Science Fun

The Leonid Meteor Shower is in progress and the peak of the show could yield 20 to 30 meteors per hour between the hours of 2100 and 2200 UT, today, November 17th. Folks in Asia could witness up to 200 or more per hour according to some forecasters.Right now, the Earth is passing through a zone of debris from Comet Tempel-Tuttle, and this is the cause for the annual Leonid shower. The show this evening will be enhanced in the fact that the moon will be new and NASA scientists say this could be one of the best showers in years.

Not able to view the Leonid meteor shower? Tune into Spaceweather radio and listen to the live audio feed from the Air Force Space Surveillance Radar. When you hear a ping, it indicates a meteor streaked across the sky above the Air Force facility. Visit here to listen. http://spaceweatherradio.com/

Visit www.spaceweather.com and http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/10nov_leonids2009.htm for further information on the Leonid Meteor Shower.

On this day in 1894, it was Election Day, and it was also a day of a major winter storm in Connecticut. This storm dumped up 12 inches of heavy wet snow and had winds gusting to 60 mph. There was damage to trees and telegraph wires.

Another snow event occurred on this day in 1988 when powerful low pressure system produced high winds from the Great Plains to New England and produced heavy snow in northern Wisconsin and Michigan. Winds gusted to 64 mph in Knoxville, TN and the winds reached 80 mph at Pleasant Valley, VT. Historical weather data from the National Weather Service archives.