ALERT NEWSLETTER – March 2026

Hi Everyone,

The 2026 Birminghamfest is almost here, and I hope you can attend!

This event will be held at the Trussville Civic Center on Friday March 6 from 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM and Saturday, March 7 from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM.

The address is:

5381 Trussville-Clay Road
Trussville, AL 35173

There will be forums, vendors, ham radio testing and a flea market with parts and equipment needing a new home.

Admission is $10, which includes 1 prize ticket. Children under 12 will be admitted for free.

For more information go to http://birminghamfest.org/

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ALERT Election Committee

In accordance with ARTICLE V, Section 1 of the ALERT Constitution and Bylaws, this month’s meeting will feature the selection of the two person Nominating Committee for the upcoming elections in May.

President will appoint a Nominating Committee of 2 voting members. That Committee will contact members about serving as officers. Since there are no term limits for current officers, if the Committee can hornswoggle them into serving another term, or rather, continue in the fine job they have been doing, that’s copacetic.

The Nominating Committee will present its report at the April meeting for all the voting members to review. Nominations from the floor will be accepted at the meeting of the elections in May.

Originally the elected Officers of ALERT were:

President
Vice-President / Membership
Treasurer
Secretary
NWS Liaison
Operations
Training
Public Information

Over the years, as circumstances dictated, the process has evolved or perhaps devolved, out of necessity, both due to the chaos wreaked by Covid 19, and a shortage of willing volunteers so that the elected positions have become:

President
Vice President
Treasurer & Membership
Secretary

NWS Liaison has been faithfully performed for decades by Russell KV4S. If no one ever says thank you for this, Russell, know that what you are doing is much appreciated. You are the backbone of the callout process. Thank you so very much!

Operations, Training and Public Relations duties have been met informally by other members or Officers, even though there might not have been an “official” Official in place.

As to the Board of Directors, it is composed of the President, immediate past President, Trustee of the station and 2 operational “At Large” members appointed by the President.

The “At Large” members, per the bylaws, serve terms of one and two years, the two-year member is chosen every even year, so, since 2026 is an even year, both positions are open for appointment by the President. They are not elected positions; the President chooses them.

Please plan on attending the March meeting & don’t be shy about volunteering to serve on the Committee or to make yourself available for a leadership role. All it takes is a willing heart and once elected, a commitment to faithfully fulfill your duties of office to the best of your abilities.

We need you to be actively involved in ALERT’s leadership and to help us build a strong ALERT organization for the future.

Your time has arrived.

Your ALERT needs you.

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The Wooly Worm Weather Guide.

Many years ago, in the early 1970’s, my piano teacher seeing her yard filled with blackbirds, said “that means it will snow” and sure enough, there were flurries and bone chilling cold the next day.

Over the years I watched this and refined it a little, finding that while they may not always predict snow, they do seem to know when a cold front is moving in. But how they know this I’ve always wondered, as it would be warmish, with a south wind, a steady barometer, and except for a few feathery cirrus clouds and a few contrails which stayed for just a few minutes, a sky sunny.

As the day progressed the only thing that would change is that the cirrus would thicken and the contrails would stop dissipating, and start expanding and blending in with the cirrus that was overspreading the sky. That night there would be a halo around the moon and the next day it would rain.

As a kid who loved astronomy, Wednesdays I would be planning what to I wished to observe over the weekend, and the pattern outlined above would set in and I would be rained out. Time and time again it would repeat itself. Wednesday being clear, Thursday a few feathers in the sky and maybe a sundog at sunset, Friday a milky sky with haloes and Saturday it raining a flood.

Gradually I learned the language of the sky.

At first, friends would get aggravated with me, as they planned to go fishing Saturday and by Thursday, I would be telling them to pack an umbrella instead. “Aw you don’t know nothing” they would say, and Monday I would say “catch anything?” knowing good and well that we had gotten three inches of rain. Then I became their personal “weather man”.

Over the years I scribbled down observations, trends and folklore. Seeing which seemed true and which seemed iffy. The following is from the notes I have collected. Read them and store them in your memory and see which ones prove true and how often. As you do so you will learn to read secret messages of nature, which may help you become a Weather Wizard, or at least help keep you from being soaked on what started out as a sunny day.

Winged And Furry Critters, Four Legged And Two

I once had a four-legged thunderstorm detector named Smoky. Smoky was a gray cat, who was afraid of thunder. If I saw Smoky slinking around in slow motion, seemingly trying to hide under the grass, I knew to head to the house, for he could hear the rumble of storms approaching.

Smoky was an excellent sonar unit. When I was in the yard with my telescope exploring the night sky, I would pay attention to his ears as they homed in on sounds, I could not hear. If they moved in a random fashion, I ignored it. If both ears locked on something and especially if his eyes opened, I knew something had his attention. It might have been a rabbit or a person in the distance or in the shadows, but he never gave a false indication.

