stargazer: whoa. That scared me. Good thing you can handle tornadoes? I never experienced those and never would want to.

The Star of Bethlehem video is pretty amazing. I can't really say 100% for fact that is what the Magi saw. But the one thing that really got me on it was the presenter's final conclusion: "He knew the exact time he needed to show up on Earth and the exact time he needed to die to set the stars and planents in motion from the creation of the universe." I always knew God was sovereign and knew us from the foundations of the earth, but that put it all into a new persepective.

As for weather here in El Paso, or should I say just south-east of El Paso, this past weekend, we witnessed three heavy monsoon storms flood out areas around us and miss us entirely. We have had about an inch of rain all year long, while other towns near us have gotten several. We are back up to the 105's which is making our afternoon's miserable. And we have to endure this for another two months before the temps finally start going down.

A competing Star of Bethlehem theory speculates that it was a triple conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn in Pisces in 7-6 BC that inspired the Magi to seek out the Christ Child. No matter what it was, I agree that the best part is how it points to the sovereignty of the Creator over all He made.

We had some rather toasty weather in Ohio for the recent NarniaWeb moot - warm and humid. But there were some spectacular evening thunderstorms and other days with some very interesting looking cloud formations, and some occasions of torrential rains. But most nights were clear for stargazing. Except for snow, we had a bit of just about everything else.

I brought that heat home with me...right now it's in the 90sF with a tropical dewpoint (74F/23C). The heat index is 104F/40C. Big storms are firing just north of here; wind gusts exceeding 70mph/110kph have been reported, along with some hail. They should move through tonight and bring much more comfortable weather.

Any hail we get tonight (hopefully) won't come close to one that fell in South Dakota last week that might be the world record. It may have weighed over 2 pounds and has been measured as over 18 inches in circumference and 8 inches in diameter.

We had some rather toasty weather in Ohio for the recent NarniaWeb moot - warm and humid.

You can say that again! It's been a terribly humid summer. A lot of people around here have been screaming "GLOBAL WARMING!!!!" but apparently the jet stream rose a little higher than usual this year.

Hopefully we'll have a REALLY cold winter with lots and lots of snow!!!!

Yes, the Ohio weather was a bit warm, but felt fairly normal for what we have here in TN.
For most of this summer, the temperature has been in the mid 90sF with lows in the upper 70's and lower 80's.
Winds are fairly calm, five to ten mph.
As of now the sky is overcast. We are forecasted for rain tomorrow and Thursday.
We were blessed to be able to view an Iridium Flare while in Ohio, that was special treat.

I was glad to feel that today was cooler at 79 degrees but it rained all day today. boo. I'm hoping tomorrow will be cooler and shiny so I can go out.

Yesterday's heat and humidity was pushed away by storms last night; today was much more comfortable. Now those same storms are to the south and east of here.

Check out the western sky tonight, and the next few nights, as dusk falls. Mars and Saturn are quite close together, with bright Venus just off to the lower right. Watch over the next 10 days or so as Venus gets closer and closer to the other 2 planets. But don't wait too late into the evening; the planets are slowly sinking down toward the sun and are quite low by 10 pm local time (in mid-northern latitudes). More, including a diagram of what to expect, is here.

Just got in awhile ago from seeing Mars, Saturn, and Venus together. Beautiful! Venus was so very brilliant, but is set now. Thanks for the info, stargazer.

I don't have time for a full catch-up, but I noted a few bits to comment on.

A friend near Milwaukee told me they received 5 inches of rain in one storm the other night, with over 12,000 lightning strikes recorded.

Wow, wow!

No matter what it was, I agree that the best part is how it points to the sovereignty of the Creator over all He made.

Amen and Amen.

*realizes her last two comments aren't overly substance-full*

Glim, how do you last in those temperatures? Guess that's why you're thankful for the A/C.

stargazer, it sounds like quite the storm that hit your area! But I'm gasping in awe at those hail stones rocks that fell in S.D.!

