From The Sun's print editions:

A reader asks: When the National Weather Service issues a "small craft advisory," how small is small and how much wind is involved?

The Coast Guard generally assigns the label to vessels shorter than 33 feet. Advisories are issued when sustained winds are expected to be 25 to 38 mph, just below a gale.

But Chesapeake Bay mariners know the direction of the wind is almost as important as the speed, and that when wind and tide direction clash, waves tend to be higher and steeper.

Have weather questions? Ask them in the comments. 

Patuxent Publishing file photo

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From the Sun's print editions:

Thanksgiving, one of the most traveled holidays, is over, but drivers should still be aware of winter driving safety.

Drivers are required to turn on their headlights from sunset to sunrise and when using windshield wipers. But headlights also make us more visible on gray winter days. Use high beam and low beam lights properly to avoid blinding oncoming drivers.

Scrape windows free of frost and ice and clean your car — roof, trunk, hood and all — of snow for maximum visibility and to keep other drivers safe.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

It’s not too late for a day trip to Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Kempton, Pa., to watch the raptors migrating south for the winter. The staff says birds will be moving along the north-south valley until mid-December.

Just this week, observers saw bald eagles and red-tailed hawks riding the currents. So far, spotters have recorded nearly 23,000 raptors passing by the mountain. The holiday open house is 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Dec. 3. The drive is slightly under 3 hours from Baltimore.

Baltimore Sun file photo

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Why is that hat called a sou'wester? My spouse asked while looking at a box of fish sticks with a stoic fisherman on the label who is wearing a waterproof hat, brim pushed up, tail covering his coat collar. The hat also is depicted on The Fishermen's Memorial Statue in Gloucester, Mass.

The Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center says the region gets its foulest weather from the northeast so mariners want to face the southwest, putting the protective tail of the hat in harm's way.
 

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Full moons have a name, several if you take into account contributions from various cultures. The one this month, on Nov. 10, was the Frosty Moon, or Beaver Moon. So why not hang monikers on the new moons, one of which we’ll experience just past midnight? True, you can’t see a new moon, but so what? Raise your hand if you had an imaginary friend as a kid, or even now. What would you call our post-Thanksgiving new moon? How about the one on Dec. 24?

Baltimore Sun file photo of "Twilight Saga: New Moon" on DVD. Perhaps the Thanksgiving new moon could be Edward and the Dec. 24 one Jacob? 

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

If you're driving in western Maryland today you may have some trouble with wind and flooding. There's a flood warning for the Monacacy in Frederick until Thursday morning. According to the National Weather service:

"AT 10 AM WEDNESDAY THE STAGE WAS 17.8 FEET. * FLOOD STAGE IS 15.0 FEET. * MODERATE FLOODING IS OCCURRING AND MODERATE FLOODING IS FORECAST. * ...THE RIVER WILL CONTINUE RISING TO NEAR 18.6 FEET BY EARLY THIS EVENING. THE RIVER WILL FALL BELOW FLOOD STAGE OVERNIGHT"

Also in Frederick there's a wind advisory until 10 p.m. with gusts up to 55 mph at elevations above 1,000 feet. 

If you're driving farther west, there's a flood warning for the Conococheague Creek in Washington County until 7 tonight. And there's a wind advisory until 10 p.m. for central and eastern Allegany, extreme western Allegany and Washington counties with possible gusts up to 55 mph.

In the Baltimore area, Frank Roylance spotted flooding from overnight rains in Western Run this morning. Scattered showers are forecast throughout the rest of the day. Seen any flooding? Tell us in the comments.

Update: There's now a coastal flood advisory for Anne Arundel until 5 p.m.

Photo of Western Run courtesy of Frank Roylance

Planning your trip? Check out area traffic cams here. 

Posted by Kim Walker at 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Flooding
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Why do we ache when it's damp or the weather turns cold and blustery, a colleague asked?

First response: "Because we're old."

But turns out some medical experts think that low pressure systems may cause our joints to swell. And cold definitely causes muscles to stiffen. A Tufts University study showed that a 10-degree drop in temperature or a rise in barometric pressure triggered an incremental increase in joint pain.

Folks with asthma or who suffer from migraine headaches often find weather changes cause them grief.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions: 

Baltimore Sun librarian Paul McCardell provides this guest post:  

Thanksgiving week is a time to remember the gratitude we had for the people that helped see us through this year’s storms and natural disasters: Snow in January; winds in February; heavy rains of March; tornadoes in April and May; record heat of June and July; earthquake and Hurricane Irene in August; Tropical Storm Lee in September; and surprise snow in October.

For all of those who were there — fire, police, medical and emergency personnel, Public Works, National Guard, utility crews, neighbors and strangers, weather forecasters and others — thank you and Happy Thanksgiving.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

An Inner Harbor tourist asked no one in particular (I was eavesdropping): Why is it that on some days, the sky is a crisscross of white jet contrails while on others the blueness is unblemished?