Then there was Wendy the Beagle. Once I went outside to let her “do her business” and she kept looking at the northern sky. A few nights earlier an owl had been in the pecan tree, so I ignored it. A couple of hours later James Spann said Alabama had been treated to a rare appearance of the Northern Lights. Wendy looked at me and said “I tried to tell you, Boss, but you didn’t listen”. Which was true.

Bo, my Australian Shepherd does not like thunder, and will start panting, whining and barking long before I can hear a thing. Even with doggie Trazodone, he stresses out. He also stresses out if my phone pings from a lightning detection app. Sometimes I think I need the Trazodone instead of the dog.

There is a saying “If a cat washes behind it’s ears expect rain the next day.” My cats Lollie and Whiskers tend to prove this is true, as they seldom are wrong.

Birds will tell you the wind direction, as they usually sit facing the wind so their feathers won’t get ruffled, as it is uncomfortable. A little bird told me.

As previously mentioned, one hundred blackbirds covering the ground gacking, squealing and using the car as a latrine means a cold front is approaching.

It is said that the length of the breastbone of a recently deceased goose served at Thanksgiving will indicate the length of the ensuing winter, while the color of the breastbone indicates its severity. A plain white breastbone indicates a mild winter. A mottled breastbone indicates a more severe winter, and the more mottled the breastbone is, the more severe the winter to come.

But grocery stores may not be able to tell you when the beast was slain and they may be from New Zealand, not Alabama. Which is why I recommend you start raising your own geese, which I’m sure your neighbors will not mind in the least.

The mystery of how birds are able to migrate, sometimes from one hemisphere to another has been partly unraveled, as it has been discovered that birds possess an ability called magnetoreception, which enables them to detect and navigate using the Earth’s magnetic field. Bird’s retinas have a light sensitive protein called cryptochrome, which is a photoreceptor for blue light, but also is able to detect magnetic fields. It is believed that they see a foggy bright area where the magnetic lines of force converge in the distance towards the north and south, like a misty bright bow. Also, some birds have magnetite crystals in their beaks, which acts as a built-in compass.

I often wonder what animals are seeing that we can’t. Especially on those occasions when you see your cats all gazing at a point on the ceiling and their heads slowly turning as they are obviously tracking something moving through the room, but you see nothing.

Other sayings, which may or may not prove true (you have watch and to decide) are:

“If a cat sits with its back to a heat source expect cold weather.”

“If your dog howls at the moon it signifies an early snow.”

“Many birds roosting on wires or gathering on beaches means rain.”

“When the rooster goes crowing to bed, he will rise with a watery head.”

“When the birds are flying low, expect rain and a blow.”

“When the geese cackle, it will rain.”

“If the sparrow makes a lot of noise, rain will follow.”

“When birds roost close to the ground – rain or snow are due.”

“The severity of Winter is determined by how far down feathers have grown on a partridge’s leg.”

Though neither winged nor furry, “Trout jump high when a rain is nigh.”

“Pigs gather leaves and straw before a storm.”

“Endless dark and dreary days depress all creatures whether four legged or two.”

“The deeper squirrels bury their nuts, the lower the lowest temperature will be for the upcoming winter.”

Humans may notice strange or old smells and may have aches in old wounds, joints and sinuses as they react to pressure changes.

And, what about full moons? Do people really act nuttier when the “Cold-hearted orb that rules the night” shines full?

They say (and my Mom once said that ‘they say’ are the biggest liars in the world”) that many studies have shown that there is no connection between violent or psychotic behavior and the lunar cycle.

However, when I worked retail, people did seem to act more impatient, aggressive, insulting or just plain deranged during a full moon. On the other hand, the week after a full moon the sales staff was grouchy, impatient, ready to fly off the handle or maybe just a little demented.

My theory was that either they we’re fed up with having to deal with nutcases the week before, or could it be that it was the effect of the brain lubricant resettling after having been displaced by the moons tidal pull? More study is needed, for “the truth is out there.”

Bug Eyed Forecasters

Crickets chirp faster when it’s warm and slower when it is cold. Crickets can serve as thermometers. Tradition says that if you count the cricket’s chirps for 14 seconds and then add 40, you will obtain the temperature in Fahrenheit at the cricket’s location.

Or you can cheat and use the NWS Cricket Chirp Calculator

Cricket Chirp Converter

For Celsius you count the chirp of the roaches. (Or maybe I’m lying? Watch your roaches and decide for yourselves.)

Katydids also can give you the temperature. Per the Mississippi State Extension Services “The Gloworm” count the number of calls per minute, add 161 and divide by 3.

They also say that the first killing frost comes precisely three months after the first katydids begin to sing. In late summer when they begin to call during the day from deep shade, frost is six weeks away. Keep your ears open and mark that calendar.

