Sun Pillar Over Grand Marais Light 001

This weekend a snowstorm moved into northern Minnesota and dropped several inches of snow. Prior to a storm can be a good time to get some great sunset photos. I went to town on Friday night and I couldn’t have gone at a better time. It was one of the prettiest sunsets I have seen all year.
The reds were incredibly vibrant as a small sun pillar formed over the lighthouse. Sun pillars form when the ice crystals in the upper atmosphere reflect the sunlight back to earth. A friend in Two Harbors also saw the sun pillar so anyone watching the evening sky from Two Harbors to Grand Marais got the opportunity to see a pretty good show.

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Grand Marais Harbor Sunrise 001

Earlier in the week there was enough cloud cover that I was able to capture the sun rising and setting below the lighthouse.

GrandMaraisHarborSunrise001

Grand Marais Harbor Sunset 001

During the winter months the path of the sun is low enough that from the upper North Shore the sun rises and sets on Lake Superior.

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