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Look Up for Halley’s Comet Shower this Weekend Heavy showers and damaging winds hammer Tasmania

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Nationalgeographic, By: Andrew Fazekas, 05/03/2013

 

Halley's comet glides across the starry skies back in March 1986. Credit: NASA

 

Halley’s Comet won’t swing by Earth for another 48 years, but you won’t have to wait that long to watch bits of the iconic comet zip across our skies. That’s because this weekend Earth smashes into a stream of material, known as the Eta Aquarid meteors, shed from the speedy iceberg in years past.

 

Coming through the inner solar system every 76 years, Halley melts a bit from the heat of the sun and sheds some pounds as gas, dust, and rocks break off.  All this material then gets deposited in clouds of debris which follow the same orbit as the comet.

 

For more on this story visit www.nationalgeographic.com

Heavy showers and damaging winds hammer Tasmania

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Weatherzone, By: Drew Casper-Richardson, 05/04/2013

 

A vigorous cold front has brought damaging wind and the heaviest May rainfall in up to 13 years for parts of Tasmania.

 

During Friday a strong cold front blasted its way across the Apple Isle. Winds gusted over 100km/h at many locations with the passage of the front. On Friday afternoon Scotts Peak Dam gusted to 122km/h with Mt Wellington and Maatsuyker Island both reaching 109km/h. Hobart wasn't spared from the wind with a gust of 102km/h at 3:40pm. Damaging wind gusts lasted until the small hours of Saturday morning for some parts. Tasman Island gusted to 113km/h and Cape Grim 109km/h before the sun came up. At 10am, Tasman Island was still recording gust of over 100km/h.

 

For more on this story visit www.weatherzone.com

Melbourne's coldest day since October

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Weatherzone, By: Rob Sharpe, 05/04/2013

 

Gusty and cold southerly winds are bringing a chilly Saturday to Melbourne with winter clothing coming out of the closet. A strong cold front reached Melbourne last night dropping 2mm of rain and bringing a southwesterly change. Winds gusted to 67km/h with the arrival of the front.

 

The mercury is struggling to rise today as cloud and a cold air mass will keep the temperature below 15 degrees for most or all of the day. At 9am, 12 degrees felt like only nine degrees in the fresh winds.

 

For more on this story visit www.weatherzone.com

Chilly night over NSW and ACT

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Weatherzone, By: Ben McBurney, 05/03/2013

 

Parts of New South Wales and the ACT shivered through their coldest nights since September. Clear skies combined with light winds overnight causing the mercury to plummet. The ACT and southern parts of NSW were the coldest, as a high pressure system sat over the region in the early hours of this morning.

 

Bega and Albury in NSW both saw their chilliest mornings since September, reaching one and two degrees respectively. Canberra and Tuggeranong in the ACT plummeted to minus two degrees, also their coldest nights since spring.

 

For more on this story visit www.weatherzone.com

Storm force winds prompt fire ban

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Weatherzone, By: Ben Domensino, 05/03/2013

 

Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia are being battered by gale to storm force winds today, triggering unseasonably high fire danger. North to northwesterly winds ahead of an approaching front have gusted over 90km/h in all three states this morning, causing high to severe fire danger ratings.

 

Tasmania's Mount Wellington registered a gust of 124 km/h at 10:30am, while Scotts Peak Dam withstood a gust of 104km/h this morning. Across Bass Strait, Melbourne had a turbulent peak hour as winds reached 81km/h in the city, the strongest since late February. Melbourne Airport registered its strongest winds since September, gusting to 94.5km/h this morning. Cape Willoughby recorded South Australia's strongest gust of the morning, reaching 100km/h, their strongest since October.

 

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Cross-Country Solar Plane Expedition Set for Takeoff

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Nytimes, By: DIANE CARDWELL, 05/01/2013

 

 

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — When Bertrand Piccard was growing up in Switzerland, heady discussions about the boundless potential for human endeavor were standard fare.

 

His grandfather, a physicist and friend of Albert Einstein and Marie Curie, had invented a special capsule so he and a partner could be first to reach the stratosphere in a balloon. His father, an engineer, helped design the submarine that made him and an American naval officer the first to plunge undersea to the earth’s crust.

 

For more on this story visit www.nytimes.com

Heavy rain soaks southwestern WA

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Weatherzone, By: Ben McBurney, 05/02/2013

 

Southwestern parts of Western Australia received a drenching overnight, with some places seeing their heaviest rain in years. A low pressure system just south of the state and an associated trough brought rain and isolated thunderstorms to the region from Wednesday afternoon and into this morning.

 

The South West copped the heaviest rainfall, with widespread falls of 30-50mm to 9am this morning. Pemberton picked up 50mm, its heaviest rain in four and a half years, and the heaviest for May in eight years. Busselton and Manjimup also saw their heaviest May rain in eight years, picking up 42mm and 37mm respectively. The highest official total was at Paynedale, which recorded 65mm, also the town's heaviest fall in six years.

 

For more on this story visit www.weatherzone.com

No Zane for northern QLD

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Weatherzone, By: Ben Domensino, 05/02/2013

 

Tropical Cyclone Zane weakened to a tropical low overnight, although will still cause showers, thunderstorms and strong winds over Cape York Peninsula today. After intensifying into a category two tropical cyclone earlier this week, Zane weakened during Wednesday as it moved into a region of strong wind shear, causing the system to lose its structure.

 

At 3am EST today, the ex-tropical cyclone was estimated to be 160 kilometres east of Lockhart River and moving towards the QLD coast at 17 km/h. The low will continue to weaken as it moves from east to west across the QLD Peninsula today, triggering gusty showers and isolated thunderstorms. The heaviest rainfall will occur along the eastern coast, between about Cooktown and Lockhart, where 20-40mm is possible.

 

For more on this story visit www.weatherzone.com

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