Starry Starry Night

After yesterday evening's surprisingly intense storm (2.5 inches of rain in Central Park in about an hour!), that brought a wall of water to Penn Station, we've got nothing but clear skies in store for the next several days. High temperatures will hover around 80 degrees through Sunday and it'll be a little warmer on Monday. Tonight the city may dip below 60 degrees for the first time in two months.

Luckily coincident with the clear skies, this weekend marks the peak of the annual Perseid meteor showers. The meteor shower occurs because each year the Earth passes through the orbital path of Comet Swift-Tuttle. The streaks of light in the sky are bits of comet crap being fried to a crisp as they encounter the atmosphere. The light from the near-full moon, not to mention the city's lights, is going to hide many of the meteors. If you can get away from the city to a south shore beach or up into the Catskills you'll still be able to see a few dozen meteors each hour. SpaceWeather.com has tips on what to look for the next few nights.

Manhattan skyline after the storm by imjustsayin' on Flickr.