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 23rd through October 30th, extracted from a weekly summary prepared by the U.S. Naval Observatory:

• Moon – The moon is in the evening sky and will be full on Monday. The October full moon is known as the Hunter’s Moon.
• Mars – Mars is moving eastward along the ecliptic, pulling away from the bright star Antares. It will be above the constellation Scorpius and moving toward Sagittarius.
• Jupiter – Jupiter rises earlier each night this week. It will be near Aldebaran and Capella.
• Venus – Venus is visible in the early morning sky.

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

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:

• Red flag warnings – The lower Colorado River valley and the Los Angeles area.
• Winter storm warnings, watches and advisories – North central Washington, western Montana, central Colorado and southern Wyoming.
• High wind watches, warnings and advisories – Southern California, east Texas, much of Florida and coastal Georgia.
• Tropical storm and hurricane watches and warnings – See below.

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):

Hurricane Sandy – As of early this morning, Sandy was east-southeast of the Bahamas and moving north-northwest at 13 mph. Highest sustained winds were around 85 mph. The following advisories have been issued:

• Hurricane warning – Northwestern Bahamas (except Andros Island)
• Tropical storm warning – Central Bahamas, Florida’s east coast from Ocean Reef to Flagler Beach, Lake Okeechobee, and Andros Island in the northwestern Bahamas
• Tropical storm watch – Florida’s east coast from north of Flagler Beach to Fernandina Beach, the upper Keys from Ocean Reef to Craig Key, and Florida Bay

Hurricane force winds extend outward for about 35 miles and tropical force winds extend outward for approximately 275 miles. Sandy is expected to grow in size over the weekend. The forecast track early this morning showed it off the Outer Banks early on Monday morning and coming ashore in Delaware or southern New Jersey on Tuesday morning.

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 26, 1804, the Lewis and Clark Expedition arrived at one of the Mandan and Minitari Indian villages near the confluence of the Knife and Missouri rivers, where they camped until the following spring.  Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site contains remains of these villages. 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

Today’s incident from the Morning Report archives:

Biscayne NP – A 38-year-old Tennessee man was sport diving with an organized group on the afternoon of July 30, 1988, when he disappeared in 40 feet of water. An air search was begun by rangers with the assistance of the Coast Guard and Florida Marine Fisheries. Some of his equipment, including air tanks and flotation devices, was found about 300 yards from the dive boat. Underwater search efforts were underway at the time of the report, but were being hindered by six- to eight-foot seas.

Contact Information
Name: Bill Halainen, Editor