Finally October! Cool but nice… with roses. Indian Summer ahead?

It's all monlight & roses at the Huttner Weather Lab this week. And it finally feels like Ocotber!

Our evening sky show continues Friday night.

Looking east after sunset Friday after 8 pm, you'll see the now just past full "Hunter's Moon" rising in the east. (Moonrise 7:35pm at MSP) To the right you'll see the very bright Jupiter close by.

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Photo Credit: Shahrin Ahmad

Oct. 13, 2011

Sri Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Details:

It's always fascinating to compare the size of the objects in the universe. My finger can easily cover the moon, and jupiter, as well as the nearby mosque's minaret. But it is still simply insignificant if we realize the true size of the celestial objects! Photo taken with Canon 550D. ISO200, 4s exposure.

The two brightest objects in the sky will form a delightful duet tonight into Friday morning.

Image couresy spaceweather.com

If you have a telescope or very powerful binoculars, you may be able to see some of Jupiter's moons, and the giant red spot (storm) will be facing earthward!

The sky show will persist the next two nights, even as the moon slides further to the left of Jupiter.

The bright Hunter's Moon passes Jupiter in the east after dark. Mira is the crook in the purple line just below the S in CETUS. The blue 10° scale is about the width of your fist held at arm's length.-Sky & Telescope diagram

As you enjoy the moonight check out some of the great Native American moon names!

Drought expands:

Yep, even with wednesday's .50" rain it's still dry at the weather lab in the southwest metro. It fits with this week's updated U.S. Drought Monitor, whch now places the southwest metro and much of southern Minnesota in "severe drought."

Indian Summer ahead?

Next week looks cool with mostly 50s. But there are signs temps may run as much as 5-10+ degrees above average the week after that. That would mean highs in the 60s to maybe 70 in southern Minnesota. We may still see a bout of Indian Summer in late October!

October roses at the weather lab:

The Weather Lab roses are enjoying the late season warm surge. I talked about them with Kerri Miller & Cathy Wurzer on Morning Edition Thursday.

Check out the blooms which hang over a carpet of fallen colored leaves.

Enjoy!

PH

(Click images to enalrge)