And they were canopied by the blue sky,

So cloudless, clear, and purely beautiful,

That God alone was to be seen in Heaven. 

~ Lord Byron, “The Dream,” Stanza 4

A blue sky? Yes! It’s visible once again. The eerie orange-tinged landscape and smoke-laden air has been replaced by crisp and much clearer conditions. That which is so often taken for granted is now a welcomed sight. We’re not out of the woods yet, though, as day-to-day the air quality is uncertain and a plume of smoke rising above the San Gabriels an all-too-common sight. The Bobcat Fire continues to burn, still mostly out of control.

Snowflakes fell over parts of the Rocky Mountains a little over a week ago. Coincidently, large flakes also fell on the Crescenta Valley. The only similarity is that both came from clouds – one storm, the other smoke – and both fell from the sky. There, white pristine snow blanketed the ground while here … nothing pretty, just grayish ash.

Just this morning something else came from the sky. At a little after 4 a.m. Asteroid 2020 SW sailed right past Earth. Its orbit was closer than those of most weather satellites! At its closest approach, Asteroid 2020 SW should pass at an estimated distance of 17,556 miles (28,254 km) from Earth, which is just 7% of the distance to the moon. For comparison, television and meteorological satellites orbit at some 22,300 miles (35,888 km) from our planet’s surface. The size of Asteroid 2020 SW is estimated to be about 14 to 32 feet (about 4.5 to 10 meters) in diameter. It brightened as it drew near but didn’t get bright enough for us to see with the eye alone.

Autumn has arrived and hopefully its associated weather will soon follow; but, for now, no such luck. Summer always has a way of overstaying its welcome. At least for today and tomorrow, enjoy the pleasant and cooler autumn weather and then, come the weekend, high pressure will build up again and temperatures will climb slightly above normal by Sunday. Then more significant warming is expected Monday through Wednesday with valley highs in the triple digits and coastal areas in the 80s. Unfortunately, it’s not good news for the firefighters and those affected by the ongoing fires. This too will pass, the sky will clear – and the temperatures cool. And once again we’ll be waiting for rain.

Sue Kilpatrick is a Crescenta Valley
resident and Official Skywarn Spotter for the
National Weather Service Reach her
at suelkilpatrick@gmail.com.

  Sue Kilpatrick