Sunset is a special time of day.  Low-hanging clouds glow vivid red and orange as the background sky turns cobalt blue. The first stars pop out in the heavenly dome overhead, eliciting wishes from backyard sky watchers.

The sunset of May 26th will be extra special. On that date, Venus, Jupiter and Mercury will gather in the fading twilight to form a bright triangle only three degrees wide.

A new ScienceCast video previews coming attractions in the sunset sky. Play it

Triple conjunctions of planets are fairly rare.  The last time it happened was in May 2011, and it won’t happen again until October 2015. This triple is especially good because it involves the three brightest planets in May’s night sky: #1, Venus; #2, Jupiter; and #3, Mercury.  The triangle will be visible even in places with heavy urban light pollution.

The best time to look is about 30 to 60 minutes after sunset. The three planets will be hugging the horizon, so a clear view of the western sky is essential.

Let Venus be your guide.  It pops out of the fading twilight long before the others. As soon as you locate Venus, look in that direction using binoculars.  If your binoculars are typical, all three planets will fit in the eyepiece simultaneously. As the twilight continues to fade, set the optics aside; eventually the triangle will become visible to the naked eye.

You don’t have to wait until May 26th to enjoy the show, however. The planets start gathering weeks earlier.  Dates of special interest include:

May 11th through 13th, when the crescent Moon, Venus, and Jupiter form a long diagonal line jutting upward from the sunset;

The three planets to scale. More

May 23rd, when Jupiter and Venus converge to less than 5 degrees apart, close enough for simultaneous binocular viewing;

May 24th, when Mercury passes Venus less than 2 degrees away, giving shape to the triangle that reaches maximum compactness two nights later on May 26th.

The triangle begins to disperse on May 27th, but even then the show is not over.  On May 28th, Venus passes Jupiter at a distance of 1 degree, forming a truly spectacular pair.

From beginning to end, the three naked-eye planets will be close enough to fit inside the field of ordinary binoculars from May 23rd until early June. May 26th is just the best among many very good nights.

Step outside, face west, and observe the planets.  It’s a beautiful way to end the day.

Credits:

Author: Dr. Tony Phillips | Production editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA

 Source: National Weather Service

This is a map and list of tornadoes since 1950 which the National Weather Service has rated F5 (before 2007) or EF5 (equivalent, 2007 onward, the most intense damage category on the Fujita and Enhanced Fujita damage scales. The tornadoes are numbered in the order they happened since 1950; so the numbers run from the bottom up. (more…)

Damage survey teams are continue to survey the damage path of the Newcastle-Moore tornado that occurred on May 20, 2013. We will be adding more information to web pages for this event during the next few days.

Note: As of 2:50 PM CDT, the NWS survey conducted by several teams has now rated the Newcastle-Moore tornado as EF-5. The damage survey teams have also determined that the tornado began 4.4 miles west of Newcastle and ended 4.8 miles east of Moore, yielding an approximate tornado path length of 17 miles. The preliminary maximum damage path width is 1.3 miles. Crews will continue to sort through damage for a final intensity rating. The latest Public Information Statement issued by the NWS Norman forecast office can be found here.

Further updates and more detailed information of the tornado damage areas will be released later today and Wednesday. Below is a map with the preliminary damage path of the Newcastle-Moore-South OKC tornado.

Fast Facts

• A rating of EF-5 has been given to the tornado that affected the Newcastle, south OKC, and Moore areas in McClain and Cleveland Counties.
• The tornado had.a path length of approximately 17 miles and was on the ground for approximately 40 minutes from 2:56 PM – 3.26 PM CDT.
• The preliminary maximum path width is 1.3 miles.

Information Sources

• NEW! KMZ file for the Newcastle-Moore tornado damage path only (Updated 4:05pm CDT 05/21/2013)
  
• NEW! KMZ file for the Newcastle-Moore tornado damage including path and survey point information (Updated 4:05pm CDT 05/21/2013)

• A 20-slide presentation of the Event Timeline for the Newcastle-Moore tornado including NWS forecasts and warnings, as well as social media info from Twitter and Facebook
• Reflectivity and Storm Relative Velocity Loops from the Twin Lakes, OK (KTLX) Radar from 3:04 PM – 4;42 PM CDT on May 20, 2013

• Comprehensive list of tornadoes in Oklahoma City since 1890.

