November Comes In Like, Well, November

The first fire in the wood stove at the tirehouse, which I like to wait until November to build, happened one hour early; 11:00pm Halloween night, and it felt good. Today's cloud cover, cold, wild wind and temps in the 40's have me wondering why there isn't one going now.  Clouds and wind may keep the temperature from getting to freezing early tomorrow morning but by Monday morning the clear cold air, not long from its home in the north of Canada, will bring the first frost/freeze to most of Virginia.
Now there is a fire going and by the time I'm done with this blog, the chill should be gone.
Where to start after more than 3 months of no blogging? We've gone from a lovely summer with lots of cool dry days and sufficient rain through a dry spell in September and October back to plenty of rain but no frost. The moon has leveled up with Earth to go through an eclipse cycle; a total lunar and two weeks later a partial solar, neither easily seen here in Va. Mars lingers in the west but low and the other planets are hidden behind the sun from earth view, in the evening, anyway.
The Atlantic hurricane season, while technically lasting another month, has been very quiet while the Pacific, that so poorly named ocean, has been anything but passive. 18 named storms at last count and several have pounded Baja California and drifted north to bring flooding rains to the desert southwest. The moisture from one actually made it all the way across the country to the east coast. Southeast Asia has been nailed several times with storms and Hawaii has had near misses.
Hawaiian volcanoes have stirred up of late, rolling lava into settled areas creating havoc for residents. Bardarbunga in Iceland has that island nation watching carefully, Popo outside Mexico City has also not taken much of a break for much of the late summer or fall. No big earthquakes of late, unless you live in Oklahoma, and they aren't big just ongoing, daily with likely daily denial from the oil (what's wrong with blowing up the earth for hydrocarbons) industry. When there are more earthquakes daily in Oklahoma than California, there is a problem and it's not the planet suddenly firing up a billion year old fault zone under the plains. It's all of us and our daily need, craving, refusal to change and greed for oil...and shopping.
And, with that, my oil tirade and look at the planet from a November view will wind down. The semester is in the home stretch, the fall party season here at the tirehouse is done and I face a big chronology check in 17 days. But, the planet spins on, not worried about us just doing that "big rock flying through space" thing that it has been doing for 4 1/2 billion years and will continue for likely several billion more. We'll see if our spawn are around to see what the future does indeed bring. For the moment, and that's really all we can deal with, I'm going to bundle up and go for a wander on this lovely little planet, hope you get out, too, today on Earth.

A Lovely July Winds Down

For the east coast, July of 2014 has been quite fine; lots of cool, dry northern air has made it deep into the south and while the west coast cooks and burns the east has had enough rain to keep things green and growing.  The heat and humidity will build back in for the weekend and early August will feel more like August usually does by next week. The potential for tropical system #2, Bertha, stirs in the mid-Atlantic but there is not rotation yet and forecasts are not showing much hope for development.
The waxing, larger each day, crescent moon is sneaking up on Mars and then Saturn as the planets themselves dance closer and closer, well less than a degree of sky apart on the evening of the 18th.  The moon will be between the two planets on the evening of August 3rd.  Clouds and a chance of showers will make catching that an iffy endeavor but you won't know unless you get out and look!
It has been a fairly quiet earthquake week worldwide but central Virginia got a little reminder of our location in a fault zone with a 2.1 quake last Friday.  Oklahoma continues to shake and shift as oil companies continue to blow up shale formations with their fracking, but, hey! gas prices are low!!
The volcano list is short this week with nothing but the usual crowd: 4 on Kamchatka, 3 in Guatemala and actually more on the eastern side of the Ring O Fire than the western.
Another lovely day to get out and enjoy before the reality of heat and humidity and afternoon showers return, today on Earth.

Cool & Dry With Lots of Volcanoes

The northeastern US is reveling in lovely cool, dry weather in mid-July; a most welcome treat.  That polar air has made it this far south, riding a big dip in the jet stream, is quite unusual for July but we'll take it and get out and enjoy.  Even as the dry air moves out by the weekend, temperatures will remain average (upper 80's) for central Va. with a low chance for showers (but still a chance).  Tuesday night turned into a wild, wet time here: 2 inches of rain poured down over a couple of hours; it just kept raining and raining and raining - little lightning but lots of rain.
A 6.0 quake shook things up in southeast Alaska earlier today, 60ish miles from Yakutat, a little unusual for that part of the big state but still directly on the Ring O Fire, as are all of today's quakes.  Except for the ones in Puerto Rico and Oklahoma: at least Puerto Rico is on a plate boundary, Oklahoma has the oil industry to blame and the lovely practice of fracking to blame (it's not us, said Exxon and BP, you can't prove it...)
After an unstaffed week off, the USGS volcano list is back with 26 volcanoes shaking and belching and oozing. Indonesia tops the list with 5 eruptions but there are also 5 spewing mountains in South America and Central America (little Guatemala has 3 itself, but I don't think that's the reason for the influx of young Guatemalans spewing across the US border - trace that to the Bush lead congress of '06 and a bad thoughtful but bad law - of course, our current president is still blamed - and the fact that Guatemala is a corrupt, dysfunctional, dangerous place).  Two Italian islands make the list, hosting Stromboli and Etna that are both quite active these days, the Kamchatka peninsula, as usual, has 4 exploding mountains but only one on the nearby Aleutians, Shishaldin, and Kilauea on Hawaii's big island is, as always, piling up more fresh basalt. Japan, always on the list but with only 2 this week and Bulusan on the Philippines main island round out the large list.  If you want to see volcanoes, you don't have to go far around the Ring O Fire to see some active Earth action up close (although, I would guess most of these mountains have warning areas around them to keep the curious or death seekers out).  I'll continue to check the list and visit vicariously through the power of the wild, and wooly web.
The moon continues to wane gibbous, dancing by Neptune and Uranus (yes, you'll need telescope and finder chart to see those outer planets) one the next couple of nights. Mars is at 90 degrees to the earth from the sun in two days but still out there in the evening sky, Saturn, as well, a little farther east of the red planet and still hanging in Libra.  Jupiter is done for now and will be directly behind the sun in a week, a morning star for August and fall, joining Venus and the speedy Mercury in the pre-dawn sky.
It's gorgeous out there (at least in the Northeast- and central Va.), get out and enjoy the break from the heat and humidity, today on Earth.