Hopefully we'll have a REALLY cold winter with lots and lots of snow!!!!

Hearty myriad of DITTOS!

sandyentersNarnia, you get typhoons? That would be quite something! I can see why they make you nervous. The power of nature is so strong and truly awe-inspiring.

Kingskid! Good to see you here. As Kk and 'gazer were saying, we had warm weather at the Ohio Moot. And not just warm ... humid hot. Anyway, we all survived and even thrived. (How can one not thrive when with 11 other NarniaWebbers? )

Today the weather here at home is much more pleasant. A comfortable 25C/77F and no humidity! Wooot! Unfortunately it is building in again late Sunday, but we'll take that as it comes. And long for fall.

The past two weeks have been very annoying. This is our monsoon season and it is when we are suppossed to get 98-100% of our annual rainfall. We have watched them build up every afternoon and drop everywhere except on us. We will watch the storms come right at us, then drift the side and literally circle around us. We have gotten less than 2 inches all year on the missions base where I live, just south-east of El Paso and many parts around us have been flooded, where we have hardly gotten a drop, just a few miles away.

We call it a doughnut hole effect. There are three mountain ranges in our area (hard to call them mountains when you grew up at the foothills of the Colorado Rockies), and as many of you know, storms tend to cling to them. Well we are apparently right in the middle of the circle formed by the three ranges and we will watch as storm circle around us and never hit us.

On a rare occasion the reverse takes place that I call a funnel effect. This is where everything dumps on us only and the small town a mile away as the bird flies remains bone dry. I HATE having all this humidity and no rain to show for it. We hardly even get the cloud coverage, which makes working outside in the summer heat so much easier.

I really wish I'd stay back in southern California. The weather was super nice there. Where I live it's still humid and there's no stormy forecasts, 106 degrees, everytime I step out of my house I get too lazy to even walk 40 feet to my neighborhoods pool. It's so sad

I cannot wait for October weather.

it's been so hot! and then today was in the 70's. ugh. I like hot weather! but its going to get hot again next week! the humidity is insane right now! the dew point is in the 70's!

^ I wish it was in the 70's over where I live. lucky!

Well, so much for the couple of days of bearable summer weather. We're now deep into hot humidity once again (around 100°F with the heat index). They say it's supposed to dissipate on the weekend, which would make sense as it is August now, but we'll see. This was one of our hottest Julys on record and I, personally, don't want another one like it for a loooooooong time. Thankfully we have a chance of showers most days this week (except for Wednesday), so at least we get a break from the burning sun at times as clouds move in. The killer is the temperature stays warm at night and doesn't get down to comfortable sleeping weather. So, instead of a pleasant 15C/59F, it will be a rather oppressive 21C/70F most nights this week.

Remember as the week ends, Venus, Mars, and Saturn are closing in on each other shortly after sunset in the W-S/W. And we're also gearing up for the Perseids Meteor Shower, seen best in North America late the night of August 12/early August 13. I do hope it's clear!

We've had a terrible hot summer here. There are forest fires all over the place. While we were out camping my dad and brother helped put out three fires and when we were driving home parts of the road were just covered in smoke from fires not to far away. It almost felt like we were driving through a war zone or something. There are a lot of forest fires on the northern outskirts of our city, thankfully we live on the southern side, either way I'm praying that it rains soon

I've seen some news coverage of the extreme heat and dangerous fires in that part of the world. Hopefully the weather will cooperate soon, with lower temperatures and some rain.

It's been hot and humid here. I camped with friends over the weekend and saw some Iridium flares, but the sky was hazy because there's so much moisture in it. Catching the 3 planets gathering low in the dusk sky might be tough with all this haze.

The ISS returns to visibility in my skies this weekend, with nearly-overhead passes early Saturday and Monday mornings. It's the early in the desciption that makes it rough.