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May morning sky show; Mississippi raging

Posted at 6:23 PM on May 13, 2011 by Paul Huttner (2 Comments)
Filed under: Astronomy, Flooding, Mississippi River

If you're an early riser, you're in for a rare treat in the morning sky this month.

A rare grouping of planets in the eastern sky just before sunrise will delight sky watchers all month. Venus, Mercury, Mars and Jupiter are all closely clustered in various configurations this month in the morning sky.

Looking due east about 30 minutes before sunrise, here's what you'll see on clear mornings this month. The planet configurations will vary day to day, but all 4 planets should be visible all month long.

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On May 30th & 31st, the razor this waning crescent moon will join the planets for a grand finale.

Here's a great skywatchers guide for May from UA's Flandrau Science Center.

Mississippi Raging: Flood woes spread south

As waters begin to all to slowly recede in Memphis the flood focus on the Mississippi shifts south to Mississippi and Louisiana over the weekend and next week. Record flood levels are forecast.

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Latest river forecasts here.

HYDROLOGIC OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
1250 PM CDT FRI MAY 13 2011

...CONTINGENCY FORECASTS FOR MISSISSIPPI AND ATCHAFALAYA RIVERS...

SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL ACROSS THE MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI AND OHIO RIVER
VALLEYS OVER THE PAST MONTH HAS LED TO HISTORIC...AND IN SOME
CASES RECORD BREAKING...RISES ON BOTH RIVERS. AS THIS WATER MOVES
DOWNRIVER...SIGNIFICANT RISES WILL OCCUR ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI
AND ATCHAFALAYA RIVERS THROUGH SOUTHEAST AND SOUTH CENTRAL
LOUISIANA.

ALL OF THE LATEST RIVER FORECASTS FROM THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI RIVER
FORECAST CENTER ACCOUNT FOR A FULL OPENING OF THE BONNET CARRE
SPILLWAY LOCATED IN ST. CHARLES PARISH. THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
WILL CONTINUE TO OPEN UP MORE GATES OF THE BONNET CARRE SPILLWAY
WITH EVENTUALLY ALL 350 BAYS EXPECTED TO BE OPENED. THE OFFICIAL
FORECASTS CURRENTLY DO NOT ACCOUNT FOR A POSSIBLE OPENING OF THE
MORGANZA SPILLWAY IN POINTE COUPEE PARISH. HOWEVER...THE RIVER
FORECAST CENTER IS PROVIDING CONTINGENCY FORECASTS WHICH ACCOUNT FOR
A POSSIBLE OPENING OF THE MORGANZA SPILLWAY

Thanks so much to all of you for all your support during this week's member drive on MPR.

Have a great weekend!

PH

Comments (2)

Paul & Mark,
You guys are the reason I became a sustaining member at MPR. I want a "Paul Hutner & Greg Seeley Rock" t-shirt.

Posted by Roger Brewin | May 14, 2011 6:11 PM

What amazes me about the flood is the volume of water we're talking about. The island below the Ford Dam is still flooded, more than 900 miles upstream of the flood crest. There's a lot of water in that river.

Posted by bsimon | May 16, 2011 8:15 AM

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