July Chill? And Oklahoma Shakes

Sweaters in July and more earthquakes in Oklahoma than California, it's wild out there on the big planet.  A large pile (high pressure dome) of cool, very dry air is moving into the north central US and will make it's way into the mid-Atlantic later today or early tomorrow spurring wild storms along its path.  The hot, muggy air parked over the east will resist the northern air leading to the storms but will lose and make for a lovely mid-week.  The cool air mass is being compared to the polar vortex invasions of last winter, perhaps its summer cousin, and with temps in the northern plains into the 40's tomorrow morning it might seem like a polar vortex; jackets and sweaters in July.  It will dip into the 50's overnight here in the central Virginia, an almost weekly occurrence this summer (and most welcome) before the warmer air and humidity, with chance of t'storms, returns for week's end and the weekend.  So far, a quite pleasant summer!
Maybe not in Oklahoma where the quakes keep coming.  There is something strange going on if there are more quakes in the Sooner state than in the Golden state of California.  Yesterday a 4.3 quake rocked things in a place more known and concerned about tornadoes than earthquakes and the quakes continue today and for the last few months EVERY DAY.  There are now earthquakes in Oklahoma every day, every day!!  The obvious reason: FRACKING!! Of course, the spin machine of the oil industry is quick to deny but come on, when will we admit the obvious: if you blow up a rock body inside this planet, things are going to shift to adjust to the disturbance.  If fracking happens nearby and suddenly local ground water will burn, catch fire, combust; it's the fracking!!  When you start blowing up the earth and there are quakes everyday; it's the fracking.
But, when you make billions of dollars in pure profit every quarter and have top dollars lawyers and a misleading ad campaign and a public more than happy to slurp up the hydrocarbons you blast from formerly sealed shale formations the internal explosions and Oklahoma quakes are going to continue. Until...well, we just don't know what will ultimately stop the madness.  But, it's not going to stop, today on Earth.  Just remember, we are all the problem, every time we turn the key to start our cars and breath that sigh of relief as we step from the mugginess into the AC.  If I had an easy solution, I'd mention it.  Buy less, drive less, shop less, eat less, watch less, text less, read more, talk more, walk more: I said I don't have an easy solution.  But, I'm going to get out and sweat a little, today on earth.

July: Hurricanes, T'storms, Equakes and Volcanoes

July has come charging in with the first hurricane of the season, Arthur, now charging up the southeast coast, wrecking July 4th plans for tens of thousands of vacationers on North Carolina's Outer Banks (residents, too, no doubt, are less than thrilled).  While the barrier islands will likely get hammered, a strong cold front is pushing the storm far enough offshore to spare the inland eastern seaboard hurricane  winds and rain.  That cold front will create problems of its own for the inland world; big thunder storms with heavy rain, big winds as well as spotty hail and maybe a scattered tornado or two will make this a wild July 3rd.  Welcome to summer: add heat to water and earth and spin it up!!
While not as long as last week, the volcano list includes 5 of the 7 continents (and there is argument for 6 with Indonesia, it's really on the edge of the Australian plate...) and is still lengthy. Kamchatka leads the list with 4, the nearby Aleutians have added another eruption to the list this week - and there are still lots of aftershocks from the recent big earthquake - Japan has a sleeping crater stirring up in the middle of Honshu and ongoing activity in the southern islands, Sinabung has blasted off again in Indonesia, Guatemala alone has 3 eruptions in progress, the Great Rift Valley in Africa has a potential problem beginning to shake and belch and Kilauea is oozing basaltic lava on Hawaii's big island.  Stromboli in Italy and Ubinas in Peru are the lone eruptions in progress on their respective continents.  Plenty of action out there if you want to see/hear/feel the power of a still hot planet in action, you'll have to go a bit off the beaten track to check them out, but... let me know if you visit a hot spot.
Earthquakes are happening but there have been no big shakes on the broken crust of the 3rd planet out. Mercifully, the central Va quake zone is quiet.
Clouds, heat, mosquitoes and a late and long twilight make looking off the planet into space problematic these long July days.  A break in the dark sky would reveal Mars and Saturn dominating the evening sky although as both fade in brightness Virgo's Spica and Antares, the heart of the Scorpion rival the planets as bright spots in the summer sky.  The first quarter moon will be very close to Mars Saturday night (and with the cold front and hurricane gone and skies clear with pleasant temps viewing should be fine) and near Saturn and slightly gibbous two days later.  Jupiter will be behind the sun from Earth on the 24th and is only visible, very low after sunset in the southwest, for a few more days before being lost in the sun's glare.  Venus is still bright but low in the pre-dawn sky and will share the space with Mercury but really not until later in the month.
Earth's atmosphere is showing off its turbulent side for a day of two so be aware out there, hunker when the lightning comes and good luck to the folks fleeing the outer banks, it's looking like a wild one out there, today on earth.

