From The Sun's print editions:

Last year was the fourth deadliest year for tornadoes in the United States, with 550 fatalities, and the second most destructive, with 1,709 twisters touching down. Why? A very strong jet stream powered by La Nina conditions generated powerful super-cell thunderstorms that often spin off tornadoes, says Accuweather.com. During 2011, many tornadoes touched down in densely populated areas east of "Tornado Alley" that lack the kind of storm awareness and shelters typically found in states from Texas to Kansas. Unfortunately, that La Nina pattern remains in place.

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Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From the Sun's print edition:

Baltimore Sun librarian Paul McCardell offers this post:       

"Godspeed, John Glenn." Fellow astronaut Scott Carpenter spoke those words 50 years ago on Feb. 20, 1962, during the launch of Mercury spacecraft "Friendship 7." On board was astronaut John H. Glenn, who became the first American to orbit the Earth. He saw three sunrises and sunsets during a flight of 4 hours and 56 minutes. This spacecraft is on view at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. The Mercury-Redstone 3 "Freedom 7," flown by astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American in space, on May 5, 1961, is scheduled to leave the U.S. Naval Academy Visitors' Center the third week in March for the John F. Kennedy library in Boston.

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From The Sun's print editions:

The newest polar-orbiting satellite that will help scientists predict nasty weather days in advance is sending back its first data to Earth. The Cross-track Infrared Sounder, being managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, will produce high-resolution, three-dimensional temperature, atmospheric pressure, and moisture profiles. Scientists for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration believe the enhanced information will help them decode climate changers such as El Nino and La Nina. Distribution of the new information is set to begin at the end of March.

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From The Sun's print editions:

On this date last year, NASA decommissioned its $320 million WISE satellite. With its 16-inch-in-diameter infrared-sensitive telescope, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer orbited the Earth 326 miles up and scanned the entire sky, discovering asteroids, comets, dying stars — called brown dwarfs — and distant galaxies. The 9-foot-tall satellite took more than 1.5 million images. Its final picture, taken on Feb. 1 of last year, shows a star-studded swath of the Milky Way. Next month, the WISE mission will be releasing data to the public from its all-sky survey.

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Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

So, what caused Snowmageddon—the three-storm punch two years ago that blanketed the region with 54.9 inches of snow? Three scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt think they have a clue. A combination of El Nino-induced warm sea surface temperatures and storminess with a reduction in the difference between the low-pressure field to the north and the high-pressure field to the south allowed bitter Arctic wind to sweep down across the North Atlantic and turn what would normally have been rain into feet of snow.

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Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Take part in the national Great Backyard Bird Count on Saturday during a free ranger-led hike at Cunningham Falls State Park in Frederick County. Different species seen by hikers will be logged by park staff. The hike has some rocky areas. Binoculars are helpful. For children ages six and up. No pets. Meet the ranger at 10 a.m. at the Falls Trailhead lot in the William Houck Area of the park. The 1.2-mile hike will last about an hour and a half. Information: 301-271-7574.

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Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From the Sun's print edition:

Baltimore Sun librarian Paul McCardell offers this post:      

We are entering the part of winter that has brought some of our greatest snowfall totals. The blizzard of 1983 on Feb. 11-12 brought 22.8 inches. During the Valentine's Day storm on Feb. 12-14 1899, the area received 21.3 inches. The President's Day storm, Feb.18-19 1979, dumped 20.0 inches. The 2003 President's Day blizzard, on Feb. 16-18, is the No. 1 storm for snowfall of all time in Baltimore at 26.8 inches. If you're feeling the chill today, remember it could be worse. On this date in 1899, the high was 11 and low was 5 degrees.

Baltimore Sun 2003 file photo

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Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Get those neck muscles in shape, International Space Station watchers, you're got some looking up to do next week. Weather permitting, folks in the Baltimore area will be able to see the station overhead on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday, the spacecraft will appear at 7:13 p.m. low in the western sky. For two minutes it will make its way to the north. On Valentine's Day, at 6:15 p.m., the space station will enter from the southwest and will cruise for five minutes to the east-northeast.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Warm, dry weather has meant one thing for anglers: the state has begun its spring stocking of approximately 326,000 rainbow and brown trout into streams and ponds. The stocking trucks will work their way east to west, said Assistant Fisheries Director Don Cosden. Some fish being released are as large as 8 pounds.

