Autumnal Equinox - 4:44pm

A pleasant, coolish and wet summer ends today when our tilted planet moves to equilibrium and fall begins at 4:44pm EDT. At that time, the sun will be directly over Earth's equator and for the next 6 months will shine directly somewhere over the southern tropics. The sun will shine for the first time in 6 months at the south pole and darkness will descend for same time span upon the north pole. Day and night should be about equal all over the planet today but we actually get a little more light than dark because of Earth's atmosphere bending our star's light so that star, the sun, actually "rises" and "sets" earlier and later than it really does. The sun did rise in the East this morning and will set in the West tonight. For the fall and winter it will rise in the southeast and set in the southwest. Today is the day to mark or build your own little Stonehenge to mark East/West. Just a thought...
It is lovely today in central Va, get out and enjoy today on Earth.

Rainy Sunday

The warm air can be moved to the south for awhile by Canadian air but it's still August and the southern air will be back; today's the day it has returned with a wet vengeance. Almost 2" of rain have fallen so far as we close in on the mid-day August 18 and while not torrential it is steady, still. Temperatures, low since Wednesday's cold front blew in, remain in the low 60's. It just doesn't feel like August in Virginia. That will change as we get into the next week with the rain leaving and the heat and humidity building back in. Mid to upper 80's by the middle of this week but the long range forecast has more cool air back by next weekend. The mild, lovely, wet summer (and year) of 2013 continues over much of the east coast.
Tropical Storm/depression Erin looks to be breaking apart in the middle of the Atlantic and poses no threat to anything but ships not paying attention. A disorganized group of storms off the Yucatan, drifting into the Gulf of Mexico is not looking like it will become a named storm. The slow hurricane season has been shut down by strong high pressure over the Sahara, sending dust all the way across the Atlantic and if winds will carry dust that far (and they always have) it doesn't help in storm formation.
School is back in at Louisa Co. HS and the cool weather has been helpful in adjusting to our mid-summer return. The ground breaking ceremony for the new high school on Wednesday will fall two days short of the 2 year anniversary of the 5.8 magnitude quake that broke our old building. It will be nice to see a new structure going up as opposed to watching the old one come down as we did last fall.
The moon is waxing gibbous, Venus still rules the west at dusk but Saturn is closing in on our planetary twin. The other planets are up much later or only visible near sunrise. The Perseid shower was clouded out mostly here in Va.
The rains will stop by Tuesday, and it's pretty nice out there for August. Get out and enjoy today on Earth.

Cool Mid-Summer

The pleasant, wet summer continues here in central Va. as we pass the middle of the summer season. Yesterday marked halfway through the season with a fall-like day that didn't quite reach 80 degrees - and low humidity thrown in added to the comfort. Today remains cool but the humidity is up; it's raining. The entire state (and much of the east) is well ahead of normal rainfall and the trend seems to be continuing. The chance of a shower continues through the end of the week and temps will rise but will still remain below average for August.
Earthquake and volcano activity mark the Ring of Fire; no major quakes and the Kuril Islands and the Kamchatka peninsula dominate the volcano list with many of the usual players still rumbling and spitting around the rest of the ring.
The moon is new tonight at 5:51 and the early setting waxing crescent moon will make for good viewing of the Perseid meteors later this week.  Venus still shines brightly low in the west to southwest after sunset with much dimmer Saturn sliding toward the brightest planet. The two will have several days of close encounters later in August as Earth pulls away from the ringed world and our inner sister world gradually catches us. The other planets all rise well after midnight and only early risers will get a glimpse of them. The two outermost planets and the now dwarf world of Pluto are well placed for viewing in the short nights of summer but you need a telescope (large for Pluto) and a finder chart.
School starts back up in Louisa a week from tomorrow so it's time to think Earth Science and, heh, where else you going to live?  Get out and enjoy your planet, today on Earth.

Cool Summer Relief

Canadian air has made a visit to central Virginia, an amazing relief to the sweltering humidity of July. It was shockingly cool when I stepped outside this morning, and the north wind from the strong high pressure dome over the northeast made it even cooler: wonderful!
Tomorrow morning is going to be even cooler when morning lows will dip into the low 60's and even 50's in western Va. The late weekend will bring a return to more humid air with the chance of showers back in the forecast but until then cool, dry, breezy conditions will prevail, get out and enjoy the planet.
Tropical Storm Dorian has formed in the eastern Atlantic off Africa and is cruising across the waters at fairly high speed but it's still a long ways from any land and predictions are really guesses at this point in time. Already 50 mph winds so Dorian bears watching - for next week.
Equake list is pretty low key so far for this day 5 months from Xmas and the world's volcanoes are taking a break, too. The new weekly update has only the most usual of big smoking mountains and none of them are doing much more than belching and spitting a little ash and gas.
Venus still dominates the evening sky and with the moon waning get out after dark and see of you can see the summer Milky Way. It's that "milky" swath running from the southwest (the center in Sagittarius) to the North (through the Summer Triangle of Vega, Altair and Cygnus). It might look like a cloud in your dark sky but that's our galaxy home.
Today on Earth is gorgeous here in the central Atlantic coast, get out and enjoy the cool.

