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.