Sky Watch: Vacation Skies

I took this on my way to visit my daughter and her family for the holidays. This is the dome of the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston, West Virginia. The magnificent 293- foot gold dome which tops the structure is five feet higher than the dome of the U.S. Capitol. The entire dome is gilded in 14 karat gold leaf applied to the copper and lead roof in tiny 3 3/8 inch squares.

My daughter's 27th birthday was on the twenty-eighth of December. We took her out to eat at her favorite Chinese Buffet and as we left the restaurant the evening sky was pink and blue with some ominous black clouds. We were sure a storm was approaching but it slowly passed by without a drop of rain.

Starting home down the interstate Tuesday afternoon the sky in Virginia was gorgeous. I took this one through the windshield of the car. I liked the contrast of the whispy clouds with the cotton like ones overtop.

This was taken from the passenger's seat looking out the driver's side window.

A little further down the interstate I noticed the rainbow colors in the clouds. I bumped up the color saturation in this image so you could see the color a little better. It wasn't a rainbow. Dewdrop will have to tell us the correct term. I'm thinking a sundog but she's the resident expert!

Happy Skywatching in the New Year!