One caveat, though. The Put-and-Take closure dates for certain areas are incorrect in the 2012 Maryland Fishing Guide. Check the Department of Natural Resources website (dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/stocking/) for both the correct days and the stocking schedule.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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From The Sun's print editions:

Baltimore Sun reporter Candus Thomson offers this guest post:  

Apparently the lure of being an astronaut is not dampened by the fact that NASA doesn't have a spacecraft and rocket ready for launch. The U.S. space agency says it received more than 6,300 applications to be part of the 21st class of astronauts over the three-month period that ended late last month. A rigorous screening process will reduce the number. The agency normally gets between 2,500 and 3,500 applicants; the highest response came in 1978 with 8,000 applicants.

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Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

 From The Sun's print editions:

Star light, star bright. On Thursday, the Maryland Science Center is scheduled to open a three-month exhibit featuring images of the sun taken during NASA solar missions.

The show, "Sun As Art," consists of 20 full-color, high-resolution images selected by Steele Hill, a media specialist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt and an author of a book on the sun.

Several pieces in the exhibit allow visitors to use their smart phones to scan a QR code and watch the solar event that inspired the finished image.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From the Sun's print edition:

Baltimore Sun librarian Paul McCardell offers this post:     

From the Sun archives: The Great Baltimore Fire started on the morning of Feb. 7, 1904, at John E. Hurst building located near present day 1st Mariner Arena. The first alarm sounded at 10:48 a.m. and the fire quickly spread, eventually destroying 1,500 buildings over 140 acres. Baltimore was experiencing a winter thaw that weekend with temperatures in the 50s and 60s. On the day before the fire, “The beauty of the afternoon caused the shopping streets, markets and other places of public concourse to be thronged,” the Sun reported. After that, Baltimore was hit by a cold spell as city temperatures reached a low of 5 degrees on Feb. 17. The weather caused fatalities and illness among National Guard members, firefighters and other workers who were guarding and clearing debris.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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 From The Sun's print editions:

Last month's temperatures had more in common with early December or late February than a typical January, the National Weather Service says. The maximum average temperature was 47.9 degrees, making it the 15th warmest January since 1870, when records started being kept. So far, this season’s snow total of 1.3 inches ranks as the ninth lowest on record in Baltimore. The highest wind gust, 46 mph, came on Jan. 27. We had two days with fair skies, 21 days of partly cloudy skies and eight days of clouds.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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From The Sun's print editions:

Our cups run over. The Baltimore region's three reservoirs are filled to the brim, the city Public Works Department says, even though January ended about a half-inch below average on the rain gauge and 5.5 inches below average in snowfall. When at capacity, Loch Raven, Liberty and Prettyboy reservoirs together hold 75.85 billion gallons. Since 1988, reservoir storage totals have averaged 66 billion gallons at this time of year. That should mean plenty of water this summer for the system’s 1.8 million customers, department officials say.

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Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

 From The Sun's print editions:

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, headquartered in downtown Silver Spring, is celebrating "Heritage Week" with free programs for weather watchers. On Friday at 11:30 a.m. and Saturday at noon, Mike Bettes, a Weather Channel meteorologist, will be on a panel discussing "Tornado! Forecasting Killer Twisters." On Saturday at 10 a.m., Capt. Barry Choy will present, "Eye of the Storm: Adventures of a NOAA Hurricane Hunter Pilot." Then on Feb. 11, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the NOAA Science Center will have an open house.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Don’t have a dog in this year's Super Bowl fight? Learn about the heavens from the experts.

The University of Maryland Observatory is having an open house at 8 p.m. on Feb. 5 at the Metzerott Road facility in College Park. A short lecture will be followed by a tour and, weather permitting, a peek at the night sky with the astronomers. Parking and seating are limited, so don't be late.

If you can't make this event, there’s another one set for Feb. 20.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition, Sky Watching
        

From the Sun's print edition:

Baltimore Sun librarian Paul McCardell offers this post:    

Groundhog Day is coming Thursday, when Punxsutawney Phil will emerge from his burrow. If he sees his shadow, it will mean six more weeks of winter.

The day is a reminder about how before there were weather bureaus, humans looked to nature and animals as weather predictors. People looked at how their dogs and cats behaved; studied the color, shade and thickness of the hair on the wooly bear caterpillar; and watched squirrels gather nuts. They listened to birds and watched which direction they flew.

While flipping a coin maybe more accurate than Punxsutawney Phil’s prognostication, there is something to be said for observing and listening to nature.

