Monday, November 22, 2010 8:25 a.m.
Wow! Some say it was the full blue moon. Now the moon cannot really effect human behavior can it? I am really starting to believe that especially after the Jags pulled off another miraculous win despite 6 turnovers. Maybe they are a team of destiny and I will keep wearing my teal shirt and Jaguar tie every Sunday if it means they will win. I think all meteorologists are at least a little superstitious. WE ARE JAGUARS! CAN YOU SAY 1ST PLACE JAGUARS! Our hometown team gives the expression, JUST WIN BABY, new meaning. I took Lauren to her first Jags game along with Abbey and her friend and it was one to remember. We saw MOJO or Maurice Jones-Drew put on another show. Lauren was more impressed with the beads being passed out and she ended up with more beads than anybody. She also loved walking around and of course getting a hot dog. She eats like her Daddy which is a lot! The weather cooperated as expected and check out the snap-shot of the fly-over after the Star Spangled Banner.
It shows a good shot not just of the fly-over but the blimp and stratocumulus clouds. The forecast of only a 3% chance of rain worked well as that big cloud that lingered over the stadium much of the game did not produce any sprinkles or rain showers. I was a bit paranoid during the game because you know the history the Jags have had with the weather so far this year. Temperatures worked out perfect with a high during the game of 78 and the outcome was even better. Those thin stratocumulus clouds not only behaved during the day but put on quite a show last night. Check out the picture below.
The full blue moon was last night and just so I am clear on this I want to make sure you know that two full moons in the same month is also another definition of a blue moon. This was a newer definition that was added in 1946. The traditional Farmer's Almanac definition of a blue moon that dates back to the 19th Century is that a blue moon is the third full moon of four full moons in a season. Since it only happens about once every 2 to 3 years it is called a blue moon. It has nothing to do with its color. We had a few e-mails yesterday about this I hope this does clear it up for you. I have about 1,201 almanacs scattered throughout my house and attic so I am just full of stats and facts. Thanks for bearing with me...lol
Now we are ready to take this a step further. Last night our blue moon actually had orange, yellow, reddish and even blue rings around it. This was caused by another atmospheric phenomenon called diffraction. What we had was actually called a lunar corona caused by moonlight being forced around the edges of uniform water droplets. The water droplets in those thin stratocumulus clouds were impeding those bright moonbeams and it had a dazzling effect. Halos are different than coronas because they are caused by refraction of light, not diffraction like we saw last night. Just think of refraction of light taking place when light is actually being reflected or actually passing through a more dense medium. Halos around the moon are usually reflections of light around ice crystals and last night we did not have reflections of light but light being re-directed around those millions of small water droplets in the clouds. Yes, it was a corona and I am calling for at least a 50% chance of seeing more coronas around the moon tonight, especially since we will continue with our on shore flow. We will have a moonrise just after 6 p.m.
Yes, we are running into the holiday weekend with winning weather on and off the football field. I wanted to say thank you to everybody that showed up for the McKenzie run! It was truly inspirational and I thought of my 3 daughters throughout the race and just prayed to God to take good care of McKenzie. I did not know McKenzie but felt like I did by time I finished the 5k that will help start her foundation to help young people believe and achieve anything they set their mind to. McKenzie had a deep faith and God and her wish was for her faith to go national and inspire others. Well McKenzie I know you are smiling right now because your faith is living on strong in me and the thousands of others I ran with in your honor on Saturday. It was awesome seeing all the young runners and how many people she has touched. It was also a thrill finishing the run on Everbank Field on the scoreboard. I ran a 21:30 which is a 5k time I will take anyday. God bless you McKenzie! I look forward to running again next year.
Now a lot of folks are ready for Thanksgiving and I hope you like 80s to go with your turkey and stuffing! It will be our warmest Thanksgiving in years here in Jacksonville. Now if you are traveling north it will feel more like Christmas as highs will be well below average. Right now it is -9 in Billings, Montana and this cold blast is heading south. The Thanksgiving snowstorm for the Midwest I talked about here on the blog a couple weeks ago will be a reality especially from areas from near Minneapolis, Duluth, and Northwest Wisconsin. Up to 18" of snow on the Minnesota iron range will be possible and maybe more. I do think you will be able to get to your travel destinations as this monster low tracks into Ontario. There will still be a strong front generating scattered showers and flurries but nothing to cancel your flights....unless you are heading into Minnesota and Northwest Wisonsin. Just remember the winter coats. I will have more specifics on this as we get closer. Have a great day!
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