Buresh Blog: 90 temps. this year... iridescent clouds... Perseid meteor shower... August night skies

Aug. 8, 2018 — The hottest part of the summer did not quite deliver in July(!) - that's right - it could have been hotter. The 20 90-degree days was a bit below tha avg. of 24.  Overall, we're just about on track for our annual avg. of 82 90-degree days.  By the way, our avg. high temp. finally falls below 90 degrees by late Aug.  The chart below is through Aug. 7th:

The local area finally had a break for a few days in early Aug. from the seemingly incessant summer rainfall.  The pattern is sure to turn wetter again though as we enter what is climatologically the wettest time of the year from mid Aug. through late Sept.  The storms have provided for some beautiful cloud viewing.  Check out the photos sent to me from Nassau Co. in Florida - gorgeous shots of a mix of pileus clouds & iridescent clouds.  The rainbow of colors is caused by ice crystals in the high level cirrus clouds.  The sun reflects & refracts through the ice crystals resulting in a prism effect.

The Aug. night skies have lots to offer.  A highlight no doubt will be the perseid meteor shower which peaks over the weekend - 12th & 13th.  To add to the "show", there will be very little moonlight.  No need for binoculars.... just get out in the open where there is little light pollution... sit down & lay back... & look up! - best hours between about midnight & 4am.

From Sky & Telescope:

August (evening, all month): Four bright planets in view at once (west to east): Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars
 
Aug. 11 (daytime): A partial solar eclipse is visible across Greenland, northern Europe, and northeast Asia.
 
Aug. 12–13 (late night to dawn): Perseid meteor shower peaks. No Moon in view, so rates of up to 1 per minute.
 
Aug. 14 (dusk): Venus and delicate waxing crescent Moon, around 6° apart, are low in the west.
 
Aug. 16 (dusk): Jupiter hovers a mere ½° above star Alpha (α) Librae; Moon is 7° to their right or upper right.
 
Aug. 20 (evening): Waxing gibbous Moon is 4° to the upper right of Saturn, in Sagittarius.
 
Aug. 22 & 23 (evening and night): The fattening Moon traces an arc some 8°-9° above Mars, upper right to upper left.
 
Aug. 26 (dawn): As full Moon sets in the west, look along east-northeastern horizon to spot Mercury. Binoculars help.
 
Aug. 31 (dusk): Venus and bright star Spica are separated by little more than 1° as they set toward the west.
 
Sept. 5 & 6 (dawn): Mercury poses in the east 1½° above Regulus in Leo before the Sun rises. Binoculars help.
 
Moon Phases
Last Quarter: August 4, 2:18 p.m. EDT
New Moon: August 11, 5:58 a.m. EDT (partial solar eclipse for Greenland, northern Europe, and northeast Asia)
First Quarter: August 19, 2:48 a.m. EDT
Full Moon: August 26, 7:56 a.m. EDT (Sturgeon Moon; also Green Corn Moon, Grain Moon)

And.... finally... an interesting article recently in the Washington Post by the "Capital Gang" on the nicest places in the U.S. based on weather.  Of course, what's "nice" to one person, isn't so nice to another but the general criteria was where the weather is generally the most "moderate" - high temps. between 65 & 85... dew point less than or equal to 65 degrees... daily peak winds less than 25 mph.. daily cloud cover less than equal to 65%... & no precipitation.  California won big as a whole with an average a little either way of 200 "nice" days per year.  But Jacksonville scored 71 nice days which beats Las Vegas & is right up there with the likes of Atlanta, Charlotte, San Francisco & Portland.  The lowest number of "nice" days - 40 or less - included much of Texas, Alaska & even Honolulu(!).  Get the full story including methodology - here.

In my humble opinion.... it doesn't get much better than good ol' Jacksonville & our area beaches!:

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