Reuters photo

Posted by Kim Walker at 7:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Thursday is Groundhog Day, when Punxsutawney Phil tells us how much longer winter will last. Two years ago, Phil predicted a prolonged winter and we got Snowmageddon. Last year, Phil correctly called for an early spring. If Phil does not see his shadow next week, we can look forward to an early spring. If he sees his shadow, we get another six weeks of ... what? Warm temperatures, spring-like rain and an explosion of flowers bursting from their bulbs? Either way, bring it on.

Reuters photo

Posted by Kim Walker at 7:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Baltimore Sun reporter Candus Thomson offers this guest post: 

Astronomy is looking up. That's the motto of the Westminster Astronomical Society, a local group of stargazers who share their enthusiasm and expertise once a month when they open their planetarium at the Bear Brook Nature Center.

There's a gathering Saturday night at 7:30, with a second show at 8:30, if the crowd warrants it. Keep in mind that good views are weather dependent. The cost is $5 and includes the use of a time machine. Reserve a seat by calling 410-386-2103.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

Baltimore Sun reporter Candus Thomson offers this guest post:

Having survived a weekend ice event followed by a radiation blast from a solar flare, it's safe to say we've run the gamut. The eruption, the largest since 2005, began Sunday evening. Solar flares can wreak havoc with communications satellites, GPS units and the power grid, but not earthlings, experts say. Sometimes, a strong storm can cause Northern Lights to flicker in our skies. If you’re awake between midnight and dawn, face north and look near the horizon for green or red glows.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From the Sun's print edition:

Baltimore Sun librarian Paul McCardell offers this post:  

Mayor Clarence H. Du Burns told The Baltimore Sun he was hoping for a sunny day on Jan. 22, 1987, his first full day in office. Instead Baltimore was hit by a major snowstorm. The National Weather Service forecast the storm but couldn't predict the amount of snow because of the difficulty in knowing where the rain-snow line would fall. Snowplow crews spent most of the day playing catch-up as Baltimore received 12 inches, only to be hit three days later by nine to 10 inches more. January 1987 was the third-snowiest January on record in Baltimore.

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

From The Sun's print editions:

Baltimore Sun reporter Candus Thomson offers this guest post:   

For those of us trying to cram one more thing into a busy schedule, this is our lucky year. The masters of time are is giving us 86,401 extra seconds. Most of it comes on Feb. 29 to mark leap year. Then, on June 30, we get an extra tick to get the world’s rotation and our atomic timepieces (accurate to one second in 100 million years) back in sync. Leap seconds have occurred 24 times, the first one on June 30, 1972.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Baltimore Sun reporter Candus Thomson offers this guest post:    

What is the difference between a winter storm watch, a warning and an advisory? In these parts, an advisory is issued by the National Weather Service when a disruptive coating of 2 to 4 inches of snow —alone or with sleet and freezing rain — is anticipated. A watch means the possibility of hazardous conditions looms within 48 hours. A warning is for a mix-and-match set of circumstances: more than 5 inches of snow or sleet; one-quarter inch of ice; enough accumulation to down power lines; damaging precipitation and high winds.

Posted by Kim Walker at 3:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Baltimore Sun reporter Candus Thomson offers this guest post:   

A colleague wanted to know what kind of weather gives monuments, statues and fountains the biggest beat down.

For that, we turned to Barbara Wolanin, curator for the Architect of the Capitol since 1985, who oversaw the restoration of the bronze Statue of Freedom atop the Capitol dome. Water, she says, is the enemy of all types of decorative structure. It either softens porous material, rusts metals such as bronze or seeps into cracks, where the cycle of freezing and thawing takes its toll.

Baltimore Sun file photo by Barbara Haddock Taylor

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From the Sun's print edition:

Baltimore Sun librarian Paul McCardell offers this post: 

The Ravens will have perfect weather conditions for today's game. The temperature at kickoff is forecast to be in the mid-30s, and it will be the coldest game the team has played at home all year. T

he Ravens have a perfect season at home this year and the weather has been mild, but in past years on average the Ravens have played better at home when the temperature has been below 40, The Sun reported in 2009. The last time the Ravens played in NFC championship game at home was on Jan. 13, 2007, against the Colts. It was a high of 69 and low of 53, and the Ravens lost.

Today's game won't be the famous 1967 Ice Bowl or 1988 Fog Bowl, but maybe it will be called the Chilly Bowl.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Baltimore Sun reporter Candus Thomson offers this guest post:   

SciJinks, the nifty NASA website for kids — and grownups — includes a look at folklore around the world through the microscope of modern science.