Did you know that the NWS keeps a cage of crickets, katydids and roaches to help verify their instrumentation? It’s behind that observatory looking thing at the airport. Just ask them.

Spiders spin larger webs during periods of clear weather. Occasionally they do miss their forecasts and you see them quickly abandoning their webs as large raindrops begin striking their carefully woven artwork. If they sense rain is moving in, they will gather their webs up and stow them, as spiders are economical creatures. It takes a lot of spider goo to build a web, and spider goo can be pricey. Just ask any spider.

Spiders are the master architects of nature. They will send a strand of web floating across the air, like a fisherman casting a line. When it reaches a suitable target, they will launch another web and continue this process until he builds a frame. This creates four sides to the web and then two diagonal lines from the four corners are added. This frame will give the web strength. The spider then makes the “spokes” of the wheel by creating lines from the outside edges in towards the center of the web. Once all the “spokes” are made, the spider goes back over the web creating spirals from the outside in making a delicate sticky net, that when covered by dew, is a piece of art that no artist can rival.

It is also a piece of art which will cause you to jump, curse, and slap yourself silly, convinced that you are covered with spiders, when your face inevitably runs into it.

If you see bees and wasps retreating to their hives and nests, this indicates rain. Likewise, bees, wasps, spiders and birds reappearing mean the storms end is near.

Ants will shore up their hills in anticipation of or in some cases, in response to long periods of heavy rain. The only problem is they don’t deconstruct them after the event, so if you see a foot high anthill, is it because it’s going to rain, or is it just left over construction?

Speaking of ants, I observed an interesting thing on the eve of Hurricane Katrina. I was working the night shift and during my tasks I noticed ants moving en masse in the parking lot towards the West along the crest of Red Mountain. Streams of hundreds if not thousands of them.

During subsequent hurricane landfalls I learned that seismographs can detect microtremors caused by major hurricanes as undersea waves crash into the continental shelf. Could the ants feel the vibrations?

There are many examples of ants and roaches fleeing from the shorelines, and animals panicking moments before a tsunami arrived.

Just before a tsunami struck Sri Lanka and India in 2005, elephants screamed and ran for higher ground, dogs refused to go outdoors, flamingos abandoned their low-lying nests and the zoo animals rushed into their shelters and could not be enticed to come back out.

In this case wildlife experts believed the animals more acute sense of hearing and other senses enabled them to hear or feel the Earth’s vibration, tipping them off to the approaching disaster long before humans realized what was going on.

So, if your flamingos and elephants start panicking for no reason, you might want to head for higher ground.

Other hints given by our sometimes pesky friends are:

Roaches suddenly appearing in a normally roach free house signals rain.

“The loud, shrill buzz of the cicada warn of long, hot days ahead.”

“Flies clustered on windows and screens predict a cold front was on the way.”

“If spiders are many and spinning their webs, the spell will soon be very dry.”

“If wasps build their nests high, the winter will be long and harsh.”

Flies, gnats & mosquitoes bite worse before rain sets in. Incidentally, unless they are caught in a current of air, most mosquitoes can’t fly above 25 to 30 feet above ground level. So, if you are being eaten alive by mosquitoes, just climb a tree like I usually do.

Now we come to Wooly Worms. It is said that “the wider the brown (middle) band on a woolly bear caterpillar, the milder the Winter and vice versa.”

Is this true? I don’t know. You need to be looking and finding out, as that’s your homework.

Another mystery, to me anyway, is I have always heard these fuzzy crawlers called “Wooly Worms”. I have read numerous articles saying that Southerners call these “Wooly Bears”. I have lived here 68 years and have never heard this term used even once.

The only two bears I heard of growing up was Bear Bryant and those wooly beasts of the woods that have the reputation (largely unfounded) of snacking on sleeping campers.

It could be that other sections of the South do use this term. Or it may be just another case of someone somewhere writing this and that and since it “sounds good” “it must be true”.

Plants

The leaves of Mimosa and clover close before rain and at nightfall.

The blossoms of lilies, daisies, dandelions and clover close before rain and at nightfall.

Many plants such as lilies and daisies are “heliotropes”. They track the Sun’s movement across the sky like tiny satellite dishes.

“When the leaves of trees turn over, it foretells windy weather.”

“A large crop of acorns indicates a harsh winter to come”

“Flowers smell best just before rain”

“When the dogwood flowers, there shall be no more frosts.”

“Ash leaves appearing before oak leaves, the summers a soak. Oak before ash, the summer’s a splash.”

General Signs for Weather Prognostication

“If the sun shines while snow is falling, expect more snow very soon.”

If the sun shines while it is raining or “the Devil is beating his wife”, it will probably rain again the next day, around the same time.

A ring around the sun or moon indicates rain or snow within 12 to 24 hours.

