Nick Ulivieri

@nuphoto

I'm an architecture photographer and Chicago is my backdrop. I post about weather, science, and urbanism issues, too. ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ 📩: nick@nuphoto.com

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Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· 23d

AQI in our condo on Friday AM vs Saturday afternoon. Air purifiers were cranking all night Friday and smoke cleared out by early afternoon. It’s drifting back in now, though. #ILwx #WXsky

AQI reading in our condo showing poor air quality for both VOCs and CO2

AQI reading in our condo showing clean air quality for both VOCs and CO2

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· 24d

A welcome sight tonight after the smoke plume, temporarily, cleared out of Chicago. #ILwx #WXsky

A puffy cloud takes up the majority of the scene. Its right edges glow a warm yellow-orange from the low, setting sun. The sky is a deep, saturated blue.

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· 25d

This satellite view of the smoke plume (from today) is insane. Look how far it stretches across the Atlantic.

Satellite view of eastern North America showing a large wildfire smoke plume and hazy air mass drifting across the, Midwest and mid-Atlantic United States, extending well across the Atlantic Ocean. Land features including the Great Lakes, Florida, and the East Coast are visible beneath varying cloud cover.

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· 25d

The worst of the wildfire smoke has moved out for the time being, but now small showers and storms are starting to pop all around Chicago. #ILwx #WXsky

A map of northeast Illinois focusing on the Chicagoland region and surrounding areas showing small clusters of showers and non-severe thunderstorms roaming the area.

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· 25d

After a dystopian drive home from Rockford in a smoky, premature twilight, I came home to virtually no view of the skyline. Sears Tower is 1.4 miles away #ILwx #WXsky

A view of the Chicago skyline at night, except it’s nearly completely obscured by wildfire smoke. The most obvious details are light in the mid-ground along the highway

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· 26d

I posted this last year to Instagram. Full caption in alt text, but essentially, before 2020 wildfire smoke wasn't ever a variable I had to plan photoshoots around. Now, it's been 6 summers in a row.

A screen grab from Instagram of one of my photos of a wildfire-filled sky above Chicago. The caption reads: Nothing glamorous about this photo from yesterday morning (June 5th). Simply a look at Canadian wildfire smoke engulfing Chicago and its skyline. Yesterday, the AQI (air quality index) hovered around 160 which is considered unhealthy for everyone (for reference 0-50 is good). Among major cities, Chicago's air quality was one of the worst in the *world.*

This is now the fifth year in a row that wildfire smoke from afar - be it Canada, California, or places between - has impacted the air quality here at home.

Prior to 2020 I can't think of a time I had to consider distant wildfires as a photoshoot variable. But in the last 5 years, it's something l've often had to factor into when planning summer projects - shoots have been postponed and rescheduled because conditions were unfavorable.
Yes it's unhealthy, but it's also ugly. When it's heavy and near the surface, the smoke saps the color and vibrancy from the cityscape. It turns what should be a blue sky into a murky, acrid grey-brown. The sunlight shining through the smoke, even when thin and high in the atmosphere, doesn't look right. The photos are downright eerie. Warming temperatures and drier conditions lead to bigger fires and longer fire seasons. I wish I could say this is just a weird aberration, but I fear this is becoming our new normal. This is also a reminder that seemingly localized effects of climate change can have broader implications for our whole planet.

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· 26d

This is the HRRR near-surface smoke density model from 1:00pm today for tomorrow at 8:00am. Pretty sharp gradient between dense smoke and limited ground-level smoke. Expect nasty air quality conditions regardless as that boundary ebbs and flows throughout the day. #ILwx #WXSky

A near-surface smoke density map for tomorrow at 8:00am showing a massive plume of smoke covering most of Wisconsin and Michigan. The upper NE corner of Illinois is clipped by the plume as is northern Indiana and northern Ohio

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· 29d

Made quite a bit of progress from Saturday already. By my (rough) estimate and accounting for parallax, it looks like they've lowered it by about 12 floors.

A yellow tower crane partially down the side of 400 Lake Shore - a glass-covered skyscraper in Chicago)

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· Jul 11

My wife’s patio gardening hat hangs at the ready

A straw sunbathing hangs from a table. It’s surrounded by plants and a chair

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· Jul 8

Also bonkers is the McCook reservoir reached capacity (~3.5 billion gallons) on July 3 for the sixth time this year. If that seems like a lot, it is…the McCook reservoir filled 5 times cumulatively between 2021-2025

A simple map of Chicago showing the three current reservoirs of the TARP reservoir system. The Majewski reservoir by O’Hare is 0% full, The McCook reservoir is 88% full (3.1 billion gallons) and the Thornton reservoir is 93% full (7.3 billion gallons). These levels are current as of July 7th at 8:03pm

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· Jul 4

Believe she volunteered with the Chicago Architecture Foundation cruise boats operated by Chicago’s First Lady - they have, traditionally, flown a pride flag in June

A pride flag waving on the bow of a boat with the Chicago skyline in the background

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· Jul 4

Not my best lightning shot - I moved my camera mid-exposure when the bolt dropped - but check out the details. Upward streamers are emanating from the building being struck and the tip of Sears’ antenna #ILwx #WXsly

A wide view of a massive lightning bolt dropping onto the Chicago skyline

A close-up of the Sears tower antenna with an upward leader (a faint lightning-looking tendril) reaching to to the sky. There is some motion blur in the tower due to camera movement

A close-up of tower being struck with upward leaders (a faint lightning-looking tendril) reaching to to the sky. There is some motion blur in the tower due to camera movement. The large lightning bolt appears as a thick bright line on the right side.

