Inversion mirages

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adamschneider
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Inversion mirages

Post by adamschneider » December 11th, 2017, 11:29 am

I went up Saddle Mountain yesterday. Due to the persistent inversion, there was frost along Highway 26 all through the Coast Range, and the Saddle Mountain trailhead was pretty chilly, but it was wonderfully warm above about 2000' (at least 65°F at the summit!); even the easterly breeze was warm. And the inversion did crazy things to the distant mountain views from the top.

Here's Mt. Hood, with a Fata Morgana mirage stretching out its middle elevations:

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I found a photo online of what Mt. St. Helens & Mt. Adams look like from Saddle Mountain on a clear non-inverted winter day and compared it to yesterday:

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The wackiest of all, though, was the Mt. Margaret Backcountry, which looked like a snowy version of the Colorado Plateau:

Image
Last edited by adamschneider on February 5th, 2024, 12:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

neilsonw
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Re: Inversion mirages

Post by neilsonw » December 11th, 2017, 12:02 pm

That's AWESOME!

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Chip Down
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Re: Inversion mirages

Post by Chip Down » December 11th, 2017, 8:25 pm

I'm wondering how I'd react to seeing that. Would I wonder if something was wrong with me?

That's freakishly warm. But a couple summers ago I discovered that Saddle Mt is consistently cool in the summer. On days where it was too hot to go anywhere else, Saddle was my comfort zone. I bet there were lots of days when Saddle was cooler than Timberline Lodge.

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adamschneider
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Re: Inversion mirages

Post by adamschneider » December 11th, 2017, 9:53 pm

Chip Down wrote:I'm wondering how I'd react to seeing that. Would I wonder if something was wrong with me?
I was wondering why I couldn't tell which one was Adams and which was St. Helens.
Chip Down wrote:That's freakishly warm.
It is, but it happens every winter or two. A few years ago, I saw the Yellowstone Mountain weather station (3080', NE of Sweet Home) report 77° during a mid-winter inversion. That one and Horse Creek (3402', near Table Rock Wilderness) are fun to watch. Around 3000'-4000' seems to be the sweet spot for inversion warmth.

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markesc
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Re: Inversion mirages

Post by markesc » December 20th, 2017, 8:43 pm

REALLY cool!!!

I have a shot of hood, also from saddle mt, maybe 15 years ago, with some strange action on it, I always thought it was something to do with the camera shutter going bad and not inversion action.

Thank you for sharing!

JeffreyHoward
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Re: Inversion mirages

Post by JeffreyHoward » December 24th, 2017, 9:26 am

That's amazing. :shock: Thanks so much for sharing!

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BurnsideBob
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Re: Inversion mirages

Post by BurnsideBob » January 17th, 2018, 10:04 pm

Wow, Adam, that's neat.

Saw something similar not too long ago. An inversion layer reflecting the sky? Ideas?

Oct 25, 2017, early morning, driving US 50 between Hickison Summit and Eureka, Nevada.

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