Comet Likely Struck Jupiter

Something hit the planet Jupiter on July 20. An amateur astronomer discovered the impact from his backyard in Australia. He then contacted NASA and JPL to confirm what he had witnessed. At the time, astronomers were unsure what had hit the planet, but now believe it was either a rogue comet or asteroid. The picture on the left compares the impact scar with that of the Earth.
Jupiter is so large and has such a large gravitational pull that some scientists believe that the planet actually acts like a magnet in the solar system drawing large objects toward it. This could be good or bad for us here on Earth. Jupiter could draw an asteroid on a collision course with Earth off course so that it misses us, or it could change the course of an asteroid so that it does hit us. Either way, the solar system is a dangerous place with many unknowns.

Total Solar Eclipse

Today, a total solar eclipse could be seen by millions of people across India and China. The path of the eclipse began in India and crossed through Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar (Burma) and China. After leaving mainland Asia, the shadow crossed Japan's Ryukyu Islands and curved southeast through the Pacific Ocean. This eclipse lasted up to 6 minutes and 39 seconds which is the longest total eclipse in the 21st century. No one alive today will ever see a longer lasting eclipse. The next eclipse that will last longer won't come around until June 13, 2132. That's only 123 years away. Who knows though what future medical technology will bring. Maybe someone born today will live to see the year 2132.

Locally, we here in the Midwest will get to experience a total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017. In fact, this eclipse will be at its greatest right here in the neighborhood. Hopkinsville, Kentucky appears to be the bulls eye of the eclipse where totality will last the longest. You can click here for a Google Map of the path of totality the eclipse will take. It should fly through area around 6:30pm if I'm reading the information correctly.

Rainy and Cool. Is this July?

We missed out on the heaviest rainfall, but we still received 1.51 inches of rain today. A bit farther west, radar estimates show up to 3 inches of rain fell. There was a very sharp cutoff to the rain to the northwest. Indianapolis received only 0.36 inches of rain while Lafayette received only a trace of precipitation. The rainfall is good news for us because it had been a dry month so far. July is our wettest month of year with an average of 4.4 inches. Up until today, we had received only 1.4 inches. We're still below normal for the month though with a monthly total now of 3.07".
Today also set a record cool maximum for the day with a high of only 66F (18C). The monthly mean high temperature is now 77.0F (25C). That's seven degrees below the 30 year average.
Here's more from the NWS in Indianapolis:
The high temperature at the Indianapolis International Airport today was 68 degrees. This sets a new record for the coolest high temperature for today, July 22. The previous record was 70 degrees, set back in 1996.
This is the third record cool max temperature to occur this month. Previously records fell on the 4th and 18th of this month. While uncommon to set 3 records for cool max temperatures in one month, it was not too long ago we did the same. Back in July 2004 3 records were set for cool max temperatures.
July has also not experienced a high temperature in the 90s this year. Only 8 times since 1871 has a July not recorded a high temperature in the 90s, which happened most recently back in July of 2004.
The average high temperature for the first 21 days of the month so far has been 78.6 degrees. This is the coolest average daily max temperature for the first 21 days of July on record. The previous mark was 79.6 degrees, in 1960. The average should be around 85 degrees, and only one day this month has been above average.

YES!

July 18th turned out to be the coolest July day in recorded history at Indianapolis. Could the entire month be the coolest July on record? I'm not sure about that. We'll have to see, but the afternoon temperatures this month are extremely cool for this time of year. The average high temperature so far this month has been 77.5F (25C)! That's seven degrees cooler than the 30 year average high of 84F (29C). The map on the left shows the deviation from the maximum mean temperature from June 21 through July 21, 2009. You can see that the entire area has seen below normal temperatures. Yes, the map doesn't match with my numbers above, but the map is an extrapolation of temperatures based on Coop Observer reports from across the state. My numbers are for my specific location.

Could July 18th be the Coolest in 126 Years??

I'm just not convinced about global warming. To me, it seems a bit arrogant to say that the Earth is warming when our existence on this planet is but a speck in the history of time.

From the NWS in Indianapolis:

July 2009 continues its assault on the cool side of the record books; as yet another Canadian air mass is primed to make its way into Central Indiana late tonight. As our weather pattern resembles something more commonly found in the cool seasons of the year, temperatures tomorrow will only top out from the upper 60s to lower 70s in Central Indiana. With cloudy skies and even a few sprinkles and showers around, it will feel like anything but mid July!

The record coolest high temperature on July 18 is 75 degrees. This is a very old record, and has been reached twice in the weather records of Indianapolis. The previous two occurrences were in 1883 and 1871. The year 1871 is significant because that is the very first year that weather records were officially kept in the Indianapolis area. The current forecast would shatter this very old record by several degrees!

For comparison's sake:

Normal High on July 18 ---- 86 degrees

A high in the upper 60s to low 70s is normal for early May.

It's a Cool, Cool Summer

Remember the 80s? This summer has nothing to do with the 80s except I've recently gotten Bananarama's song "It's a Cruel, Cruel Summer" in my head and I can't get it out. Can you guess what I replace cruel with? Yep, cool. It's a cool, cool summer... The rest of the song makes no sense when with the word cool in place of cruel, but that's irrelevant.

Seriously, it has been a cool summer, or at least a cool July. Here's an article from the NWS in Indianapolis.