It all has to do with humidity levels up there. Low humidity means the atmosphere can absorb the water vapor produced by jet engines. But when the humidity is higher, the vapor, which freezes into droplets, has nowhere to go. The frozen particles then make spectacles of themselves.

Have a weather question? Post them in the comments and we may track down an answer. 

Baltimore Sun file photo

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Well, it's a marvelous night for a moon dance, or at least a hike and lecture about how the phases of the moon effect different animals and dictate their hunting patterns.

The 7 p.m. "Moonlight Masquerade" at the Oregon Ridge Nature Center in Cockeysville, suitable for those 8 and older, will run about two hours and costs $3, or $2 if you're a member. Organizers have even promised a critter or two.

Call the center at 410-887-1815 to reserve a spot.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Baltimore is ready for winter, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced Wednesday. With a snow removal budget of $2.7 million, the city has stockpiled 15,000 tons of salt and is poised to deploy 300 workers and 150 pieces of equipment.

Not that anything is imminent. The region, on average, gets a half-inch of snow in November.

The snowiest November on record came in 1898, when 9.7 inches fell. The single-day record was set on Nov. 30, 1967, when Baltimore got 8.4 inches, one-third of the entire winter’s total.

Baltimore Sun file photo

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Today, in 1973, Skylab 4 (labeled Skylab 3 on the patch) blasted off from Florida on an 84-day mission, the last for America’s original spacestation.

Rookie astronauts Gerald Carr, William Pogue and Edward Gibson took pictures of Comet Kohoutek as it flew near the Sun, shot the first-ever outer space film of a solar flare and even took cool pictures of the Chesapeake Bay.

The nine-story tall, 77.5-ton lab created a fireball of its own when it crashed in Western Australia in July 1979.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

The National Weather Service is calling for Monday to be partly sunny in the Baltimore area, with a high near 68 degrees and south winds of 10 to 14 miles per hour and gusts up to 24 miles per hour.

A small craft advisory is in effect through Monday evening for the Maryland Chesapeake Bay and the tidal Potomac River. A small craft advisory is in effect for late Monday night for the lower tidal Potomac River and for the Maryland Chesapeake Bay from Sandy Point to Smith Point.

Monday night is expected to be mostly cloudy, with a low around 57 and southwest winds of 7 to 13 miles per hour. There is a 20 percent chance of precipitation.

Tuesday is expected to be cloudy, with a high near 66 and west winds of 5 to 7 miles per hour. The chance of precipitation is 40 percent.

Tuesday night is expected to be cloudy, with a low around 50 and east winds between 4 and 7 miles per hour. There is a 60 percent chance of precipitation. Rainfall amounts between one half of an inch and three quarters of an inch are possible.

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 7:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Forecasts
        

From the Sun's print editions:

"Artificial snow from cloud seeding falls for the first time in nature" was the headline that ran Nov. 13, 1946. Vincent J Schaefer, a self-taught chemist and meteorologist working for General Electric who produced this effect in the lab, tested it in the natural world by flying over Greylock mountain in western Massachusetts.

He dispensed about six pounds of dry ice pellets at an altitude of 14,000 feet. Though no snow hit the ground, it did fall about 3,000 feet before evaporating.

Schaefer was hailed in a 1993 New York Times obituary as the first person to "actually do something about the weather and not just talk about it."

Cloud seeding is used around the world to limit drought and reduce hail. And artificial snow making is a common practice at ski resorts.

Whether man should try to control the weather is debatable and if this does more harm than good.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition, History
        

From The Sun's print editions:

They won't look like much this year, but on this day in 1833 the Leonid meteor showers gave startled scientists something to investigate. With skies much darker than they are today, thousands of fireballs made people sit up in bed and take notice. Some folks believed it was the end of the world while others guessed they were gaseous explosions from plants killed by frost. The peak this year is Nov. 17 and 18, but a waning moon and the constellation Leo will make viewing tough.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition, Sky Watching
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Baltimore Sun reporter Candus Thomson offers this guest post:  

The Great War had been over for hours when Baltimore awoke on Nov. 11, 1918. Cold, north winds made the high of 43 degrees feel much colder, but few cared. "Germany Signs Armistice, Washington Announces; World War Has Ceased," the Sun's "Victory Edition" declared.

In 1938, clouds parted for the sun pushing temperatures into the upper 60s for Americans celebrating Armistice Day as a national holiday for the first time.

Gentle breezes and temperatures in the mid-50s prevailed in 1954, when Armistice Day became Veterans Day.