A Mild Start to Summer & Big Shakes

Summer has come in like a lamb for central Va. with mild temps, some rain and pleasant humidity levels. The temps will begin to rise a little farther into the 80's throughout this week with long range forecasts pointing to the real summer heat building into next week, but still only 90's.  Plenty of rain in the area throughout the spring has kept things green and growing.  All in all a very pleasant spring after a long, cold, nasty winter.  As the planet continues to warm, as current trends show (ice melt being the most noticeable),  cold winters will likely lead to hot summers (ask Australians about their recent summer); extremes being more the norm than the exception as ubiquitous change rolls on.
Plenty of plate change today on the shaky 3rd planet out along the line where the old day ends and the new begins.  A 6.9 and then 6.6 quake just east of the International Dateline along the northeastern edge of the Australian plate rocked things just above New Zealand earlier today.  Not long after those shakes, things got even shakier just west of the IDL but far to the north in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska where a 7.9 quake made adjustments to the colliding plates of the Pacific and North America.  Tsunami warnings were issued with all that sea floor shifting but have since been cancelled with less than a one foot rise spotted anywhere around or across the Pacific basin.  A look at the previous 7 day quake list shows few surprises, subduction of the Pacific plate continues all around the basin.
And, in another no big surprises thought, the volcano list is heavy with eruptions in the Aleutians, the Kamchatka peninsula and the Kuril Islands just to their south.  The Theory of Plate Tectonics sure explained why the shakes and eruptions seemed to happen in the same places...again and again and again and... hang on out there.
Off this planet and into the nearby regions of space, the waning crescent moon and Venus early morning show (viewed from Earth, anyway) peaked this morning with our satellite and nearest planet neighbor very close low in the southeast, especially for North American observers and both just below the Pleiades, the seven sisters of mythology.  The moon will be even thinner and lower tomorrow morning and near Aldebaran, the eye of Taurus the bull with Venus now above and right of the moon star pairing.  In the evening sky, not dark with the long days of early summer till well after nine,  Jupiter continues to drop quickly in the southwest with rusty Mars to its left followed by golden Saturn high in the south.  Get out and check it out...if the T'storms and mosquitoes allow...it's lovely out there, Today On Earth.

Spring Winds Down

2014, so far, has given us a real winter and now a lovely spring and it appears the summer heat and humidity will build into the start of the fast approaching hottest season. Much of the spring has been the typical 4 day cycle: cold front with a shot at some rain, clearing with a cool northern wind, then northwest, west and finally the warm air on the backside of the high with moisture from the southwest and another front to start it again. A few more Canadian maritime wedges of cool air banked against the Blue Ridge than I remember from years past have added to the spring conditions and kept the heat at bay. The week ahead is looking like the next front is going to stall a little farther north than previously and warm and muggy with a chance of showers will be the forecast, for the week.  Summer gets here at 6:51am EDT on the 21st as the sun stands still over the Tropic of Cancer, its northernmost appearance of the year. While the sun will rise and set farther and farther to the south from that point on, the cooking of the northern hemisphere will continue and the heat will build; we longed for it back in the winter and it's coming.  Think cool!
The 4 planet "cool" of the early dark sky is fading as Mercury is lost in the sun's glare, passing between the earth and sun on the 19th, inferior conjunction. Jupiter, Mars and Saturn still make for very nice viewing in the late twilight near the solstice. Jupiter, still hanging with the twins of Gemini, is fading fast, dipping lower and lower in the west as darkness settles, will be behind the sun from earth toward the end of July. Mars, still obviously rusty but dimming as our planet pulls away from it, continues to dance with Spica in Virgo and tonight and tomorrow both will share the sky with the waxing gibbous moon. Saturn, not far off to the east and golden compared to Mars' rust, will dance with the moon early next week as it sits between the two bright stars of Libra.  Put on something to keep the bugs away and check out the spectacular ecliptic, the dance floor of the planets and zodiacal constellations.
In shaky, erupting planet news, we're talking Earth here, so, there are shakes and while the volcano list is a little smaller than normal (only 13) those 13 are oozing lava, blasting gas, rolling lahars and otherwise giving notice in their surroundings to watch out.  Pavlov in Alaska has moved into the red alert zone as lava flows make it something to pay attention to (wouldn't want to fly a plane into that mess). Oklahoma quakes continue in the world of fracking (get all the oil/gas no matter the long - or short term costs).  Mostly it's plate boundary action on earthquake planet and none too strong.  That will always change. Hang on and enjoy your ride, today on Earth.

