A weak cool front moving through tonight will bring cooler temps. for Thursday with afternoon highs in the 60s. But yet another -- but longer -- warming trend will commence Fri. & last into early next week. Highs Fri. through Tue. will make it into the 70s. A couple of caveats:
(1) onshore winds will mean cooler afternoon temps. at the beaches......
(2) the onshore winds will bring Atlantic moisture inland creating the near-perfect set-up for overnight/early morning fog that'll be dense in some places.
The space shuttle scheduled to launch Thu. at 4:31pm. The weather looks great with partly to mostly sunny skies, NE winds 5-15 mph & temps. near or a little above 70. Here's a list of NASA's weather criteria for launch:
The basic weather launch commit criteria on the pad at liftoff must be:
Temperature: Prior to external tank propellant loading, tanking will not begin if the 24 hour average temperature has been below 41 degrees. After tanking begins, the countdown shall not be continued nor the Shuttle launched if:
Temperature exceeds 99 degrees for more than 30 consecutive minutes.
Temperature is lower than the prescribed minimum value for longer than 30 minutes unless sun angle, wind, temperature and relative humidity conditions permit recovery. The minimum temperature limit in degrees F. is specified by the table below and is a function of the five minute average of temperature, wind and humidity. The table becomes applicable when the observed temperature reaches 48 degrees. In no case may the Space Shuttle be launched if the temperature is 35 degrees or colder.
Wind Speed Relative Humidity
(kts) 0-64% 65-74% 75-79% 80-89% 90-100%
0 - 1 48 47 46 45 44
2 47 46 45 44 43
3 41 41 41 40 39
4 39 39 39 39 38
5 - 7 38 38 38 38 38
8 - 14 37 37 37 37 37
>14 36 36 36 36 36
The above table can be used to determine when conditions are again acceptable for launch if parameters have been out of limits for thirty minutes or less. If longer than thirty minutes, a mathematical recovery formula of the environmental conditions is used to determine if a return to acceptable parameters has been achieved. Launch conditions have been reached if the formula reaches a positive value.
Wind: Tanking will not begin if the wind is observed or forecast to exceed 42 knots for the next three hour period.
For launch the wind constraints at the launch pad will vary slightly for each mission. The peak wind speed allowable is 30 knots. However, when the wind direction is between 100 degrees and 260 degrees, the peak speed varies and may be as low as 21 knots.
The upper atmosphere wind profile must conform to either one of two wind loading programs developed by the Johnson Space Center. This profile is determined by a series of Jimsphere wind balloon releases from Cape Canaveral Air Station. A final recommendation is made by the JSC Launch Systems Evaluation Advisory Team (LSEAT) to the KSC launch director at Launch minus 30 minutes. The Space Shuttle will not be launched within 30 minutes of the time a determination has been made that the upper wind profile will adversely affect the performance of the launch vehicle.
A downrange weather advisory shall be issued by the Shuttle Weather Officer to the Mission Management Team for their consideration if the wind in the solid rocket booster recovery area is forecast to exceed 26 knots during retrieval operations. Seas in excess of Sea State 5 (8-13 feet) may also be a factor considered by the Mission Management Team.
Precipitation: None at the launch pad or within the flight path.
Lightning (and electric fields with triggering potential):
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Lightning is a giant spark. A single stroke of lightning can heat the air around it to 30,000 degrees Celsius (54,000 degrees Farhenheit)! This extreme heating causes the air to expand at an explosive rate. The expansion creates a shock wave that turns into a booming sound wave, better known as thunder. Thus the name thunderstorm.
Image & caption courtesy of Windows to the Universe
Copyright 1998, The Regents of the Univ. of Michigan
Click for full size version (27K JPG)
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Tanking will not begin if there is forecast to be greater than a 20% chance of lightning within five nautical miles of the launch pad during the first hour of tanking. The launch director with the concurrence of the safety director may make an exception after consultation with the Shuttle Weather Officer.
Do not launch if lightning has been detected within 10 nautical miles of the pad or the planned flight path within 30 minutes prior to launch. Launch may occur if the source of lightning has moved more than 10 nautical miles away from the pad or the flight path and a field mill, used to measure electric fields, is located within 5 nautical miles of the lightning flash.
The one-minute average of the electric field mill network may not exceed -1 or +1 kilovolt per meter within five nautical miles of the launch pad or the lightning flash at any time within 15 minutes prior to launch. This field mill criteria becomes -1.5 or + 1.5 kilovolts per meter if there are no clouds within 10 nautical miles of the flight path except those which are transparent. Also excepted are clouds with tops below the 41 degrees F. temperature level that have not have been previously associated with a thunderstorm, or associated with convective clouds having tops above the 14 degrees F. temperature level during the last three hours.
Do not launch when lightning is observed and the cloud which produced the lightning is within 10 nautical miles of the flight path. Launch may not occur until 30 minutes has elapsed since the lightning flash, or the cloud has moved more than 10 nautical miles away.
