A Look Ahead To September...

September 2024 - On & Off Earth

What happened to August? The hot and steamy heart of summer was replaced by an imposter this year. In earlier times (10 years ago..) an occasional Canadian air mass would push through and linger for a day or two before the sultry summer air returned; not in 2024. While August began and will end with a blast of heat, cool and dry has ruled this year. The extended look into September has the cooler drier trend continuing.

Maybe it was to be expected. The string of record breaking heat, month after month for over a year, was broken in July. That said, much of Earth swelters on, our pleasant weather much more the exception than the rule. And, delightful as an August with low humidity is, it still has us locked into serious drought conditions. We also, mostly, dodged Hurricane Debby’s wrath but more rain would have been nice.

Recent wind shear, coupled with dry, dust laden air off the Sahara has shut down the hurricane conveyor belt in the Atlantic for the moment. With change the ever present reality on Earth, those conditions are beginning to shift. Over a century of records puts the peak of the big, bad storm season on September 10th. We are far from done with the 2024 hurricane season. We should, however, be thankful our technology gives us plenty of lead time on pending storms. Just 70 years ago they really had no idea how or where hurricanes even formed!

Back 500 years, a clever German, Johannes Kepler, studied Mars over several years and building on the new, radical idea that the Earth was not the center of the universe realized planets (and moons) orbited in ovals, not perfect circles. What later became his Laws of Planetary Motion calculated that planets travelled more slowly in the more distant part of that oval orbit. We were farthest from our nearby star on July 5th this year. Spring and summer stretch out for 186 days, fall and winter a mere 179.

That extra time sets the stage for a special Full Harvest Moon on September 17th. It will be both Super and Blue AND will graze Earth’s shadow for a partial eclipse. The Super (or King) part is because this full moon is only a day from perigee and close to Earth; Earth’s oceans will slosh up extreme tides. The blue part is old school Blue Moon, four full moons in one season. The first, just one day past the Summer Solstice, the fourth of summer, four days prior to the Fall Equinox. (No, it will not appear blue!). It may appear dimmer on the upper edge as it slides across our shadow, the peak of the partial eclipse is at 10:44pmEDT that night. The bright ‘star’ just right of the Full moon is Saturn.

Our tilted, oval orbit moves us to solar equilibrium, the Autumnal Equinox, at 8:44amEDT on September 22rd. Our sunlight bending atmosphere pushes the twelve hours of equal light and dark back to the 25th; sunrise and set both at 7:01 that day. Our solar view changes from Leo into Virgo on the 17th.

September, always a month with big changes, is unlikely to disappoint this year. As kids, parents and teachers settle into the school year, those without school ties set off on adventures with smaller crowds but still summer-like air and water temperatures. In the forest, trees begin to show some color and cut their losses, non-productive leaves let go. The vibrant reds of dogwoods and tupelos foreshadowing the wild color displays ahead. Much will depend on the magic elixir, water. Let us all hope for some rain, just, maybe not in the shape of a hurricane!
Visitor last night...he was not welcome...

Not...Today On Earth