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 January.

Visible planets during the period:

• Mars is low in the southwest after sunset all month.
• Jupiter is high in the east after sunset and is visible in the night sky until the early hours of the morning.
• Venus rises shortly after twilight in early January but becomes progressively harder to see as the month goes on.
• Saturn rises shortly before 3 a.m. local time on January 1st and then about 30 minutes earlier with each successive week.  

Calendar of upcoming celestial events:

• Thursday, 1/10 – The moon passes three degrees north of Venus.
• Friday, 1/11 – New moon (dark).
• Sunday, 1/13 – The moon passes six degrees north of Mars.
• Monday, 1/21 – The waxing moon passes a half degree south of Jupiter.
• Saturday, 1/26 – Full moon.

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:

• Winter storm watches, warnings and advisories – Almost all of the West from the Dakotas to Arizona and from Oregon to Colorado
• High wind watches, warnings and advisories – An area encompassing most of the Southwest and extending into western Nebraska and Oklahoma.
• Flood watches, warnings and advisories – Northwest Washington, western Nebraska, and an area encompassing all of Louisiana and extending into Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi.
• Coastal flooding warnings, watches and advisories – Southwest California.

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

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:

Sequoia-Kings Canyon NPs – A fire broke out in the park’s SAR cache at 2:30 a.m. on January 16, 1989 and totally destroyed the facility and its contents. Total damage has been estimated at $20,000 for the SAR equipment and $10,000 for other equipment and the structure itself. The source of ignition appears to have been an electrical failure in the building’s water heater. One ranger was hospitalized for a minor case of smoke inhalation.

Contact Information
Name: Bill Halainen, Editor