Send images to grobbins@ocregister.com.

I awoke here in Waikiki this morning to find a couple of pretty moon images sent overnight by readers. The first one is from Cyndie Ward in Plano, Texas.

I’m not sure how Cyndie found this blog, but I’m glad she did. Here is her image:

I also received an image from Dennis Sy in the Philippines. Here it is:

More than 150 readers have contacted us to say they heard the twin sonic boom produced by the space shuttle Endeavour moments before it made a perfect landing at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert. We’re hearing from people everywhere from Rancho Santa Margarita to Irvine to Fullerton to Chino to Panorama City, Palmdale, Burbank and Ventura.

Endeavour was diverted to Edwards earlier today because of poor weather at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The orbiter touched down at 1:25 p.m., about four minutes after it reached the California coast.

Reader Judith Divan said, “We live in San Juan Capistrano, just off Camino Las Ramblas & the I-5 and heard the sonic boom.” Heather Fisher of Irvine also says she heard the boom, adding: “It sort of reverberated … so it sounded like 4-5 booms. But no question, it was the sonic boom.” Alain Peeri said, “Heard it at 1:23 p.m. in Aliso Viejo. Very Loud!” Dina in Dana Point said: “My husband and I thought it was an earthquake. It rattled our windows.” Cherrie Best said: “I heard the boom at 1:25 pm. I am in San Juan Capistrano. Thrilling.” Sandy Goudie said: “So I sat out on the patio and soaked up a few minutes of sunshine while waiting, and yes, we heard a muffled double sonic boom down here in Irvine.” Another Irvine resident, Bob LaTouche, said: “The Shuttle’s sonic boom was well-heard in north Irvine: two clear booms followed by an earthquake-like rumble at 1:23 p.m.”
“Here in Mission Viejo the shuttle’s sonic boom sounded more like a single, muffled boom rather than the usual double, but sure shook the windows more than normal. Nice to have her back in California!” said Laura Donahue Lyons. But Jarrod Terry of San Clemente said, “it sounded much like a beginning of an earthquake!!”

Kevin Martin heard it from Corona. David Green heard the boom from Granada Hills, and Jane E. Randolph says: “I live in North Hollywood and felt a huge jolt when the space shuttle came in. It felt like something had hit my house - rattling the windows and sending the dogs running. Unlike other landings, I didn’t hear the boom.”

Another reader, Katrina M. Fernandez of Los Angeles, said: “We thought a tree had fallen on our houses. We started to investigate and found that it was the Endeavour’s sonic boom. We had no idea that a shuttle was landing.” And Melanie Nichols said it “shook my house in Alhambra.”

Endeavour is the first shuttle to land at Edwards since June 2007, when Atlantis set down.

If you heard today’s sonic boom, please let us know about it: grobbins@ocregister.com.

Surprise gift giveaway: The first reader to e-mail me hello will get a coffee table book from National Geographic, titled “Ocean: An Illustrated Atlas.” E-mail me at grobbins@ocregister.com AND THE WINNER IS: Scott Nilsen of Placentia

• NASA issues new image of Freeway Complex fire

• CSUF studying why Southern California’s climate is getting drier

• UCI blinks in showdown with prof over sex ed course

Make sure to check out, and add to, the reader comments below.

Follow Sciencedude on Twitter at grobbins, and add him as a friend on Facebook. Note: I’ll be vacationing in Hawaii Dec. 1-6 and will be checking email far less than usual. grobbins@ocregister.com

The space agency says, “This natural-color image of the burned area was captured by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 satellite on November 18 … The image is a detailed view of the edge of the burned area in northwestern Yorba Linda. The fire crossed Telegraph Canyon and made forays southwestward into neighborhoods. One arm of the fire encircled Carbon Canyon Regional Park.

Stark NASA image shows where mudslides could hit O.C.

CSUF to study why Southern California’s climate is getting drier

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Photographer-storm spotter Khristian Snyder of San Clemente took this image of a funnel cloud passing over the Dana Point area about 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday. View more of his work at www.khristian.com

Areas of Orange County have received almost an inch of rain over the past 24 hours, and isolated showers continue to spritz the region.  But the puffy balls of moisture will soon move east, leaving the county dry for at least a week, says the National Weather Service. The air will stay crisp, with temperatures in the 60s as the county celebrates Thanksgiving. Forecasters have cancelled a special advisory that said water spouts could occur off south Orange County.

“We expect a low pressure system to move through on Monday, but it won’t be strong enough to bring rain,” says Stan Wasowski, a weather service forecaster. “All it will do is reduce the offshore winds, which won’t be that strong anyway.”

The storm that walloped the county late Tuesday night and early Wednesday dropped close to 2 inches of rain to parts of the region, which has been experiencing moderate drought since spring. The rain isn’t a drought buster, as we noted yesterday. But it provided a bounty for the Orange County Water District, which says it captured almost 326 million gallons of water flowing down the Santa Ana River and diverted it into holding areas, where the water can be placed the groundwater table. The water has a retail value of about $700,000.

Forecasters said the showers would likely end by 10 a.m. today. But light rain continues to fall on-and-off, mostly across northeastern Orange County. Skies are beginning to clear along the coast, and holiday parties are underway. Actress Sandra Bullock was spotted outside her Sunset Beach home this morning, preparing to welcome visitors.

Rainfall for 24 hour period ending at 11:30 a.m. Thursday

• Lower Silverado Canyon: 0.91 inches
• Cleveland National Forest: 0.83 inches
• San Juan Capistrano: 0.79 inches
• Laguna Woods: 0.59 inches
• San Clemente: 0.55 inches
• Modjeska Canyon: 0.28 inches
• Yorba Linda: 0.12 inches

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The U.S.G.S’ “Did you feel it?” feature on the web says that the quake was felt by people in Yorba Linda, Anaheim, Brea, Trabuco Canyon, Silverado Canyon, Irvine, Tustin, Santa Ana and Orange, as well as parts of the Inland Empire.

