 (but only for the dawn).
2nd of October 2022. Day started with layers of cloud and rather nice circling patterns of the cloud down in the valley. About a minute in the higher cloud gives way to blue sky and the cloud in the valley disappears. The cumulus on the peaks and high pastures waxes and wanes as the day goes on but has pretty much gone by three minutes in and there is just a little as the sun sets. 3/5
3rd of October 2022. Nice sunrise with thin cloud in the valley dispersing fast to leave a very clear sky with so, so many contrails. As the day goes on there is some true cirrus as well as the contrails, I think. And a little cumulus, almost local mist continues on the high pasture opposite. By two minutes in that and the contrails have gone and we have just a bit of true cirrus (and then more contrails). Then the shadows crawl up Mont St. Jacques and over the pasture opposite us and we fade to black. 3/5
4th of October 2022. Pale sunrise with thin, high cloud on the horizon and then contrails galore and perhaps some real cirrus. From there on it’s cirrus int he distance and many contrails. Nice warmth in the light towards sunset. 1/5
5th of October 2022. Another near cloudless dawn with pallid but lovely colours turning to blue and then the sun sweeping down the opposite side of the valley. About 1’02” you can see the testing of the snow blowers on golf (yes, that’s the improbable name of that piste dropping down behind Haut Bois!) The larches on Mont St. Jacques are just starting to turn yellow. Lovely warm light before the final fade out. 2/5
7th of October 2022. Nice sunrise with some mist in the air, then contrails and some dwindling cirrus over Mont Blanc that soon disappears completely (I think: had to tell contrails from small cirrus!) Definite cirrus from about 1’55” and that thickens quite rapidly and covers most the sky through to sunset. 2/5
8th of October 2022. Wow an overcast start to the day with the cloud above convulsing in odd waves through the first minute. Cumulus does form lower on the peaks but that too seems to contort and convulse. From about 1’50” cloud from the valley surges up to us and from there on it’s mostly a view in and out of cloud. 3/5
9th of October 2022. Interesting dawn with initial total high cloud and the valley absolutely full of low cloud. From about 40″ in there is some blue sky and the cloud in the valley is swishing and swashing around as it thins. however, the high cloud thickens again and there are some showers from about two minutes in but a thin rainbow down in the valley around 2’22”. (Pah, it’s not down in the valley Christopher, that’s just the angle of my view to it.) Nice final clouds as the sun sets. 3/5
10th of October 2022. Cloud in the valley and lots of cirrus above us both layers moving and changing a lot as the sun rises and the sky turns blue. Wind seems to be coming from the East for a change. That swings to come from behind us and the higher cloud disappears for a bit leaving fine, brightly white cumulus piling up from the peaks. Lovely setting sun on that around 3’0″ and then we fade to black. 3/5
11th of October 2022. Rater a different sunrise from any recent days. Rather beautiful with slow moving contrails and cirrus above us as the colours cool to blue and whites. From about 1’15” (?) there are puffs of cloud almost like smoke off the high pasture opposite and for a bit, around 1’30” – 1’40”, there is a such a dappled cover of cirrus that the shadows on the land reminded me of swimming underwater in clear seas. The cloud thickens to an unsensational sunset. 3/5
12th of October 2022. Nice sunrise with reshaping pools of cloud down in the valley and above. That changes to contrails and cirrus above and little cumulus coming off the high pasture and peaks. From 1’40” the cloud has thickened above and below and there are some showers in the valley (and a quick rainbow on the L). Nice light and colours as the sun sets. 3/5
13th of October 2022. Nice pallid sunrise we waves of colour. Then pretty total high cloud cover until about 1’12” when there ae brief bits of blue and again from 1’35” creating that nice dappling of shadows bu it’s mostly a day of high cloud moving across. 2/5
14th of October 2022. Cloud above and some swashing up from below, and that pretty much summarises the day! 1/5
15th of October 2022. Nice sunrise with a sort of river of cloud down in the valley slowly running away while a really fast flowing layer of cloud at and above about 4km is quite dramatic and thickens and brings the first shower at about 1’12” after which it thins rapidly and seems to slow a bit from about 1’40” and the direction swings a bit as the day rolls on and by 2’45” we have my beloved stationary clouds downwind of Mont Blanc and things fade to black. 3/5
16th of October 2022. First 20 seconds are lovely with a mix of small stationary and moving high clouds that catch the sun as it rises with lovely pink and salmon colours. Those clouds then seem to coalesce and shrink and then we only have trace cirrus and contrails above and some thicker cirrus way off in the distance. As the day goes on the dominant theme remains blue sky though the high cirrus does thicken toward nightfall so there are lovely flashes of pink on that as the sun drops. 4/5 (for the dawn and sunset!)