Happily, some folklore makes the grade. For example: "There is an ancient rain-predicting proverb among the Zuni Indians that says, 'If the moon's face is red, of water she speaks.'" The scientific thumbs up? "The moon appears red because of dust being pushed ahead of a low pressure front bringing in moisture. So the Zuni were right on!"

(Also, check out the Bad Weather Joke Machine).

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Baltimore Sun reporter Candus Thomson offers this guest post:   

"Why are they called Alberta clippers?" asked the man at the next bar stool as the TV forecast ended.

The weather term sounds like the explanation of what happened to Baltimore's old hockey team. But it describes a low-pressure system that begins in western Canada and picks up speed across the Great Plains like a hockey player crossing the blue line.

Usually, a clipper isn't a scoring threat, bringing bitter cold but little snow. But if it taps into Atlantic moisture it can turn the landscape mighty white.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Baltimore Sun reporter Candus Thomson offers this guest post:   

Dr. Rommel Miranda of Towson University's Department of Physics, Astronomy and Geosciences will be discussing "Stars of the Ancient Sky" Friday night at the Oregon Ridge Nature Center in Cockeysville. The program, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., will employ the portable StarLab Planetarium.

The professor received the university’s 2011 Excellence in Teaching Award. If the weather cooperates, Miranda will lead everyone outside for some star gazing. The cost is $4 for members and $5 for non-members. Call 410-887-1815 to make reservations.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:11 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:  

What are the 2012 astronomical highlights likely to be, weather permitting?

The best chance to see Mercury will fall between Feb. 20 and March 12.

On March 14, Venus and Jupiter will fly in tight formation to be joined on March 25 by a crescent moon, creating a spectacular display.

On June 5, Venus will transit across the sun's face. Sunset will interrupt our view locally. But since it won't happen again until 2117, we can't complain.

Geminids Meteor Shower will peak around Dec. 13.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From the Sun's print edition:

Baltimore Sun librarian Paul McCardell offers this post: 

Miss the cold? The coldest recorded temperature in Maryland was 100 years ago on Jan. 13, 1912, in Oakland at -40 degrees Fahrenheit. It was recorded by a U.S. Weather Bureau reader named Ralph E. Weber of Oakland. On that date in Baltimore, it was 0. That January and February, Maryland was hit by one cold wave after another. Three other states share a record temperature of -40: Arizona set in 1971 and Kansas and Missouri set on same day in 1905. Alaska is the state with the coldest recorded temperature, a low of -80 recorded Jan. 23, 1971.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Baltimore Sun reporter Candus Thomson offers this guest post: 

A caller asked, "Does Maryland really use beets to melt snow from roads?" Indeed it does. The State Highway Administration blends sugar beet molasses with salt brine and applies it to roads and bridges before the first flakes fall. The beet juice lowers the freezing temperature of the brine, normally minus-6 degrees, to give it more punch. The state, by the way, makes its own brine at a cost of 7 cents a gallon and distributes it to highway sheds across the state.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Baltimore Sun reporter Candus Thomson offers this guest post: 

NASA is hoping to conduct a test flight of a suborbital rocket from Virginia's Wallops Flight Facility on Jan. 11. The two-stage vehicle, with the friendly sounding name Terrier-Improved Malamute, is being developed to support NASA science missions. Liftoff is expected between 7:30 a.m. and 9 a.m., with backup launch days on Jan. 12 and 13. The Wallops visitor center will open at 6:30 a.m. for public viewing. You can follow the mission at: sites.wff.nasa.gov/webcast. Launch status also is available at 757-824-2050.

Posted by Kim Walker at 9:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Baltimore Sun reporter Candus Thomson offers this guest post:   

December 2011 was warmer and wetter than average, but no record setter, according to National Weather Service records. The average monthly temperature was 42.2 degrees, two-tenths of a degree below the mark set in 2006.

The low reading -- 22 degrees -- came on Dec. 12 and the high followed three days later, when the temperature reached 63. The total amount of rain for the month was 4.50 inches, more than half of it coming on Dec. 7, and including Baltimore’s only snow. The monthly average is 3.37 inches.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Baltimore Sun reporter Candus Thomson offers this guest post:  

The International Space Station will make two passes of six minutes' duration each over our area in early 2012. The first comes Wednesday night at 5:53, when the spacecraft will enter the west northwest skies and begin its leisurely flyby to the south southeast.On Jan. 14, the 430-ton ship will return at 6:46 p.m., appearing from the southwest and cruising to the east northeast.

