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 next few weeks. Visible planets during the period:

• Mercury climbs higher and higher in the evening sky just after dusk and is at its greatest elongation on February 16th. It then drops back toward the horizon.
• Mars is low in the southwest after sunset until about mid-February, when it begins fading slowly from view.
• Jupiter is high and bright in the evening sky – a magnitude –2.4 it shines brighter than any other point of light in the sky.
• Venus is visible before dawn in early February but soon disappears into the pre-dawn twilight.
• Saturn rises shortly before midnight by mid-February and appears highest in the south as morning twilight begins.

Calendar of upcoming celestial events:

• Saturday, 1/26 – Full moon.
• Sunday, 2/3 – Last quarter moon.
• Friday, 2/8 – Mercury passes less than a half degree north of Mars.
• Sunday, 2/10 – The moon is new (dark).
• Monday, 2/11 – Mercury appears between the crescent moon (above) and Mars (below) about a half hour after sunset.
• Saturday, 2/16 – Mercury appears at its 2013 best in the evening sky.
• Sunday, 2/17 – First quarter moon.
• Monday, 2/18 – The moon passes a degree south of Jupiter.
• Monday, 2/25 – 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:

• Red flag warning – The Rocky Mountain front range foothills in northern Colorado.
• Winter storm watches, warnings and advisories – Northern California, Nevada and Utah, central and northern Idaho, northwest Montana, northern Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, the Appalachians from Georgia to West Virginia.
• Lake effect snow – Areas on the southern shores of the five Great Lakes.
• Flood watches, warnings and advisories – Areas in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and along the lower Ohio River and Wabash River corridors. Also along the Salmon River in Idaho and Montana due to an ice jam.
• High wind watches, warnings and advisories – Western Montana and southern Wyoming.

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:

Grand Canyon NP – On March 9, 1989, a 34-year-old woman from Germany was visiting Mohave Point with her husband when she became dizzy and fell over the canyon rim. Her husband called after her; when she failed to respond, he went to one of the lodges and sought help. Rangers searched the area until dark but were unable to find her. A helicopter was brought in the next morning and her body was spotted 260 feet below the rim.

Contact Information
Name: Bill Halainen, Editor