A Fine Memorial Day Weekend

After an extended break, Mr. H's TOE returns as a wrap up to a school year and a recap of recent Earth goings on.  Here in the forest, a new den of baby foxes has been encountered, but not for a few days.  Turkeys are nesting but still not often seen and the squirrels, normally hanging out looking for bird seed have gone back into hiding as a hawk patrols my front yard.  The downy woodpeckers are wondering why their suet feeder has not been filled. I'll get right on that...
For early risers with clear skies, Venus and the thin waning crescent moon had a lovely pairing this morning; the Earth's twin will continue to slowly pull from our planet. The evening sky shines with the other 4 naked eye planets: Saturn, pale yellow in the east, Mars, red-orange high in the southeast, Jupiter, still hanging with the twins, Castor and Pollux, now low in the west at sunset and Mercury, always a tough spot, even lower in the west but rising as high as it's going to for 2014. If you can see from horizon to horizon you can see them all, riding the ecliptic.  The moon will be new at 2:40pm on Wednesday and the waxing crescent moon will finish the month sliding by Mercury and Jupiter. Get out and check it out.
In earthquake news the normal players are still shifting and shaking but for those of us in the Central Va. Equake Zone we got another reminder of that reality with a 3.2 shake mid-week. This shake, while felt in much of Louisa, was centered 30ish miles to the south along the Powhatan/Amelia line. A little reminder to all in the zone, that, yes, we live in an earthquake zone and Earth will keep shaking.  In a formerly quiet zone that has been reawakened because of human activity (and continued unbridled greed), Oklahoma keeps on shaking and the reason appears to be fracking. The oil giants new, clever idea to keep the oil and gas flowing and American slurping down the fossil fuel without thinking there is any concern; let's blow up the Earth to set the trapped hydrocarbons free for cheap (well, relatively) fuel and no guilt!!  Who cares about ground water problems or hundreds of local Earthquakes!!!  I'm guessing Oklahomans do, now; as the ground shakes every day.
Volcano activity on the big plate tectonic-ing planet is, of course, going on with no new or surprising names on the list. Indonesia, Kamchatka, Japan, Hawaii, Central and South America; and while there is a little lava oozing here and gas belching there most of the activity is just the rumbling and shaking of liquid rock moving it's less dense self skyward. Enjoy the calm this planet is far from done with vulcanism.
The cold and snow of winter, finally departed, and the fear of jumping straight to summer has not materialized. The dips and retreats in the jet stream that have let the heat move north and the cool visit the south have made the spring, a spring. Just when it's seems too hot the early morning temps dip into the 40 and the humidity is gone...like this weekend. The mid-Atlantic is being treated to delightful Memorial Day weekend; pleasant temps and low humidity make it a joy to be outside. So, get out and enjoy it, remembering those that have paid the ultimate price to make this country an amazing place to live.

Wild Winter Ride Marches On!

The winter of 13/14 is not going quietly, and while most folks are over it the planet just keeps repeating itself. Warm then cold then windy and how about another snow storm: repeat; but mostly cold. Actually, the last week, our second full week of school since early December, was mostly a warm and lovely one - if you don't count Thursday when wind chills never got above freezing and temps barely did. Today brings seasonal temps and scattered clouds and those clouds should be viewed as a warning; cold and rain and sleet and snow are coming. Sunday will not be warm or sunny and by late afternoon will likely  be raining and sleeting before changing over to all snow overnight and into much of St. Patrick's Day. Tuesday is not looking like a melting day but the last day of winter, Wednesday, should see temps return to mid-50 seasonal norms. Hang On Folks, one more round of winter's finest.
On cloud free mornings, Venus shines like a beacon in the southeast before the hour later sunrise of daylight savings time. The late twilight of spring evenings have gradually revealed an evening sky with the moon sliding though the bright stars of winter and right under brightest of all, Jupiter, for this week we are wrapping up. March's full moon is tomorrow at 1:08, setting up a late Easter, Christianity's big celebration but the changing date revealing it's Pagan origins based on celestial timings; go figure!!
A 6.9 quake off northern California earlier this week is still aftershocking itself back to some degree of stability. Peru was shaken this morning with a 6.1 quake and the week saw a pretty shaky planet adjusting to internal pressures we humans are still working to understand. Those pressures, heat induced, are also leading to the usual spewings and belches around the Ring of Fire. Some lava here, tephra there, gas clouds emitted, thermal anomalies spotted all the way around the ring. Etna and Kilauea the non-ring exceptions are both still oozing to keep the locals watching cautiously. You don't have to look far to be reminded that the big planet is still in charge and all the riders are hanging on, get out and check out the big globe, Today On Earth!! And, remember: Beware the Ides of March!

