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 today. 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 – Southern Alabama and most of Florida.
• Winter storm warnings, watches and advisories – Mountain areas from western Maryland to western North Carolina.
• High wind watches, warnings and advisories – Virtually all of the eastern United States.
• 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 – For a complete and current update on all the watches and warnings associated with the hurricane, go to the National Hurricane Center web page and click on the most recent Hurricane Sandy advisory.

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 29, 1862, soldiers of the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry en route to Fort Scott, Kansas, participated in the Battle of Indian Mound, Missouri, becoming the first African American soldiers from a northern state to engage Confederate soldiers in combat during the Civil War.  Fort Scott National Historic Site interprets this history. 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 35-year-old Florida man was scuba diving in 20 feet of water near Ajax Reef on July 30, 1988, when he began having difficulty. He was low on air, so surfaced, told his two diving partners of his problems, and began to swim to their nearby boat. About half way to the boat, he stopped swimming and lay face down in the water. All efforts to revive him failed.

Contact Information
Name: Bill Halainen, Editor