17th of October 2022. Nice colours as the sun rises on a little high cirrus and contrails. From that sunrise until about 2’30” when some stationary clouds appear above Mont Blanc it’s really only varying amounts of cirrus and contrails! 2/5
18th of October 2022. Another sunrise of pallid colours but not enough cloud at first to catch the colours. Then pretty much cloudless. Testing the golf ski lift (behind Haut Bois) and you can really see how the trees behind MMV are all larches and turning and will drop their needles completely shortly while the majority of the trees on Mont St. Jacques are true evergreens (forgotten what species). Some high cumulus and a little cirrus as the day goes on but it was a very quiet day in the skies. 2/5
19th of October 2022. Glowing, cloudless first sunrise until a few wisps of cirrus move across and, by about 40″ in, they are joined by contrails and around 1’15” take the true “mackerel tail” shape. By sunset at least a thin cover of cirrus is complete. 1/5
20th of October 2022. Rather grey start to the day with just some warm rising sunlight catching the undersides of some of the streaming cloud and pretty dense cloud from about 4km up I think just streams across all day really. Some showers and some, later in the day, really swamp the whole view but were never really hurling down that much rain. 2/5
21st of October 2022. Heavy cloud and shower as day dawns and that spawns a little low cloud down in the valley and on the slopes that thickens as the day goes on and comes up to embrace us. That falls away again and from about two minutes in there is steady, and rather fine, progression of heavy cloud driving across overhead through to sunset. 3/5
22nd of October 2022. Light dawns very beautifully with a moment of light glowing over Mont Blanc and the clouds changing fast. The sky clears to a lovely blue with a little cumulus on the high pasture and a steady stream of it over the high peaks but not detaching and continuing. About 2’50” this changes and a lot high cloud streams in from behind us and we fade rapidly to black. 3/5
23rd of October 2022. High cloud streaming across and covering the sky completely as the sun finally gets some light through. Little bits of blue sky show through from time to time after 50″ but most of the time it’s total cover and think rain. A louring day! 2/5
24th of October 2022. Rather ghostly sunrise/dawn with no sun visible and rain and cloud covering everything and everywhere really. No real view appears until one minute in and after that the clouds and rain showers continue to dominate though some blue sky appears after 1’30”. There are some lovely “searchlight” beams through holes in the cloud after two minutes but it continues stormy and dramatic to nightfall. 4/5?
25th of October 2022. I had forgotten to start the recording so the very first of the sunrise is missing but what we have is lovely with orange tints and a a very little cloud, some high and some deep in the valley. Mont Blanc acquires a little trailing streamer of cloud which then evaporates as we move to thin high cirrus and contrails. After about 1’15” Mont Blanc acquires a new cap of cloud and standing waves of it and I like the way that standing pattern mutates until about 2’15” when a general thickening of high cloud largely subsumes it. By about 2’45” that cloud has thickened and brought showers and so sunset is a fairly rapid fade out to black. 3/5
26th of October 2022. A dark start with cloud rolling over but it thins and catches the sun as that rises and by 30″ in we’ve got mostly blue sky and bright sun with cumulus streaming off the top of Mont Blanc. Gradually we get to the point where there’s a bit more cumulus coming off the peaks including behind us. Around 2’0″ in it all seems to slow so presumably the upper air winds dropped pretty suddenly then. Nice warm sun on Mont St. Jacques in the late afternoon and Mont Blanc showing rather majestically in the distance as the sun finally sets. 3/5
27th of October 2022. Beautiful, bright, clear sunrise with a little cloud streaming off Mont Blanc and otherwise clear sky until some later contrails and very light cloud on other peaks from time to time. From 1’05” there’s a bit more high cumulus. From about 2’30” that coalesces to a wide band and then we fade out to night. 3/5
28th of October 2022. Lost!
29th of October 2022. Pallid sunrise with nice flushes of orange and pink. Then nice light on the larches. As the sun rises higher there is very slow movement of high, thin cirrus. Around 2’0″ tiny puffs of cumulus come off Mont St. Jacques moving R to L, almost opposite the drive of the high cloud. Some nice flushes of colour on the high cloud and on Mont Blanc as the sun sets.