It's time for the annual Starbucks holiday school supply drive "Take Stock in Children". Here are the details:
Starbucks Celebrates Jacksonville Community with Winter Wonderland
WHAT: Starbucks at 2400-1 3rd Street in Jacksonville Beach celebrates the spirit of the holiday season with a truly unique experience – snow in Jacksonville! As guests delight in the sight of snow falling, Starbucks will cheer to the coming of Christmas with deliveries of the coveted Christmas Blend coffee and other holiday favorites. Starbucks is also inviting the community to pass the cheer and donate new, unwrapped school supplies in support of the second annual Starbucks and Take Stock in Children School Supply Drive. The statewide program collected more that 40,000 supplies last holiday season!
Guests will also delight in rousing Christmas carols from the Fletcher High School Choir, and traditional holiday activities like arts and crafts activities and story telling.
WHY: This year, Starbucks hopes to surprise and delight its customers with events designed to spread cheer and ring in the holidays.
WHEN: Thursday, December 6, 2007
4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Schedule of Events
4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
· Snowfall in Jacksonville
4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
· Cameras welcome for live shots
o Visuals: Snow fall, live music, kids playing in snow and arts and crafts area
5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
· Fletcher High School Choir sings Christmas carols
· Coffee tasting and ceremonial pour by Starbucks and Take Stock in Children
· Take Stock in Children talks about the annual Holiday School Supply Drive
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
· Holiday festivities continue
WHERE: STARBUCKS – Jacksonville Beach
2400-1 3rd Street
Jacksonville, FL 32233-5206
The Salvation Army's Angel Tree program continues for only a few more days -- through Sun. (Though some local malls will continue through Fri., Dec. 14th). Here's the info. straight from our local Salvation Army:
About The Salvation Army Angel Tree Project
The Salvation Army’s annual Angel Tree project benefits more than 13,500 children in Northeast Florida each holiday season. The project gets underway in October, with an application process that each family must undergo to be deemed eligible for The Salvation Army’s holiday programs of assistance, including Angel Tree.*
Once a family’s eligibility is confirmed, each child (up to age 12) in that family will be represented by a paper “Angel” that will be placed on decorated trees in various public places from mid-November through early December. Each “Angel” tag will bear a child’s first name, age, gender, clothing and shoe sizes, one or two “wishes” expressed by the child, and some special code numbers used for sorting and distributing the gifts by family.
How you can participate and donate
To participate as an Angel Tree donor, a person will select one or more of the Angel tags from a tree, and they will receive an “Angel bag” and instructions at that time. They will then purchase gifts for the child(ren) whose tag(s) they have chosen. Although it is the shopper’s sole discretion what or how much they give, we do ask that a minimum of one new toy and a full outfit of clothing be secured in the bag before returning. The vast majority of participants give significantly more.
The filled, properly-labeled Angel bags are returned (no later than December 8th) to one of many “official” Angel Tree locations, where they will be kept securely until picked up by Salvation Army personnel. The filled bags are then sorted and placed on a gigantic grid, by family, for distribution a few days before Christmas.
Parents come to pick up the bags of gifts from our “Toy Shop” by appointment, and we discourage them from bringing their children with them. It’s our desire that the parents take the gifts home and wrap them (donors and The Salvation Army even provide the wrapping paper!) and give them to the children for Christmas. Doing so will preserve some dignity for the parents, and the children will not need to know that The Salvation Army had anything to do with their Merry Christmas.
Forgotten Angels
More frequently than we like to acknowledge, Angel tags representing these real boys and girls end up unclaimed on the tree, forgotten on a desk or in a purse, or for some other reason do not result in gifts for those children. Some of the bags we receive are poorly-filled or contain used items. These situations account for at least 10-15% of the children in the project. To provide gifts for the unreturned tags, or to “beef up” bags that are inadequately filled, we seek donations for “Forgotten Angels”, and we do what we can to gather additional, undesignated gifts to distribute to those families.
We particularly need assistance with new clothing and new shoes for “Forgotten Angels”, although toys are needed as well. We serve most “Forgotten Angels” on the regular distribution days (December 19th & 20th), but we do continue to serve additional families in need right up through Christmas Day with toys for their children. This is done at our Social Services Center downtown.
The families who benefit from our Angel Tree project also receive a Thanksgiving food basket in November, and filled children’s stockings and a voucher for groceries on “Toy Shop” day.
* The Salvation Army has a strong commitment to responsible stewardship of donated funds and material goods, so each family is screened to assess their true needs. We believe this sends a positive message to the community, assuring them that the toys and clothing donated to the Angel Tree project are going to families that likely would not otherwise be able to provide Christmas gifts for their children.
Please consider participating in this very worthwhile & local holiday project.
Click here for locations of Angel Trees.
