Thursday, May 9, 2013

Marsh marigold flowering along Taft Road.

Morning Observation:

This morning in Huntington at 6:15AM it’s currently 51 degrees under partly cloudy skies. Winds are calm. Relative humidity is 97%, dewpoint 51, barometric pressure 29.92″ and falling. We picked up a welcome 0.37″ of rain in the past 24hrs. Yesterday’s high was 79 and the overnight low was 51.

Forecast:

Unsettled and showery weather is in the cards for us through the weekend. An upper level low will drift over the region today from the south bringing cloudy skies with a slight chance of showers this morning, then a chance of showers with a slight chance of thunderstorms this afternoon. Highs will be in the upper 60s with light and variable winds becoming southerly around 10 mph this afternoon. Chance of rain is 50%. Tonight should be mostly cloudy until midnight then become partly cloudy with a chance of showers and thunderstorms until midnight. Lows will be in the lower 50s with light and variable winds. Chance of rain is 50%.

Friday should be cloudy with a 50% chance of showers. Highs will be around 70 with light and variable winds. A slow moving cold front will move into the region Friday night bringing a more soaking rain. Lows will be in the mid 50s with light and variable winds. Chance of rain is 80%.

Rain will continue into Saturday along with cooler Highs will be in the mid 60s with south winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain is 80%. Saturday night should be mostly cloudy with a 505 chance of showers and lows in the mid 40s. Between Friday and Saturday we should see rain totals in the range of 0.50″ to 1.50″. We certainly can use it!

Almanac:

Last year on this date we had a high of 67 and a low of 52. We picked up 1.41″ of rain.

Burlington norms for this date are highs of 65°F and lows of 43°F.
Record high was 92°F in 1979.
Record low was 28°F in 1950.

Sky Notes:

Sunrise: 5:31 AM EDT
Sunset: 8:05 PM EDT
Length Of Visible Light: 15h 39m
Length of Day: 14h 33m
Tomorrow will be 2m 23s longer.

The Moon is new today, 29d 1h old with 0% illumination.
Moonrise: 5:15 AM EDT
Moonset: 7:58 PM EDT

The woods around here are pretty much all filed in once again. Between Monday and Wednesday, the difference was notable as the canopy closed in to block the sky and the understory became a filtered wall of green. Love it! The overnight rains and those to come this weekend will be the icing on the cake!

About the Photo:

I thought I’d start adding some information about the daily photos for those of you interested in photography and the subjects that I choose. Today’s image of a Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris), also known as Cowslip, was taken a couple days ago up along Taft Road. These plants like wet to soaking soils so you’ll often find them along meandering streams, wetlands or wet roadside ditches. I took the shot hand-held using a 105mm macro lens on my Nikon D90. Camera settings were: ISO 400, f/20, 1/200 sec shutter.