October Wonderland

Parts of the Northeast are waking up to a winter wonderland more than a brisk, fall day. Yesterday a rare October Nor'easter struck, causing power outages to over 2 million people. Much snow fell in the Northern states, breaking records in New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and others.  Many Mid-Atlantic states don't see their first snowfall until about next month or so! A state of emergency has been called in New Jersey and New York. The event has been rendered historic and by Twitter #snoctober and #snowtober.

Here is a map from NOAA, showing the total snowfall amounts:

Here is a statement summarizing the snowfall totals and the event.

The event was caused by an offshore low pressure system and cold air. The low pumped moisture from the ocean, in which the ocean temperature is considerably warmer than air temperature over land.  There were periods of rain, sleet and snow with this storm. Moisture was also pumped from a low pressure to the South.

Here in Adelphi, MD the start of the day was mostly rain.  I saw on a few social network sites my friends in Northern New Jersey and New York were posting pictures of the snow that had already fallen in their area. It changed over to sleet around 1:30 PM. I took this video of the sleet with my cell phone (you might have to rotate the video).



I thought I saw a few snow flurries after the sleet. Then there was nothing but wind. The sun started to break through a bit. Then around 2:20 PM, it really started to snow, and it snowed hard. Here is a video I took of the snow. That car to the right is my car by the way :-)



In total, by me the snow accumulation was nonexistent. The snow looked pretty coming down though.

Here is a picture of the snow from my friend and former classmate Darren Milliron. He lives in Netcong, NJ. Check out his blog here.

Happy Halloween?

Northern Lights Illuminate Southern Skies

Last night for some lucky people in the South, the Northern Lights dazzled across the dark sky. (Sorry that's a bit of my poetry language coming out).  I unfortunately did not see this beautiful phenomenon :-( The Northern Lights are one of my favorite phenomena. Hopefully one day I'll get to see them in person, whether it's here in the DC metro area or...Maine :-)

Here is an article by Seth Borenstein from the Associated Press, explaining the event:

"Northern lights take unusual trip down south"

WASHINGTON—A baffling solar storm pulled colorful northern lights unusually far south, surprising space weather experts and treating skywatchers to a rare and spectacular treat.

A storm-chasing photographer captured the strange sky show in Arkansas Monday night. People in Kentucky and Georgia reported their sightings to local television stations. A special automated NASA camera that takes a picture of the sky every minute in Huntsville, Ala., captured 20 minutes of the vibrant red and green aurora borealis.

In Arkansas, Brian Emfinger called the view "extremely vivid, the most vivid I have ever seen. There was just 15 to 20 minutes where it really went crazy."

Emfinger, a storm chaser, captured the vibrant nighttime images on camera in Ozark, Ark.

He called it "a much bigger deal" than a tornado" because he sees dozens of those every year. This is only the second northern lights in a decade that he has seen this far south.

"They are very rare events," said NASA scientist Bill Cooke, who found the aurora photos in the Alabama camera's archive and posted them on the Marshall Space Flight Center's blog. "We don't see them this far south that often."

Officials at the federal Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colo., said they were surprised at the southern reach. The center monitors solar storms, which trigger auroras.

Space weather forecast chief Bob Rutledge said given the size of the solar storm, the lights probably shouldn't have been visible south of Iowa. The storm was only considered "moderate" sized, he said.

He called the storm unusual, its effects reaching Earth eight hours faster than forecast. But that timing made it just about perfect for U.S. viewing, he said.

"The peak of the intensity happened when it was dark or becoming dark over the U.S., coupled with the clear skies. We did have significant aurora sightings," Rutledge said. "The timing was good on this."

In Huntsville, the aurora lasted from 8:25 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. CDT, Cooke said. In Arkansas, Emfinger went out shortly after sunset after getting a space weather alert. He saw auroras that lasted until after 11 p.m.

An aurora begins with a storm shooting a magnetic solar wind from the sun. The wind slams into Earth's magnetic field, compressing it. That excites electrons of oxygen and nitrogen. When those excited electrons calm down, they emit red and green colors, Rutledge said.

Often solar storms can cause damage satellites and power grids. This one didn't, Rutledge said."

This picture by @WxJax shows the Northern Lights in Laurel, VA.

Here is a picture from Madison, WI from DakotaLapse.com:

  

This was the view in Alabama:

  

This time lapse video of the aurora in Michigan by Lakefxnet is amazing!!!:

Ok I'm done drooling, hehe.

Inside A Tornado On I-95 in VA

Last night storms spawned some possible tornadoes in parts of the Mid-Atlantic. Here is one video of a motorist on I-95 in Virginia, when a tornado struck. Note: There is heavy language in this video.




The video is from Youtube user TeamInsaneRCRacing.

NASA Tweetup STS-135 in Washington, DC

          Yesterday, I got the chance to see astronauts Christopher Ferguson @Astro_Ferg and Sandy Magnus @Astro_Sandy at the NASA Tweetup STS-135 event in Washington, DC.  If you are wondering what a Tweetup is, according to NASA a tweetup is "...An informal meeting of people who use the social messaging medium Twitter. NASA Tweetups provide @NASA followers with the opportunity to go behind-the-scenes at NASA facilities and events and speak with scientists, engineers, astronauts and managers. NASA Tweetups range from two hours to two days in length and include a "meet and greet" session to allow participants to mingle with fellow Tweeps and the people behind NASA's Twitter feeds." People that follow @NASATweetup also are provided the opportunity to attend and the account features the latest information about NASATweeup events.  The first NASATweetup was On January 21, 2009 at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
         I saw that NASA was having a tweetup at their headquarters in Washington, DC through my @weathersavvy1 account and I registered during the September 29th to September 30th period.  I saw that 150 participants would be selected at random and I crossed my fingers. On October 4th I received an email from Social Media Manager and Public Affairs Specialist at NASA, Stephanie Schierholz @schierholz, that I was not selected and I was on the waiting list. I crossed my fingers again and on October 6th, I received the confirmation that I had been selected!
       The event started at 4:00 pm EST, and was an hour long. At the event highlights of the STS-135 mission and the space program were discussed. STS-135 had actually started out as a rescue mission, delivering 9,400 pounds of spare parts and 2, 677 pounds of food. This is to help operations at the space station for the next year. The mission also brought back 5,7000 pounds of material from the station that was not needed. STS-135 was the final shuttle flight and also the 135th space shuttle to go into outer space.  25 states where represented at the event with the farthest United States attendees, coming from California. Attendees also came from Canada and Germany. The event was also broadcasted live on the NASA website.
      I wrote about STS-135 back in July when the space shuttle successfully landed on July 21, 2011. Here is that blog entry. I would have never thought, that some three months after writing that entry, I'd be seeing two of the astronauts aboard the space craft in person, and getting my picture with Sandy Magnus. Here is that picture:

I also got her signature :-)

      The event was amazing and I really want to thank everyone who made this event possible. It is a great way to connect with the NASA and people that share common interests. Our world is definitely changing and like Astronaut Sandy Magnus said, "It's about learning." It was my first NASA Tweetup and I will assure, it definitely won't be my last :-)

Here are more pictures from the event:

 Me in front of the NASA building

 Astronauts Christopher Ferguson and Sandy Magnus.

 The program.

 List of the participants.

 The NASA swag bag.

 The commemorative pin, it contains metal flown aboard a space shuttle!

 For more information about the STS-135 mission, check out this link.

Thanks again everyone involved, for this amazing opportunity and thank you to my boyfriend, Rex for taking some of the photos.