We hit 75° here in the valley yesterday. We tend a degree or so warmer down here because the heat becomes trapped in the woods where I live. We had 72° Friday and Saturday. We have chances of the 70s again for today and tomorrow before we gradually slip back into a more fall-like pattern. By Wednesday we will struggle to make 50° with overnight low temps in the low 30s.
I got the gutters on my house cleaned out yesterday – I figured I had better get at it before the leaves become soaked – we have mostly maple and walnut trees around the house. I have kept the lawn mulched with my tractor. All the leaves are off the lawn with the exception of a few oak leaves from the neighbor’s trees. Oaks seem to drop their leaves last.
Clouds will move in starting tonight which will hold our temps to around 60° and our chances of rain begin to ramp up for later tomorrow. We may even see (and hear) a thunderstorm as the cold front bears down on us. At this point southern Michigan could see a quarter to half an inch of rain – greater amounts up to an inch could fall north of Grand Rapids.
Here are the records posted for yesterday:
What Beautiful Day and Night. Still 68 Lucious DEGREES. I was just sitting on my Back Deck Having a Smoke Break and Low and Behold had Six Deer Nippiling away on The Rye Grass and Other Such Things. What a Beautiful SUMMER Feeling SIGHT to See.
© Provided by Space
Taurid Meteor Over Slovenia
While the Taurid meteor shower doesn’t have a lot of shooting stars to offer, the few that will streak across the sky may be bright, spectacular fireballs.
The annual “shooting star” display, which is active during the last three months of the year, is actually a combination of two meteor showers — the Northern Taurids and the Southern Taurids — both associated with Comet Encke. Skywatchers in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres will have two different peak viewing times. But the estimated dates have some wiggle room, because meteor rates will be consistently low throughout the meteor shower.
In 2020, the Southern Taurid meteor shower, visible from the Southern Hemisphere, peaked in early November. The Northern Taurid meteor shower peaks overnight on Nov. 11-12 and is visible from the Northern Hemisphere. However, viewers in both hemispheres can still see meteors through late November, according to NASA meteor expert Bill Cooke.
Related: The Taurid meteor shower of 2020 peaks soon. Here’s what to expect.
“The Taurids are rich in fireballs, so if you see a Taurid it can be very brilliant and it’ll knock your eyes out, but their rates absolutely suck,” Cooke told Space.com. “It’s simply the fact that when a Taurid appears it’s usually big and bright.” Typically, the Taurids produce only a handful of visible meteors per hour.
“Crumbs” of Comet Encke
As Comet Encke orbits the sun, it leaves a trail of comet crumbs in its wake. In some years, when Jupiter’s orbit brings the planet close to the comet’s trail, the gas giant’s gravity nudges the comet particle stream toward Earth, so more meteors are visible to observers here. Astronomers call this an “outburst.” That isn’t expected to happen again until 2022, according to the American Meteor Society.
Most meteor showers come from tiny fragments that burn up in Earth’s atmosphere, but calculations indicate that Comet Encke’s debris could produce meteors big enough to survive the trip to the ground.
These meteorites have not been discovered yet, Cooke said, adding that such a discovery would be a “holy grail of meteorites.” No one knows how big a Taurid meteorite might be, but Cooke said the comet chunks are estimated to weigh a few ounces.
Related: How comets cause meteor showers
When to see them
Cooke said that it can be hard to pick the best day to look for the Taurids, because the meteor shower is visible for several weeks. The best results will happen in the early morning (just before dawn) from any dark location. On peak viewing days, there may be only a few more meteors per hour than on other days, so the difference is hardly noticeable, he said.
“The rates are low, so be prepared to look for a while,” Cooke said.
Observers may also spot some stray shooting stars that are unrelated to the Taurids. These will appear to originate somewhere other than the constellation of Taurus, the bull, and will travel in random directions through the night sky. Moonlight won’t overly interfere with the peak of the northern Taurids, but watch for it at other times around the peak (and try to time your observations for when the moon is not in the sky).
Where to look
The Taurids are visible practically anywhere on Earth, except for the South Pole. They appear to originate in the constellation Taurus, the bull. To find Taurus, look for the constellation Orion and then peer to the northeast to find the red star Aldebaran, the star in the bull’s eye.
Don’t look directly at Taurus to find meteors; the shooting stars will be visible all over the night sky. Make sure to move your gaze around the nearby constellations. Meteors closer to the radiant have shorter trails and are more difficult to spot. If you look only at Taurus, you might miss the shooting stars with the most spectacular trails.
What causes the Taurids?
The Taurids come from Comet Encke, a short-term periodic comet that orbits the sun about once every 3.3 years. It was first spotted by Pierre Mechain in 1786 and was first recognized as a periodic comet in the 1800s by Johann Franz Encke.
As the comet moves around the solar system, it leaves behind bits of material that are called meteoroids. If those comet chunks enter the Earth’s atmosphere, they are called meteors. The friction they encounter while speeding through the Earth’s atmosphere heats them up, sometimes making them visible from the ground. Those chunks that reach the ground, if ever discovered, would be called meteorites.
How to get the best view
Meteor showers require no special equipment to view. Just travel to an area that has few lights, away from major cities. Get comfortable on your back, staring straight up at the sky. This will let you view more meteors than by staring in one direction.
Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace, and follow Space.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
With a high of at least 76 at Grand Rapids today that will go down as at lest the 3rd warmest temperature ever recorded in the month of November.
Slim
Seems to be some “everyday” bloggers missing out on the opportunity to blog about this historic stretch of weather.
77 here with a heat index of 79. A heat index? In November??
Yeah, I see GR is now reporting a heat index as well. Crazy stuff!
I thought so too.
Woah! That is crazy!
Really?!! It was a great day outside today. Not too often do we get to put up Christmas lights in 75 degree weather in shorts and tank tops. I hear the weather is really going to change on Wednesday. I wonder if we can repeat a week like this in December?
As expected Grand Rapids has set a new record high for November 9th the last reading was 75. Here at my house I now have 78 with a DP of 59
Slim
This will be one of those stretches that makes it into MV’s Wednesday weather history for years to come.
Up to an unbelievable 77 here now! Pushing 80 degrees in the second week of November?? I guess we can call this the Northern Tropics.
And not only that, the dew point is approaching 60 as well making it feel more humid out.
Here at my house I now have a reading of 78 with a DP of 59
Slim
It is not even 12 noon yet and the official reading at GRR is now up to 70 and here at my house it is now 74.
Slim
Going for our third straight record high temp in a row! (and likely 4th in a row tomorrow)
How many times have we ever been able to say that? This is incredible!
While it will turn colder after mid week there are no signs of any real cold coming if the foreseeable future. In fact December may start out above average.
Slim
The official overnight low at Grand Rapids was 56 if this holds it will be the warmest minimum for any November 9th at Grand Rapids. The low here at my house was a cooler 54. At the current time with broken cloud cover it is 62 at the airport and 57 here at my house. I had a high here at my house yesterday of 76.
Slim
Sure feels odd going outside at 5 a.m. and it’s 60 degrees out, does not feel remotely like November. Just incredible what a widespread event this is with records being shattered everywhere, even way up North. No sweaty hoodies needed today again!
68 in Muskegon when I woke this morning and 57 here. It has been an incredible stretch of warm weather. Cleaned out the garage this weekend, which was long overdue. Have a great week, everyone.
This is about what it is like in south Florida in the winter months.
Slim