If the Moon has two rings encircling it, expect snowfall within 24 hours.

Sundogs indicate possible rain in 24 to 48 hours.

“It is easier to predict when rain will appear, than predict when it will finally clear.”

From 12 to 6 AM or PM a barometer will normally fall a small amount, and from 6 to 12 it will normally rise a small amount. Any deviation from this pattern, such as a continuous rise or fall, indicates the pressure is really falling or rising, and not just registering the normal daily variation.

Breaking format for a moment, there used to be a publication called the “Sager Weathercaster”, which was developed during World War 2 to provide an instant “point forecast” for a radius of 30 miles of your location. It consisted of a booklet with four rings which allowed you to input the wind direction and change, barometric pressure, barometric pressure change and the sky condition. By aligning the rings, you would get an alphanumeric code such as “X222”, which in this case was derived from a steady northwest wind, a barometric pressure of 30.1 – 30.4 inches, which was slowly rising and a partly cloudy sky. By looking up the code in the booklet you would find the forecast code “AD8”, the booklet deciphered giving a forecast of “A = Fair, D = Wind Velocity diminishing, or moderating somewhat if current winds are fresh to strong in velocity, 8 = Northwest or North Winds”.

Using this device I found it remarkably accurate, particularly in the Spring and Fall, but, less accurate in the Summer and Winter, probably because in the Summer fronts would stall or storms would be shunted around the Bermuda High, causing the indicated changes not to appear, and in the Winter, fronts seemed to move more rapidly, so the changes occurred in a compressed time scale, throwing off the forecast timing. Still, I found it an interesting and valuable resource.

If you find this book, you should get it, as it is well worth the space on your bookshelf.

Online versions can be found at Weather-Above Sager Algorithm & Vouhead Weather – Short Term Forecast

A similar but, less advanced device was developed in 1915 during World War 1, by two Italian watchmakers, the Negretti & Zambra Pocket Forecaster or Zambretti Forecaster. It also used rings, but seemed less accurate to me. Perhaps because it was limited in the data that could be used, which it made it less precise, or perhaps the weather terminology of 1915 was less clear than that being used today. For example, a forecast of “fine weather”. What exactly is “fine weather”? One source may say “few or no clouds” another may say “pleasant and enjoyable” and not referring to the cloud cover at all, just that you won’t get frozen or rained on if you go picnicking.

An online version of this forecaster may be found at Zambretti Algorithm based Forecaster & Vouhead Weather – Short Term Forecast

Continuing, a frosty night means clear weather and vice versa.

Clear night, cold night, cloudy night, a warmer night.

“Smoke falling instead of rising, signals rain”

“The louder the frog, the more the rain.”

“No weather is ill, if the wind be still.”

“Rain before seven, fine before eleven.”

“A sunshiny shower won’t last half an hour.”

Sounds are louder on a cloudy day, as distant sounds, like smoke, are carried by the wind. From my location south of Birmingham, I can hear the trains in downtown Birmingham when the wind is from the north, the interstate traffic when from the west, and quieter than normal when from the east or south.

Also, don’t overlook the most obvious weather signs, the clouds, themselves.

See: How To Predict Weather With Clouds (Cloud types for storms & rain) & The NWS Cloud Chart
cloud_chart.pdf

Sayings Passed Down Through Time

“The north wind is a satisfying wind; the south wind is harmful to man. The east wind is a rain-bearing wind; the west wind is greater than those who live there. The east wind is a wind of prosperity, the friend of Naram-Suen.” (Naram-Suen ruler of the Akkadian Empire c2255–2218 BC)

“He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.” Matthew 16: 2 &3 NIV

“Signs Of Rain”
“Forty Reasons for Not Accepting an Invitation of a Friend to Make an Excursion with Him”

“The hollow winds begin to blow, the clouds look black, the glass is low;
The soot falls down, the spaniels sleep, and spiders from their cobwebs peep.
Last night the sun went pale to bed, the moon halos hid her head;
The boding shepherd heaves a sigh, For see, a rainbow spans the sky.
The walls are damp, the ditches smell, closed is the pink-eyed pimpernel.
Hark how the chairs and tables crack! Old Betty’s nerves are on the rack;
Loud quacks the duck, the peacocks cry, the distant hills are seeming nigh.
How restless are the snorting swine, the busy flies disturb the kine,
Low o’er the grass the swallow wings, the cricket, too, how sharp he sings!
Cat on the hearth, with velvet paws, sits wiping o’er her whiskered jaws;
Through the clear streams the fishes rise, and nimbly catch the incautious flies.
The glowworms, numerous and light, illumined the dewy dell last night;
At dusk the squalid was seen, hopping and crawling o’er the green;
The whirling dust the wind obeys, and in the rapid eddy plays;
The frog has changed his yellow vest, and in a russet coat is dressed.
Though June, the air is cold and still, the mellow blackbird’s voice is shrill;
My dog, so altered in his taste, quits mutton bones on grass to feast;
And see yon rooks, how odd their flight! They imitate the gliding kite,
And seem precipitate to fall, as if they felt the piercing ball.
‘Twill surely rain; I see with sorrow, Our jaunt must be put off to-morrow.” – Dr. Edward Jenner 1749–1823 (the creator of smallpox vaccine)

“When Windows won’t open,
And the salt clogs the shaker,
The weather will favour
The umbrella maker!”

