By Rob Redrod
The northern latitudes of the Lower 48 are known for long summer days that seem to stretch on forever at the solstice (that day in late June when the sun is perpendicular at the Tropic of Cancer). It makes for warm, balmy weather, pleasant evenings, and lingering solar insolation that keeps terra firma heated late into the night. In Seattle, the maximum day length is 16 hours. Los Angeles, by contrast, has as its longest day, a relatively short 14.5.
While we northerners are lucky to have wonderful summer evenings those farther to the south don’t experience, we also have to deal with the flip side of the coin: When the weather finally does change, it can come suddenly, and with an abrupt drop in temperature that’s as obvious as the leaves of the quaking aspens turning from green to yellow (and eventually dropping to the ground). We also know that long winter nights are just around the corner, and that we have a six-month wait until the earth is again warmed by the sun and suitable for planting. (We ski in the meantime!)
This year, we had an unseasonably warm fall that surely qualified as an “Indian Summer.” The nights in Eastern Washington stayed into the 50s well into mid-October, and the days mostly maintained temperatures above 70 degrees, and sometimes into the 80s. The result was a near-perfect flowering season for all short-day annuals, including marijuana. These photos were taken during the flowering period from late-August to mid-October.