• Top Ten Costliest Oklahoma Tornadoes (1950 – Present)
• Top Ten Deadliest Oklahoma Tornadoes (1882 – Present)
• Quick List of F5 Tornadoes in Oklahoma (1905 – Present)
• Detailed List of Violent Tornadoes in Oklahoma (1950 – Present)

• Cleveland County, OK Tornadoes (1875-2012)
• McClain County, OK Tornadoes (1875-2012)

• Tornadoes that have occurred in or near Moore, OK (1890-Present)

• The October 4, 1998 Tornado Outbreak Twenty-eight tornadoes occurred in central and eastern Oklahoma, including an F2 tornado which damaged parts of Moore. It was the largest autumnal outbreak of tornadoes ever recorded in Oklahoma.
• The May 3, 1999 Tornado Outbreak This outbreak included nearly 60 tornadoes in central Oklahoma. It was the largest tornado outbreak ever recorded in Oklahoma. The first F5 tornado ever to hit a the Oklahoma City metro area killed 36 people and tore through parts of Newcastle, south OKC and Moore, OK. The damage total was estimated at $1 billion. Two F4 tornadoes also ravaged parts of Kingfisher and Logan counties.
• Oklahoma City Area Tornadoes of May 8, 2003 The central United States experienced a record-breaking week of tornadoes from May 4 through May 10, 2003, when nearly 400 tornadoes occurred in 19 states and caused 42 deaths during the seven days. Included in this total were the tornadoes which hit the southern Oklahoma City metropolitan area on May 8, 2003 including an F4 tornado which tore through parts of Moore, Oklahoma City and Choctaw.
• The May 10, 2010 Tornado Outbreak This outbreak produced 35 tornadoes in the NWS Norman forecast area alone, and a total of 55 tornadoes in Oklahoma. Two EF4 tornadoes struck the Oklahoma City metro area including Moore, killing 3 people and injuring over 80 others.

• Highway Overpasses as Tornado Shelters: Fallout From the 3 May 1999 Oklahoma/Kansas Violent Tornado Outbreak

For the past 8 years, NASA astronomers have been monitoring the Moon for signs of explosions caused by meteoroids hitting the lunar surface. “Lunar meteor showers” have turned out to be more common than anyone expected, with hundreds of detectable impacts occurring every year.

They’ve just seen the biggest explosion in the history of the program.

(more…)

National Weather Service meteorologists are currently conducting damage surveys from last nights severe thunderstorm outbreak. The very early data suggests that there were at least 16 tornadoes late yesterday afternoon and overnight.

EF-4 tornadoes contain winds up to 200 mph. EF-3 tornadoes contain winds up to 136-165 mph.

The preliminary damage survey, with details on each tornado, can be found below.

This is VERY PRELIMINARY and it will change.

View Preliminary Track Map in a large map

Base Reflectivity Data from KFWS at 7:58 pm CDT	Storm Relative Velocity Data from KFWS at 7:58 pm CDT
Base Reflectivity Data from KFWS at 8:58 pm CDT	Storm Relative Velocity Data from KFWS at 8:58 pm CDT
Base Reflectivity Data from KFWS at 7:58 pm CDT	Storm Relative Velocity Data from KFWS at 7:58 pm CDT

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
844 PM CDT THU MAY 16 2013

...NWS DAMAGE SURVEYS FOR 05/15/2013 TORNADO EVENT...

...16 TORNADOES HAVE NOW BEEN CONFIRMED. ALL SURVEY CREWS HAVE
RETURNED FOR THE DAY AND SOME OF THEIR INFORMATION HAS BEEN
INCLUDED IN THIS UPDATE...
 (more...)