If you get the chance, check out a spectacular YouTube video of Comet Lovejoy taken by NASA astronaut Dan Burbank, commander of Expedition 30.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From the Sun's print edition:

Baltimore Sun librarian Paul McCardell offers this post: 

Happy New Year! We will have an extra day this year because 2012 is a leap year. February will have 29 days instead of 28 and the year will have 366 days instead of 365.

According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, leap years are necessary because the length of a year is 365.242 days, so an extra day is added, in most cases, every four years and on years that are evenly divisible by four.

Also, check out Joe Burris' article on a proposal by two Hopkins professors to overhaul the calendar so the same dates fall on the same days year after year. What do you think?

A toast to new beginnings and hopefully a year filled with nice weather.

Posted by Kim Walker at 7:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Baltimore Sun reporter Candus Thomson offers this guest post:      

What is the moon made of and why have a dozen spacecraft crashed into its surface?

Two U.S. probes have been circling the moon in formation for 82 days, mapping its uneven gravitational pull. On New Year’s Eve, one will land followed a day later by the other.

The Grail probes, short for Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory, will study the moon from crust to core to help scientists learn how it was created. Research on the moon’s gravity field will help target safe-landing sites.

Reuters file photo

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Baltimore Sun reporter Candus Thomson offers this guest post:     

A caller left this message: When was the last time Baltimore went an entire winter without snow? Someone who wasn’t a stickler for detail would point out that we had snow on Oct. 29. But, technically that’s not winter, right? Well, according to the National Weather Service, Baltimore never went an entire season without snow. The closest we came was in 1949-50, when one-half inch fell. The 30-year average snow total for BWI-Marshall Airport is 20.2 inches. Last winter gave us 14.4 inches.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Baltimore Sun reporter Candus Thomson offers this guest post:    

Were you one of the planet's fortunate creatures to receive an iPad for Christmas of Hanukkah? If you did and you consider yourself something of a stargazer, you might find the app, Star Walk, a fun download.

The app turns an iPad into an astronomy guide, using the device's camera to help search the galaxy and identify features. There's also a version for the iPhone. Star Walk tracks satellites and provides information about what’s up.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From the Sun's print editions:

Baltimore Sun librarian Paul McCardell provides this guest post:  

It was Christmas Eve 1966 and my brother and sisters and I had all gone to sleep dreaming that Santa would soon arrive.

It was perfect weather. Several inches of snow had fallen that day and flurries were still blowing.

When we awoke there was much excitement, for my sisters hollered that they saw on the roof what looked like boot prints, reindeer tracks and sled markings. To our surprise my father retrieved a reindeer collar with bells, which we were convinced belonged to Rudolph. We cherish that memory and pass it down.

Merry Christmas.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Baltimore Sun reporter Candus Thomson offers this guest post:   

If the skies cooperate, we may be lucky enough to view the Ursids meteor shower tonight. The display is product of the comet 8P/Tuttle, which orbits the sun every 13.6 years.

It’s not a big event and the intensity of the fireballs often disappoint. But they move rather slowly and they might make a nice respite from the final hours of holiday wrapping, baking and cleaning.

If you're up past midnight go outside, take a deep breath of fresh air and look toward the North Star.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Baltimore Sun reporter Candus Thomson offers this guest post:  

"A day without sunshine is like, you know, night," Steve Martin once said.

The winter solstice arrived in Baltimore at 12:30 a.m. At 9 hours, 24 minutes and 1 second, it is the shortest day of the year.

If you think it’s bad here, just remember those folks above a latitude of 66.5 degrees north. They’ll be in the dark all day.

But cheer up, the sun has already booked its return flight. Days will get longer and on March 20 at 1:14 a.m, the vernal equinox will arrive.

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

From The Sun's print editions:

Baltimore Sun reporter Candus Thomson offers this guest post:  

Looking at the website of New Hampshire’s Mount Washington Observatory ("home of the world's worst weather"), a reader saw a photo of rime ice and asked what causes it.

Here's the official "Obs" explanation: "Rime ice is essentially frozen fog. When temperatures dip below freezing, super-cooled water droplets suspended in the clouds freeze instantly upon contact with any solid object. When the droplets freeze, they can form delicate, feather-like structures that grow into the wind at a rate of up to a foot an hour."