March Enters Like A Polar, Snow Lion

While the opening weekend of March did ease in lamb-like, the March lion has now roared in with snow and polar temperatures and seems inclined to stick around for awhile.  0.7 degrees here this morning, far and away the coldest March temperature I can ever remember; the teens are rare for central Va. in March, but single (no) digit temps are pretty crazy.  After what the majority of the US has experienced for the 2013/14 cold season it really comes as no surprise although it is still a shock. Jonquils should be close to blooming!  March brought 3 snows to Va. last year so... there may be more as early as Thursday/Friday. With much of the US snow covered, the Great Lakes 90% frozen, the cold has plenty of reinforcement; it's going to be a late spring but if trends hold on this rapidly warming planet when we get tilted a little farther toward the nearby star the summer will be toasty.  (Not sure I'll be longing for snow then, but we'll see - and it's not like we have a choice, as I have mentioned before in this space; the Earth is in charge!!)
Cold temps make for brilliant night skies and last night was spectacular. Mars is deep red and dominant from about 10pm on, next to now, much noticeably dimmer, Spica. As we catch up with the red world (opposition is April 8) it moves west (retrogrades) in Virgo to be above instead of east of Alpha Virgo, Spica. Saturn, one constellation east of Mars in Libra is dimmer than Mars but still brighter than anything nearby and a lovely golden hue. Saturn is also moving westward relative to its neighboring stars. The rings of Saturn are tipped nicely for telescope viewing if you get a chance to check it out. Closer to sunrise, Venus flashes up in the east, brighter than anything but the sun or moon and almost casting shadows in our snow covered world.  Jupiter still outshines all the brilliant stars of winter in the evening but has to share the evening sky with the waxing moon for a couple of weeks.  The moon is a crescent this week and barely gibbous when it slides below Jupiter early next week.  Bundle up and check out the winter sky, it was/is gorgeous, today on Earth.
In quake and volcano news: several quakes in the low 6 range around the Pacific rim (shocker!!); Japan, Fiji, Alaska, Nicaragua, Chile over the last few days. Southeast of Japan, a couple of islands continue to erupt, Popo belches, Etna rumbles on but Kelut and Sinabung have calmed down enough in Indonesia that residents are moving back to within 5km of the mountains, warily, I'm sure.
While the ski season continues to rock here in the east (and out west, except California) most of us here in the south would rather see jonquils than snow. 50's and maybe even 60's will return us to more normal late winter conditions by the weekend, so there is hope. The sun is just out for too long these days for the snow and cold to go on for much longer, although not Today On Earth.

A Break From A Brutal Winter

A weekend without snow or sleet or nasty cold or rain or some version of all of that, quite the welcome relief here in central Va. While the Great Lakes remain mostly frozen and the northern US snow covered, England flooded and California cooking, government overthrows in Ukraine (get out Putin!), Thailand and Venezuela, here is the Old Dominion we are enjoying warm sunshine and the snow is gone. Could be time for an aftershock!!
Winter will return next week with a little snow and another shot of polar cold but today, on this part of earth, we get a glimmer of hope that winter will end and the heat and humidity and bugs will be back.
Hope you get out and enjoy it. Tomorrow will have a few more clouds around ahead of the next front but will continue the warmth; months have passed since a nice weekend. Almost 3 months since a full week of school!! Pretty crazy here on the third rock out from the nearby star.
The reflection of sunlight off our moon will show a quarter of that orb lit at 12:15 today, the 3rd quarter moon. The moon has had lovely encounters with Mars and Saturn during the wee hours of the last week and will be above brilliant Venus in the morning dawn on Tuesday and just below on Wednesday. A good look at the east and some binocs might let you glimpse a thin crescent with Mercury very low on Thursday morning. The moon will be new 3 hours into March next Saturday. Jupiter, still in the middle of Gemini, dominates the evening sky but has lots of bright company as the stars of winter still dazzle. Spring is on the way: the big dipper is standing on its handle in the east at dark as the great bear begins to stir from its winter slumber below the northern horizon at dark.
Plenty of volcano action although Kelut has settled down a bit after killing 8 and displacing tens of thousands on Java. Sinabung is still going at it on Sumatra and Tungurahua is fired up in Ecuador while Ubinas shakes and belches next country down in Peru. Etna continues on Sicily, lava oozing all about and while the rest of the ring of fire is not quite as eruptive as the aforementioned mountains there is still lots of rumbling and spewing ash going on out there. Visit at your own peril!!
There are, of course, earthquakes but no major shakes or disturbances but in the US activity in Missouri and some shakes at Yellowstone bear watching. Central Va is quiet, a trend I'd like to see continue, today on earth and into the distant future.
Enjoy the respite from winter, today on Earth.

A Real Snow Storm With an Ice Topping!!

