Violence in weather often brings at least one moment of beauty. In Juneau it usually comes just after scheduled sunrise but before the day’s storm winds build to full strength. This morning, after being driven without mercy by 4o knot winds, the clouds over Gasteneau Channel lost cohesion and let in a pyramid of light. It brightened the channel water and the houses of the hardy few living at Lucky Me.  Something made precious by the knowledge that it would disappear in minutes.

Shortly after the winds returns, shaking the building where I work and making transit up the downtown streets an adventure.  But all who stopped to see the clouds part received Beauty to carry them through the day’s storm.

{This morning’s weather report from the Juneau Empire: Particularly gusty wind conditions this morning canceled four Alaska Airline trips from, or stopping in Juneau, with at least one flight delayed by weather. Winds gusts were so high around Juneau that Eaglecrest Ski Area set a new record. Patricia deLaBruere deputy airport manager, said the Juneau Area Wind System clocked winds at Eaglecrest at 116 knots — 133.49 miles per hour.)