“The rain it raineth every day
On the just and unjust fella.
But mostly on the just fella,
because the unjust stole the just’s umbrella!”

“When the wind is blowing in the North
No fisherman should set forth,
When the wind is blowing in the East,
‘Tis not fit for man nor beast,
When the wind is blowing in the South
It brings the food over the fish’s mouth,
When the wind is blowing in the West,
That is when the fishing’s best!”

And, finally…

“Whether the weather be fine
Or whether the weather be not
Whether the weather be cold
Or whether the weather be hot
We’ll weather the weather
Whatever the weather
Whether we like it or not”

Try these out, observe and learn, see if a good weather prognosticator thou canst be…

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Mark’s Almanac

Originally called Martius, March is the third month & first month of the Roman calendar. March is named for Mars, the god of war, and was the start of the military campaign season.

The beginning of “Meteorological Spring”, which is based on changes in temperature and precipitation, not the solar angle, is March 1

March is a wet month. Most floods occur in March and rainfall averages around 6 inches.
Tornadic activity sharply increases in March with there being an increase of 2.2 times the number of tornadoes over the February amount. The focal point for this tornadic activity is the Gulf States.

March is the hail maximum for the Deep South. This is due both to the number of thunderstorms & due to the freezing level still being near the surface. This allows hail to form at lower altitudes and reach the ground intact, as opposed to summer months, when the freezing level is higher and near surface level temperatures are higher melting the hail into liquid before impact.

North Atlantic Tropical activity remains at a minimum. From 1851 to 2025 there has been only one Hurricane to occur. A 100 MPH unnamed Hurricane which affected the Lesser Antilles in March 6- 9, 1908. Some sources also cite a pre-Civil War Tropical Storm also occurring, but others do not.

South Atlantic Tropical activity doesn’t have a sharp peak as the North Atlantic season does in September, however currently March has a thin lead in activity, as from 1957 – 2025 there have been 92 identified Tropical or Subtopical Storms, including the only known South Atlantic Hurricane – Hurricane Catarina which struck Brazil March 28, 2004.

Brazilian authorities at first were unwilling to admit that Catarina was a hurricane, for up until that time is was considered impossible for the South Atlantic to generate a tropical system, due to wind shear, cold sea surface temperatures and the lack of storm systems from which a storm could develop. With extensive damage from an impossible storm looking at them, they finally reluctantly agreed that maybe NOAA’s opinion was right.

Meanwhile, back in Alabama…

Killing frosts are gone and the last average frost is on March 16.

March is a snow month for Alabama & there is a 45% chance of snow up to one inch, and an 8% chance of one inch or more.

The good news is that there is hope on the horizon as Spring will arrive at Vernal Equinox on March 20 at 9:46 AM CDT or 14:46 UTC.

The Sun will shine directly on the equator and there will be nearly equal amounts of day and night throughout the world. This is also the first day of fall, or Autumnal Equinox, in the Southern Hemisphere.

Remember to get the eggs out, as it is said that you can stand eggs on their ends at the hour of equinox.

You might also think about the Aurora, for Auroras love equinoxes. At this time of year, the interplanetary magnetic field or IMF can link up with Earth’s magnetic field, prying open cracks. Solar wind then pours in to fuel displays of the aurora borealis with no geomagnetic storm required. Researchers call this the Russell-McPherron Effect, named after the physicists who first described it in the 1970s

If you do see them be cautioned though, for among some northern Native American tribes it is said that as you are looking at the northern lights do not wave sing or whistle at them. Alerted to your presence the spirits of the lights will come down and take you away.

This month sees the return of Ruby Throated Humming Birds, peaking March 15 – 30, the Giant Yellow Sulfur Butterflies that migrated south during the Fall and the clouds of pollen that we love so well.

Days grow longer as the Sun’s angle above the noonday horizon rapidly increases from 49.2 degrees at the beginning of the month to 60.9 degrees at the end. Daylight increases from 11 hours 28 minutes on March 1 to 12 hours 31 minutes on March 31.

Sunrise and sunset times for Birmingham are:

March 1 Sunrise 6:15 AM Sunset 5:44 PM
March 15 Sunrise 6:57 AM Sunset 6:55 PM
March 31 Sunrise 6:36 AM Sunset 7:07 PM (Time difference due to Daylight Savings Time.)

