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It was raining really hard yesterday, and when the clouds parted we could see some snow up on the mountains by our house. Taking a chance that it wouldn’t melt quickly, we packed the kids in the car and headed up to Figueroa mountain. There was plenty at the top. We found a nice, level spot where there was lots of untouched snow. Many snowballs were thrown, and the kids made a snowman they named Mr. Angry Eyes.

Read more on Snow Day….

Tonight, Jupiter and Venus are in conjunction in the southwestern sky, and it’s neat to behold. The two planets look like bright stars, unless you know the difference (planets do not ‘twinkle’) and the moon is just a sliver in the night.

Between Venus and Jupiter, Venus is the brighter planet and will remain high up on the skyline all throughout the month of December. Jupiter, on the other hand, will be descending on the western horizon in December. Just before the month ends, we’ll be able to see a fleeting Mercury accompany Jupiter at dusk. Venus will still be visible, but somewhere above the conjunction of Jupiter and Mercury.

The full moon on December 12 will be the closest to Earth since 1993, and won’t be coming this close again until 2016.

Read more on The Night Sky….

This is the view of the hills from the SBCC campus where I work. Last night the flames were high and visible from the same spot; today it’s all smoke and debris.

Read more on Tea Fire view from campus….

A fast moving brush fire has started in the hills above Montecito. I left work at SBCC shortly after it started and the huge flames were very visible from the east campus. It looked really bad.

Read more on Santa Barbara is on fire. Again….