Mark Murray: November 2008 Archives

With only 15.61" of rainfall so far this year at Camp Mabry (as of 11/27), it's looking like 2008 will go down in the record books as one of the driest ever for Austin. Here are the top 5 driest calendar years for the Camp Mabry database, which dates back to 1856.

1) 1954 11.42"
2) 1956 15.41"
3) 1917 15.58"
4) 1963 17.30"
5) 1879 18.34"

By the way, the average annual rainfall for Austin at Camp Mabry is 33.65".

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Skies will be cloudy for Texas vs. Texas A&M Thursday evening in Austin. The kickoff temperature will be near 72 degrees, falling to around 64 by the end of the 4th quarter. Winds won't be much of a factor, as they'll be out of the south at only 5-8 mph. So, will we see any rain during the game? Perhaps. There is a 30% chance of an evening shower. But, if we do get rain, it should be very light.

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With 15.61" of rain so far at Camp Mabry in 2008 (as of November 24th), we sit at just 50% of our normal rainfall for this point in the year. A west coast storm system set to sweep across Texas on Thanksgiving and the day after Thanksgiving will do little to help the situation. The lastest Drought Monitor released on Thursday shows that Central Texas is the hardest hit part of our state with Extreme Drought conditions continuing for Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop, Blanco, Caldwell counties, as well as parts of Llano, Gillespie, Milam, Lee and Fayette counties. The long-range forecast calls for below normal rainfall well into December.

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Perry writes...

"I was watching the space shuttle/ ISS fly over tonight and it strangely disappeared right as it was directly overhead and did not reappear again. I have watched the shuttle many times from my backyard and this is the first time this has happened. Can you explain this?"

Sure, Perry. We're able to see the Space Station and Space Shuttle 220 miles up in space because they reflect light from the sun. During the first half of their pass last Monday, the astronauts were still in sunlight at that altitude. But, as they continued their trek across our sky, they passed into the shadow of the Earth and quickly faded from our view. Passes earlier in the evening mean the pair is in sunlight for a longer period of time. As we get later in the evening, they're in 'daylight' for a shorter period of time. This also explains why we never see the International Space Station or Space Shuttle in the middle of the night...only within about 2 hours of sunset or sunrise. Good question!

Mark Murray

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You've most likely noticed the two bright objects in the southwestern sky just after sunset. Those are the planets Jupiter and Venus (Venus is the brighter of the two). Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the planets will move closer together. On Monday evening December 1st, just after sunset, the planets will be joined by the crescent moon, making for a spectacular conjunction! Here's how it will look!
-Mark Murray

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