Why the sunrise is later midmonth as opposed to the first and the last of the month is due to a combination of the quirks in the Earth’s orbit, it’s axial tilt and it being near equinox affecting the length of day based on sunlight as opposed to the measurement of time based on the Earth’s rotation.

Daylight Savings Time begins at 2 AM on March 8. So, remember to “spring forward” one hour. This, of course means I will lose one hour of “beauty sleep”, which is something I desperately need.

I don’t particularly care for Daylight Savings Time. I share the same opinion I found on the “Republic Of Lakotah” website:

When told the reason for daylight saving time the old Native American said…“Only a white man would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket and sew it to the bottom of a blanket and have a longer blanket.”

Saint Patrick’s Day is Thursday March 17, and you might better participate by wearing a Touch O’ The Green or you will be plagued by leprechauns and gnomes. Not a pleasant experience, I can assure you.

Looking skyward, the Sun, magnitude -26.8 is in Pisces, The Fish.

Mercury, magnitude -0.3, in Aquarius, The Water Bearer, is lost in the glow of the Sun until mid-month.

Mercury will pass between the Earth and the Sun or reach Inferior Conjunction on March 7.

He will emerge into the morning sky on March 18 becoming visible around 5:55 CST 10° above the eastern horizon, he will fade as the Sun rises at 6:51 AM CST.

Mercury will reach his highest point in the sky in his March – May 2026 morning apparition on March 29, shining brightly at mag 0.2, 13° above the eastern horizon.

By the end of the month, he will become visible around 5:28 AM CST, 13° above the eastern horizon, he will fade as the Sun rises at 6:35 AM CST.

Venus, magnitude –3.9, in Piscis, The Fish, is hidden in the sunset the first few days of March, but, will return to the evening sky March 4.

On March 4 she will become visible at around 6:00 PM CST, 8° above the western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will then sink towards the horizon, setting 59 minutes after the Sun at 6:44 PM CST.

By midmonth she becomes visible at 7:09 PM CDT, 10° above the western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. She will then sink towards the horizon, setting 1 hour and 11 minute after the Sun at 8:05 PM CDT.
By the end of the month, she will become visible around 7:20 PM CDT, 14° above the western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. She will then sink towards the horizon, setting 1 hour and 29 minutes after the Sun at 8:34 PM CDT.

Earth and her Moon, magnitude -4.0, as viewed from the Sun, is in Leo, The Lion.

Dwarf Planet Ceres, magnitude +9.1, is in Pisces, The Fish.

Mars, with his moons Phobos and Deimos, magnitude +1.1, in Aquarius, The Water Bearer, is lost in the glow of the Sun.

Jupiter, and his 97 moons and (invisible from Earth) ring, magnitude -2.5, is in Gemini, The Twins,
is an early evening object and dominates the evening night sky.

At the beginning of the month, he will become visible in the evening sky, becoming accessible around 5:58 PM CST, 58° above the eastern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will then reach his highest point in the sky at 8:12 PM CST, 79° above the southern horizon. He will continue to be observable until around 2:35 AM CST, when he sinks below 7° above the horizon.

By midmonth he becomes accessible around 7:09 PM CDT, 71° above the south-eastern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will reach his highest point in the sky at 8:16 PM CDT, 79° above the southern horizon. He will continue to be observable until around 2:39 AM CDT, when he sinks below 7° above the western horizon.

By the end of the month, he will become accessible around 7:521 PM CDT, at his highest point in the sky, 79° above the southern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will continue to be observable until around 2:34 AM CDT, when he sinks below 7° above the western horizon.

Saturn, magnitude +1.0, and his 274 moons and extensive debris ring system, is in Piscis, The Fish, is lost in the glow of the Sun.

He will pass behind the Sun, or be in Solar Conjunction on March 25.

Uranus, magnitude +5.7, and his 29 moons and ring, in Taurus, The Bull, is an early evening object, receding into the evening twilight.

At the beginning of the month he will become visible around 6:41 PM CST, 61° above the south-western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will then sink towards the horizon, setting at 11:45 PM CST.

By midmonth he will become visible at around 7:52 PM CDT, 48° above the western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will then sink towards the horizon, setting at 11:52 PM CDT.

At month’s end he becomes visible around 8:05 PM CDT, at an altitude of 33° above the western horizon as dusk fades to darkness. He will then sink towards the horizon, setting 3 hours and 51 minutes after the Sun at 10:56 PM CDT.

Neptune, magnitude +7.8, and his 16 moons and ring, in Pisces, The Fish, is lost in the glow of the Sun.

He will pass behind the Sun, or be in Solar Conjunction on March 22.

Pluto, the largest Dwarf Planet, with his five moons shines at a dim 14.6 in Capricornus, The Sea Goat.

