Weather

Oh My Aching Back!

While the onset of stiff hips before a rainy day doesn't qualify you to be a meteorologist, you might be on to something. For years doctors and scientist dismissed the complaints of patients when they said they had aches and pains when the weather changed. But now arthritis sufferers are getting some attention.

Studies on how weather aaffects your joints started back in the 1960s when Dr. Joseph Hollander put 12 patients in a climate-controlled room and all but one person reacted to the changes in pressure and humidity. Today with all of the advancements in meteorology and health, we can make direct links between weather and reaction of tendons, muscles, bones, joints and scar tissue. Cold damp conditions like today can make them expand and contract in different ways causing pain. Changes in barometric pressure and temperature (like the passage of a cold front) can cause stiff joints. 

If the pressure changes quickly outside, it may take the pressure within your body a little longer to adjust. This can make your nerve endings more sensitive to pain. This is the pain you might feel before the storm rolls in. Like when you say "My bad knee hurts again, its going to rain today...I feel it." 

Many studies on the subject also note that weather affects your mood. Gray drizzly days like today and tomorrow might make some people not so peppy, which can heighten your perception of pain. Doctors do say that it is the change in temperature, humidity, or pressure that triggers the pain, not the prevailing weather conditions...so moving to a different climate won't help. 

Marla Branson

 

A Light Show in the Night Sky

Debris from Halley's Comet could make for a fantastic light show with dozens of meteors per hour according to NASA. The show will start in the pre-dawn hours on Wednesday, October 21st and last until the 23rd. 

The debris are called Orionids and they were created when Halley's comet ejected dust trails as long ago as 1266 BC! As our Earth passes through the debris stream the flakes of comet dust will light up our sky with no need for even a telescope.

The Orinoid Meteor show usually happens around this time of year, but the past few years have been especially active. This year the moon is almost new and completely gone from the sky making it especially dark (even though a bright moon wouldn't dampen these lights). Also our skies will be mostly clear.

To view this celestial light show its best to wake up a couple hours before sunrise and look to the south east. Below is a map of the constellations to help you find where to look.

 Map Courtesy of NASA

Meteorologist Marla Branson

Football, Festivals, Full Moon!

So much is going on this weekend! The busy schedule kicks off tonight with High School Football. The weather tonight will be a little warmer than the past few nights, but a pinch of fall will still be in the  air. Most Places will be in the mid to upper 70's with a few inland locations seeing the low 70's by kick-off time. Clouds will be on the increase and you might see some scattered showers out and about later this evening.

Tomorrow is Oktober Fest at the Market Common, but you might want to bring a rain jacket. We'll have some showers on tap ahead of a front passing through. Then we will get a little shot of some cooler air once that cool front is out of the way.

Sunday is a full moon...but not just any full moon, it is the Harvest Moon. The Harvest Moon is the first full moon after the fall equinox. It usually happens in September, but this year it falls in October. The next time we will have an October Harvest Moon is in 2017. It got its name because the moon is so bright and so close to the earth that it allowed farmers to work by the light of the during this harvest season. Sunday night will be perfect for a moon-lit walk, we will have clear skies evening temperatures in the mid to low 50's.

Marla Branson

Fall Colors on the Grand Strand

Normally we don't get the opportunity to see the leaves change along the Grand Strand, but this fall we are off to a good start. In order to see the vivid colors of fall, you want mild sunny days in the 60's and 70's and crisp cool nights in the 40's to low 50s'. So far this fall we have been below average in the temperature department and if it keeps up, we could be in for some pretty leaves to look at.

The bright red that maple leaves give us are their brightest when we have sunny days, but overcast conditions make for some pretty fall colors as well. Calm winds are best because strong winds and storms can blow the leaves off the trees before they get a chance to turn.

Usually to get the breath taking fall views, you have to go to the upstate, but maybe this year you can look in your own backyard. If you do have some pretty fall foliage, take a picture and send it our way! Just send your pictures to pics@wmbfnews.com and we'll put it on the air.

Marla Branson