Classic fall weekend; New “space junk” headed for earth

57 degree high on Friday

26 degrees cooler than Sunday (High was 83 at MSP Sunday!)

1st cooler than average day in 13 days

+14.1 degrees above average through October 13th

Cooler weather pattern arrives:

This is how October was meant to be in Minnesota. Cooler and blustery with clouds drifting by on gusty northwest winds.

The weather will mellow a bit this weekend. More sun will be the rule. A weather disturbance passing through may bring some showers to southern Minnesota Saturday night. High should hover around 60 this weekend in the south, with 50s north. Lows will be in the 40s south and 30s north.

Look for a cooler than average week next week in Minnesota. Yes, the law of averages applies to weather trends. After 13 days above average with near record warmth in Minnesota to open October, you knew the weather pendulum would swing in the opposite (cooler) direction!

Past Peak:

Leaf peepers will have to pick their spots this weekend. This week's wind and rain means much of our fall color display is on the ground!

Indian Summer still possible:

There is still hope for more mild weather in Minnesota this month. The medium-range forecast maps are hinting at a milder fall pattern the last week of October. We may still savor a few days int the mid 60s to near 70 degrees, with sun and lazy southwest winds.

Jet stream lifts north into Canada on October 29th allowing milder air to move north into Minnesota?

"Space Junk" Part II: Another satellite crashing to earth?

First it was the UARS satellite disappearing mysteriously into the Pacific Ocean like Amelia Earhart.

Now the ROSAT X-Ray Observatory appears headed for a close encounter with earth's atmosphere sometime the weekend of October 22nd.

The details from spaceweather.com.

"SATELLITE RE-ENTRY: The ROSAT X-ray observatory, launched in 1990 by NASA and managed for years by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), will return to Earth within the next two weeks. Current best estimates place the re-entry between Oct. 22nd and 24th over an unknown part of Earth. Although ROSAT is smaller and less massive than UARS, which grabbed headlines when it re-entered on Sept. 24th, more of ROSAT could reach the planet's surface. This is because the observatory is made of heat-tolerant materials. According to a DLR study, as many as 30 individual pieces could survive the fires of re-entry. The largest single fragment would likely be the telescope's mirror, which is very heat resistant and may weigh as much as 1.7 tons."

You may be able to see ROSAT in orbit this weekend after sunset low in the NNW sky. Here are the tracking details for Minneapolis.

Time to fire up the "satellite tracker" again!

PH