Dwarf Planet 136108 Haumea, her ring and moons Hiʻiaka and Namaka, shines at a faint magnitude of 17.3 in Bootes, The Herdsman.

Dwarf Planet 136472 Makemake with his moon S/2015 (136472) 1, nicknamed MK1 by the discovery team, shines faintly at magnitude +17.1 in Coma Berenices.
Dwarf Planet 136199 Eris, the second largest Dwarf Planet, and her moon Dysnomia, originally referred to as Xena and Gabrielle, is barely visible in the most powerful telescopes at magnitude +18.7 in Cetus the Sea Monster.

At least seven additional bodies with the preliminary criteria for identifying dwarf planets, and though not “officially” declared as such, are generally called dwarf planets by astronomers as well.

90482 Orcus, and his moon Vanth shines at magnitude 19.1 in Andromeda, The Chained Maiden.

50000 Quaoar, his two rings and his moon Waywot shines at magnitude +18.6 between Gemini, The Twins and Orion, The Hunter.

90377 Sedna, the coldest, and at one time, the most distant known place in the Solar System, glows faintly at magnitude +20.8 in Taurus, The Bull.

25088 Gonggong, the third largest Dwarf Planet, originally nicknamed Snow White by the discovery team, and his moon Xiangli glows dimly at +21.5 magnitude in Pegasus, The Winged Horse.

2014 UZ224 nicknamed “DeeDee” for “Distant Dwarf” is 8.5 billion miles from the Sun, at magnitude +23.0 in Eridanus, The River.

120347 Salacia, and her moon Actaea glows at magnitude 20.7 in Sextans, The Sextant. Salacia is considered a “borderline” Dwarf Planet. Some astronomers saying she “most certainly is a Dwarf Planet”, while others disagreeing based on her size, saying she is too small to have compressed into a fully solid body, to have been resurfaced, or to have collapsed into “hydrostatic equilibrium”, that is to assume spherical shape like a planet.

“Dwarf Planet Candidate” 2017 OF201, magnitude 23.2 is in the constellation Triangulum, the Triangle.

Currently the most distant observable known object in the Solar System, an asteroid unofficially called Asteroid 2018 AG37, and nicknamed FarFarOut, glows at a barely detectable +25.5 magnitude in Lynx.

FarFarOut is currently 12,234,600,276 miles or in Light Time, 18 hours, 14 minutes and 37 seconds from Earth.

The most distant man-made object, Voyager 1, still operating after 48 years, 5 month and 18 days is 15,988,106,255 miles, or in Light Time, 23 hours, 50 minutes 27 seconds from Earth as of 3:56 PM CST, February 23, 2026, sailing 38,027 miles per hour through Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer.

Near Earth Object, asteroid 99942 Apophis, is expected to pass within 19,794 miles of the Earth on Friday, April 13, 2029.

Apophis, magnitude +21.3, in Pisces, The Fish, is 136,601,474 miles or 1146 days from the Earth as of 4:01 PM CST, February 23, 2026.

Asteroid 2024 YR4, which will pass though the Earth – Moon system on Wednesday, December 22, 2032, dimly glows at magnitude +30.1, in Libra, The Scales. It is currently 300,937,659 miles or 2599 days from Earth as of 4:04 PM CST February 23, 2026.

There are 1,519,586 known asteroids and 4,055 comets as of February 23, 2026 per NASA/JPL Solar Dynamics Website.

6,107 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of February 12, 2026 per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive.

March’s Full Moon will occur on March 3 at 5:39 AM CDT or 11:39 UTC. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as “Worm Moon”. So called because the rains disturb the earthworms & they are seen wiggling around after the rains.

This moon has also been known as the Full Crow Moon, the Full Crust Moon, the Full Sap Moon, and the Lenten Moon.

During a Full Moon the Moon’s magnitude is -12.7.

There will be a Total Lunar Eclipse on March 3. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes completely through the Earth’s dark shadow, or umbra. During this type of eclipse, the Moon will gradually get darker and then take on a rusty or blood red color.

The eclipse, which social media likes to dramatically call a “Blood Moon” will be visible throughout most of eastern Asia, Australia, the Pacific Ocean, and North America.

For Birmingham:

The eclipse will begin at 2:44 AM CDT
Partial Eclipse begins at 3:50 AM CDT
Total Eclipse begins at 5:04 AM CDT
Maximum eclipse will occur at 5:33 AM CDT (close to the western horizon)
Total Eclipse ends at 6:02 AM CDT (very close to the western horizon. The eclipsed moon combined with it naturally dimming as it nears horizon, might make the Moon very hard or impossible to see)

The Moon will set at 6:15 AM CST, so the final stages of the eclipse will occur while the Moon is below the horizon.

Partial eclipse ends at 7:17 AM CDT
The eclipse ends at 8:23 AM CDT

The Moon will be at Apogee or its farthest distance from Earth on March 10 when she will be 251,273 miles from Earth.

