To commemorate being completely skunked by overcast skies during Sunday’s lunar eclipse, I give you this Sunday from last year. I don’t think there’s been a regularly scheduled celestial event in years that hasn’t been obscured by clouds where I live. It’s been a frustrating run. I plan to be in the path of the total eclipse of the sun as it traverses the central United States in 2017. At least I know that if it’s cloudy that day, it will still get creepy dark!
And, of course, pisces…
By Jimmy Johnson
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270 responses to “And, of course, pisces…”
TWC has been lame for some time. Now it’s lamer. It’s hard for me shake the feeling that the channel is bitterly disappointed that the latest weather event is apparently being uncooperative and is not headed toward a US landfall, where they can get “dramatic” video of their on-camera talent staggering around outside in the wind to report that it is windy outside. Because show biz. Because ad revenue.
BTW, there’s a weather instrument to determine wind speed…it’s called an anemometer. It’s been around a long time.
But wait! Potential for heavy rain! Potential for flash flooding! Because that seldom ever happens. In the South. In the summer. Or in the Northeast. In the fall.
I’m the first to agree that weather events can have serious consequences. (Been there, got the t-shirt.) But I don’t feel the public is well-served by over-dramatization of potential consequences for commercial purposes. Which is why TWC is no longer my source for weather information. Even if most of the Weather Wenches do look pretty nice in their short skirts…when they are in the studio and not outside staggering around in the wind and trying not to get blown off their 5-inch stilettos.
Ghost: I know that I have said this before, but I tried to watch Seinfeld and could never understand what was so funny. I did see the last few minutes where Jerry is in prison and no one is laughing and I very much enjoyed that! Hey, to each his own.
I so watch Big Bang Theory as the TV set at a hotel that I stayed at a few years ago defaulted to TBS, so I ended up watching it and really enjoying it. It may have “jumped the shark” but the writing is still pretty good. The other night Leonard addressed his new wife as Penny Hofstadter and I turned to my wife and asked her “What was Penny’s maiden name?” Good luck with that one!
OF due 1105-1125 CDT. emb
http://www.nps.gov/features/yell/webcam/oldFaithfulStreaming.html
Seinfeld had its moments, as one would expect from a show that lasted that long. To me, it was always the characters that carried it, much more so than the writing.
And I’m sure there are many times now when the best thing on TV is a TBBT re-run.
Debbe: “Just enough time to answer Emb’s question….I leave before 7, and the sun is just starting to peak over the horizon. I have seen some beautiful sunrises on my way to work”
Weekly, I also see nice ones while walking to the hospital for my volunteer stint. Horizon, however, is hidden by a woods.
Before sunrise today and tomorrow+, the two bright planets to the E are Venus above and Jupiter below and a bit left. Below and left of Venus is Regulus in Leo, and below and left of that is dim Mars. Will send a large excerpt from my final starlgazer for the paper.
Why final? Because I’ve done it for 12 years, it’s getting old, and so am I. I’ll continue the other freewheeling column.
Peace, emb
Excerpt:
““““““““`
Low in the SW, Saturn starts October setting 2½ hours after sunset but only 1½ hours on Hallowe’en. Too low in the sky for details; not worth going out for. If you’re a planetarian, go to bed early and get up well before sunup all month.
Before dawn, the prominent constellations above the eastern horizon is Leo. It’s on the planisphere that I suggested you buy, and also online. Type “constellation Leo” in a search engine. There is a good diagram of its current morning location at: http://www.space.com/16845-leo-constellation.html . In early October, Leo is lower than shown there.
The action occurs to Leo’s right. Plan on being outdoors about an hour before sunup. Dress warmly, with extra layers because you’re not out for a brisk walk (good stargazing advice most of the year). Leo’s head, called “the sickle,” is at its top. Regulus, its brightest star, lies below and left of Venus the first few days of October. Regulus is closer to the ecliptic than any other bright star, and Luna thus commonly eclipses it. Type “star Regulus” and go to the Wiki site. It is actually a four-star system.
Denebola, a bright star at Leo’s hind end, is much lower left, just above the ESE horizon. Caused by our revolution around Sol, Leo will move higher all month.
Venus came out from behind Sol in late August and has already passed greatest brilliancy. It will reach greatest elongation (apparent distance from Sol) October 26, the same date it will be in conjunction with Jupiter. In a roughly straight line, extending down and a bit left from Venus, lie dim Mars and then Jupiter. Taking 12 years to round Sol, Jupiter moves against the “fixed stars” the least of the three.
The second week of October, waning crescent Luna enters the picture, passing the three planets October 8. 9. and 10. By then Jupiter is closer to Mars, and Regulus is above and left of Venus. On October 11, maybe 30 minutes before sunup, Mars is still approaching Jupiter, and Mercury is low and almost due east, above and left of thin crescent Luna. This will be a decent apparition of Mercury; it reaches greatest elongation October 16 and greatest brilliancy October 20.
