The official NerdZoner's weather zone! How's your weather today?

[Retro]

Storm Lillian about to batter the UK with 80mph winds. Batten down the hatches!

Storm Lilian - the 12th named storm of the season - will be bringing gales and heavy rain to parts of the UK on Friday.

Yellow weather warnings for wind and rain have been issued by the Met Office as there may disruption to travel, potential for trees to come down or for damage to buildings.

Storm Lilian: strong winds set to hit UK

Strong winds and heavy rain set to hit the UK on Friday morning which could cause some disruption

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Tiffany]

Wow, that's a lot of wind. It's hard even standing 60mph wind gusts. I hope everyone is ready for this storm and stays safe!

 

[Tiffany]

People of earth or nerdzoners ....We have just had a little rain and rain is in the forecast here and there through the next week. Gone is our 100F plus temps. Helllloooo September!!

How's everyone's weather?

 

[Retro]

Glad your heatwave has gone. Weather is still quite warm, but it's now in the pleasant range as we slide into autumn.

 

[Tiffany]

Also glad to hear your temps are staying in a comfortable range now. Before too long, we will be complaining that it's too cold.

 

[live627]

The North American monsoon is still active with daily thunderstorms, most of which crawl right up to the city limits and leave after a small light show and some downdrafts. Cheeky bastards don't like heat islands.

 

[Retro]

Looks like some rough weather is on its way in the UK.

Warnings for thunderstorms and heavy showers have been extended into Monday for many across the UK, covering much of England, east Wales and southern Scotland.

The Met Office said while many places would miss the storms, there was a "small chance of flooding and disruption" in some areas as a result.

A yellow warning urging people to "be aware", external came into force from 04:00 BST on Sunday, covering large swathes of southern England, the Midlands and the north of England and southern Scotland and expiring at 23:59.

Another yellow warning was issued running from midnight on Sunday until 23:59 on Monday, covering most of England apart, eastern Scotland and eastern Wales.

UK weather: Thunderstorm warning for England and parts of Wales

There is a risk of flooding in some areas, with Met Office saying hail and lightning are also likely.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Tiffany]

I'm sure you get some interesting weather during the monsoon season @live627. Your comment on heat islands is very telling, topography and lake locations can make a big difference on weather from city to city.

We have been miserably dry and hot this summer and finally, the high pressure moved to the east, giving us some lowered temps, still in the 90s but a better chance of rain.

@Retro hope your thunderstorm weather isn't too severe with wind, rain and lightening!

 

[Tiffany]

Our September has been pretty quiet, much like our summer, just hot, dry and no rain. I hope everyone is experiencing some better fall weather and cooler nights.

The Atlantic Hurricane season has been quiet too, (which is good) except for Beryl. Hurricane Helene has been developing in the Caribbean, hammering the Yucatan Peninsula, and now is moving northward to Florida's panhandle. Helene is a fast moving hurricane and it's size is very concerning. Forecasters believe it will make landfall as a Cat 3, with storm surge up to 15 feet on some coastal areas. I'm picking up on the uncertainty, that it may be stronger hurricane though. By it's landfall location in Florida, Helene threatens the whole state of Georgia in it's path with a full impact of wind, torrential rainfall and severe storms. The more Helene goes inland it will lose strength but will create severe flooding and severe thunderstorms for surrounding states. This is a severe hurricane, not by it's category, but by it's path, size and landfall location. Keep these Americans in your thoughts for safety.

 

[live627]

Our September has been pretty quiet, much like our summer, just hot, dry and no rain

this is why rains in the desert are always welcome—except for flash floods which quickly become enemy #1.

 

[Retro]

The UK has now officially transitioned to the official British Cold and Wet(tm) weather season. As long as it doesn't become too extreme, I'm not bothered by it. It's the summer heatwaves that get me.

@Tiffany How has hurricane Helene been panning out? I hope not as destructively as expected.

 

[Tiffany]

The UK has now officially transitioned to the official British Cold and Wet(tm) weather season. As long as it doesn't become too extreme, I'm not bothered by it. It's the summer heatwaves that get me.

@Tiffany How has hurricane Helene been panning out? I hope not as destructively as expected.

Feel free to send some cold and wet weather across the pond, please! I get what you are saying about the extreme heatwaves. I'm to the point of "extreme dread" when summer hits every year now because of the extreme heat. I actually, don't look forward to mid-winter here either the past few years...too much has gone wrong with power outages in below freezing weather.

Hurricane Helene was an extremely large destructive storm but a fast moving storm with severe storm surge in some coastal areas and some people died. Helene did make landfall as a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds at or above 130mph. There are millions of people without power in Florida and I'm not sure the statistics in Georgia yet for power outages. There was lots of flooding, flooding rescues throughout both states, as well as substantial structure damage and severe flood damage in homes and businesses. I've looked at some pictures already this morning; powerful! Helene'a wide storm range has affected as far east as the Carolina's with storms tornadoes and flooding and moving northward through Tennessee as a tropical storm.

You can see how much land it's covering by this satellite picture. This is a screen shot from zoom.earth.

 

[Retro]

Feel free to send some cold and wet weather across the pond, please!

