Real Name: David Tewes Member Since: September 24, 2007 Last Signed In: October 14, 2008 Profile Views: 1633 Blog Views: 6191 The busy tropics Astronomy Day 2008 Of droughts and floods Hubble Space Telescope fails Tropics getting busy Astroimages for you desktop Hurricane season isn't over for Texas yet Ike's storm surge could have caused serious problems locally Be sure to catch the planets tonight Hurricane Ike's wild winds September 07 October 07 November 07 December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 October 08 
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After such a wet summer, it almost seems that we've gone into a drought. Victoria has had 70.10 inches of rain this year (at least at the airport), making it the second wettest year on record.
The record is 73.70 inches, which fell in 2004. The National Weather Service long-range outlook through January is calling for below-normal rainfall. A forecaster once told me records are made to be broken. I'm not sure that's going to happen this year. Anyone else have any thoughts on that? Frequent observers of the night sky may have noticed what appears to be an unusual yellow or orange colored star in the northeast sky. It's not a star, but Comet Holmes. I was able to observe the comet Monday evening from my backyard in town just using a cheap pair of binoculars. It looks like a fuzzy star that won't come into focus. It's the first comet I've seen without a tail and the brightest in the past decade. For more details, try this link. Click here for a locater map of the night sky showing the comet's location. Let me know what you see.
It wasn't that long ago that finding up-to-date weather information meant having to wait for the 6 and 10 o'clock news to catch a glimpse of the latest radar and weather map.
Today, with the advent of the Internet, the latest warnings, watches and satellite maps are just a mouse click away. In fact, there are so many weather sites it's sometimes difficult deciding which is the best. One of my favorites is the Web site for the Corpus Christi National Weather Service office. It pretty much has everything I need to get my daily "briefings." Click here to check it out. Toward the bottom of the home page is a link to a Web survey that gives you a chance to tell the weather service what you like and dislike about the site. I'd encourage you to take the time to fill it out. Anyone catch the Orionid meteor shower this weekend? I got back to Victoria from my son’s football game in San Antonio and made my way into the backyard about 1:30 a.m. Saturday. The sky was free of clouds and the half-full moon wasn’t a factor. I saw one meteor! Perhaps I didn’t spend enough time watching, but I was pretty disappointed. Astronomers were forecasting as many as 25 to 50 meteors per hour. I’m not sure if the forecast was a bust or not, but one Web site was calling it a dud in most places (www.spaceweather.com). If you have any reports or photos, I’d love to hear from you.
If the latest government forecast is any indication, odds are we won't have another white Christmas like the 12-inch "blizzard" in 2004. Go figure!
The winter outlook update issued today is calling for a mild and dry winter for most of South Texas. In fact, there's a greater than 60-percent chance of a warmer-than-normal winter and a greater than 40-percent chance of a drier-than-normal winter. Considering fall is just a few weeks old, those numbers indicate to me forecasters are pretty confident about their predictions. What will all that mean for Victoria? Well, it might cut those heating bills. It could also mean an increased threat of wildfires and the possibility of a ban on outdoor burning. Kyle Young, the Victoria County fire marshal, has already issued two warnings about the threat of wildfire, despite the area experiencing one of the wettest years ever. For a look at the government's forecast, go to www.noaa.gov and click on "Warm and Dry Winter Predicted for Much of the U.S." Are there any forecasters out there who would like to take a crack at forecasting what's coming up this winter? Anyone seeing any signs, like hairier-than-normal caterpillars or plants growing thick bark?
If you're looking for something to keep you entertained this weekend, consider spending time in the backyard watching the annual Orionid meteor shower. Some are predicting as many as 20 meteors per hour at the maximum.
The Orionids generally begin on Oct. 15 and end on Oct. 29, with a peak generally occurring during the morning hours of Oct. 20 to 22, according to meteorshowersonline.com. And if the weather forecasters are right, the observing conditions won't be bad. The sky Friday and Saturday should range from mostly clear to partly cloudy. The meteor shower is a result of the Earth passing through a dust trail created by Halley's Comet. So some of the meteors are no larger than a grain of sand, although they are still visible as they heat up while passing through the atmosphere. For more details, including where to look in the sky, go online to: http://www.windows.ucar.edu...
I had to check my calendar today to make sure it was really mid-October. There was a hint of fall in the air Friday night while I was sitting in the stands watching my son play football. Boy was that ever short-lived.
The relative humidity returned with vengeance today and forecasters are calling for highs in the 90s and lows in the 70s into the weekend. That's 7 to 10 degrees above normal for this time of year, and what I'd expect to see during the summer. This time last year the low temperatures were already dipping into the mid- to low 50s. Not only that, the tropics have been keeping folks at the National Hurricane Center on their toes. They've been watching a couple of areas, one in the southern Gulf of Mexico and another in the Caribbean Sea. Again, that's reminiscent of an August or early September weather pattern. Could it be global warming? Or is it just one of those odd years when the weather patterns don't fit the mold? What's your take? |
