Smoky, Dry Florida

Click on the image above to see a large flock of birds moving south. . . with

a spectacular, smoky sunset.

This has been one of the driest starts to a year on record for Florida.  Our area

has received only a trace of rain in 2012 with above average temperatures through

most of January.  Today's high temperatures reached into the low 80°s F (28° C).

What remains of our lake continues to quickly disappear (above).  The puddles of 

water are now at least a mile from the former shoreline.  The water that is out there

is very shallow.  I've seen it this dry only once before. . . in the spring of 1998.

That year most of the central peninsula eventually burned before the rainy season

finally brought some relief in July of 1998.

Fires are smoldering or burning around Florida. . .mixing with nightly

fog brought on by the very warm weather.  The National Weather

Service Forecast Office in Jacksonville describes the cause of this weather as

"La Niña conditions in the Pacific Ocean and a positive phase of the

North Atlantic Oscillation are helping to produce warmer and drier than

normal weather across Florida.  January 2012 was the driest on record."

The weather conditions. . . and the smoke. . .are making interesting sunsets.

The smoke also enhances time-lapse photos of this week's celestial events.

Here Jupiter and the Moon are in conjunction.  That is to say they appear very

close to one another from our observation point on Earth.  

Venus is the bright object in the bottom right of the image.

Another smoky sunset.