Heat + Moisture = Summer

Earth continues to do what it does when, even though a little farther from the sun, it's tilted toward the big fusion driven star: stay hot and crank up the water cycle. The temps are down a little into this third week in July from last week and the storms continue to roll through the mid-Atlantic (somehow mostly missing here - hundredths of an inch here, inches close by - but our time will come). The July full moon lit up the nighttime planet last night and will, clouds allowing, be bright again tonight. Venus still shines brightly low in the west (if you have a cloud break) and Saturn continues it's dance with Spica but is sinking quickly in the west as Earth pulls away from the ringed wonder. The other planets are, if visible at all on the morning side of Earth and you need to be up early to check those out.
Volcanoes and Quakes: I'm sure they are still spitting and shaking all over the planet but this sporadic blogster hasn't been checking them our much during the long days of summer.
It's hot and muggy and you have to watch for ticks, mosquitoes and flies among other vermin but it's still a pretty nice planet; get out and check it out, today on Earth.

Wild Storms and the Cool Side of Spring

An above average temperatures week ends with a wild band of T'storms rolling through the Old Dominion. Heavy rain, some hail, wild straight line winds and a tornado in Mecklenburg County accompany a cold front pushing the warm air out of the way and set up a lovely, sunny, but cool weekend. Temps down to 43 Saturday morning and likely only in the low 60's today with overnight lows into the 30's in some spots. Sunday and Monday will be cooler still. Just like spring should be, warm, hot, cold, repeat and shuffle.
A very shaky week on the big planet with lots of quakes above 6 and the quake list jam-packed every day this week. No shockers on the volcano list: Indonesia, Kamchatka, Hawaii, Italy and Colombia dominate the list.
The waxing gibbous moon brightens the night sky with bright Jupiter setting earlier and earlier and Saturn rising opposite it across the dome of the sky. The bright stars of the winter constellations set early with Jupiter leaving the patterns of spring, and later in the evening of summer, to take over. Young leaves here in the forest make the skies harder and harder to see, hope you have a clear look at the space around you, today on Earth.

TOE Returns With Spring

After a long period of dormancy, Mr. H's TOE returns as spring break winds down and spring actually arrives in central Va. A long, cold, cloudy, often snowy winter has finally released its grip and warm temps are in store starting tomorrow; today is sunny but with the center of high pressure to our north the eastern air off the Atlantic has left a little chill about. On the morrow, the jet stream drifts back north of the South and warm, dare I say hot air, will move in and linger for much of the week ahead. Another system will approach late in the coming week and bring a slight chance of rain and slightly cooler temps; no snow in the forecast.
The Ring of Fire is still spewing ash, gas and lava from Chile all the way around to New Zealand, the mid-Atlantic ridge is even getting in on the eruption game with eruptions in Iceland and the Canary Islands. Hawaii and Montserrat are of course, on the list.
Earthquakes of 6 and 7 have appeared on that list but the biggest have been on land (New Guinea and near the China/Russia southeastern border) but there are many more in the 5 range on the tectonic-ing planet. Central Va Quake Zone is mercifully quiet.
In "out of the world" news, there isn't much. Jupiter, still dominating Taurus, is in the southwest at dark but with it's crew, the winter constellations, is setting early while Saturn rises in the east and with rings tilted for fine viewing is up most of the rest of the night. The other planets are hanging out on the other side of the sun from our view and will not return until later in spring.  The waning crescent moon is only visible for early morning risers (or if you look carefully in the sunny morning sky). The New moon is early Wednesday morning. The comet, I don't remember the name, that was supposed to be so bright has not been and its location above a setting sun didn't help. (Of course, comets do seek the sun so it figures that's where you would have to look.) Another comet heads our way for a potential fall turkey time spectacle; we will have to wait and see on that one.
But, don't wait for me to tell you, get out and check it out for yourself, today on Earth.