Entries
The Orionid Meteor Shower Happening Now
The Orionid Meteor Shower peaks on the evening of Tuesday, October 20 and the morning of October 21. Viewing of this relatively minor meteor shower will start when Orion rises (around 10pm). Meteor rates will continue to rise into the …
Crescent Moon Tonight
A delicate crescent moon, its cusps diagonally inclined, sinks to the western horizon as twilight fades on Monday evening, October 19. On the following evening, a somewhat more robust crescent moon follows a similar but more delayed trek to the …
October's Lowest Tides
Coinciding with afternoon hours on sequential days, low tides usher in several months of excellent tidepooling opportunities. A -0.5 foot tide occurs at 3:24pm on Saturday, October 17, a -0.6 foot tide occurs at 4:05pm on the 18th, and a …
Morning Webs and Autumn Leaves
Spider Webs, decorated with myriads of tiny dew droplets, are a beautiful sight on foggy autumn mornings. Look for them in San Diego's wild canyons and park areas, or in your own backyard. Leaves are beginning to turn in coastal …
Dance of Three Planets
Venus, Saturn and Mercury, perform an intricate "dance" in the eastern sky at the first light of dawn during the first half of October. Venus, overwhelmingly the brightest of the three, hovers conspicuously a moderate angle above the horizon the …
Ground Fog
Dense ground fogs are a trademark of the onset of autumn along San Diego's coastal strip. Fog materializes during the night and early morning hours when moist marine air that has settled in valleys and low areas is chilled below …
Black Oaks
The tawny hues of the black oak tree are just beginning to highlight the slopes of San Diego County's higher mountains. Named for the dark coloring of its bark, especially when wet, the black oak is the only deciduous oak …
Chinese Flame Trees
Chinese flame trees are now displaying colorful clusters of orange, reddish, or salmon-pink seed pods. Good specimens line the south end of Balboa Drive in Balboa Park, and Lake Murray Boulevard through San Diego's San Carlos district. Most of the …
Sand Heads Offshore
As the beach season winds down, San Diego County's coastline is padded by what is likely the deepest and widest accumulations of sand we'll see this year. Many stretches of the coastline are vulnerable to powerful waves associated with winter …
Coastal Sage-Scrub
San Diego's Coastal Sage-Scrub Vegetation is now at the very nadir of its growth cycle. Shades of gray and yellow have replaced the bright greens that carpeted many of the still-wild coastal hillsides up until April or May of this …
Smoggy Days Ahead
The smoggiest days of the year are most likely to occur during the next two months. Persistent temperature inversions (warmer air overlying cool marine air) are frequent this time of year. These inversions conspire with the mountainous topography of East …
Escaping the Heat of the Santa Anas
Late September or Early October signals the beginning of Santa Ana winds, which may continue intermittently through the winter. Early Santa Anas are often responsible for coastal San Diego's hottest and driest days of the year. Records show that 62 …
Autumn Arrives
Fall Officially Begins at 2:19 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on Tuesday, September 22 -- a good excuse to throw, a few hours later, an impromptu "equinox party" to celebrate the occasion. At equinox, the sun shines directly down somewhere on …
Zodiacal Light
The Zodiacal Light, which can appear as a diffuse, pillar-shaped glow in the eastern sky for up to an hour before dawn, will be quite conspicuous at dark locations this weekend (September 19-20) through next weekend (September 25-26). The subtle …
Crescent Moon and High Tide on Wednesday, September 16
The Highest Tide for September (a not-very-high +6.2 feet), is predicted for 8:10 p.m. on Wednesday, the 16th. The month's lowest tides (a not-very-low minus 0.6 feet) will occur on the mornings of the 16th and 17th at 2:04 a.m. …
Sunset in Rapid Decline
The time of sunset changes most rapidly this time of the year. This is mainly because the sun is swinging rapidly south along the ecliptic (its apparent path through the background stars). From the latitude of San Diego, the sun …
Fall Migrant Birds
Wood warblers and other fall migrants can be seen at Cabrillo National Monument and its vicinity on Point Loma, Torrey Pines State Reserve, and other parks and open spaces near the San Diego coast. Cooper's or marsh hawks and even …
Chaparral Activity
The chaparral, the tangled assortment of low-growing, drought-resistant, native shrubs covering much of San Diego County's lower mountain slopes, has managed to remain fairly attractive this summer. Unlike many of the scrubby natives near the coast, chaparral plants tend to …
East County Thundershowers Spur Vegetation
Summer thundershowers, having blessed the eastern margin of San Diego County with welcome, if spotty precipitation of late, have triggered a minor growth spurt among certain kinds of vegetation. In the desert, for example, the spidery ocotillo can grow an …
Shore Birds Arrive
Shore Birds migrating southward are beginning to arrive in San Diego County. Through fall and winter various ducks, sandpipers, and plovers will be spotted in increased numbers in the county's coastal wetlands. Best bird-watching spots include the Tijuana River estuary, …