July has gotten off to quite a cool start here in Central Indiana this year. Only one day this month has featured a high temperature above normal, and no temperatures have reached the 90s yet this month.
After the first 15 days of the month, our average daily high temperature has been only 79.1F (26.2C) degrees. For comparison's sake, a normal first half of July should experience an average daily high temperature of 85.4F (29.7C) degrees.
This is quite an unusual occurrence, and the last time the first half of the month had a cooler average daily high temperature was all the way back in 1960. In that year, the average daily high temperature through the first 15 days was 78.9F (26.1C) degrees.
July of 1960 ended up being the second coolest July ever. The latest 8-14 day extended outlook continues to indicate a high likelihood of below normal temperatures.

Riga, Latvia Flooding

This post is not for this side of the globe, but my friend Elen lives in Riga, Latvia and she sent me an email telling me that her car became a boat on her drive home from work this afternoon. Strong thunderstorms produced heavy rain, flooding the streets of the city. I'm not sure how much rain fell, but I'd say several inches in a short period of time from the look of things. She also sent a link with pictures of the flooding. http://foto.delfi.lv/picture/720688/

I did a bit more digging and found a few more links to descriptions of the flooding.

• Don't Drown - Turn Around. Looks like some people were enjoying the wave action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP11IhDpM6o
• It looks like this guy is trying to shut the door to a computer shop to stop the water from flooding in: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa4hgoYJbfU
• Here you can see pedestrians trying to help free someone trapped in a store that is below street level: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax_dm8QDpCA

Southern Plains Heat

The heat across the southern plains is incredible. Temperatures across Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama have been near or over 100 degrees nearly every day this month. This map shows the high temperatures for Sunday, July 12. More heat is expected today with excessive heat warnings and heat advisories posted for the region. Even the desert southwest is getting in on the heat with excessive heat warnings posted for extreme southeastern California and southwestern Arizona. You know it's gotta be hot when they complain about the heat in Arizona! Daily highs this weeks are supposed to be 115F (46C) in Yuma, Arizona!! You can click on the map for more details. It's hard to believe such heat is going on across parts of the nation when it's actually been fairly cool here. Yes, we had a few days in the low 90's here at home, but most days this month have been well below normal. In fact, we are nearly 6 degrees below normal for the month so far.

International Space Station Viewing

The International Space Station will be visible for the next several nights. Ever since new solar panels were installed, the ISS is brighter than ever. Tonight, the ISS was even brighter than Venus. The ISS orbits at an altitude of approximately 350 kilometers(220 mi; 190 nmi) above the surface of the Earth, traveling at an average speed of 27,724 kilometers(17,227 mi) per hour, completing 15.7 orbits per day. [Source] You can find out when the ISS will be visible in your neighborhood by going to the Human Spaceflight Realtime Data website.

Train Vs. Tornado

I discovered this video from another weather blog. It's incredible. A tornado struck Boone and McHenry counties in Illinois back in January 2008. As a freight rain barreled through the area, the tornado struck the side of the train. I didn't realize there were video cameras on freight trains, but I guess there are. Anyway, you can click here for more details and photos of the storm from the NWS in Chicago. I've pasted in the part about the train below.
From the NWS in Chicago...
THE TORNADO THEN MOVED ACROSS THE CHICAGO AND NORTHWESTERN RAILROAD WHERE IT BLEW 12 RAILROAD FREIGHT CARS OFF THE TRACK. THE TRAIN WAS MOVING AT THE TIME THE TORNADO HIT IT...SO AS THE MAIN ENGINE STOPPED...THE REMAINING CARS ON THE TRACK CONTINUED ALONG IT AND SLAMMED INTO THE FRONT PART OF THE TRAIN. THIS CAUSED A FEW MORE CARS TO DERAIL...INCLUDING ONE CONTAINING HAZARDOUS MATERIALS THAT CAUSED THE EVACUATION OF THE TOWN OF LAWRENCE. THE DAMAGE IN LAWRENCE WAS RATED AS EF2 WITH WINDS UP TO 110 MPH.

No Fireworks Tonight

Well, the rain just kept falling all day long. Nearly a half inch of rain fell through the day beginning around 1pm. Many of the fireworks displays scheduled for tonight have been postponed until Sunday night. Tomorrow will be dry so there should be no worries of another delay.

Rainy and Cool Independence Day

Happy 4th of July! Lots of rain for today across the Midwest. I'm sure a lot of picnics are being washed out today. The rain might be out of here by 10pm for the fireworks.

In addition to the rain, temperatures have been very cool for the beginning of July. In fact, the first two days of the month have seen high temperatures in the 60's. July 3 did warm up, but only to the mid 70's. Today, July 4, the temperature warmed to 71, but once rain began the temperature took a nose dive into the low 60's. Temperatures are forecast to warm a bit this week, but will continue to be below normal.
On the flip side of the cool weather, heat advisories are posted for the Pacific Northwest where temperatures are in the low to mid 90's. Heat advisories are also posted for east Texas, Louisisana and Mississippi where temperatures are nearing 105F (41C). I'll gladly take the cool rainy weather over the heat.

Aphelion

Can you believe that the Earth is nearly 3 million miles farther away from the sun today, July 4, than it is on January 3? It's true. July 4 is when the Earth is at Aphelion with the sun. This means that we are at the farthest point away from the sun than at any other time during our orbit around the sun. Earth’s orbit around the sun is not round. Instead, it is more of an elliptic orbit with the sun off to one side at a point called the focus. This means that the Earth is a little bit closer to the sun for part of the year than it is the rest of the time. When the Earth is as close to the sun as it can get we say it is at perihelion which occurs on January 3. None of this has to do with seasons though. Seasons are related to the tilt of the Earth on its axis, not it's proximity to the Sun. If our summer season were to occur when Earth is at perihelion though, the temperature would average 2 to 3 degrees warmer! Another interesting fact is that the sun appears to be about 3% smaller in July than it does in January.