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.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Thursday, July 17, 2014
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.
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.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
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.
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.
Thursday, July 3, 2014
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.
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.
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