Elusive Firefall shines in Yosemite, see the dazzling photos
Meteorologist
Saturday, February 20, 2016, 1:41 PM - Every year, adventurous photographers flock to Yosemite National Park in California hoping to catch a glimpse of dazzling, but short-lived, spectacle. And, this year, the winter weather is cooperating.
Known as the Firefall, El Capitan's Horsetail Falls treats lucky viewers to a remarkable optical illusion for a few short weeks every February. Starting around mid-month, the setting sun aligns just so with the rock face to illuminate the falling water in vivid shades of orange and yellow, giving the impression of lava streaming down the side of the landmark peak.
But while the chance is there every year, actually catching the falls in the act can be tricky. The angle of the sun is the same in October, but the falls dry up during the spring after the snow pack that feeds them is gone, leaving mid-to-late February as the only time for the phenomenon. The window each day is only about 10 minutes long, corresponding with the last red-orange rays of the lowest angle of the setting sun as they reach the smoother-falling upper part of the waterfall. Naturally that also means you need a sunny February day in Yosemite, warm enough to trigger snow melt atop El Capitan. But the winter can't have been similarly quiet - the falls only flow when there's sufficient snowpack in the small basin that feeds them.
Luckily for photographic treasure hunters, this year is providing ample opportunity for what might be their once-in-a-lifetime shot. While the 2015-2016 El Niño has tended to soak Northern California and the Pacific Northwest rather than points further south, the snowpack over the southern Sierra Nevada was still at 90% of normal as of this week.
With mainly sunny skies and highs 10oC to 15oC forecast through the end of the month, conditions are near perfect this year for spectacular shots like these taken earlier this week.
While 'firefall' is certainly an apt name for the sight, it is also a nod to 'original' Yosemite Firefall, a summer nighttime spectacle put on by the owners of the Glacier Point Hotel in the late nineteenth century through the late 1960s. Glowing embers were pushed from the top of Glacier Point and allowed to fall more than 900 metres to the valley below, making a 'waterfall of fire' for the delight of onlookers. The National Parks Service put a stop to the show in 1968, in the interest of preserving the natural environment.
Sources: California Department of Water Resources, Yosemite Firefall, Original Yosemite Firefall
