8/16/2013 Daily Update: Splendid Friday, 6.5 Earthquake Hits New Zealand

Good morning everyone!

We continue our streak of beautiful days marked by comfortable temperatures and dry conditions with plenty of sunshine.

TODAY: Mostly sunny with highs in the mid to upper 70s in the Berkshires to low 80s in the valley. Winds from the W at 5 to 10 mph.

TONIGHT: Mostly clear with lows in the lower 50s. Light winds.

TOMORROW: Mostly sunny with highs in the upper 70s to mid 80s. Generally light winds from the west.

The 90s could return as early as next week. Be ready!

ATLANTIC TROPICS

Courtesy of http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/gtwo_atl.shtml

• Tropical Storm Erin meanders in the Atlantic with no threats to land in the foreseeable future. Should see her turn more toward the NW which indications are she'll likely be a fish storm.
• Invest 92L is trying to organize in the Yucatan Peninsula. There's a good chance today of it strengthening now that it's moving over the Gulf of Mexico and with lessening shear. NHC gives Invest 92L a 50% chance of developing in the next 48 hours.

NATIONAL WEATHER

• Gorgeous weather for the Northeast again.
• Wash, rinse, repeat: Showers and thunderstorms for the Southeast.
• Isolated thunderstorms in Texas
• Hot inland and dry in the Southwest and the West Coast. Few showers in NW Washington.

WORLD WEATHER

• Remnants of Utor brings heavy rains and flooding potential for Southeast China and Northern Vietnam.
• A tropical wave SW of Hawaii in the Central Pacific is on the verge of becoming a tropical cyclone. Since it's about to cross over the International Date Line, the JMA will take over.
• Showers and storms for the United Kingdom as a cold front arrives in Europe. Generally dry conditions elsewhere.
• Same story with fronts crossing Southern Australia producing showers and storms there. Sunny and dry in the rest of Australia.

EARTHQUAKES

• A M6.5 earthquake hit 22 km south of Blenheim, New Zealand: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000j4iz#summary. There have been sizable aftershocks since then, the largest of which were two M5.9 earthquakes.

SPACE WEATHER

• A high solar wind stream is producing a minor geomagnetic storm. The Kp-index rose to 5 last night and solar wind speeds are over 700 km/sec. Normal would be around 300 km/sec.
• None of the sunspots are actively flaring but still magnetically capable of producing M-class flares. NOAA forecasters put chances at 35% for a M-class flare in the next 24 hours. A sunspot on the eastern limb of the sun is turning toward the Earth.