Category Archives: Weather & Sky

Seen This Week: Owlet, Planets, and Incipient Spring

Birds of Prey, Phenology, Weather & Sky
Great horned owlet in a tree in Schenley Park on 14 March 2025 (photo by Dana Nesiti)

15 March 2025

The great horned owlet that fell from its nest in Schenley Park and was returned on 11 March was relatively easy to find on Wednesday, posed like a statue on a sloping tree branch (below).

Great horned owlet on a branch, Schenley Park, 12 March 2025 (digiscoped by Kate St. John)

The owlet spent Thursday well camouflaged on an inaccessible-to-humans cliff ledge. On Friday she was in a tree, see photograph at top. Juvenile owls use their claws to climb trees. (Note: in case you hear people calling her Muppet, Tamarack gave her that nickname.)

Mercury and Venus

After sunset on 9 March I noticed a bright planet in the west with a divot out of the top of it like a phase of the moon. It was Venus about to set. How did I live this long without knowing that Venus has phases?

Phases of Venus (diagram from Wikimedia Commons)

When I digiscoped Venus I saw a shadowy planet next to it. Mercury was also about to set, pinkish and to the left of Venus whose brightness plays havoc with my optics.

Mercury and Venus with a divot off the top, 9 March 2025 (digiscoped by Kate St. John)

Here’s a view that shows Venus a bit better.

Mercury and Venus, 9 March 2025 (digiscoped by Kate St. John)
Incipient Spring flowers and leaves

Incipient is a good word to describe spring flower and leaf status this week. As of Thursday 13 March spring was “in an initial stage; beginning to happen or develop.”

Common whitlowgrass blooming in Aspinwall, 11 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Common whitlowgrass (Draba verna), a member of the cabbage family, blooms very early. It is native to Europe, western Asia and North Africa and is now spread around the world.

Honeysuckle leaves were just beginning to open on Thursday.

Incipient honeysuckle leaves in Greenfield, 13 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

And the Cornelian cherry tree near Panther Hollow Lake had a single tiny flower open in the bud.

Incipient Cornelian cherry flowers, Schenley Park, 13 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

All of these plants are from other continents and they start blooming sooner than our native plants.

After yesterday’s very warm weather everything else will speed up.

Remembering When I Climbed Lake Superior

Travel, Water and Shore, Weather & Sky
The mountain of ice on Lake Superior was glacial blue in the distance, 16 Feb 2014. People provide some scale (photo by Kate St. John)

27 February 2025

This morning I am in Duluth, Minnesota where today’s temperature will range from 30°F to 39°F, far warmer than my last visit in February 2014 when it was –16°F to 0°F.

That was the winter of the Polar Vortex when it was so cold for so long that Lake Superior froze solid — a rare occurrence because it is so deep. When our birding group reached the shore we saw big hills of ice and very few birds. So we got out of the van and climbed the lake.

Standing on Lake Superior’s ice while I take this photo of the mountain of ice in the distance, 16 Feb 2014 (photo by Kate St. John)
I Climbed Lake Superior

This week I won’t be climbing the lake because nearly all of it is open water (shades of blue on the map). In fact, as of last Saturday, total ice cover for all five lakes is only 38.5% (gray and black on the map).

Great Lakes ice cover 22 Feb 2025 from Great Lakes Environment Research Laboratory

Note that Lake Erie was more than 90% frozen because it’s so shallow.

Catching Up on Bad Weather

Weather & Sky
Plowing snow in southeast Virginia (photo from Jan 2014 by VADOT via Flickr Creative Commons License)

22 February 2025

This week was cold in Pittsburgh but no snow after Monday so I was surprised on Friday when my mother said she had 12″ of snow at her home in Virginia Beach.

Early this week I was relieved to see that a severe winter storm was going to pass south of Pennsylvania and so I ignored it.

But it couldn’t be ignored south of here. The colored dots on this map are 4-12 inches of snow falling between noon on Tuesday 18 Feb and noon Friday 21 Feb. The time span doesn’t even include the start of the storm!

Snowfall map — noon 18 Feb to noon 21 Feb 2025 — from weather.gov

It wreaked havoc across Virginia and made national news on the CBS Morning Show (which I never see because I’m busy blogging).

20 Feb 2025 video from CBS Mornings on YouTube

Wasn’t that fun … not! Click here if you’re curious about snowfall totals in Hampton Roads and northeastern North Carolina.

p.s. Interestingly the heaviest snowfall on that screenshot map was in the snow belt at Oneida Lake in upstate New York — more than 54 inches!