Last Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Eastern side illuminated, will occur March 11, at 4:41 AM CST or 10:41 UTC.

During a Quarter Moon the Moon’s magnitude is -10.0.

Spring Equilux will occur March 16. Equilux is not to be confused with Equinox.

The Earth’s atmosphere acts as a prism and bends the rays of the Sun at sunrise and sunset, making the sun visible even though it is physically below the horizon. This can, depending on the latitude, can add six minutes of daylight, with three minutes at sunrise and three minutes at sunset, though the sun is actually below the horizon. Equilux take into account this distortion, and is the time of year when there are literally equal amounts of daylight and darkness. The date varies with latitude, but for latitude 30 – 35° it is on March 16.

New Moon will occur on March 18 at 8:26 PM CDT which is 01:00 UTC March 19. The Moon will be located on the same side of the Earth as the Sun and will not be visible in the night sky. This is the best time of the month to observe faint objects such as galaxies and star clusters because there is no moonlight to interfere.

Vernal Equinox occurs at 9:35AM CDT or 14:45 UTC March 20. The Sun will shine directly on the equator and there will be nearly equal amounts of day and night throughout the world. This is also the first day of fall, autumnal equinox, in the Southern Hemisphere.

The name “Vernal” comes from the Latin vernālis, which means “of those things pertaining to the spring”.

The Moon will be at Perigee or its closest approach to Earth on March 22, when she will be 227,955 miles from Earth.

First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur March 25 at 2:19 PM CDT or 19:19 UTC.

During a Quarter Moon the Moon’s magnitude is -10.0.

The celestial carnivores are emerging from hibernation. After dinnertime at this time of year, five carnivore constellations are rising upright in a ragged row from the northeast to south. They’re all seen in profile with their noses pointed up and their feet (if any) to the right. These are The Great Bear, Ursa Major in the northeast, with the Big Dipper as its brightest part, Leo the Lion in the east, Hydra the Sea Serpent in the southeast, The Lesser Dog, Canis Minor higher in the south-southeast, and The Greater Dog, bright Canis Major in the south.

Sirius, shining at magnitude −1.46, the brightest nighttime star, blazes high in the south on the meridian, in Canis Major by about 8 or 9 p.m. Using binoculars, you will find a fuzzy spot 4 degrees south of Sirius, directly below it when the constellation is directly South. Four degrees is somewhat less than the width of a typical binocular’s field of view.

That dim little patch of gray haze is open star cluster Messier 41, a small gravitationally bound group of 100 stars about 2,200 light-years away and moving away from us at 869 miles per second. Sirius, by comparison, is only 8.6 light-years away.

To the upper right of Canis Major is his owner Orion The Hunter. Many of the brightest stars in Orion, including Rigel, Betelgeuse, stars of Orion’s Belt, and the Orion nebula are neighbors to our sun. The reason we see so many bright objects within the constellation Orion is because when we look at it, we’re looking into our own local spiral arm, the Orion Arm or the Orion Spur.
Beyond this, just to the left of Orion and Canis Major lies the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way.

Above and to the upper right of Orion’s right shoulder lies the V shaped constellation Taurus. When you look at the farthest the part of the “V” you are looking towards the Galactic Anticenter, the point directly opposite of the Center of the Galaxy in Sagittarius. The majority of Taurus is composed of the Hyades Star Cluster, an open cluster 153 light years away. Nearby is the Pleiades Star Cluster, which looks like a tiny dipper, another open cluster 444 light years away.
It is a region well worth exploring with binoculars on a moonless night away from the lights of civilization.

There is nothing more peaceful than grabbing some binoculars, fining a comfortable spot and letting oneself get lost as you drift among the stars.

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Major upcoming ham radio contests and state QSO parties for March 2026 are:

March 1 Nova Scotia NSARA QSO Party
North Carolina QSO Party
March 7 ARRL International DX – SSB
March 14 Commonwealth Contest RSGB
South American 10 Meter Contest
Idaho QSO Party
Stew Perry Top Band (160 Meters) – CW
` Oklahoma QSO Party
March 15 Wisconsin QSO Party
March 21 Virgina QSO Party
Russian DX Contest
March 28 CQ Worldwide WPX Contest – SSB
Africa All Mode International DX Contest

They are great chances to work DX galore and find those elusive stations you may need for working all states and provinces.

For more details go to WA7BNM Contest Calendar: Home

This month’s ALERT meeting will be at 7 PM, March 10 at the NWS Forecast Office at the Shelby County Airport.

In person ALERT meetings at the NWS are quarterly every March, June, September and December.

All other monthly meetings (including these) are accessible via Microsoft Teams. Watch for the meeting notification email from Russell KV4S, which will include the link for the meeting.

Mark Wells
ALERT Newsletter