Wednesday, December 30, 2009

http://yfrog.com/4f38dj ... This is how the South-west Bay will look on 6-Jan-09 .. NCMRWF
Still heavy showers over Maldives, Lakshadweep, and south-Interior karnataka .. http://yfrog.com/aumwxj
http://yfrog.com/aumwxj .. South and South-East Bay is very active.. soon it'll host a LOW pressure system.
Rainfall occurred on 29-Dec, at most places over Lakshadweep and North interior Karnataka and at many places over South interior Karnataka.
VERY heavy Rainfall on 29-Dec:: Ajjampura (Chickmagalur dt) 14, Tarekere ((Chickmagalur dt) 12, Bhadravathi (Shimoga dt) 8 and Gadag 7 cm.
Due to the Arabian sea Circulation the Rains are started pushing into north Karnataka and soon into South Maharastra as well.
http://yfrog.com/4fhpgj .. Meanwhile the cyclonic circulation over South-East Arabian sea still persists.
North-west Bay, Orissa & North-east Andhra is under a High pressure Anti-Cyclone .. http://yfrog.com/4fhpgj
31-Dec-09, New year's eve is going to be wet for Coastal Karnataka & south-Interior Karnataka .. http://yfrog.com/4en1fp
Partial Lunar Eclipse and Blue Moon New Year's Eve .. http://is.gd/5Gsoh
Famous San Francisco sea lions leave in droves .. http://is.gd/5GsjK .. May be a Sign of danger/natural disaster coming from Earth OR Sea.
Health Tip: Protect Yourself From Air Pollution .. http://is.gd/5Gshb

Mercury dip offers cold comfort ahead of New Year

North and north-west India continued to reel under winter chill as a cold snap loomed large threatening to extend a ‘limb' further into east and north-east India.

There is no signal yet of the arrival of a strong western disturbance system, the warmth around which from lower pressure and ascending air could likely offer some respite.

COLD COMFORT

In what could likely be cold comfort for revellers, no such system is expected to affect northwest India at least during the next five days when the year turns into the ‘New.'

Cold wave conditions prevailed in parts of Haryana, Punjab and of Himachal Pradesh and at isolated places in east Uttar Pradesh during the 24 hours ending Tuesday morning, an update by India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Maximum temperatures were below normal by 2 to 4 deg Celsius over parts of Punjab, Haryana, Bihar and West Bengal.

Night temperatures too were below normal over Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Sikkim, Jharkhand, Orissa and Assam.

MAY HEAD SOUTH

However, they were above normal over south Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and north Karnataka due largely to cloudiness from moisture feed traced to south-east Arabian Sea.

On Monday, the lowest minimum temperature of minus 0.5 deg Celsius was recorded at Sarsawa in Uttar Pradesh.

The US National Centres for Environmental Prediction is of the view that the cold snap would become entrenched over east and northeast India during the first 15 days of the New Year.

The peripheral ring of seasonal chill would progressively filter into central India (Madhya Pradesh and north Maharashtra) before sending cooler winds into peninsular India.

Some parts of this region, especially south interior Karnataka and adjoining Rayalaseema, could feel the bite during this phase.

Arrival of a western disturbance is indicated around January 5, but it remains to be seen how strong the system would be and to what extent it could alter weather over the north-west.

But a feeble western disturbance is likely to affect western Himalayan region during the next 24 hours. Light to isolated rain or snow has been forecast over Jammu and Kashmir.

Meanwhile, a confluence of winds is taking place over central and adjoining peninsular India. This has also been breeding some unsettled weather over the region.

WIND CONFLUENCE

The IMD located a smorgasbord of cyclonic circulations dotting the landscape backed up by troughs of low pressure over the adjoining seas – south-east Arabian Sea and south-west Bay of Bengal.

Cyclonic circulations with associated wind flow patterns were stayed perched above Lakshadweep; coastal Tamil Nadu and adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal; and Konkan-Goa and adjoining Madhya Maharashtra.