Aurora, Moon and Clouds at Glacier Bay Alaska

Alaska, Weather & Sky
Early morning at Glacier Bay National Park (by Betty Wills (Atsme), Wikimedia Commons, License CC-BY-SA 4.0)

21 February 2025

Our National Parks are beautiful on the ground and also in the sky.

Today Wikimedia features this timelapse video of the sky at Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska on 18 November 2021.

Bright moon, stars, and the northern lights (aurora borealis) dance in the sky on a somewhat clear night in Glacier Bay’s frontcountry. Clouds eventually roll in to obscure the beautiful sky.

Here’s is the park’s location.

Seen This Week: A Gull, 4 Merlins, and 60 Feet into Ohio

Birds of Prey, Nesting & Courtship, Schenley Park, Water and Shore, Weather & Sky
Ring-billed gull wondering if I brought food to Duck Hollow, 11 Feb 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

15 February 2025

Welcome to Day Two of the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC). I’m staying indoors while it snows and rains so much that …

FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 7 AM EST THIS MORNING THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING...Flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be possible.
— National Weather Service forecast for Pittsburgh PA 15 Feb 2025

Gull: Since most of the rain will fall south of here the Monongahela River will rise again. It was falling last Tuesday when I photographed one of the many ring-billed gulls at Duck Hollow. This one seemed to be asking, “Do you have food for me?” Someone had left birdseed on the trash can cover.

4 Merlins: Yesterday I went to the Bob O’Connor Golf Course at Schenley Park half an hour before sunset to see if I could find the two merlins who usually hang out there. As soon as I arrived one flew in and landed on the highest pine in the Palmer Loop Practice Area north of Schenley Drive.

Merlin atop an evergreen, Schenley golf course, 14 Feb 2025, 5:22pm (photo by Kate St. John)
Zoomed cellphone photo: 1 of 4 merlins at Schenley golf course, 14 Feb 2025, 5:15-6:05pm (photo by Kate St. John)

Soon a second merlin landed on top of the tallest tree, a bare tree between holes 8 and 9. I walked a big circle to check for songbirds and saw the first merlin in an intense chase with a third. On my way back to the car I found a fourth(!) and was able to stand in one spot and see all four merlins at the same time.

Four is unusual but I remember a time, perhaps in the late 1990s, when Bill Hintze first found merlins at the golf course. In those days there were sometimes as many as four.

60 Feet into Ohio: On Monday 10 Feb four of us went birding on the Stavich Bike Trail in Lawrence County PA to do a Winter Survey for the Third PA Breeding Bird Atlas. We were ready to head back to the car when I realized we were only a half mile from Ohio. So we kept going, crossed the state line and walked 60 feet into Ohio.

Ta dah! Here we are just inside Pennsylvania. Best Bird: a white-crowned sparrow.

Birding with friends (Donna, Kate, Debbie, Linda) in PA at the Ohio state line, 10 Feb 2025 (photo by Donna Foyle)

Bonus Picture — great horned owlet: Here’s another owlet baby picture from Tues 11 Feb. The white fluff in front of the mother owl is the owlet’s head facing left with its eyes closed.

Great horned owl nest with mother and owlet, Schenley Park, 11 Feb 2025 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

Cracks and Exploding Trees

Trees, Weather & Sky
Extensive winter damage frost crack in a black cherry tree, Hays Woods, 2 Feb 2024 (photo by Linda Roth)

9 February 2025

On a walk in Hays Woods on 2 February, Linda Roth and fellow hikers found a few severely damaged trees with long vertical cracks in their bark and trunks. What made the trees split like this?

Extensive winter damage frost crack in a black cherry tree, Hays Woods, 2 Feb 2024 (photo by Linda Roth)

One of the most common reasons for cracks and splits on tree trunks is cold temperature. Frost cracks are caused when the inner and outer wood in the tree’s trunk expands and contracts at different rates when temperatures change. This happens when winter temperatures plummet below zero especially after a sunny day when a tree’s trunk has been warmed by the sun. The different expansion rates between the inner and outer wood can cause such a strain on the trunk that a crack develops.

— Missouri Botanical Garden: WHat causes cracks and splits in tree trunks

January’s weather was extreme enough to cause the damage. It was 43°F on the 18th, then plummeted below zero a few days later.

