It was a unique morning. across the globe. The Super Blue Blood moon, as it was called, was showing off for sky gazers. It was a Blue Moon, because it was the second full moon of the month. It was 'super' because the moon was actually pretty close to the earth, so it looked pretty big and extra full. The blood color comes as the moon enters the total eclipse and the sun is filtered and refracted by the earth's atmosphere. The last time we had the 'Super Blue Blood Moon' in North America was back in 1866. None of us where here. So that is certainly a pretty cool phenomena.
We were able to see the lunar eclipse this morning thanks to clear skies. Although, there were passing clouds during the time when it was nearly totally eclipsed. It was certainly great to see this if you were up early enough to check it out. This was the good part of seeing clear skies and dry air. However, the dry air is giving us trouble in 2018 and that is going to continue for the foreseeable future. Even though we're going to get a cold front tomorrow morning and Sunday morning, there just is not moisture to give us rain, or snow.
The wind flow this week is coming in from the southwest, which is why the air is warm and dry. When the cold fronts move in, they shift the wind to the north and northeast. There is no moisture to the north and east. The only air mass there is colder and dry. So, we will see cooler air by the end of the week, with highs actually closer to the average in the mid 50s. We really need either low pressure coming in from the south (low pressure has counterclockwise flow, which would bring in moisture from the Gulf), or a strong low pressure and cold front from the northwest. The problem is, the cold fronts are just not that strong. The warm and dry air is much stronger.
So, the dry air is going to continue to plague west Texas through next week, at least. Today (January 31) will be day 84 since Lubbock has seen measurable precipitation. We will easily get into the 90s with that next week. There is no forecast model even hinting at precipitation for west Texas. That is bad news, especially for the farmers.