After some cold, messy dustings, the Big Snow set up is perfect and the eastern seaboard, from the deep south to New England, gets hammered with the white stuff...and sleet and freezing rain and just rain on the coast. A serious mess!! Here in the central piedmont of Va. there is about 8 inches of snow with a lovely ice crust on top.  The ice is working for the birds as the seed I have thrown out is easy to get to and the little feathered monsters are chowing down. It's a tough day out there on Earth! The wise will tread carefully outside or stay inside; I'm thinking travel outside today will be best accomplished on skis.
The set up: strong high pressure off the Maritimes locking cold, dry air deep into the south, a big low that had hammered the northwest riding the jet stream deep into the south, a stop to slurp some moisture from the gulf and a roll up the east coast riding over the cold air and dropping all that moisture as snow, sleet, freezing rain.  The big snow part is done but there will likely be another little dusting on our ice with the wrap around as the storm heads up the east coast. The perfect southern storm. Enjoy!!
In shaking and eruption news: other than a little shake up along the St. Lawrence in southeast Canada the earthquake news is pretty status quo, the Pacific rim and Indo-Asian boundary and nothing in the 6 magnitude range. The volcano list has no real surprises: 2 in the Kurils, 2 on Kamchatka, Indonesia rules with 4 belching mountains with two more nearby on PNG and in India's Andaman Isles. Etna still rumbles on Sicily, Fox Island in the Aleutians and Hawaii keep the US on the list and on the eastern RingOFire: Mexico, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Peru all make the list. It's an active planet, beware if near plate boundaries.
The sky is mostly cloudy but if it clears the near full moon (It's full Valentine's Day @ 6:53pmEST) will make for good lighting for night time snow excursions. Jupiter was above the waxing gibbous moon Tuesday evening and along with the bright stars of winter make for spectacular star gazing. Venus rules the morning sky before dawn, ridiculously bright although Saturn and Mars, while much less bright, are out and lovely.  Mercury, zooming around the sun, passes between the Earth and Sun (inferior conjunction) on  Saturday and won't be easily visible until March lower left of Venus in the morning sky.
If it's snow adventures you seek, it's your time; get out but bundle up and be careful, today on Earth.

The Ooze of Permafrost Melting

Using the term permafrost in Virginia is a misnomer; there is no permafrost but the ground has been so cold for so long that the recent warm up has created similar conditions to the summer melting of permanently frozen tundra soils. The mid-winter mud season is here and things are oozy and slippery.  I'm not sure how far down the (exposed) soil has frozen (it's frozen and hard to dig into!) but it's far enough that the top layer is now thawed and looking to move...when you step on it. It's a muddy, slippery, sliding world and what looks like solid ground is far from solid; be ready to have your feet move and not in a direction you expected. Walk gingerly!!
The moon is back on the evening side of Earth and was a lovely, tiny crescent with earthshine last night low in the southwest. Jupiter sits in the center of the Winter Hexagon in the southeast opposite the moon when gazing southward.  Clouds later today and for much of this week will make sky watching an iffy endeavor. Any break in the clouds before dawn will show the brilliant morning star, Venus.
While there are always volcanoes rumbling and spitting here and there around the shaky planet, Sinabung, on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, has erupted; exploded into action and killed people that had begun to move back to their homes after initial evacuation orders. Things change quickly and with often explosive consequences here on the big, wild planet. If you live in Indonesia, you already knew that.
Greece continues to have aftershocks in the 4 and 5 range on the Richter scale, New Zealand (an island off the coast) was rocked today with a 6.5 quake, Peru, Indonesia, California, Alaska; you know the rest of the earthquake list. None in OK or UT, but though there was a little shake along the New Madrid fault zone along the Mississippi late last week; not a sign you want to see...
Warm temps, even with high cloud filtered sunlight, will make for a pleasant Super Bowl Sunday but those clouds foretell of unsettled changes ahead, rain changing over to some snow Monday, more rain Tuesday into Wednesday and the potential for another storm next weekend. The groundhog saw his shadow (and we know this how...) so folk tales tell us, 6 more weeks of winter. Seems to be the way the planet is headed this year: warm and dry on the west coast, cold and wintery on the east. Get out and check out the warm, slippery planet before the big game, today on Earth.

Mr. Holladay's Theory of Everything

Doing some reading recently, it came to my attention that TOE, while for this blog referring to, Today On Earth, in physics circles, refers to, Theory of Everything.   This is the idea that if you get down to a small enough level everything is made of the same "stuff" and that all that stuff in "our" universe is ruled neatly by the same laws or rules. That there is one theory for everything and that's the holy grail of physics. Hmmmmm...
Being an old, rock guy, my understanding of either astrophysics (the big stuff) or quantum mechanics (the small stuff) is somewhat limited but I have read or heard/seen enough about both to be both confused and informed. Obviously, our world/universe works; the particles in it, the forces acting on them all work in a manner that things are fairly stable as far as we can tell in our physical world. Getting into the quantum world of "strings"...multi-universes...multi-dimensions (beyond 4)...holographic images being our existence...Craziness! On the larger scales, if it doesn't give off radiation, we can't "see" it so now it's dark matter, dark energy...and it seems to dominate the universe...Craziness!
So, my take on the theory of everything is, even though not from Missouri, show me. Figure it out and explain it to me, so I could perhaps explain it to a ninth grader and I'll see if I buy into it. I know there is way more that we don't know than that we do and I've always liked the thought that "the universe is not wilder than we imagine, it's wilder than we can imagine" but we humans have pretty big imaginations! It seems pretty chaotic out there, atoms look like hurricanes that look like galaxies; seems to be an ordered chaos ruling the cosmos. I'm glad folks are looking into to it and I hope they figure out more and more and more about this wild planet and solar system and galaxy and local group and on and on in all directions and dimensions but I'll stick with getting out and enjoying, Today On Earth. Hope you do, too.

