Weather Headlines
–Mild, dry weather continues for several more days
–Sky conditions should be good for meteor shower viewing this weekend
–Look for Venus and Jupiter in the evening sky, right after sunset
Main threats
No widespread hazardous weather in sight.
Summary
The only showers we’ll see this weekend are the meteor kind! The Leonid meteor shower peaks this weekend. This is usually the best meteor shower of the month and one of the best of the year. Just go out and look up. That bright moon will hinder viewing but it should still be a good show. The meteor shower peaks Sunday night but you’ll see them from now until the end of next week (or even longer).
Otherwise, we’ll see mild conditions continue for the next week. I may have to add a shower on Tuesday and again on Thursday, but right now it just looks mostly cloudy.
Enjoy the nice weekend ahead!
Almanac
NOTE: On the morning of the 13th were were 13 degrees for an official morning low. For the 14th we had a 31-degree low. That’s literally a good turnaround! (ha)
Baldwin’s 7-Day forecast
Records
A tornado outbreak produces 13 tornadoes across Middle Tennessee on this day in 2005. Thankfully, even with that many tornadoes only one injury is reported and no fatalities. This outbreak produced a total of 30 tornadoes in six states, with the worst damage of all being in Henry County in West Tennessee. None of the twisters touched down on the plateau and were mainly just west of the Nashville area.
Today’s WeatherTAP WeatherWORD
Halo
In meteorology, this is a ring around the sun or moon. The ring is produced by the optical phenomena produced by light interacting with ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere. These halos form as a result of light interacting with hexagonal-shaped ice crystals that are suspended in the atmosphere.
WeatherTAP WeatherFACT
Halos form a 22-degree ring around the sun or moon. The shape of the ice crystals causing the ring to be 22 degrees away from the sun or moon. Light enters the ice crystals and is then refracted by 22 degrees. This means that halo will never be more or less than 22 degrees out because the shape of an ice crystal is always the same.
Folklore states that the ring is a sign of bad weather that is coming. There is some truth to that, though it’s certainly not a foolproof method. Upper-level moisture does increase ahead of a storm system, which would create a ring around the sun or moon. However, upper-level moisture can increase for other reasons, too.
NASA Knowledge
The image below is an artist’s depiction of the new moons of Saturn. It was recently determined that there are 20 moons that we didn’t know about. Saturn now has 82 known moons. Jupiter has 79.
The moons are similar in size, spanning about three miles across. Seventeen of the 20 moons are in a retrograde motion, meaning they orbit the planet backwards to what we would expect. It would be like our moon moving west to east across the sky, instead of east to west as it does.
NASA has opened up a forum for the pubic to name the moons. You have until December 6 to enter a name into the contest. Just tweet your suggestion to @SaturnLunacy. You must tell why you picked the name. They suggest you also use the hashtag #NameSaturnsMoons. For more info on naming the moons, please refer to https://carnegiescience.edu/NameSaturnsMoons.
News
The MASTER Science class went very well last evening! We had a full house of very excited (albeit very well behaved!) kids. We learned ALL about tornadoes. And, of course, we made tornadoes in a jar. It was a good time!
Next month’s lesson will be on winter storms, followed by another rocket lesson in January. To attend class you must register and I’ll be announcing registration for December’s class when we get closer to time. The December class will be December 12th at 4:30 at Roane State (just like last night’s).
You all have a great Friday!