Frost cracks occur suddenly, can be several feet long, and are often accompanied by a loud rifle shot sound. They often originate at a point where the trunk has been physically injured in the past. Maples and sycamores are the most prone to frost cracks. Apples, ornamental crabapple, ash, beech, horse chestnut and tulip tree are also susceptible. Isolated trees and trees growing on poorly drained soils are particularly prone to frost cracks.

— Missouri Botanical Garden: WHat causes cracks and splits in tree trunks

You know it’s cold when the trees crack and explode. According to Wikipedia, the Sioux and Cree called the first full moon of January “The moon of cold-exploding trees.”

But no one was out in Hays Woods on those extremely cold nights so no one heard the sound of exploding trees.

Halfway to Spring!

Books & Events, Weather & Sky

26 January and 1 February 2025

2 February 2025

Today is the celestial midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Halfway to Spring! In just six days Pittsburgh went from snow cover on 26 January to soggy grass on 1 February. And shadows on both days.

Speaking of shadows, today is Groundhog Day. The “largest crowd ever” gathered before dawn at the annual Groundhog Day celebration in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

Dancing before sunrise on Groundhog Day 2025 in Punxsutawney (screenshot from visitpa.com live stream)

At sunrise Punxsutawney Phil was roused from his burrow to predict the rest of winter. The legend is that if he sees his shadow we’ll have six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t see his shadow we’ll have an Early Spring.

OK, so was it cloudy enough for an Early Spring? Here’s today’s sunrise in Pittsburgh, 100 miles away from Punxsutawney. Moments later the sun was quite bright.

Sunrise in Pittsburgh, 2 Feb 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Up in Punxsutawney, Phil saw his shadow and predicted Six More Weeks of Winter.

Groundhog Day 2025 in Punxsutawney (screenshot from visitpa.com live stream)
6 more weeks of winter! Groundhog Day 2025 in Punxsutawney (screenshot from visitpa.com live stream)

Groundhog Day was quite sunny until 9:00am.

The Live Stream at visitpa.com is over but you’ll want to bookmark this link for next year.

Sun Dogs and Halos

Weather & Sky
A 22 degree halo around the sun with two sun dogs, Schenley Park, 26 Jan 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

29 January 2025

Clear skies and thin icy clouds have made this a great week for sun dogs and 22 degree halos in the sky. I’ve seen both near sunset this week: Last Sunday at Schenley Park golf course and yesterday at Duck Hollow.

Sun dogs are bright rainbow spots to the left and right of the sun …

… commonly caused by the refraction and scattering of light from horizontally oriented plate-shaped hexagonal ice crystals either suspended in high and cold cirrus or cirrostratus clouds, or drifting in freezing moist air at low levels as diamond dust. The crystals act as prisms, bending the light rays passing through them with a minimum deflection of 22°.

— Wikipedia account: Sun dog

Sometimes you see only one.

Sun dog peeking through the branches of a bare tree in Schenley Park, 26 Jan 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Last Sunday two sun dogs were connected by a 22 degree halo, a faint rainbow caused by the same atmospheric conditions as sun dogs.

A 22 degree halo around the sun with sun dogs hidden by the trees, Schenley Park, 26 Jan 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

If you’re really lucky you’ll also see a circumzenithal arc, an upside down rainbow at the top of the halo. I was fortunate to see all three on 5 Nov 2022 at Yellow Creek State Park.

Sun dogs, 22 degree halo and ircumzenithal arc seen at Yellow Creek State Park, 5 Nov 2022 (photo by Kate St. John)

I haven’t seen all three this week … yet. The best time is during the hour before sunset.

p.s. A halo can also occur around the full moon.

Snow on the Delta

Weather & Sky
Snow drift on a car, New Orleans, 21 Jan 2025, 5:55pm (photo by Infrogmation via Wikimedia Commons)

28 January 2025

This photo of a car in a snow drift was not taken in Minnesota. It was in New Orleans, Louisiana on 21 January 2025!

The winter storm that brought these blizzard conditions and 30-40 mph wind gusts had passed by the time this satellite image was taken on 22 January. Snow etches the contours of the Mississippi Delta.

Snow on the ground in the Southeastern U.S., 22 Jan 2025. Note including the Mississippi River Delta (image from MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC)

During the storm it really did look like Minnesota in photos by Infrogmation on Wikimedia Commons — at top and below.

