Memorial Weekend Kicks Like Summer

While the northwest lingers in spring, the southeastern portion of America springs into summer. 90 degree heat in late May should perhaps remind us of the mild winter the middle of the North American continent just wrapped up and that there is likely much more heat to come as we northerners get deeper into our half year tilted toward the increasingly active sun. The blast of heat will linger into mid-week and will battle it out with tropical storm Berle off the Fla/Ga. coast. It's looking like Berle will hammer northern Florida with rain and then rearrange much sand along the southeast coast. Earth is still in charge!
Sunspot activity continues but nothing too wild yet as we head toward next year's maximum. Venus is mostly gone in the west as watchers on earth wait for it to slide across the sun's face June 5th. A lunar eclipse will happen for the same folks that caught the annular solar one half a moon cycle ago, the day before. Vega twinkles low in the east after dark heralding the arrival of summer stars. The upside down Big Dipper points us north and leads us to Saturn which continues to lose ground in the solar revolution derby to Mars. Get out and check out the hazy summer skies; bright stars only.
Earthquake and Volcano activity are in the normal suspects zone: Usual boundary types for quakes although there is some shaking going on up near the north pole, Ring of Fire members only need apply to the fire mountain list, well, there is one very happening hot spot dotting the middle of that ring.
Remember how lucky you are to be where you are on Earth!! And, remember those that sacrificed so that could be so!!

Spring Rolls On!

A big puff of dry, cool, boreal air has pushed the warm, saturated, southern system that dominated the early week south of Virginia but not far south. The center of the system dropped just off the Carolina coast and is regrouping as a coastal low that is going to make for a wet weekend on the Outer Banks. Here in central Virginia the skies are blue, the breeze freshening and it's a lovely spring Saturday.  About time to go check on the baby foxes. The phoebe, now on the west speaker, has not come to terms with my comings and goings.
A steady but low magnitude shake week in the various quake zones of Earth. The CentralVaEquakeZone is eerily quiet. Popo's eruption continues: boulders, ash, some lava, all playing havoc on the surrounding countryside. Basaltic lava seems poised to ooze from the Comoros Island's shield northwest of Madagascar.
Tomorrow's New moon will be lined up with the sun but at apogee; the result an annular eclipse, the moon too far from earth to block the sun completely. The path of the near shadow sweeps over the north Pacific and adjacent land strips in Asia and North America. Hope for clear skies for them!
Get out Today on Earth!!

A Little Rain!!

Just a little rain...0.7" early Monday morning and then another 2.3" early Tuesday morning with an additional 1.1" Tuesday night with wild electric show and spotty power outages. The mosses paths are loving life! Streams are near bank tops and fire danger is non-existent. Today has (so far) spared us showers but was warm and muggy but a cold front will change that for tomorrow and throughout the weekend with a blast of cool, dry, Canadian air.
No big earthquake news on Earth today but there are several new volcanoes on the list. Popocatapetl continues to spew ash and boulders into the Mexican sky and remains at code yellow.
Annular eclipse on Saturday for the west coast and Pacific and Venus continues it's move to the solar crossing on June 5.
Check out your planet, it's still in charge.

A Lovely Mother's Day Weekend

After a long spell of clouds and rain, the cool dry air of high pressure returns to the central Atlantic.  A classic follow-up to a cold front that cleared things up Wednesday: breezy northwest wind and still cool on Thursday, severe loveliness with less wind and mid-70's warmth Friday - not even a hint of a cloud- and today warmer still and with the warnings of change coming as cirrus clouds will waft by far, far overhead. Mother's Day will be warm as well but clouds will thicken and bring a chance of showers late in the day and that system, now just leaving Texas after an extended stay, will arrive and likely linger for much of the upcoming week.
There are, as usual, lots of quakes on the shaky planet but none in the red zone for several days. A fairly normal looking list of volcanoes is still dominated by Mexico's Popo and it continues to spew and rain boulders on itself and ash onto nearby towns in a 15 - 20 km halo around the big smoking mountain. Still code Yellow.
The baby foxes continue to grow and wander farther from their den (I've seen 5) and the more curious one or two still are ok watching and listening to me as I pass the den on my daily deep woods wander.  Still not sure what happened to the first nest of baby phoebes but mom already has another nest on my other speaker and seems to be stealing material from the first nest.  I saw a hummingbird yesterday but am late on getting the feeders out and have not seen them return since getting out the sugar water.
Get out and enjoy today on Earth, it's going to be lovely.

Caliente con Luna Grande por Cinco De Mayo

The Moon is full, straight behind the earth from the sun, tonight at 11:35. 25 minutes later it will be at perigee, its closest point to Earth in its moonthly orbit of our planet.  The combination will make for the largest and brightest full moon of the year so if anyone tells you the moon looks really big tonight - it won't be their imagination. It should be hard to miss.
Unless... there are clouds from t'storms that have fired up from a combination of another day with temps in the 80's and a cold front sweeping through the area from the north. Saturday's sunny start has already faded to clouds as another day sets up for heat and storms. With the cold front through the area, Sunday should be cooler and drier, a welcome break from the hot, humid taste of summer we have had this week.
If the clouds clear, bright Venus is still fairly high in the west but dropping nightly in May setting up for its solar transit on June 5th. Mars is high in the south as dusk and Saturn, now west of the moon, is out shining nearby Spica.
A couple of little quakes in Central Va. but we are, mercifully, winding down on aftershock action. Several volcanoes around the planet are belching and rumbling but none are going big right now. Popo watch continues in Mexico.
Get out and check out your planet and our little chunk of space!!

May Starts Like June!!

April goes out chilly and May gets hot in a hurry. Scattered t'storms and mid-80's heat feel much more like June than May and the hottest days are yet to come: Thursday - Saturday. A cool front and cool down arrives here in central Va. Sunday.
Baby critters abound here in the Va. forest: baby foxes sat for a bit and let me talk to them today before retreating to their den and the Phoebe eggs in the nest on one of my outdoor speakers have hatched and appear to be all mouth, begging mom for food. It is springtime on Earth.
Off Earth, the waxing gibbous moon grows toward full hanging between Mars and Saturn. On Earth, the Whippoorwill drowns out the crickets and other insects for nighttime sound dominance and notice.
Check it out, it's a cool planet