File photo of Armistice Day Parade at Mt. Vernon Place, Baltimore

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

Mike Potter sent along this photo of asteroid 2005 YU55 he shot from his observatory in Baltimore:

"The picture I sent you was one of maybe 75 that I got of the object last night.  It was tough to follow since the mount does not have the ability to track objects based on orbital elements.  So I had to keep moving the telescope to a location just ahead of it and wait for it to arrive. It took about 7 or 8  5-second exposures for the object to cross the 8.5 arcminute (about a quarter the moon's apparent diameter) field of view."

Thanks, Mike!

And NASA posted a video on their site of the flyby as viewed from Swift's Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT). Check it out here.    

Posted by Kim Walker at 5:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Sky Watching
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Baltimore Sun reporter Candus Thomson offers this guest post:  

Rain. On the one hand, dismal drizzle in late fall is a harsh reminder that it's time to put away the shorts and flip-flops and trade SPF 30 lotion for a deep moisturizer. On the other hand, it isn't snow.

How fast do raindrops fall? University of California, Santa Barbara scientists say that on a calm day raindrops can reach top speeds of 18 mph, the same as a dragonfly, before friction breaks them up. The bigger the drop, the faster it falls.

Photo by Getty Images

Posted by Kim Walker at 4:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

The National Weather Service is calling for Friday to be mostly cloudy in the Baltimore area, with a high near 56 and light winds becoming northwesterly of 12 to 15 miles per hour. The chance of precipitation is 20 percent.

A dense fog advisory is in effect for central and southern Maryland until 9 a.m. Thursday, meaning visibility may be reduced to one quarter of a mile or less. A small craft advisory will be in effect for the tidal Potomac River and the Maryland Chesapeake Bay Thursday afternoon and night.

Thursday night is expected to start mostly cloudy and then gradually become mostly clear, with a low around 39 degrees and west winds between 9 and 15 miles per hour.

Friday is expected to be sunny and breezy, with a high near 53 and west winds between 16 and 21 miles per hour.

Friday night is expected to be mostly clear, with a low around 38 and west winds of 5 to 13 miles per hour. 

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 7:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Forecasts
        

From The Sun's print editions: 

If you tune in to radio or TV at 2 p.m. today, you will witness the first nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System. It will sound identical to the localized messages heard during weather emergencies, right down to the waaa-waaa-waaa at the beginning and end.

The difference is, we’ll all be in this together, from Maine to Hawaii and all U.S. territories.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency says no one will be penalized for their performance. This, after all, is only a test.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

The asteroid 2005 YU55 is getting all the buzz, but tonight is a perfect opportunity for stargazers to see a Jupiter-moon pairing. Skies should be clear enough to see the planet appearing as "bright star" near the moon.

Thanks, Frank, for the tip. 

Posted by Kim Walker at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Sky Watching
        

The National Weather Service is calling for Tuesday to be sunny in the Baltimore area, with a high near 67 degrees and winds becoming southeasterly around 5 miles per hour.

Tuesday night is expected to be clear, with a low around 49 and calm winds.

Wednesday is expected to be sunny, with a high near 65 and winds becoming southerly between 5 and 8 miles per hour.

Wednesday night is expected to be mostly cloudy, with a low around 52 and south winds of 3 to 6 miles per hour. There is a 20 percent chance of precipitation after 1 a.m.

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 7:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Forecasts
        

From The Sun's print editions: 

Baltimore Sun reporter Candus Thomson offers this guest post:   

Indian Summer, by the strictest of definitions, doesn’t appear to be on Baltimore’s horizon or even beyond, according to the Accuweather charts.

No one knows what Native Americans called the almost sultry conditions in late fall that followed the first killing frost, but our use of the term dates back to the 1700s, says National Weather Service historian William Deedler. The mild spell usually ends when low pressure moves in and the jet stream shifts from the south or southwest to north or northwest.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From the Sun's print editions: 

The close flyby Tuesday at 6:28 p.m. of asteroid 2005 YU55 will be a "boon for astronomers to study it with some high-tech instruments" but won’t be visible to the average stargazer, says David Ludwikoski, assistant professor of science at the Community College of Baltimore County, who hosts star parties at the school’s Banneker Planetarium.

“The neat thing is it’s probably the closest in recent memory anything has come this close to the Earth,” he says. “And it’s a nice plus for us that we’ve been able to detect something this small with the technology we have.”

Read more about the asteroid and NASA's tracking program here. 

Posted by Kim Walker at 5:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From the Sun's print editions:

Baltimore Sun librarian Paul McCardell provides this guest post: 

"Freak storm sweeps in without warning: Motorists stranded" was one of the headlines in The Baltimore Sun, referring to the snow that hit Maryland on Nov. 6-7, 1953. The Nor'easter dumped 5.9 inches in Baltimore, and it was the lowest temperature ever for these two dates at 22 degrees, which still stands.

