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THE GREAT OUTDOORS — The duplicitous nature of well — nature, can be striking.
A few days after Hurricane Rosa made landfall along the Baja Peninsula and moved inland bringing floods across Mexico and the southwestern United States, remnants of the storm arrived along Utah's Wasatch Front.
The possibility of debris flows, flash flooding and even landslides near fresh burn scars from two of Utah's active wildfires necessitated the construction of water diversion barriers using heavy equipment and sandbags in order to protect some of Utah's communities.
But where the rain from Hurricane Rosa brought some concerns, it also brought aid. Along with providing moisture for Utah's arid and drought-stricken landscape, Rosa also aided in the containment and eventual suppression of the Pole Creek and Bald Mountain fires.
The storm's billowing clouds also put on quite a scenic display. The already remarkable beauty of autumn in Utah's Wasatch Mountains took on a near otherworldly quality during the waning hours of Rosa's visit to Utah's slopes.
The sprawling groves of aspens and cottonwoods carpeting the snow-dusted mountains traded in their bright hues of summer green for warmer shades of yellow, orange and red as Rosa's silver clouds slowly rolled over Utah's landscape.
With the impression of artistic restraint, Rosa's curtain of clouds parted, at first granting only glimpses of autumn's full splendor. It was a heavenly scene not unfamiliar to those who call Utah's idyllic landscapes home, and a compelling reminder to pause now and again and breathe in special moments before they're gone.
Watch the video to see the entrancing fall scene.
