Happy Monday and welcome to another edition of Beyond The Forecast!
We’re turning our attention to the night sky this week as there are quite a few celestial happenings to tell you about.
Recommended Videos
The first? October’s full moon, which will peak Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. If you step outside tonight or Wednesday night, it will still look quite full.
This month’s full moon is known as the Hunter’s Moon because this is the time of year our ancestors would typically hunt animals for food ahead of the colder winter months.
Next, we have the Orionid Meteor Shower, which is scheduled to peak Wednesday night into Thursday morning.
This shower is famous because it is associated with Halley’s Comet. The radiant point is the constellation Orion in the east-southeast sky.
We could see up to ten to fifteen meteors per hour at the peak. Now, I do want to note that the light produced by the full moon could pose a challenge for any skywatchers out there. Try to get to the darkest place you can find if you want to view the Orionids.
Clouds should not be a hindrance any of the next three nights if you’re looking to view the moon or the Orionids.
You may want to dress warmly tonight and Tuesday night, though, because temperatures are forecast to drop into the 40s. It won’t be as chilly Wednesday night.
I have one more thing for you to watch for in the night sky this week, however, this one is man-made as opposed to the natural wonders previously discussed. There are two International Space Station flyovers happening this weekend!
The first will occur Saturday morning and will be the better opportunity as the station will be higher in the night sky and passing over for a longer period of time.
If you miss Saturday’s flyover, try again about 24 hours later on Sunday morning! Be sure to stay up-to-date on the cloud cover forecast for each day if you plan to view the show.
If you happen to catch a good photo of the moon, the meteor shower and/or the space station flyover, feel free to share with us via Pin It.
Switching gears to your forecast, it has been feeling like fall the past couple of days! The trend of cool mornings followed by warm afternoons will continue through Wednesday, but there could be some changes later in the week as a front moves in. Meteorologist Chris Michaels has the outlook in our daily weather article.
You can always get specific forecast details for your zone, whether it’s the Roanoke Valley, Southside, the Highlands or elsewhere around Southwest and Central Virginia, anytime at WSLS.com/weather. Know your zone!
In case you missed it, we’re posting great weather and science content on WSLS.com. Here are a few links from the past week to check out:
If you prefer your weather information delivered by social media, you can follow Your Local Weather Authority on Facebook and Twitter.
You can also keep up with me on social media. I’m on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok, follow along!
-- Justin McKee