Got weather questions? Ask them in the comments. 

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

From the Sun's print editions:

Do you remember the record snow of Dec. 18-19, 2009, which came on the last weekend before Christmas — one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year? Maryland was hit with 21.1 inches, putting a halt to shopping and keeping most people hunkered down.

This storm broke the previous December record of 14.1 inches set Dec. 11-12, 1960, and the all-time monthly record of 20.4 inches set in December 1966.

Despite the warning, the magnitude of the storm was still surprising. More surprises were ahead that winter, however, with the back-to-back storms of February 2010.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Baltimore Sun reporter Candus Thomson offers this guest post:  

From the moody skies over the red ruins of Pecos Pueblo in New Mexico to a flock of birds wheeling in the fog over Pennsylvania’s Valley Forge, the essence of America's National Historic Landmarks was captured by hundreds of amateur and professional photographers in the 12th annual photo contest sponsored by the National Park Service.

Entries came from all 50 states and U.S. territories. The winning shot and the 12 honorable mentions along with the list of Maryland's 71 landmarks are on the agency's website (nationalparks.org).
 

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

The International Space Station will make three evening appearances of at least three minutes this weekend in the skies above Baltimore.

The first fly-by comes Friday at 6:03, when the 400-ton ship enters from the south-southwest and moves toward the east, reaching a maximum elevation of 48 degrees.

On Saturday, it will appear lower in the southern sky at 5:08, moving to the east.

On Sunday at 5:49, the spacecraft will enter from west-southwest and depart into the northeast at a maximum elevation of 76 degrees.

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Chances of a white Christmas this year are about as good as the Orioles making the 2012 playoffs, gas prices dipping below $3 a gallon or Donald Trump sporting a mohawk.

Based on history, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration puts Baltimore’s chance at 10 percent. Ditto the Farmer’s Almanac. The Weather Channel’s long-range forecast shows daily highs at about 50 degrees going into the holiday weekend. For a better than 50-50 chance, travel to northern New England or the Great Lakes region.

UPDATE: Here's what Baltimore professional meteorologist Eric the Red has to say about Christmas weather: 

"After looking like we would get colder and stormier for the end of December, models are backing off almost entirely of this idea. The north Atlantic high is now forecast to be farther south, making it the non-north Atlantic high ... and now, the models show a continuation of a low over Greenland. Classic North Atlantic Shop Vac -- the low to the north spinning counter clockwise, while the high to the south spins clockwise, and in between, a very fast west-to-east flow aloft -- sucking all the cold air out of North America.  We've avoided this for the last 2 winters (we've had a blocking high over Greenland or thereabouts), but I'm beginning to suspect it may end up being our fate this year.  ... If indeed this continues, we will not only see below-normal snowfall, we may struggle to get any snow at all.  ... El Nino and La Nina play a role, but for us, the money is in the North Atlantic Oscillation, which is essentially what we're talking about here."

Posted by Kim Walker at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition, Winter weather
        

From The Sun's print editions:

Who turned out the lights? The earliest sunset of the year occurs today in Baltimore at 4:43 p.m. EST. The precise moment varies with the latitude, while in the Southern Hemisphere's middle latitudes folks are waking up to their earliest sunrises.

Our gloom deepens at 12:30 a.m. on the 22nd, when winter arrives with the solstice. The time between sunrise and sunset will be 9 hours, 24 minutes and one second. Although the amount of daylight increases following the solstice, sunrise doesn’t start getting earlier until January.

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

From the Sun's print editions:

A reader who just returned from overseas says she heard a term — shallow fog — she had never heard before back home and wanted to know what it is.

Fog consists of water droplets suspended in the air that look pretty unless you're driving a vehicle or boat through them. Shallow fog is a low-laying blanket, often extremely localized, that does not obstruct horizontal visibility at 6 feet or more above ground level, according to the National Weather Service. It usually burns off fairly quickly.

Posted by Kim Walker at 12:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From the Sun's print editions:

As the nation pauses this week to remember the 70th anniversary of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, here is a glimpse into the weather that day.

In Baltimore, the air was chilly with a high of 44.

The first bombs fell on Pearl Harbor at 7:55 a.m. About a half hour earlier, the reading at the U.S. Weather station in downtown Honolulu, Hawaii, was 73 degrees. The skies over Pearl Harbor were partly cloudy with good visibility.

