San Francisco Peaks Precipitation Shadow
Top of Red Hill, Coconino County, Arizona, USA
March 28, 2015, 1842 UTC (1142 Local)
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© 2015 David Schaubert, All Rights Reserved.
Caption
Red Hill is a 1200 foot AGL (7219 MSL) volcanic cinder cone (one of many) in a dormant volcanic region North of Flagstaff, Arizona. The area is extremely dry as it is located in the precipitation shadow of the San Francisco chain of peaks that rise 7,000 feet above the local plateau (13,000 MSL). The primary precipitation in this region is the monsoons that bring moisture North from the Baja California in Mexico. While the city of Flagstaff (located 20 miles South on the other side of the San Francisco Mountains) can get 100 inches of snow in a winter, the area downwind of the Peaks sees very little as most of the moisture is deposited on the Peaks as the prevailing Southernly winds are lifted over them.
This is a pole-pano taken from the top of Red Hill that shows the extreme dry local microclimate. The scene starts pointed to the South towards the snow-capped San Francisco Mountains and shows the numerous other dormant cinder cones in the area.
Location
Lat: 35° 32' 14" N
Long: 112° 37' 31" W
Elevation: 2200
Precision is: High. Pinpoints the exact spot.
Equipment
Canon XTi (400D) DSLR, Sigma 8mm f3.5 fisheye lens, No-Name 14' Pole-Saw Pole, Apple MacPro 2008, PTGui Pro 10.12, Photoshop CS5 Extended, Pano2VR 4.10
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