Wednesday, January 09, 2008
December Sun in Sweden
On my recent trip to Sweden, I didn't see the sun at all while I was in the country. I watched the sun set on Sunday as I left Orange County Airport and I saw it again when my plane broke through the clouds above Stockholm the following Friday.
Here is a photo taken from the airplane looking down at Lake Elsinore. This is about 10 minutes after take off as the plane was flying east. My last glimpse of the sun was about an hour after this.
The sky was clear for most of the trip. The problem was that the days were short and the sun never rose far above the horizon. I was at approximately 63 degrees North Latitude (about like mid-Alaska) and very close to the Winter Solstice (the shortest day of the year). The sun rose at around 8:30am and set at around 2:45pm. On top of that, I was working in a small valley that didn't get direct sunlight.
The series of pictures below show the front of the building where I was working at various times of the day. Note the clock on the front of the building and then compare the timestamps on the photos (my camera phone was still on US Pacific time).
Here is a photo when we arrived to work one morning at 8:06am (it was Dec 12 in Sweden, but still Dec 11 at 11:06pm at home).
Here is a similar shot the next morning. Note that the sky is clear in both photos, but the sun was never high enough to see it.
Here is a photo at around 9:30am. The sun is up, but not shining on anything near me.
At lunchtime, I could see the sun shining on some nearby homes. The pictures below show the front of the building again, and then I turned to my left to take a photo of sunshine in the distance.
Finally, I took some photos at 2:20pm when the sun was close to setting.
Shortly after 3:00pm the sky was completely dark. It was nighttime.
The clear skies also led to some cold temperatures. Clouds act as an insulating blanket the retain heat. Having grown up in SoCal, I have not had to endure a lot of cold temperatures in my life. I believe that I hit my personal low for temperatures I have been outside to experience one night when we left work. It was -19C which is around -2 Fahrenheit.
Here is a photo taken from the airplane looking down at Lake Elsinore. This is about 10 minutes after take off as the plane was flying east. My last glimpse of the sun was about an hour after this.
The sky was clear for most of the trip. The problem was that the days were short and the sun never rose far above the horizon. I was at approximately 63 degrees North Latitude (about like mid-Alaska) and very close to the Winter Solstice (the shortest day of the year). The sun rose at around 8:30am and set at around 2:45pm. On top of that, I was working in a small valley that didn't get direct sunlight.
The series of pictures below show the front of the building where I was working at various times of the day. Note the clock on the front of the building and then compare the timestamps on the photos (my camera phone was still on US Pacific time).
Here is a photo when we arrived to work one morning at 8:06am (it was Dec 12 in Sweden, but still Dec 11 at 11:06pm at home).
Here is a similar shot the next morning. Note that the sky is clear in both photos, but the sun was never high enough to see it.
Here is a photo at around 9:30am. The sun is up, but not shining on anything near me.
At lunchtime, I could see the sun shining on some nearby homes. The pictures below show the front of the building again, and then I turned to my left to take a photo of sunshine in the distance.
Finally, I took some photos at 2:20pm when the sun was close to setting.
Shortly after 3:00pm the sky was completely dark. It was nighttime.
The clear skies also led to some cold temperatures. Clouds act as an insulating blanket the retain heat. Having grown up in SoCal, I have not had to endure a lot of cold temperatures in my life. I believe that I hit my personal low for temperatures I have been outside to experience one night when we left work. It was -19C which is around -2 Fahrenheit.
# posted by - Rob @ 2:47 PM 
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Wow -2 is your record low? Pansey California boy!!
I was sub zero skiing in Utah at 5 below.
Tina as a kid in Canada probably has us all beat. Maybe Joe... he did live in Alaska...
Nice photogs. I really guess you didnt get around too much if you only have pictures of the same building....
I was sub zero skiing in Utah at 5 below.
Tina as a kid in Canada probably has us all beat. Maybe Joe... he did live in Alaska...
Nice photogs. I really guess you didnt get around too much if you only have pictures of the same building....
I proudly accept the "Pansy Califonia Boy" title regarding cold temperatures. I have no interest in moving where I get to experience "real" cold!
My camera phone does not have a flash. I have some photos when I was not at the building that you see here, but it was dark so I could not take many pictures.
My camera phone does not have a flash. I have some photos when I was not at the building that you see here, but it was dark so I could not take many pictures.
Joe probably remembers it a lot better than I would, since we moved from Montreal when I was 6.
We did hunt Easter eggs in the snow, and we trick-or-treated at Halloween in the snow too...
Up in Canada they claim 2 seasons. Winter & Summer. Spring & Fall seem to last a couple of weeks between.
:)
We did hunt Easter eggs in the snow, and we trick-or-treated at Halloween in the snow too...
Up in Canada they claim 2 seasons. Winter & Summer. Spring & Fall seem to last a couple of weeks between.
:)
Windchill for 22 Degrees F, 35 knot winds (found at this site: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/elp/wxcalc/windchill.html) feels like 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit.
Why do you ask? This was way easier than that moped name question!
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Why do you ask? This was way easier than that moped name question!
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