Today will be the fourth day in a row where rain showers will work their way through our area. Over the previous 3 days, we have seen  2.45" of rain. I am expecting an additional half an inch to an inch of rain falling today, and that would put us at more than 3 inches of rain over four days. 

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This will certainly help to take a big chunk out of what has been our worsening drought conditions. The rain has mostly been steady as well, which also helps. New weekly drought maps come out at 8:30 this morning, but they will only have rain from Tuesday at 8 a.m. and before.  This means we will only be getting a partial update on what our drought conditions look like.

As rain slides through today, the highest chance will be before noon, with just scattered rain expected for the afternoon and early evening. Skies will be mostly cloudy with some sunshine sneaking through the clouds this afternoon. Morning temperatures are in the 60s with afternoon temperatures in the 70s. 

Looking ahead, Friday is going to be dry.  IF you're in Pittsburgh or really almost everywhere north of I-70, you're going to be dry this weekend. Places south of I-70 will have an isolated rain chance both on Saturday and Sunday.  Weekend high temperatures will remain in the mid-70s with morning lows dipping into the 50s. 

Happy semi-annual equal day! Today's sunrise and sunset are both at 7:12. One obviously at 7:12 a.m. and the second at 7:12 p.m. 

Why do we see equal days?  

Well, if you are thinking it has to be in part due to the fall equinox, you'd be correct. The fall equinox, similar to the spring equinox, happens when the sun is directly parallel to the Earth's axis.  Some will say that if you draw a line through the Earth's poles, it would make a 90-degree angle with a line from the center of the Earth to the sun. 

This is technically not exactly right, but close. Let's start with the Earth and its tilt.  

The Earth is always tilted, and the tilt is somewhere around 22.5°. This tilt is always in the same direction during the year.  

So this means that during the winter solstice, our North Pole is leaning away from the sun as far as possible. During the Summer solstice, our north pole is leaning directly towards the sun. This means that when we get to the halfway point (the equinoxes), this 'lean' of the Earth is pointed at a 90-degree angle to the sun.  But not everyone's angle is perfectly 90 degrees at that time, with various 'equal days' happening anywhere from 4 days before or after the bi-annual equinoxes. 

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