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Summer Super Moon

s-SUPERMOON-large300I love full moon nights especially in the summer when you can enjoy them outdoors in the warmer weather. How about you? Last night's Full Thunder Moon was spectacular because the sky was clear with no haze and the moon was 14% bigger and 30% brighter than usual. This so-called Supermoon is an example of the evolving skylore of the modern world. The name was actually devised about 30 years ago by an astrologer named Richard Nolle but it only became popular in recent years with the full moon of March 19, 2011. He defined Supermoon as a new or full moon which occurs with the moon at or near(within 90% of) its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit. In the past, the Supermoon was called perigee full moon or perigee new moon. Every month, as the moon travels in its elliptical orbit around the Earth, it comes closest to our planet and that is called perigee and moves farthest away which is called apogee. The moon is full, or opposite Earth from the sun, once a month. It is new, or more or less between the Earth and sun, also once a month. Thanks to the moon's recurring cycles, the full moon and perigee happen every 13 months and 18 days. According to Nolle's definition, the full or new moon has to come within 224,851 miles of our planet. With that in mind, there are 5 Supermoons in 2014. The first two were new moons happening on January 1 and January 30. The next one occurred this morning when the moon was full at 7:25 and it was at perigee about 3 hours earlier. The next Supermoon occurs on August 10 when the moon is full at 2:09 pm and it will be at perigee about 25 minutes earlier. That Supermoon will be the closest of this year at a distance of 221, 765 miles so it should be even more impressive. Hopefully, the weather cooperates for us to see the August 10 Supermoon as well. The final Supermoon of 2014 occurs on September 9. When the Earth, moon and sun are aligned each month, the gravitational force gets a boost which causes wide-ranging tides called spring tides. The extra high tides may result in coastal flooding mainly when accompanied by stormy conditions yielding strong onshore winds.

jul11NEXTWEEKWe are living a charmed life this summer with stretches of beautiful weather and just a few short blasts of oppressive humidity and nasty storms thus far. The weekends have been especially splendid and this one is no exception. The humidity remains low but will begin to rise late tomorrow and we will all feel the muggies the first half of the upcoming week. Following this sunny to partly cloudy weekend with highs in the middle 80s except upper 70s at many beaches, an approaching strong frontal boundary will decelerate as it reaches the Atlantic seaboard. Consequently, expect showers and storms to become more prevalent starting tomorrow night. The action will be periodic producing tropical downpours and perhaps some scattered severe boomers as well. Improvement will arrive either Wednesday or early Thursday for perhaps another nice weekend to follow. How sweet is that?

I will post a fresh blog early Sunday morning. You can watch my weathercasts on WBZ News tonight at 6 and 11pm and tomorrow morning from 5-9 am. Enjoy this wonderful summer weather!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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