The normal high for Pearl Harbor in December is 81 and low 68. In Baltimore, the normal temp ranges from 45 to 28.

Let us pause and remember the sacrifices made that day, a day that changed the course of history.

File photo by STF/AFP/Getty Images

Posted by Kim Walker at 7:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

With an average monthly maximum temperature of 62 degrees, last month was the warmest November since 2001 registered 63.4 degrees, and the fifth warmest on record, the National Weather Service says. Only Nov. 18 failed to reach a daily maximum of 50 degrees.

Skies were partly cloudy (13 days), fair (10) and cloudy (7). It was drier than normal and the driest month since May. The outlook hasn’t changed for the next three months, with chances of above, normal or below temperatures and precipitation equally possible.

The women's track team from Loyola took advantage of the 70 + degree day Nov. 14 and ran along Greenway in Guilford. Baltimore Sun file photo by Gene Sweeney Jr.

Posted by Kim Walker at 7:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

There's two opportunities for stargazing with knowledgeable folks this weekend.

Tonight, the Community College of Baltimore County's astronomy program will point its telescope skyward for a free peak at the galaxy. The session at the Dundalk campus will start at 7 p.m. To confirm the sky is clear enough, call 443-840-4216 no earlier than 6:15 p.m.

On Saturday, the Westminster Astronomical Society is offering a 7:30 p.m. program at Carroll County’s Bear Branch Nature Center. The cost is $5; call 410-386-2103 to save a seat.

An earlier version listed the incorrect number for the CCBC program. The Sun regrets the error. 

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

From The Sun's print editions:

As you get ready for work or school tomorrow morning, dash outside at 6:33 and look to the northwestern skies as the International Space Station cruises by at more than 17,200 mph. At a duration of four minutes, the flyover will give you plenty of time to get your bearings.

The flying laboratory, in space for more than a decade, will visit again Sunday morning at 6:17, approaching from the west-north west. On board is NASA astronaut Dan Burbank, the commander, and two Russian cosmonauts.

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

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
        

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
        

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
        

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
        

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
        

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.

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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

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Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

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
        

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
        

FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:

It’s Hallowe’en, the eve of another “cross-quarter day” – halfway between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice. For many of our ancestors, this evening marked the beginning of winter, the loss of daylight and the sun’s warmth, and the “death” of plant life.

Ghosts and goblins prowled the night and bonfires were built to drive them back.

Christians co-opted the pagan feast day of Samhain, on Nov. 1, as “All Saints (or All Hallows) Day.”   

(PHOTO: Andrey Armyagov)

Posted by Frank Roylance at 12:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:

This is the last Sunday in October, and time for folks in Europe to turn their clocks back an hour to European Standard Time. That will reduce the time difference between Baltimore and Paris to just five hours, at least until the U.S. switches to Standard Time on the first Sunday in November – the 6^th – restoring the six-hour difference. The U.S. goes back to Daylight Saving Time on the second Sunday in March; Europe follows on the last Sunday in March.

(PHOTO: Christian Hartmann, Reuters)

Posted by Frank Roylance at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:

Spent time this week at the Maryland Science Center and learned a lot about the James Webb Space Telescope, which if completed will succeed the Hubble Telescope as the world’s leading observatory. Shade from a five-layer sunshield will keep Webb’s infrared sensors at minus-387 degrees F, while heat on the sun side rises to 185 degrees. Its 18 beryllium mirrors are so smooth, if they were scaled up to the size of the U.S., the tallest “mountain” would still be just two inches high.

(NASA IMAGE)

Posted by Frank Roylance at 12:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition, Sky Notes
        

FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:

The planet Jupiter reaches opposition at 10 p.m. EDT tonight. That means it is “opposite” the sun from our perspective on the Earth. The gas giant now rises in the east as the sun sets in the west, and it reaches its highest point in the sky at 1 a.m. EDT. Opposition is also the middle of the best time of year to see Jupiter, currently the brightest star-like object in the evening sky. A good pair of binoculars will reveal its four Galilean moons, lined up on either side of the planet’s disk.

(NASA PHOTO: Jupiter and its Galilean moons)

Posted by Frank Roylance at 12:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition, Sky Notes
        

FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:

In September, 10 percent of the lower 48 states was in “exceptional” drought, the worst category. About 4 percent, from New Mexico into Texas and Oklahoma, was experiencing the worst drought since 1900. Conditions are approaching those in the 1950s and 1930s, according to the Earth Gauge Program.