New Orleans backyard during snowfall on 21 Jan 2025, 4:10pm (photo by Infrogmation via Wikimedia Commons)
Snow drift in the backyard, New Orleans, 21 Jan 2025, 5:59pm (photo by Infrogmation via Wikimedia Commons)

The storm left behind …

  • 200 miles of Interstate 10 closed due to snow and ice.
  • 8 inches of snow in New Orleans.
  • 7°F in Baton Rouge, the lowest temperature ever recorded in their 95 years of keeping track.
  • Frozen, broken water pipes …
  • and everyone huddled indoors!

The rare storm brought more snow to New Orleans than has fallen in Anchorage, Alaska, since the start of meteorological winter, noted the National Weather Service.

— from NASA MODIS Image of the Day 24 Jan 2025

The entire episode was quite a shock to a city that stays green all winter. Without snowplows Louisiana had to clear I-10 using backhoes.

Today’s high in New Orleans will be near normal at 61°F. This is what is should look like in January.

Cambronne Street, Carrolton Historic District, New Orleans, 2 Jan 2024 (photo by Infrogmation via Wikimedia Commons)

UPDATE on 1 Feb 2025: After this storm paralyzed the Gulf Coast states it headed out to sea and strengthened into an extremely powerful extratropical cyclone in the North Atlantic. When it got to Ireland it had a name — Storm Éowyn.

“Éowyn barreled into Ireland and the northern United Kingdom on Friday, January 24, bringing heavy wind damage, a destructive storm surge, and widespread power outages.

“The ferocious windstorm brought the highest sustained winds — 135 km/hr (84 mph) — and the highest wind gust ever recorded in Ireland — 183 km/hr (114 mph).

“Sustained 10-minute winds of 84 mph are characteristic of a strong Cat 1 or weak Cat 2 hurricane. The damage being reported from Ireland and the U.K. is indeed characteristic of a hurricane, and Storm Éowyn may well end up being Earth’s second billion-dollar weather disaster of 2025, along with the Los Angeles fires.”

quoted from: Storm Eowyn brings hurricane-level destruction to Ireland

World’s Largest Iceberg is Heading Toward Penguins

Water and Shore, Weather & Sky
King penguins at St. Andrew’s Bay, South Georgia Island (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

27 January 2025

The world’s largest iceberg, A23a, is heading for South Georgia Island, the home of millions of penguins including king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) shown above, and macaroni penguins (Eudyptes chrysolophus) listed as Vulnerable and pictured below. If the iceberg gets trapped near the island while it melts, it may block their access to food.

Macaroni penguins, Cooper Bay, South Georgia Island (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

A23a iceberg broke off of Antarctica in 1986 but it didn’t move for about 30 years while it was hung up on the bottom of the Weddell Sea. When it floated free it was captured by a spinning current called a Taylor column. Finally in 2024 it broke free again and started to move.

Iceberg A23a in Weddell Sea, 30 Nov 2023 (photo from Sentinel-2 satellite via Wikimedia Commons)

It’s hard to imagine the size of this iceberg without comparisons. Right now it’s nearly the same size as Rhode Island.

Map of Rhode Island within the US (from Wikimedia Commons)

And its ice is 920 feet thick, which is taller than Pittsburgh’s US Steel Tower at 841 feet. I’ve added a yellow arrow to this photo to approximate the additional height.

US Steel Tower with yellow arrow estimating of A23a ice thickness (photo from Wikimedia Commons, markup by Kate St. John)

Though it is huge, A23a is following the typical iceberg path to the South Atlantic. It floated in the Weddell Sea gyre, skirted the Antarctic Peninsula that points at South America, then was captured by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current that sends it toward South Georgia Island.

Map of South Georgia and South Sandwich Island British territories (circled in red). Approximate path of A23a iceberg is drawn in yellow (map from Wikimedia, yellow path drawn by Kate St. John)

As it approaches South Georgia on 12 December 2024 you can see how huge it is compared to the island. Yow!

Satellite image of A23a and South Georgia Island, 12 Dec 2024 (photo from Wikimedia Commons;  Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024)

If A23a clogs the shore of South Georgia while it disintegrates, adult penguins and seals with young on the island will have to travel farther to get to food, which could cause their young to starve. This video explains what the iceberg is up to and how it could affect wildlife.

video embedded from France24 English on YouTube

For an interactive view of the iceberg and its path, see the BBC article –> A23a: Tracking the world’s biggest iceberg as it drifts towards oblivion.