Sunniest October on Record Gives Way to Bright Full Hunter's Moon Tonight

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2010 8:15 A.M.

Good Morning! I will start with Mike's Motivation this morning. We have the sun, moon, and stars and today is your day to shine. Go out and walk or run so you can fully enjoy all three! Let nature lead the way and you can win the day! Yes, I woke up cheering the beautiful sunrise which the fog accented just perfectly. I snapped a picture you see above for you in case you missed it. I was really excited about the fog at breakfast which my daughters thought was quite strange. But, as strange as I may be at times the fog was something to celebrate because it has been hard to find much in the way of clouds in the sky or even ground clouds or fog so far this month. Usually in a quiet pattern that has now reached 22 days without a drop of rain for most of us you do tend to have plenty of fog. But not in this pattern. The atmosphere has been drier in Jacksonville, Florida than the deserts of Nevada. Even Las Vegas has had .82" of rain compared to our big GOOSE EGG! We could very well go down as the driest October since 1871 and SUNNIEST October ever on record without a doubt.

Now if there is good news this severe clear weather pattern will allow us to enjoy a sunset at 6:49 p.m. in all its glory. Highs will reach the lower to middle 80s today and we will have comfortable conditions this evening to enjoy the FULL HUNTER'S MOON which will rise at 5:50 p.m. at Jacksonville Beach and 5:59 p.m. in Lafayette, Indiana over the Tippecanoe Courthouse who even Mark Twain commented was one of the most impressive structures he has ever visited. Well tonight even Samuel Clemens would be moved to write a new story or poem about the moonlight. My neighbor and professional photographer Deirdre Kovalcik http://www.daphotography.org/ was so kind to take a picture for us last night when the moon already was so breath-takingly bright! Tonight the moon will be even brighter and offically full at 9:46 p.m. as the earth, sun, and moon are all lined up just right. Yes!!! My five mile run will be truly inspiring and it will probably not even seem like I am running.

Now are the stars aligned for rainfall? I feel like I have been teasing you here on the blog the last couple days. I really have not. I still expect this scary dry pattern to change next week as we finally will see a more tropical flow in the atmosphere. Highs could actually reach near record highs near 90 with thunderstorms. Yes, nature is going to wake up! I texted this to my wife yesterday, SO I AM SERIOUS. The amount of rain is still really tough to call. It all depends on the tropics and if Richard develops. If we could tap some of this tropical moisture the rain gates in the sky would open in a hurry. Some models have Richard developing into a major hurricane and threatening the US by Halloween weekend and this is certainly not out of the realm of possibility. Here at home the hope is we keep Richard south of us while reaping its rainy benefits. I still see at least an inch of rain by the end of the month and if the tropics explode we could see much more than that. Yes it is a wait and see game we have no choice but to play. But at least you know what we are dealing with.

Now speaking of HALLOWEEN WEEKEND. If you are in Lafayette, Indiana do not blame me for forecasting a few flying flakes of snow. Blame the full moon...lol or at least a powerful winter-like jet stream that will punch into the US next week. Your average first flakes of snow fall the first week of November so it would not be all that unusual. Here in Florida my daughter Lauren was asking how many days there were to Halloween and I told her we have 10 more days and to pick a warm costume. Highs even here on the First Coast could struggle into the 60s and quickly fall through the 50s for the trick or treaters. Now do not blame me...send an e-mail to your Indiana friends since that is where the cold weather is moving from. That special place on the Wabash can really whip up some weather can't it?

Make sure to post comments, questions, and send weather pictures to http://mprangley@firstcoastnews.com. I look forward to hearing from you. God bless and keep on smiling no matter what the weather!

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