Ah, if only I could! Thing is, many parts of the UK get damagingly violent weather too nowadays, so we're not sitting pretty either. Your weather is still much wilder than ours though and I hope this winter isn't as cold as you fear and the infrastructure won't be damaged.

Clearly Helene has done some significant damage after all and taken lives, too.

 

[Tiffany]

I think the Atlantic hurricane season is getting to a late start. Hopefully, Helene is the worst one, except for Beryl, and the rest of the hurricanes stay as big fish storms out in the Atlantic away from land.

Interesting that your weather has changed so much with bad storms. Let's hope we all have mild winters!!

 

[Retro]

Tiffs, we've got destructive weather going on, too. At least no deaths so far.

Motorway submerged and train lines underwater as flash flooding hits UK

Images from around the UK showed significant travel disruption as train lines were affected and major roads flooded.

uk.news.yahoo.com

 

[Retro]

UK Polar vortex? What polar vortex?!

The Met Office has rubbished reports of a “polar vortex” hitting the UK next week.

A number of websites have reported that “brutal” freezing conditions and snow are likely at the start of October. A polar vortex is a circulation of winds high up in the stratosphere which can affect the weather.

Met Office rubbishes 'really misleading' polar vortex weather reports

The agency has become increasingly vocal against headlines predicting extreme weather events.

uk.news.yahoo.com

 

[live627]

Turns out that the effects of that hurricane can be felt all the way into Arizona as a "heat dome" or high pressure

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[Astro What]

I'm enjoying it right now. The high to the west is just enough to keep the clouds away for a few days, giving me a chance to do some captures with no moon for a change.

 

[Tiffany]

@Retro It's interesting that the UK is getting increasingly more violent weather too. I looked at your pictures of the motorway flooding, and wow! That was a lot of rain! I'm looking at your article on the "rubbish forecast of a polar vortex", and what strikes me was the wind gust predictions on the west side of the UK will be 50 to 60mph wind gusts.

@live627 Nice catch on the explanation of the extreme heat that is stalled out over your area and the relationship of it caused by Hurricane Helene. I'm always trying to find good explanations for weather for my particular area and it's not always easy. Since Covid, a lot of the blogs I used to rely on are gone. Glad it's going to work itself out by next Friday!

@Astro What Glad you are getting the awesome night time captures with clear weather.

Update for my area - no rain in the forecast all the way through mid-October and it's just going to be hot. Maybe I do need to pull out the telescope my mom gave us years ago and put it together?

 

[Retro]

Since Covid, a lot of the blogs I used to rely on are gone.

I'm sorry to hear that. covid caused so much destruction even in ways one wouldn't think would be related.

Update for my area - no rain in the forecast all the way through mid-October and it's just going to be hot. Maybe I do need to pull out the telescope my mom gave us years ago and put it together?

If you do, I'd love to hear about what you saw and perhaps any pictures, if possible.

 

[Tiffany]

I'm sorry to hear that. covid caused so much destruction even in ways one wouldn't think would be related.


If you do, I'd love to hear about what you saw and perhaps any pictures, if possible.

Agreed, so many activities in our daily lives, that brought joy, amusement or something that was good, is now in the Covid graveyard. I miss that "normal" before Covid.

I did locate my telescope. It's an Orion Observer 70mm Altazimuth Refractor. It appears to be missing parts. I have the telescope and the tripod, but I don't see the lenses. I remember trying this out years ago and thinking it didn't work, so now my dd and I are on a mission to look for it's missing parts. It might be that we never had these, which would explain why it didn't work in the first place. I'm not sure where my mom got this telescope either years ago? I see this beginner telescope sells for about $129.00 at Walmart. Doing some at home search and find detective work now.

 

[Astro What]

I remember trying this out years ago and thinking it didn't work, so now my dd and I are on a mission to look for it's missing parts. It might be that we never had these, which would explain why it didn't work in the first place.

You are missing the center plate that the tripod legs mount to for the "head", the spacer that goes between the legs that keeps them from spreading too wide and the telescope mount portion that joins to the tripod at a quick look.
You also do not have any eye pieces for it in that image. There should also be a "red dot" style guider that came with them.
The bad thing is Orion is currently not doing business and there are questions if they are about to go into bankruptcy again, so getting parts from them (Meade and Orion are the same company) will most likely be impossible.
You may be able to find them used on eBay but you will probably end up paying more than what the scope is worth.

 

[Retro]

The bad thing is Orion is currently not doing business and there are questions if they are about to go into bankruptcy again, so getting parts from them (Meade and Orion are the same company) will most likely be impossible.

Oh, that's a shame. So annoying to be stuck in a situation like that. Hope you find those parts, Tiffs.

 

[Tiffany]

Thanks @Astro What for your input on my telescope. When I have more time this week I'm going to take a look and see if I recognize any of those parts somewhere in my house. It probably makes sense to buy another telescope with all of the parts rather then trying to individually buy these parts if I don't find them.

@Retro It is a shame that Orion is going out of business, dang it! Finger's crossed I have them. I have a container with random PC stuff that might have those parts there.

 

[Astro What]

When I have more time this week I'm going to take a look and see if I recognize any of those parts somewhere in my house.

Odds are the piece that mounts the tripod to the scope will look like a U with a post of some type on the bottom to mount into the tripod base plate. It will have either holes on the top sides of the U or possibly even captive bolts there.