The series of images making up the historical image gallery typically consists of:

• Image spectrum consisting of a series of Excellent to Very Poor regional haze conditions, corresponding to deciview increments of the Visibility Index scale.

• Seasonal images representative of pristine, scenic, or meteorological interest.

• Unique representations of layered haze, regional haze, or pollution episodes of significant importance.

The Estrella Mountains image gallery was last updated in May 2004. Check this page again for future updates.

Image Spectrum:
The following images have been selected to represent regional haze conditions corresponding to the Excellent to Very Poor categories of the Visibility Index Scale.

A clean December day with excellent visibility throughout the Phoenix monitoring region.

Typical good visibility day in November with a slight milky appearance of regional haze over the Estrella Mountains monitoring vista.

Typical fair visibility day in November with a moderate appearance of regional haze over the Estrella Mountains monitoring vista.

Poor visibility day with significant regional haze throughout the Estrella Mountains monitoring vista, November.

Very Poor visibility day in November with significant enough regional haze throughout the vista that the Sierra Estrella Mountains are barely visible.

Seasonal Images
The following images are representative of pristine, scenic, or meteorological observances of interest.

Pristine

Scenic

Example of excellent visibility representative of the Estrella Mountains monitoring vista. This image was taken at 3:30 p.m. on December 16, 2003.

Example of a scenic day with excellent visibility for the Estrella Mountains monitoring vista. This image was taken at 3:30 p.m. on December 26, 2003.

Unique Estrella Mountains Gallery Images:
The following images are representative of observed layered haze, regional haze, or pollution episodes of significant importance.

Layered Haze

Layered Haze

November 7, 2003, 11:00 a.m.

November 7, 2003, 4:45 p.m.

Representative ground-based layered haze impacts from the 2003 California wildfires. Phoenix metro region and Sierra Estrella Mountains as seen from the Estrella Mountains Web camera, viewing 180° south.

Representative ground-based layered haze impacts from the 2003 California wildfires. Phoenix metro region and Sierra Estrella Mountains as seen from the Estrella Mountains Web camera, viewing 180° south.

Layered Haze

Layered Haze

November 17, 2003, 7:15 a.m.

November 17, 2003, 7:45 a.m.

Local plume and representative layered haze impacting the Phoenix metro region, as seen from the Estrella Mountains Web camera, viewing 180° south. Three 30-minute interval images provided, 7:15, 7:45, and 8:15 a.m.

Local plume and representative layered haze impacting the Phoenix metro region, as seen from the Estrella Mountains Web camera, viewing 180° south. Three 30-minute interval images provided, 7:15, 7:45, and 8:15 a.m.

Layered Haze

Layered Haze

November 17, 2003, 8:15 a.m.

December 16, 2003, 9:30 a.m.

Local plume and representative layered haze impacting the Phoenix metro region, as seen from the Estrella Mountains Web camera, viewing 180° south. Three 30-minute interval images provided, 7:15, 7:45, and 8:15 a.m.

Representative ground-based layered haze impacting the Phoenix metro region, as seen from the Estrella Mountains monitoring vista.

Layered Haze

Layered Haze Event: December 2, 2003 through December 4, 2003

December 2, 2003,
7:30 a.m.

December 2, 2003,
7:45 a.m.

December 2, 2003,
8:00 a.m.

December 2, 2003,
8:15 a.m.

December 2, 2003,
8:30 a.m.

December 2, 2003,
9:00 a.m.

December 2, 2003,
9:30 a.m.

December 2, 2003,
10:00 a.m.

December 3, 2003,
7:45 a.m.

December 3, 2003,
8:00 a.m.

December 3, 2003,
8:30 a.m.

December 3, 2003,
9:00 a.m.

December 3, 2003,
10:00 a.m.

December 4, 2003,
8:00 a.m.

December 4, 2003,
9:15 a.m.

December 4, 2003,
10:00 a.m.

Representative layered and regional haze event that impacted morning visibility seen from both the Estrella Mountains (above) and Superstition Mountains Web cameras.

Regional Haze

Regional Haze Event: November 17, 2003

7:00 a.m.

7:15 a.m.

7:30 a.m.

7:45 a.m.

8:00 a.m.

8:15 a.m.

8:30 a.m.

8:45 a.m.

9:00 a.m.

9:15 a.m.

10:00 a.m.

12:00 p.m.

2:00 p.m.

Fifteen-minute interval images depicting a regional haze event that impacted visibility, as seen from the Estrella Mountains monitoring vista on November 17, 2003.

Regional Haze

Urban Fire Event: December 28, 2003

February 24, 2004,
9:00 a.m.

February 25, 2004,
9:00 a.m.

February 26, 2004,
9:00 a.m.

Selected morning images depicting regional haze during a period of high relative humidity, February 24 through February 26, 2004. These images represent the Estrella Mountains monitoring vista viewing 180° south.

Pollution Episode
Southern California Wildfire Impacts: October 26 through November 9, 2003
In October of 2003, Southern California experienced the most devastating wildland fire disaster in state history. Over 750,000 acres burned. Smoke from the wildfires caused unhealthy levels of particulate pollution in a large expanse of Southern California and the Southwestern United States. Visibility in the Phoenix region was noticeably impacted from October 26 through November 9, 2003.

Below are selected morning images depicting daily visibility conditions observed from the Estrella Mountains Web camera from October 26 through November 9, 2003.

October 26, 2003,
7:15 a.m.

October 27, 2003,
7:15 a.m.

October 28, 2003,
7:15 a.m.

October 29, 2003,
7:15 a.m.

October 30, 2003,
7:15 a.m.

October 31, 2003,
7:15 a.m.

November 1, 2003,
7:15 a.m.

November 2, 2003,
7:15 a.m.

November 7, 2003,
7:15 a.m.

November 7, 2003,
8:45 a.m.

November 8, 2003,
7:15 a.m.

November 9, 2003,
7:15 a.m.

Pollution Episode

Hourly interval images depicting California wildfire impacts observed on November 8, 2003 from the Estrella Mountains Web camera, viewing 180° south.

7:15 a.m.

8:15 a.m.

9:15 a.m.

10:15 a.m.

11:15 a.m.

12:15 pm.

1:15 pm.

2:15 pm..

3:15 pm.

Pollution Episode

Local Excavation Impacts: May 8, 2004 through May 10, 2004

May 8, 2004,
7:15 a.m.

May 8, 2004,
8:15 a.m.

May 9, 2004,
7:15 a.m.

May 10, 2004,
7:30 a.m.

May 10, 2004,
9:15 a.m.

Excavation activities stirred up particulates in close proximity to both the Estrella Mountains (above) and White Tank Mountains Web cameras for several days in April and May. The above images depict resulting visibility conditions from the Estrella Mountains Web camera, viewing 180° south.