The Regional Met Centre, Chennai, said in an update that overnight rainfall has been reported from most places over Lakshadweep; at many places over coastal Karnataka and at a few places over interior Karnataka. Isolated rainfall occurred over Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Forecast for the next two days said that rain or thundershowers are likely at many places over coastal Karnataka and Lakshadweep and at a few places over Kerala and interior Karnataka.

Isolated rain or thundershowers are likely over Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Isolated rainfall has also been forecast along west coast, central and adjoining east India and the south peninsula.

Going to be once in a "blue" moon

Sky gazers await once in a blue moon phenomenon on New Year's eve. Announcing this to reporters in Chennai today, Director of Birla Planetarium P Iyamperumal said the lunar eclipse on 31 December can be viewed in Chennai and the annual solar eclipse on 15 January, a rare happening after 108 years, can be viewed from Kanyakumari.

'The lunar eclipse will take place from 12.21 pm to 1.24 am. About 80 per cent of the eclipse can be viewed from Chennai. It can be watched with the naked eye,' he said.

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Stating that special arrangements had been made at the planetarium to watch the eclipse, he said an exclusive goggle is needed for the purpose.

Meanwhile, an agency report from New Delhi said when a second full moon in a calendar month appears in the night sky, the occurrence is known as a blue moon.

There are 12 full moons most years but every two or three years there is an extra full moon which is called a blue moon.

'We've already had a full moon on 2 December and the next one is on New Year’s Eve that is on 31 December,' Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE) president C B Devgun said.

On rare occasions the moon actually had a blue appearance - often caused by smoke from large-scale fires or excessive dust particles in the atmosphere.

Explaining the phenomena of bue moons, Devgun said the moon cycle takes about 29.53 days to complete that is almost a month. That is why there's one full moon once a month, at least on most years.

'Because the lunar cycle does not reach a full 30 days, the full moon happens about a half-a-day earlier each month. So over time, this small difference eventually pushes the date of the full moon until there can be two full moons in one month. When this happens, the second full moon in that month is called the blue moon,' Devgun said.

This comes about quite rarely, only about seven times in 19 years, which is equal to one blue moon every 2.7 years more or less.

The next blue moon will occur on 21 November, 2010. After that, planet watchers will have to wait until 21 August, 2013, to see another blue moon.

Longest annular eclipse of the sun on Jan15

Sky enthusiasts in India, especially in Tamil Nadu, will have a rare opportunity to witness the longest annular eclipse of the sun, occurring on Jan 15 next.

"The annular phase runs from 10.44 am (IST),when the eclipse begins in the Central African Republic to the end of the eclipse on the Chinese Yellow Sea coast at 14.29 pm (IST)," Tamilnadu Science and Technology Centre Executive Director Dr P Iyamperumal told PTI today.

He said the maximum duration of annularity would reach 11 min 08 sec over Indian Ocean thus making it the longest annular eclipse.

Stating that this was a rare event happening about 108 years in Tamil Nadu, he said ""the annular eclipse will be visible from Kanyakumari, Nagercoil, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Tuticorin, Rameshwaram, Madurai, Rajapalayam, Sivaganga, Karikudi, Pudukottai, Nagapatinam, Tanjavur, Kumbakonam, Mayiladuthurai and Chidambaram".
For tamilnadu, especially the central & south coastal zone, the 1st & 2nd week of New Year is going to be WET.
Chennai - Not a cold morning .. and now 10:12am its cloudy and movement from East. Bay is getting active to host another round of showers.
http://ping.fm/gh4Tv .. Lakshadweep & south Kerala got some showers over night
Showers slowly pushing into Karnataka and a cloud connectivity can be seen upto Uttar Pradesh .. http://ping.fm/zYLJg
Slowly & Steadily the South Bay LOW pressure system is materializing .. http://ping.fm/Fq2NR