The Skies

Sun and Moon Data

To find sun and moon rising and setting times for your park or office, go to the U.S. Naval Observatory’s Complete Sun and Moon Data for One Day webpage.

Night Skies

An update on the moon, planets and night skies for the week of October 9th through October 16th, extracted from a weekly summary prepared by the U.S. Naval Observatory:

• Moon – The moon continues to wane in the morning sky. It will be new (dark) next Monday. It will be close to Venus on Thursday.
• Mars – Mars is visible in the southwest during the late evening twilight. It’s close to Antares in the constellation Scorpius.
• Jupiter – Jupiter rises before 9:30 p.m.
• Venus – The planet is bright in the eastern sky at dawn.

For more information on stars, planets and other night sky phenomena, go to “The Sky This Week” page at the U.S. Naval Observatory page at http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/tours-events/sky-this-week

The Weather

Much of the nation will be cool to cold today. Snow is forecast for western Colorado and part of Utah.

Watches and Warnings

The principal watches and warnings posted as of early this morning were as follows. Note that these change over the course of a day and represent only initial daily forecasts. Click on this link for a full-sized map showing these hazards:

• Winter storm watches, warnings and advisories – Western Colorado and eastern Utah.
• Frost and freeze watches, warnings and advisories – An area from western Kentucky to central New York. Also much of Michigan.

For additional information on severe weather, go to the NOAA Storm Prediction Center at http://www.spc.noaa.gov/ .

Tropical Cyclones

Today’s reports from the National Hurricane Center and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (western Pacific):

• Typhoon Prapiroon – The typhoon is south of Okinawa and presents no threats to NPS areas in the western Pacific.

For additional information on Atlantic and eastern Pacific tropical cyclones, go to the National Hurricane Center web page at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/. For information on western Pacific tropical cyclones, go to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center at http://www.usno.navy.mil/JTWC/.

This Day in NPS History

In The Parks

On October 11, 1809, Meriwether Lewis, co-leader of the famous transcontinental expedition of 1803-06, committed suicide at Grinder's Inn on the Natchez Trace in Tennessee.  His grave there lies within the Natchez Trace Parkway. Click here for other park anniversary dates.

In Memoriam

There were no NPS line of duty deaths on this date. Click here for a full list of on-duty deaths.

From The Morning Report Archives

The 25th anniversary of the National Park Service Morning Report is being commemorated with the reprinting of incidents from the Morning Report archives:

Chickasaw NRA – On June 25, 1988, a 33-year-old Oklahoma man was swimming alone in the lake while his daughter and a friend watched from the shore. On several occasions, he pretended he was in trouble, and then really did get into trouble while swimming into deeper water to retrieve a ski kicked off by a friend who was water skiing. His daughter thought he was still fooling around and therefore ignored his cries for help. Several minutes later, she realized that he was serious this time and ran for help. Rangers found the man floating face down in the water. Efforts to revive him were briefly successful, but he died later in the evening at a local hospital.

Contact Information
Name: Bill Halainen, Editor