Cold Mixed With Snow!!

The cold front that came through and dropped the temperature 30 degrees the second half of Monday stalled just off the coast and set the stage for yesterday's snow event. Low pressure bringing Gulf and later Atlantic moisture drifted along the frontal boundary and hammered the south with snow.  And, that's when the adventure begins; snow in Atlanta: nightmare, OBX: lovely, Va. Beach: nightmare! Schools closed, cars wrecked and abandoned, it's a southern mess.
And, with 9 degrees in central Va. this morning even the bright sun isn't doing any melting. Temps are supposed to moderate a little tomorrow and more Friday with a chance of not-frozen moisture this coming, Super Bowl weekend. The fall/winter of 2013/14 continues with only minor variations on this year's theme (park high pressure over the west coast and let the jet stream dive way south on the east coast).
Hang on, it's lovely but cold out there, today on Earth.

A Minor Lull and More Deep Cold!

A little snow and then a deep freeze has left many of Virginia's schools shut down for the past week and after a little warm up Monday the east coast will return to the deep freeze for the upcoming week. A coastal storm's path Wednesday, now looking off shore, could get interesting this week.  Greece and Burma appear on the quake list today - and the more usual spots as well.  The week's volcano list, once up and correct - still not sure what the Spanish volcano was about - has some new names, although all are on the ring of fire - well, Iceland, but it's its own little spot of fire. Central and South America dominate the volcano list with a calming in Indonesia and on the Kamchatka peninsula.
The waning crescent moon, above Antares, the heart of Scorpio, early this morning, will slide toward the morning star, Venus, for Tuesday and Wednesday morning.  The moon will continue to shrink this week, passing between us and the sun on Thursday afternoon: the New Moon. Rusty Mars rises before midnight, above bright Spica.  Golden Saturn, not up for a couple more hours spends the winter in Libra and is best seen high in the south just before dawn. But, it's cold out there so bundle up but don't let that stop you from getting out, today on Earth.

Deep Cold, Round 2

A child of the Polar Vortex has pushed deep into the southland of North America once again and is lingering a little longer than two weeks ago. High pressure parked over southern California has provided a roller coaster downhill plunge in the jet stream and while the shaky coast roasts the the east coast freezes. A little warm up this weekend (into the low 40's - wheeeh) before another blast from the pole arrives for next week. It was 2.7 here this morning, 7.5 degrees yesterday; brrrrrrrr!!
The monster, high pressure dome that has been stuck over the west coast for much of their normal, wet winter season has caused historical (or so they think) drought and Santa Anna winds have fueled fires (started by campfire building fools) in southern California.  Australia and much of the southern Hemisphere still swelters from record high temps. A little cold here, but don't think the planet isn't warming still; 2013 was the forth (4th) warmest year on record - 100+ years of records hardly tells the tale on a 4.6 billion year old planet. Just wait, things will change, both today, tomorrow and in the short and long term future. That's the only constant, change, Today on Earth.
Another, all too common change, a USGS site that isn't helpful; the only erupting volcano on EARTH seems to be in Spain - but there is no info...Look out Barcelona!!
The waning gibbous (near last quarter) moon was very near Spica early this morning, but it was too cold for me to be out checking it out too close. Mars is hanging in the same area. Good viewing with cold, dry skies but you better be dressed warm.

