Brillant Planet Visible

What is that bright shining star in the eastern sky just before sunrise?

That is actually the planet Venus!  It is an amazing sight and will appear incredibly bright in the night sky through September. (23 times brighter than the brightest night-sky star, Sirius, in late September!!!)

Night Sky from EarthSky.org

It is the brightest among many bright planets to be spotted this month. Also visible, although much dimmer will is the planet Mars.  There is a very noticeable dull and reddish tint to Mars.

Also, this weekend is the Supermoon Total Lunar Eclipse.  More in yesterday's blog on this can be found HERE

~Meteorologist Chris Vickers

Supermoon Total Lunar Eclipse

A total lunar eclipse of a 'supermoon' blood moon will create an unworldly and eerie sight this Sunday night September 27th.  

A Supermoon occurs when the moon reaches its closest approach to Earth, and appears abnormally large and bright as a result. The moon will appear 14% larger and 30% brighter as it reaches its closest point to earth at 225,622 miles. This Sunday's lunar eclipse of the full moon at its closest point to earth is exceptionally rare with the the last supermoon eclipse occurring in 1982. The next supermoon lunar eclipse won't take place until 2033.

Here is the information you need to know on how you can view the supermoon lunar eclipse in our area:

Partial Eclipse Begins: 9:07 PM

Full Eclipse Begins: 10:11 PM

Max Full Eclipse: 10:47 PM

Full Eclipse Ends: 11:23 PM

Partial Eclipse Ends: 12:27 PM

The east coast and central part of the United States will be in the absolute prime location for viewing the lunar eclipse. Toledo an the entire viewing area will be in perfect view of the entire event.

From Timeanddate.com

Utlimately, The supermoon lunar eclipse is a confluence of three events: a full moon; a lunar eclipse and lunar perigee (moon is in the closest part of its orbit to Earth).  The exceptionally rare event will not happen again until 2033.  The weather into Sunday evening will be clear and dry possibly offering a once in a lifetime view of this celestial event!

~Meteorologist Chris Vickers

Weekend Waterspouts

Cool air spilled in the area over the weekend leading to scattered showers -- these early season cold snaps often lead to waterspouts on the warm-watered Great Lakes. Here are a few images from near Vermillion Saturday: 

Credit: Chris Adams

Credit: Jason Steckel

Credit: Giovanna Reising

60% Chance of Rain Today?

What does it mean when your meteorologist says 60% chance of rain?

It means that at any given point in our area there is a 60% chance of rain falling in the given time period.  In other words 6 times out of 10 given the weather set up you will get rain at your location.  This % approach is often used in the case of scattered convective precipitation like today.  Check out this image from early afternoon Thursday...much of the area is dry while it is pouring along the Sandusky/Seneca county line...

This brings me to a couple things I hear quite often.

"You said 30% chance of rain and it is POURING HERE!"
The % chance has nothing to do with how heavy the rain may be.

"You said 90% chance of rain and it only rained for 20 minutes.  BIG DEAL!"
The % chance has nothing to do with how long it might rain.

Hope this helps explain the POP (Probability Of Precipitation) in our forecasts.

Robert Shiels.

A Second Chance at Summer!

A Second Chance at Summer!

The summer of 2015 will be remembered as cool with good reason.  Each month June, July and August had temperatures well below normal readings.  Here is just one way to look at it.  A count of high temperatures in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s from June 1st to August 31st:

So here we are in September and the heat is on - along with very high humidity levels.  The normal high temperature during the first week of September is in the upper 70s.  Check out highs for Wednesday, September 2nd:

Not quite 90° in Toledo thanks to thundershowers moving through at midday.  So will we hit 90° Thursday?  Probably not, thanks to scattered showers and thundershowers.  Thursday should be a repeat of Wednesday's weather:

Highs will reach the mid and upper 80s by early afternoon.  Showers and thundershowers will keep highs below 90°.  The humidity level remains very high for September.

This pattern will not break until Wednesday Sept. 9th.

-Robert Shiels

Summer is Over!

Well not exactly over.  The first week of September will rival the warmest weather of the entire year.  Hazy, hot and humid "mid summer" weather will be expected through the Labor Day Weekend.

Upper 80s to near 90° through Labor Day

 Welcome now to Fall -- Meteorologically speaking summer consists of the months of June, July and August.  These three summer months make up the warmest three months of the year.  The summer of 2015 will be remembered as a "Cool" and "Wet" summer.  The temperature only reached 90° or warmer twice this summer in late July.  Next to 1908, where we never recorded a 90° reading that summer, this was the latest date in recorded history to reach 90°.

Summer 2015 Scorecard

The more telling numbers to describe this summer was the cooler weather.  An astounding 7 days over summer only had highs in the 60s.

June 1st

June 2nd

June 27th

July 8th 

July 9th

August 25th

August 26th

The entire summer averaged -2.0 Below Average, statistically, this is a very significant margin. In fact, all three of the summer months were Below Normal.

June Average Temp: 68.0°

Below Normal: -1.5°

July Average Temp: 70.7°

Below Normal: -2.8°

August Average Temp: 69.9°

Below Normal: -1.6°

The overall summer averaged well above average with rainfall:

June Rainfall: 7.22"

Above Normal: +3.65"

July Rainfall: 6.16"

Above Normal: +2.93"

August Rainfall: 3.05"

Below Normal: -0.10"

Summer is "officially" in the books, but plenty of summer like weather lies ahead.  Soon to follow will be the cooler and crisp fall weather that many look forward to feeling!

~ Follow Meteorologist Chris Vickers on Facebook

~Follow Chris on Twitter