This storm tied up traffic in every section of Baltimore, hundreds of motorist were stranded on highways seeking shelter in farm houses. The snow knocked out telephones, disrupted electric power and brought gales of wind over the Chesapeake Bay.  

This storm also provided the name for a baby girl who arrived in an ambulance on Popular Grove Street delivered by her father, an automobile dealer. "We just had to call her Gail because of the gale winds we were caught in," Morris Peterson, the father, told The Sun.

The Stork was busy during this storm with another delivery. An off-duty fireman delivered one of the twin boys born in a snowbound car at Gittings and Loch Raven. The second twin was born 45 minutes later at Mercy Hospital. It was the mother's first children, and the fireman's first delivery.

Baltimore Sun file photo of a car stuck in Cecil County during the 1953 storm.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print edition:

Baltimore Sun reporter Candus Thomson offers this guest post:  

Daylight Savings Time ends Sunday at 2 a.m., when clocks "fall back" an hour. For those of you who like to get a jump on things, we will "spring forward" at 2 a.m. on March 11. Where did that little memory-jogger originate?

According to Barry Popik, an etymologist and blogger, the phrase was coined by the Los Angeles Examiner and given national exposure in 1957 by columnist Walter Winchell.

If you have one of those atomic clocks that changes itself—lucky you.

Patuxent Publishing file photo

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

Happy Friday! Here's your forecast:

The National Weather Service is calling for Friday to be sunny in the Baltimore area, with a high near 58 degrees and north winds of 9 to 15 miles per hour.

A small craft advisory is in effect Friday and Friday night for the Maryland Chesapeake Bay and the tidal Potomac River.

Friday night is expected to be clear, with a low around 36 and north winds of 9 to 13 miles per hour.

Saturday is expected to be sunny, with a high near 53 degrees and northeast winds around 10 miles per hour.

Saturday night is expected to be clear, with a low around 39 and east winds between 3 and 5 miles per hour.

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 7:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Forecasts
        

From the Sun's print edition:

Baltimore Sun reporter Candus Thomson offers this guest post:  

A colleague asks why some cars are covered in a thin veneer of moisture in the morning while others nearby are bone dry. Experts say the difference can involve a number of variables: how long the car has been sitting cold, vehicle color (black holds heat), what type of surface the vehicle is sitting on (dirt vs. asphalt) or under (tree vs. open lot) and even the difference in terrain -- as little as a foot in height can make a difference.

Image is colleague Justine Maki's car just before 6 a.m. this morning.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

 Baltimore Sun reporter Candus Thomson offers this guest post: 

Frostburg lived up to its name during the first snowstorm of the season. The Allegany County city led the state with 11.6 inches of snow last weekend, according to unofficial readings gathered by the National Weather Service. Manchester, Caroll County, picked up 7.8 inches, the most in the Baltimore metro area.

Baltimore County spotters recorded measurements ranging from a hint of whiteness to 5.5 inches. Harford County topped out at 5.3 inches; Howard County, 3 inches; and Anne Arundel received a dusting.

Baltimore Sun photo by Gene Sweeney Jr.

Posted by Kim Walker at 5:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

The Washington Post is reporting on the federal government's new snow policy to prevent another gridlock crisis that happened during last January's rush hour storm.

From the Post: 

"The Office of Personnel Management now says it will make the call much earlier to either close the government or allow unscheduled leave or telework—and play it safe at the risk of overreacting should just a few flakes fall. ...

If the weather turns bad once they’re at the office, the 300,000 federal employees in the Washington area who don’t leave by a deadline will be told to shelter in place, a policy that’s sure to evoke images of Cold War fallout shelters and biological attacks." 

Parents who need to pick up their children would be exempt, according to the article.

Read more here. 

Posted by Kim Walker at 1:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Winter weather
        

The National Weather Service is calling for Wednesday to be sunny in the Baltimore area, with a high near 61 degrees and winds becoming south around 6 miles per hour.

Wednesday night is expected to be mostly clear, with a low around 40 and south winds between 3 and 5 miles per hour.

Thursday is expected to be sunny, with a high near 61 degrees and southwest winds of 5 to 7 miles per hour.

Thursday night is expected to be mostly cloudy, with a low around 45 and south winds at 6 miles per hour becoming northwesterly.

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 7:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Forecasts
        

FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:

It’s always bittersweet to see November arrive. The last leaves drop this month, giving way to the bare branches that stand watch until March. Snow enters the subconscious as the average overnight lows drop to freezing by month’s end; as much as 8 inches has fallen here in November. And the days grow short, with only a month left before the winter solstice.

But cheer up! Highs on a good day can still reach the 70s, and the Thanksgiving turkey and stuffing still lie ahead. 

(SUN PHOTO: Christopher T. Assaf, 2006) 

Posted by Frank Roylance at 12:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition