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Have an opinion about something you read in The Log? Letters/Online Comments Write to: The Log Editorial, P.O. Box 1337,

Newport Beach, CA 92659 thelogeditor@thelog.com.

RE: Proposed Vessel Registration Fee Increase Held Open in Budget Subcommittee

(APRIL 16 – 29)

The $70 bi-annual fee may not sound signifi cant if you have a $50,000 boat but outrageous if you have a dingy and an used outboard engine worth $500. — Edward Belson

RE: Grunion Run on California Beaches

(APRIL 30 - MAY 13)

Born and raised doing Grunion runs I know how to catch them. The best way to do it is to grab a handful of sand the same time they slide out of your hand. Also you have to tiptoe along the shore, they have spotters that come in ahead of the run if you spook them they will go up or down the shore for another location for safety. I could talk about a lot of stories about Grunion runs some of my fondest stories as a kid. — Gerald Hoover

RE: Scripps Completes Seafloor Survey of Dumpsite off the Coast

(APRIL 30 – MAY 13)

Everyone who grew up in the LB & LA harbor area knew about this in the 70s and nothing was done then and nothing will be done now. As we all heard too many times The Corporation is too big to fail and we all su er. When will the politicians remember that they are in o ce to serve the people not the corporations “WE THE PEOPLE.” — Michael Duda

Comments are edited for clarity.

On Board With Johnson by J.R. Johnson

FAST FACTS Red Sky at Night, Sailors’ Delight…

By: LINDSEY GLASGOW

UNDATED— Many know the back half of this ageold adage, red sky at night, sailors’ delight, red sky in the morning, sailors take warning. Many may also know that the saying is more than just lore, atmospheric science actually supports this old bit of sailing wisdom.

Those in mid-latitude locations such as Oregon, Northern California, Wyoming, Virginia, North Carolina, northern Germany, and Poland can actually take advantage of this. There are two atmospheric-related factors that make this possible. One, storm systems in the middle latitudes generally move west to east and the red color in the sky is the result of sunlight reflecting off clouds. Low pressure is associated with bad weather and high pressure with good weather. Low pressure causes air to converge to try to “fill” the low, and converging air causes upward motion, which in turn produces clouds and precipitation. The reddish color results from scattering of sunlight by suspended particles and aerosols in the atmosphere, and the sun’s rays pass through a greater length of atmosphere at sunrise and sunset than at any other time of day. In addition, aerosol, dirt, and dust concentrations are maximized in the lowest layers of the atmosphere when the atmosphere is dominated by sinking air associated with high pressure. Therefore, when under high pressure we can see vivid red sunsets and sunrises. If the sky is red in the morning, the eastern horizon must be clear, and the clouds foretelling a coming storm are in the west, indicating the potential for bad weather. By contrast, a red sky at night can be produced only if the western horizon is clear and the clouds overhead are moving east, or clearing out, foretelling good weather.

Picture yourself on a ship off the coast of North Carolina with a wind blowing from west to east. It is morning and you are watching the sunrise and the sky is red. Since it is morning, you are looking east, and the red sky indicates that there is high pressure there. Since you are in the mid-latitudes, the high is moving eastward, away from you. That could only mean that a low, and very likely an associated storm, is moving toward you from the west. Take warning!

Now picture yourself watching the sunset from the ship, and the western sky is red. That means that an area of high pressure is to your west, the westerlies are moving it toward you, and good weather is on the way. Sailor’s delight!

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