The Cold Wedge Lingers

The mountains of Virginia don't seem like much when compared to younger ranges around this planet but they do influence the weather more than most people realize. The last couple of days have been a perfect example of their affect as the WEDGE lingers here in central Va. The WEDGE is the last of the cold air left by the polar vortex that being colder and more dense is banked up against the Blue Ridge mountains, and stays close to the ground and has kept central Va. in the 30's while all around us temperatures have climbed into the 40's, 50's and even 60's. Much warmer air, just full of Gulf moisture, is now riding up over the cold wedge and dumping rain on the entire east coast. And, while that warm air is at the surface in much of the region, it's still aloft over the wedge. Forecasters are claiming it will be gone soon, but soon seems to be taking much longer to get here than they have been predicting, for several days now.
I have been noticing the WEDGE around here more and more often (I'm sure it has been happening for millennia, and I've been late to notice) as big high pressure systems get cut off or stall over New England or the Canadian Maritimes.  With the clockwise circulation, the high flings a tongue or wedge of the cold, dry, dense air down the eastern seaboard where it is trapped up against the Blue Ridge. We are often at the southern tip of that wedge, stuck in the cold/cool air while all around the southern flow has warmed the world.  I'm guessing...maybe that is a part of the reason here in Louisa we are in a colder growing zone than Charlottesville to the west or Richmond to the east. It's the wedge!!
But, since I have been working on this post, the wedge has begun its retreat. The temp has edged from the upper 30's into the low 40's; the southern air is going to win today. Rain totals have gone to over an inch and a half since starting as frozen mist yesterday morning. A lull in the showers, the morning's thunderstorm, yes, thunderstorm, has moved on and I just darted outside to check things out. The recently frozen ground, solid but crunchy, is now a giant sponge, slipping and sliding your only option if you go out and move around. Be careful today on Earth.
As the cold front clears the area we will once again be able to see off of Earth and into the cosmos. The waxing gibbous moon will brighten the sky when the clouds move on and close in on the dominant star like object in the night sky, Jupiter. At opposition (directly behind the earth from the sun) on Jan. 5th, the king of the planets is up all night and while the winter sky is full of bright stars, Jupiter outshines them all. Check it out with binocs or a small scope and see which of the 4 Galilean moons you can spot. Venus is at inferior conjunction today, in about an hour, and in between the Earth and sun and not visible (unless you are very careful and very talented to spot it's tiny crescent and not be blinded by the sun). Our neighbor in space will speed past us and into the morning sky as the month goes on and dominate the winter and spring as the morning star. Mercury, Saturn and Mars are all in middle of the night or morning viewing positions. For more on them check the TOE sun and sky for details.
If you venture out today, be ready for rain, and lots of it. But, it's not freezing and a little rain won't hurt you, so, don't be afraid to get out, today on Earth.

Cold Perihelion

After a long, silent spell, Mr. H's TOE returns on perihelion, the point in Earth's elliptical orbit that we are closest to the sun for the entire year. For those of us, most anywhere in the US, it is also one of coldest starts to a morning in quite some time. With those two bits of information we can then clear up any season confusion; it's the 23.45 degree tilt of our planet that causes the seasons and has NOTHING to do with our distance from the sun. (Obviously, folks in the southern hemisphere, just 2 weeks into summer, might want to disagree with this but while they are likely not in the midst of an arctic blast the couple of million miles closer really doesn't affect things much - especially with the southern latitudes being mostly ocean, quite a heat sink.) The northern hemisphere is tilted away from the sun right now so even though we are close to our star, it's light is low in our sky, scattered and not very warm (well, it is behind a couple of layers of glass at the tire house).

Crazily, in addition to being closest to the sun today, the northern hemisphere also had the sun rise later than any other day of the year. But, the winter solstice is the shortest day...yes, but while the solstice does have a longer period of dark (or light for summer) than any other day, the rising and setting are not latest and earliest on the solstice. The earliest sunset is in early December and the latest sunrise is, again, today. This has to do with what sunrise and set really are; our rotation toward or away from the sun.  Think of a tilted ball rolling around an oval NASCAR track with you sitting in a tower in the infield. Just before the apex of the far turn (remember they go counterclockwise - a left turn) it would be hard to see the outside, right edge of the ball (early December - sunset) but as it comes out of the turn now it would be hard to see the left edge of the ball (today's sunrise). At the far point (solstice) you would see less of the top of the ball (remember, it's tipped away from you) but because it's tipped perfectly away you would see the edges equally that are a little hidden today (and back in early December for sunset).

And, thank some sky watching, math wiz for measuring things accurately enough to know all this stuff. Actually, our distant ancestors figured out the whole seasons thing, they had to know when things were going to change to stay alive (hunting and gathering and then farming requires seasonal knowledge). I'm not sure if they knew earliest and latest sunrise info because that requires some very accurate time keeping, a fairly recent phenomenon.

To wrap up this info filled, conceptual diatribe, it is cold here in central Va. but it's cold most everywhere in the US. A southern wind flow today should get temps above freezing and clouds will moderate temperatures for a day or so; drizzle, perhaps frozen, followed by rain and maybe finishing with snow will be the weather scene on Sunday into Monday morning. The cold front bringing that wet mess will clear the region Monday and temps will plummet, making today's low of 10 feel almost toasty. Tuesday should see temps at or below 0 (yes, zero, central Va.) with highs for the day only in the teens and Wednesday won't be much warmer. It will warm up some later next week but there will be no doubt that we are in winter.

With winter's still, cold air and long nights, the sky gazing will be spectacular. The moon is waxing, a thin crescent with lovely earth shine tonight but Venus, the bright beacon in the fall sky is gone. It will go between Earth and the sun on the 11th (but not directly in front of the sun, for another 103 years...) and will dominate the sky as the morning star for winter and spring. In it's place, Jupiter is at opposition tomorrow, in a line directly behind earth from the sun. That means, it's in the same position as the full moon and will rise as the sun sets (we turn away from the sun and toward Jupiter). It will be the brightest "star" in the sky, all night long. Check it with binoculars or a telescope - before the waxing moon gets too bright - and you will likely see little dots next to it. Those are the 4 Galilean moons.

Other TOE blogs will be caught up soon, so check them out, let me hear what you think, shoot me questions and bundle up and get out and enjoy today on earth.