Good morning bloggers,
Let's hope for a clear sky tonight. We are about to experience a late night nearly total Lunar Eclipse. Only a sliver of the moon won't be eclipsed at around 3 AM. It is a late night astronomical event.
- The event begins just after midnight
- I suggest the best time to see the eclipse is around 3 AM, so from 2 AM to 4 AM is the prime viewing of the eclipse
Very late tonight and early Friday morning, you have a chance to watch the Moon darken and turn a reddish hue as it slips into Earth’s shadow during a very deep partial (not-quite total) lunar eclipse. About 99% of the lunar disk’s area (97% of its diameter) will pass through the umbra — the dark inner part of Earth’s shadow — leaving a tiny, silvery sliver of the Moon’s southern edge peeking out.
Weather permitting, viewers across almost all of North America will witness the entire event, though the timing favors night owls and early risers. The full Moon passes through the umbra after midnight on November 19th for the four main U.S. time zones, with mid-eclipse happening at 3:03 AM.
The Earth's shadow will block the sunlight from the moon, and thus cause the viewing pleasure tonight. Hopefully the sky will be clear! It is looking good for a mostly clear sky tonight.
The Changing Weather Pattern:
Astronomers are the best forecasters in the world. The cycles are perfect in Astronomy. The Earth rotates around the sun every 365 days, or a 365 day cycle. The Earth rotates on it's axis once every 24 hours. Astronomers know their math so well, and the cycles are so nearly perfect that they can predict with 100% accuracy when the eclipse will begin. They know when an eclipse 50 years from now will begin and end.
In weather, the weather pattern is cycling, but the river of air above us is a fluid, so it oscillates a bit. The LRC describes the cycling weather pattern above us and we are currently in the first cycle of this years pattern. Once we know a bit more, we will begin making accurate predictions for when Kansas City will have potential winter storms, severe weather outbreaks, Artcit blasts, and more. For now we are watching the pattern evolve quite closely.
Thanksgiving Week Outlook:
As we move into next week a storm is likely going to form around Thanksgiving Day. Some models show this storm system, and others have it weak and dry over most of the nation. As I have been saying on KSHB-41 for the past few days, this is a part of the cycling pattern we have identified that will likely produce a stronger storm system, but we have been uncertain of the timing. This is still the case, so I am going to show you the American Model from the overnight computer run to look into the this new data and trend:
Thanksgiving Day:
This model data came in around 4 AM this morning, and it is now showing a snowstorm over Oklahoma and Missouri on Black Friday. This model has been jumping around and not consistent at all. We must watch this closely, as it could be quite impacting for travel on Thanksgiving Day.
Will it form faster and stronger, and thus be a bit farther north and west? If it is slightly farther west and stronger, then KC would suddenly be in that band of snow? If it is a bit faster and weaker, then it will be dry all around our area. We will be monitoring this closely. We will breakdown Thanksgiving week day by day on the weather forecasts tonight on KSHB 41 News.
Wednesday Forecast:
It is looking dry with good travel conditions between now and Thanksgiving. The storm is forecast to begin forming Wednesday night and Thursday. Let's see how this trends on today's model runs.
Thank you for spending a few minutes of your day reading the weather blog featuring the LRC and sharing in this weather experience! Have a great Thursday!
Gary
