If you like warm weather, the next day or so will be important regardless of any snow, rain or wind blowing at the time. It's been over two weeks since the Winter Solstice for those living in the Northern Hemisphere. On that day, the Sun (sol) stood still (sistere). It reached its southern-most position in the noonday sky. Today, the noonday Sun is a bit higher, and its height will gradually accelerate day by day, through Spring, then decelerate to reach its maximum height at the Summer Solstice. Ah, Summer.
So what happens in the next day or so? It's going to be so subtle you probably won't notice it, but the average daily temperature is on the rise. In other words, if you examine the record over the past fifty years, we have survived this Winter's "coldest" days. My friends, do keep in mind this is an average. The Canadian Arctic may have a record cold air mass just waiting to descend on us with zero degree temperatures anytime over the next month. I'd say there is a good chance we'll see some bitter cold before Winter gives in to Spring. Simply knowing that those averages are rising should help us tolerate any nasty cold invasions that may be planned by Mother Nature.
That said, there is one more event happening on Saturday that you should plan on seeing. The Full Moon will rise around sunset - full moons always do that - as the largest and brightest moon of 2009. In fact, it will blanket Earth with up to 30% more light and be 14% wider than smaller moons. Check out the story from NASA here. Thanks to Spaceweather - a site full of great info and links - for the Moon news. Seeing that orb on the horizon will be downright captivating.
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