February 9, 2009 Los Angeles Skyline and San Gabriel Mountains snow

I only work at LAX once a month, but of late the days that I do work there wind up being rather interesting weatherwise.  A weather system brought rain to L.A. and vicinity over the weekend, and on this Monday, a second, colder disturbance moved through during the daytime.  This caused occasional storms and a thunderstorm or two primarily NW through E of LAX.  Snow levels came down to about 3000 feet, and midday temperatures in the valley were only in the low 40s.

I had my cameras and tripod with me at LAX, and shot the usual plethora of airplane images.  The clouds and showers obscured the mountains to the north and northeast for most of the day, though.  By the time my shift was ending (at 3 p.m.), some heavier convection was moving east through the valleys to the north.  It looked like this was the final wave of storms for the system, and there might be a chance that the clouds would clear in front of the mountains before sunset.  I figured that this might be a good opportunity to get some very nice shots of the L.A. skyline in front of the snow-capped San Gabriel Mountains.  And, since I was in the LAX area, I was also near the Baldwin Hills, which affords a fabulous view of L.A. in front of the mountains!   I had never been in or on the Baldwin Hills, but I managed to find a suitable viewpoint in Kenneth Hahn Park after driving around some on Jefferson and La Cienega.

After a cold winter storm such as the one on this day, visibilities and clarity in the L.A. basin are about as good as possible.  The L.A. skyscapers, about 8 miles away, were sharp and distinct.  But, clouds to my west shaded downtown, and clouds still obscured the mountains.  I just had to be patient.  The area clouds moved away for the most part after 45 minutes or so, the L.A. basin was filled with sunshine, and the clouds thinned in front of the mountains, too!  This was perfect!  Several other photographers stopped by during my two hours spent here…we didn’t have to say anything.  This is just one more reason why we live in Los Angeles!