But scientists have learned that some droughts in the region in the past half-million years have been worse, and lasted centuries. The early 20^th century was one of the wettest periods in the Southwest since at least AD 1400.

(NOAA PHOTO LIBRARY)

Posted by Frank Roylance at 12:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition
        

FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:

At 9 a.m. today, the moon will stand at perigee, less than 56 Earth radii away – just 221,874 miles. It’s the second-smallest distance between Earth and moon this year (after Mar. 19), and it occurs just seven hours before the moment of the new moon, at 3:56 p.m. EDT this (Wednesday) afternoon.

The combination of the nearness of the moon at perigee, and its alignment in front of the sun, may bring some unusually high tides today.

(NASA PHOTO)

Posted by Frank Roylance at 12:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition, Sky Notes
        

FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:

It’s spring in the Antarctic, and time to measure the ozone hole.

This gap in the natural layer of stratospheric ozone that protects the surface from harmful ultraviolet radiation forms each spring. It’s a consequence of pollution by manmade chemicals called CFCs.

Levels of long-lived CFCs have been in slow decline since phase-in of a 1987 ban. But scientists don’t expect the ozone hole to heal until mid-century.

This year’s was the ninth largest on record, at 10 million square miles.

(NASA IMAGE: Ozone hole Oct. 21, 2011)

Posted by Frank Roylance at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition, Sky Notes
        

FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:

Have you taken a good look at your galaxy lately? You really need to pay more attention to it. And if the skies cooperate, you’ll get another chance this Friday evening.

The Dundalk Observatory, at the Community College of Baltimore County, will hold another of its autumn observing sessions, starting at 8 p.m. on the CCBC campus, 7200 Sollers Point Road.

Jupiter will be rising in the east. If clouds threaten, call 410 282-3092 after 7:15 p.m. for a go/no-go check.

(NASA PHOTO)

Posted by Frank Roylance at 12:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition, Sky Notes, Sky Watching
        

FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:

The 2011 Atlantic hurricane season is quieter now as we near the end of October. There have been 16 named storms, from Tropical Storm Arlene through Hurricane Philippe. That’s well above the 9.6 seasonal average, and just what Colorado State University forecasters predicted. We’re short on hurricanes, however – just five — a bit below average and well below the 6 to 10 predicted by forecast teams. Irene and Lee caused quite enough excitement here, thanks. The season ends officially Nov. 30.  

(SUN PHOTO: Irene hits Ocean City, Karl Merton Ferron)

Posted by Frank Roylance at 12:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition, Hurricanes
        

FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:

Guy Ottewell’s Astronomical Calendar reminds us that, according to “The Annals of the Old Testament,” the 1650 classic by James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh, in Ireland, God began the creation of the world at nightfall on the evening of Saturday, Oct. 22, in 4004 B.C.

That would make this night the 6,015^th birthday of, well, everything.

Modern cosmologists, of course, have reached a different conclusion, dating the Big Bang to about 13.7 billion years ago.

(PHOTOS: Left, HST/NASA. Right, James Ussher) 

Posted by Frank Roylance at 12:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition, Sky Notes
        

FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:

Global climate averages for September are in. NOAA says global land surface temperatures averaged 1.57 degrees F. above the 20^th century norm, the fourth-warmest September since record-keeping began in 1880. (Eastern Asia and the central U.S. were cool.) Ocean surface temperatures were 0.72 degrees F. above the 20^th Century average, the 14^th warmest on record. The UK had its sixth-warmest September in 100 years. Arctic sea ice shrank to its second-smallest extent since 1979. 

(PHOTO: Warm September weather in London, Dan Istitine, AFP/Getty)   

Posted by Frank Roylance at 12:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: By the numbers, From the Sun's print edition
        

FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:

We’ve had earlier snowfalls, but the 1.3-inch storm on Oct. 19-20, 1940 dropped the deepest October snow here since the 2.5-inch storm in 1925. Slick suburban streets caused several serious accidents, one fatal, and numerous power outages.

A Sun reporter phoned gas company spokesman Arthur Hawks, who explained, “The combination of snowfall and leaves which still clung to trees is the seat of the trouble.” As the interview ended, Hawks added, “Oops, there go my lights.”

(SUN FILE PHOTO: Baltimore recorded 2.5 inches on Oct. 30, 1925, but the streetcar plow was ready)

Posted by Frank Roylance at 12:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition