“The birds, the moon and the clouds have an important mission: to make mankind turn their eyes towards the skies! And so man can leave his own little local world and focus on something bigger – the universe!”

~ Mehmet Murat ildan, Turkish playwright and novelist

If all went as predicted – a change in the weather – the makings for a storm came drifting into town yesterday. A continuance and intensification of such remains throughout most of today, Thursday. Temperatures will remain in the 50s, dropping to the low 40s during the night. Moderate winds, rain and mountain snow come with the winter package.

Last week. The rain clouds cleared out just in time to reveal a full wolf moon. Rising in the northeast, just after sunset on Friday, Jan. 10, was the first full moon of the New Year. In addition, it was just one of 13 full moons appearing during the year. The extra one comes in October as the month will have two full moons; 12 is the normal number.

Some sky watchers are calling this month’s full moon the “wolf moon eclipse.” The wolf moon is a term attributed to Native Americans when hungry wolves were seen and heard howling around villages. The timing in some parts of the world – not North America – gave folks on Jan. 10 a view of a partial lunar eclipse as the earth’s shadow fell across the moon’s surface.

To add to this lunacy came the king tide. Occurring naturally, this particularly high tide happens when there is an alignment of the gravitational pull between the sun and moon. The intensity is measured by the differences between the highest and lowest tides. Wolf moons, eclipses, king tide and now the rain.

The main onslaught is predicted between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. With an assist from orographic lifting, there’s a good chance for local totals to reach 1.50 inches. Offshore winds will return for Friday, bringing warm temperatures through the weekend. Another chance of rain is possible next week.

As the on again, off again rain pattern remains, so must your umbrella!

Sue Kilpatrick is a Crescenta Valley resident and Official Skywarn Spotter
for the National Weather Service.
Reach her at suelkilpatrick@gmail.com.

  Sue Kilpatrick