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· Jul 3

Severe thunderstorm watch just dropped. It’s valid until 2am

Severe thunderstorm watch details: SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE FOR WS 451
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
640 PM CDT FRI JUL 3 2026

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 451 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 2:00 AM CDT

FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
ILLINOIS COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE

BOONE BUREAU CARROLL
COOK DE KALB DUPAGE
FORD GRUNDY HENRY
IROQUOIS JO DAVIESS KANE
KANKAKEE KENDALL LAKE
LA SALLE LEE LIVINGSTON
MARSHALL MCHENRY MERCER
OGLE PUTNAM ROCK ISLAND
STARK STEPHENSON WHITESIDE
WILL WINNEBAGO

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· Jul 3

Fitting

A screengrab of my Bluesy feed. The post on the top and bottom have photos that won't load. The middle post says "like 80% of the pics on my feed won't load"

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· Jul 3

Mother Nature’s fireworks are the best ⚡️

A nighttime view of the Chicago skyline with a massive, bright cloud-to-ground lightning bolt dropping in the distance.

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· Jul 3

Sunbeams illuminate shafts of rain high in the atmosphere along the front edge of a storm passing over Chicago’s north side #ILwx #ChicagoWx #WXsky

A photo of a tall thunderstorm cloud. Subtle sunbeams illuminate shafts of rain falling from high in the sky

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· Jul 1

At 9:00am, I’m getting heat index readings topping out at 101.1° in the sun and ~96° in the shade. Drink lots of water today! #ILwx #ChicagoWX

A yellow Kestrel weather meter showing a heat index of 101.1°. The chicago skyline is is out of focus in the background

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· Jul 1

11:30pm: A heat index of 90.9° feels almost comfortable compared to the mid-day heat earlier. Still kind of swampy out there though. #WXsky #ILwx

A Kestrel weather meter showing a heat index of 90.9° at night (11:30pm). The Chicago skyline is out of focus in the background as the city lights sparkle

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· Jun 30

2:30 update: Heat index (un)comfortably above 105° on my balcony. For the few minutes I was out there the meter bounced between 105-109

Kestrel weather meter showing a heat index temperature of 107.8°

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· Jun 30

When you're looking through the Presidential Reading Room at the OPC to see if you've read any book the Obamas recommend (there were a bunch!) and you see @leebey1.bsky.social's book, Southern Exposure, prominently on display 🙌🏼

A close-up shot of a bookshelf at a 3/4 angle. The shelf is warm-toned wood with well curated shelves filled wt books, a music speaker and plants. In focus in the image is Lee Bey's book 'Southern Exposure' on a small easel.

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· Jun 30

It’s only 8:30am, and I just measured a heat index of 98.4° already in Chicago. Gonna be a hot one. Stay hydrated 🥵 #ILwx #ChicagoWx #WXsky

A yellow handheld weather meter showing a heat index temperature of 98.4°. The Chicago skyline is in the background.

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· Jun 30

Was there today, and there are no “employee only” signs and the racks are just beyond the lower (right) path entry to the parking garage.

Covered bike parking at the Obama Canter. Approximately 5-6 racks are on the right side of the frame with a view to the outside on the left of the frame

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· Jun 29

Randy Marsh trying to smuggle contraband (chairs and a cooler) onto the Mall for the 4th

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· Jun 28

Happy #Pride Chicago 🏳️‍🌈✌🏼

A photo of a Pride flag waving in front of a building in Chicago. A Pride colored Chicago flag is in the background. The flags exhibit motion blur due to a slow shutter that helps blend the colors of the rainbow.

A photo of a Pride and a pride-colored Chicago flag waving in front of a building in Chicago.

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· Jun 27

Look at my insanity. A lot of them look good for a split second; or when paired with their waving, neighboring frames, but very few stand alone. Also wish the Chicago and Pride flag were on the same pole. Cook County flag was being a pest.

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· Jun 27

Rode down to Daley Plaza to get some flag photos. Took over 1800 frames (gotta burst to get the perfect flag wave) and I might be happy with 2-3 shots 🫠

A screengrab from Adobe Lightroom showing approximately 80 small images surrounded by grey boxes. This is just a small % of the photos I took

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· Jun 27

I don't know. I bought it through their indiegogo campaign to fund the product like 5 years ago haha. But its MSRP was $200 back then, too. They do have a coupon code option at checkout...maybe if you put it in your cart and "forget it" they'll send you a code

Screengrab of a pepper cannon order showing the costs and a field to add a coupon code

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· Jun 25

Super-zoom to show Sears' antennae in the cloud

A close crop of the top of Sears Tower's antenna masts in the clouds

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· Jun 25

When shelf clouds scrape skyscrapers. The leading edge of the storm's structure almost clipped the roof of the Sears Tower at 1,451 feet. The antenna masts are obscured, but the top of the is still visible. #ILwx #WXsky

An ominous shelf cloud moves over the Chicago skyline. The leading edge of the dark cloud is so low it almost obscures the top of Sears Tower.

Nick Ulivieri@nuphoto· Jun 25

Walk it on the footpaths like you would on a sidewalk...like this guy?