May 2026 - On & Off Earth
‘Once in a blue moon’, as an expression, speaks to a rare event. It rolls off the tongue much more easily than ‘once in a total solar eclipse’. Two full moons in a month is not as spectacular as the moon blocking the sun but May will start and end with a Full Moon and both of them are a bit unusual.
Both the Full Flower moon, just 13 hours into May and the ‘Blue’ Moon with less than 20 hours left in the month will be near apogee, the farthest point in our satellite’s monthly elliptical orbit. The term popping up for both, but especially the Blue moon, is a ‘micro-moon’. As opposed to a ‘super-moon’, May’s two full moons will both be about 30,000 miles farther from Earth and smaller than we normally see. Both will travel across the sky near the celestial Scorpion; hope for clear skies.
The problem there, clears skies are not what we need. We need clouds and those clouds need to be heavy with rain. Over 90% of Virginia is now in severe drought. The entire south is either in severe or extreme drought and no April showers have brought wildfires, not May flowers. Our dry April continues a nine month trend of below normal rainfall; the western USA is even worse.
Drought evidence has been obvious to me for months. On my chunk of the Piedmont, there are trails I cannot walk when the water table is high, they are just too wet. Those trails have had barely a slippery moment over the last nine months. My second drought confirming notice came in the garden with Earth’s resistance to a shovel. I was able to turn over the soil to add compost but I turned over dry chunks and encountered no earthworms. Last Saturday’s 0.2” of rain dampened the surface but provided no real drought relief.
What may, or may not, help our drought conditions is building far off, along the equatorial Pacific. Seems the Trade Winds have weakened allowing the warm water they pile up on the western edge of Earth’s largest ocean to slosh back eastward. That massive pool of warm water sloshing up against Central and South America triggers an El Niño. El Niños tweak the weather worldwide but tend to tamp down Atlantic tropical storm formation. Fewer tropical storms and hurricanes means less summer moisture for the drought stricken South. Wishing for hurricanes, to break a drought, seems not a great idea, not that our planet is concerned with or aware of our wishes.
May’s long days and short nights limit sky gazing options but Venus is hard to miss as the Evening star in the west at twilight. Jupiter beams not far above; both visited by a crescent moon on the 18th-20th. Early risers may spot Saturn & Mars, low in the east pre-dawn with the waning crescent near on the 13th and 14th. Astrology trackers will know the sun moves from Aries into Taurus on the 15th.
May is a month with more than a few days with names. It kicks off with May Day, Stars Wars Day is the 4th followed by the American version of a Mexican holiday, Cinco de Mayo. Graduates are to be congratulated throughout the month, Mom’s are celebrated on the 10th and we remember those that paid the ultimate price in service to our country with Memorial Day on the 25th. May’s steep sun angle and long hours of daylight make every day, Sunscreen Day and this year, every day should also be Wildfire Prevention Day! May, our gateway to summer beckons, but be careful out there...Today On Earth!
Japan just rocked again..Sun big spots..likely to blast!!! Sun's out here, still cool, still dry..fire suspicion in south..set by big data to steal land owners won't sell..will slime in Floriduuh Gorga admit it..donnie..no idea what that dumbass is saying...more blame, more lies, more excuses..Everyday On Earth
