7:30 a.m. Sunday, November 21st
Blog archive http://lotsofbarkandbiteinyourforecast.blogspot.com/
Today is a big day not only on but off the football field. I was doing a little extra research this morning and realized that tonight is not only a full moon but it is a blue moon. It will rise at 5:28 p.m. It is called a blue moon not because of its color, but because it is a rare occurrence. A blue moon is traditionally defined as the third of four full moons in a season. We only have 4 full moons in a season about once every 2 to 3 years and tonight is our night. Remember we brought in autumn with a full moon which is making this possible. In fact, the next full blue moon does not take place until August 31, 2012.
Viewing conditions should be great and I do expect the moon to be more colorful than normal. Even though we now know that blue moons are not called that because of their color, there are always exceptions to the rule and tonight the moon may have a bluish tinge to it in some parts of the area especially if you live near Clinch County Georgia were they are being ravaged by an 800 acre wildfire. It has created a lot of dust and smoke particles in the atmosphere which have had no problem building up in our extreme drought conditions. Wildfires can sometime make the moon look blue because smoke particles have a wider wavelength than red light so if you get enough of these particles in the atmosphere to work with the moon will not look yellow or red, but actually blue! The normal reds or yellows you may see are obstructed by those smoky particles leaving a brilliant blue color of the moon to enjoy. Blue moons have also been observed during big volcanic eruptions. I remember the incredible images near Mount Pinatubo in 1991. So tonight if the blue moon looks a little bit blue or maybe even has a tinge of teal to it you will know why! Get out there and check it out and please send our weather team some pictures. I am at mprangley@firstcoastnews.com and yes the viewing conditons look great. If you have any further questions I would love to hear from you.
Okay the teal is for real just like this too good to be true weather pattern. Check out the latest forecast above! I used a Jaguar sweatshirt as a prop today and threw it from the chroma key off to the side because you simply will not need it. You can also leave the ponchos at home as the dry high builds in from the north keeping any rain showers far from Everbank Field. If you want to be technical about it we actually have a 3% chance of rain as the Jaguars go for 3 in a row! By tonight there is a chance the Jags will be ahead of all 3 teams in their division. So our theme of 3 works really well and it seems like it has been once in a blue moon since the Jags were battling for first place this late in the season. So hopefully having all the planets and stars aligned will work in our favor. Remember the big 3 or the sun, moon, and earth are all lined up! Even though I may sound like one at times, I am not a palm reader and love our chances. I am very excited I am taking my daughter and her friends to today's big game and will not have to run back to work due to approaching thunderstorms! One big note is that you will need the sunscreen. I already have mine out. With sunshine winning out along with the Jags today you can get a sunburn in as little as 50 minutes. You will also want to wear the shorts and drink plenty of water. If you are facing into the sun our shade forecast in the middle to upper 70s with feel more like 90. Go Jags and nature!
Speaking of nature, yes it is on a roll like our Jags. Look at the huge watermelons still being picked off the vines. Deborah Varnes sent this in from Bostwick, Florida. I guess those watermelons are liking our warm and dry pattern and believe it or not it is only going to get warmer. Nature is certainly out of balance right now with portions of Montana staying below zero today. Yes, to reach a balance somebody has to be much warmer than normal and that would be us! It looks like we will stay on the warm side of the storm and jet stream at least until next weekend. So keep the shorts out and sunscreen handy. More good weather for the watermelons is on the way. Check out the huge temperature differences on the map below. Now that is impressive.
Watermelon may go well with this year's turkey and stuffing because we may not be far from record highs in the lower to middle 80s with a chance of a brief isolated shower mainly for our Georgia counties. I think our better chance of rain will hold off until next Friday. Since "3" is our theme here on the blog today the computers are printing out .03" of an inch of rain for Black Friday, nothing for Jacksonville on Thanksgiving. There is nothing to slow you down or keep you from shopping on Black Friday at least here at home! Before then make sure to check those travel plans heading north because it looks like not only will it turn very cold for this time of year but there will be a storm system coming out of the West. I will have a better look around the country here on the blog starting tomorrow. I will try to find a nice template for you that is easy to see and read. Now I better go get ready for the game. God bless and have a great day and enjoy the full blue moon tonight.
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