October 17, Mars catches up with Jupiter. They will be in conjunction, less than ½ degree apart. Nine days later, October 26,Venus and Jupiter will be in conjunction, brilliant Venus about a degree south of Jupiter (not a good time to look for Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto).
Only two October evening hours minima of Algol: Oct. 12/13—midnight CDT; Oct. 16—8:50 pm. DST ends 2 am November 1, adding an extra hour of evening stargazing (Yay!) but also of nighttime driving (Boo!).
““““““““`
Peace, emb
Anonymous, weather wrenches? I have heard of monkey wrenches, pipe wrenches and vise-grips, but what is a weather wrench? The doohickey God uses to change the settings?
Jerry,
I think the front that is spawning all the coastal rain in the Carolinas is what I’d guess is steering the storm to the east. Here’s a shortened link to the WeatherUnderground Fronts & Satellite map: http://wxug.us/1rb8f
Weather wrench: a doohicky variable which bamfoozles meterologists, leading to the issuance of inaccurate and misleading forecasts.
Excellent weather reporting. Someone is expecting something big – Langley AFB has sent several planes to Grissom (just north of here) for safekeeping.
http://www.grissom.afrc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123459777
Weather wrenches – Ha!
Work is still aggravating, but hey, got a (small) raise and a bonus. Still looking though.
Meant to mention, I forget the specifics, but Stephanie Abrams and Al Roker were working opposite ends of a pier? beach? *somewhere* outsidea few years ago, and Roker made off with Abrams’s anemometer. The anchors at the station apparently could not grasp this, and kept asking het about wind speed. She finally decided to get Al an anemometer of his own for Christmas. The whole thing capped with them switching over to Al because he could get wind speeds. Cracked me up.
OF due 1702-1722 CDT. emb
http://www.nps.gov/features/yell/webcam/oldFaithfulStreaming.html
emb, The trick to searching for photos on google works if you are using Chrome for your browser. I don’t think it will work with IE or Firefox.
One of my all time favorites.
https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/12108802_10156228708890454_1097460439778425059_n.jpg?efg=eyJpIjoibCJ9&oh=8dfd0cc1f93bff4eb275e78399b9116a&oe=56985385
It is 65 degrees and a light rain here. I will change my prediction to this degree. After the storm hits NC it will go back out to sea. Those who say that the current rain in NC is not related to the hurricane need to look at some satellite pictures. Click on the link that I previously posted and you will see that the front that was mentioned is oriented directly north and south and is not moving. The hurricane is showing you where it is going and is sending rain bands in that direction. I also have not mentioned that large area of dry air moving westward in the north Atlantic. I would love to see the storm head directly east and disappear, but I don’t see it.
http://images.intellicast.com/WxImages/SurfaceAnalysis/usa_ICast.gif
TWC is probably telling everyone on the East Coast to build an ark by now.
“Right! What’s an ark, Lord?”
OF due NOW. Maybe it’s already done. emb
http://www.nps.gov/features/yell/webcam/oldFaithfulStreaming.html
“Who is this really?”
I’ve decided that two kinds of people will try to predict what a hurricane is going to do, some kid on TWC who is pretty sure where it’s going to be 15 minutes from now and a fool. Well I’m not on TWC. That’s for sure.
Sunrises are OK
But twice a year they are a bear.
Hwy 7 runs directly East and West so there are 3 to 4 days Spring and fall that the sun
shines directly down the highway and one hill it is impossible to see anything for minutes after.
I use 2 sets of sunglasses to get past that spot.
I do go earlier but once or twice a years it is “gotcha”
Weather forecasting is the only job you can be wrong 85% of the time and still keep your job.
A biologist’s TIP BlogSpot
http://thatispriceless.blogspot.com/
Peace, emb
Bear, rural N-S roads with close-spaced trees along the ROW are annoying at that time of year, too…you get a strobe effect as you drive it early morning or late afternoon. On the plus side, though, I suppose you could consider it a free epilepsy test.
O.B.:
Manhattan has two days a year like that, but the cross streets above 14th don’t run true E and W. [Sensible 18th/19th C. planners: the island lies roughly SSW-NNE.] I think a search would reveal the approx. dates.
Below 14th is highly variable. W 4th crosses 10th, 11th, and 12th, ending at 13th. There are no 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th W of B’way, so they don’t intersect W. 4th. There are no 1st and 2nd W of B’way either, and the streets in order that do cross 6th Ave. are W. 4th, Washington Pl., Waverly Pl. and W. 8th. Go figure. W 9th ends at 6th Ave. Kind of a neat neighborhood. Wish I could still afford to live there. Didn’t say wish I lived there, just that I could afford it.
Peace, emb
Debbe 😉 I’ve never been, and when I was a youngster watching Tarzan movies, I vowed I’d never go. Because quicksand.
Of course, the Air Force taught me how to get out of quicksand, so who knows?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTQbiNvZqaY
“Just ’cause a cat has her kittens in an oven don’t mean they’re muffins.”