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.