O.C. gets month’s worth of rain in 6 hours

Stark NASA image shows where mudslides might hit Yorba Linda area

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4:15 p.m. Wednesday

An NWS radar image taken at 12:30 a.m. Wednesday shows the storm has intensified and extends more than 100 miles offshore.

The most powerful storm to hit Orange County in more than two years slammed the region with driving rain overnight, dropping close to 2 inches of precipitation in Yorba Linda and other cities, causing widespread street flooding.

The county averages only 1.31 inches of rain during the entire month of November, and John Wayne Airport received 1.82 inches from this storm, which began with a clap of thunder about 9:11 p.m. on Tuesday.

The rain fell hard or steady for roughly the next six hours in most areas, creating street flooding from Seal Beach to Foothill Ranch. Forecasters say more showers will could fall this afternoon and evening.

John Wayne Airport has received 1.82 inches this month, and 1.85 inches since the rainy season began on July 1. The historic average since July 1 is 1.63 inches. However, for the year, the airport has recorded 7.27 inches. The historic average is 10.61 inches.

“This didn’t bust the drought, and high pressure will build in and we won’t get rain for about two weeks,” says Stan Wasowski, a weather service forecaster.

Here’s a sample of rainfall totals from the storm, current through 4:15 p.m.

Sources: County of Orange, National Weather Service

The storm began just after 9 p.m. Tuesday, slowing traffic on P.C.H. in Sunset Beach. Image by Gary Robbins, The Register

Readers are urged to email reports about the rain to Sciencedude at grobbins@ocregister.com. Please include your full name and hometown. Photos are welcome. (Please send .jpegs).

Follow Sciencedude on Twitter at grobbins, and add him as a friend on Facebook. Also, please e-mail Sciencedude images of the coming storm, and please include your name and hometown. Send .jpegs to grobbins@ocregister.com

The image was released at roughly the same time that the National Weather Service was issuing a flash flood watch for Orange County. The watch will go into effect Tuesday evening, when a storm is expected to move ashore, and end on Wednesday evening. Forecasters says that Orange County’s coastal areas could get from 0.75” to 1.5” of rain, and that the canyons and foothills in northeastern Orange County, where the Triangle Complex fire occurred last week, could get 1.5” to 2.5” of rain.

Forecasters also say that as little as 0.20” of rain in a 15 minute period could cause mudslides or debris flows in burn areas.

“A storm approaching from the west will bring periods of moderate to heavy rain Tuesday evening into Wednesday,” the weather service says in an advisory. “The snow level will start out quite high and then low to about 6,500 feet by Wednesdady night. So most of the precipitation will fall as rain. This will make flash flooding possible, especially in and below recently burned areas and near steep terrain.”

NASA says the Terra image uses false color, with red indicating vegetation, tan indicating bare ground, gray-blue indicating buildings and paved surfaces, and dark blue indicating water. “The (Triangle Complex) fire burn scar, stretching across the middle of the image, assumes a charcoal color,” NASA says. “Along its southwestern margin, the burn scar intrudes into the curving suburban streets of Yorba Linda and Brea.”

• What are mudslides and what are debris flows?
• How to prepare for flash floods and debris flows after a wildfire
• How to stabilize soil and prevent erosion
• Flying to New York today? Expect weather-related delays

Follow Sciencedude on Twitter at grobbins, and add him as a friend on Facebook. Email your neighborhood weather reports to grobbins@ocregister.com

The storm has tapped into moisture from the subtropics and will plow into Orange County on Tuesday night, dropping rain well into Wednesday and possibly bringing a few showers on Thursday, Thanksgiving day, forecasters says. Daytime highs will be comparatively warm, rising into the 60s. But Stan Wasowski, a weather service forecaster, says the system could flow across Point Conception with lots of turbulent air, resulting in thunderstorms that could reach as far south as Orange County.

The trailing end of the system also could drop an inch or two of snow in the upper reaches of the San Bernardino Mountains on Wednesday, making driving treacherous in mountain communities.

Wasowski emphasized: “This is not a drought buster. We’re in our third straight year of below average rain. This just wets the whistle. And a high-pressure system could move in behind this, which would bring an end to the rain for a while.”

• What are mudslides and what are debris flows?
• How to prepare for flash floods and debris flows after a wildfire
• How to stabilize soil and prevent erosion
• Flying to New York today? Expect weather-related delays

Follow Sciencedude on Twitter at grobbins, and add him as a friend on Facebook. Email your neighborhood weather reports to grobbins@ocregister.com

Computer animation shows large, hypothetical quake slamming O.C.

READER SURVEY: We’re researching a story about the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana, which will celebrate its 10 anniversary next month. If you’ve visited DSC, we’d like to know what kind of experience you had. Were the exhibits educational, fun and in good working order? Do you feel you learned something? Please send me an email at grobbins@ocregister.com. You must include your full name and hometown for me to quote you in the story. If you’re a teacher, please say so.

The new study — which involves probing sediment deep beneath Lake Elsinore — also “will provide some context — here in Southern California — for how ecosystems respond to large climatic change,” says paleoclimatologist Matthew Kirby.

His earlier study of Lake Elsinore sediment suggests that the size and depth of the lake has declined over the past 10,000 years, apparently due to a long-term drop in average precipitation.

Kirby and his collaborators will build on that research early next month by using sound waves to create images of the sediment up to 650 feet deep. The waves reflect off variations in the sediment, allowing them to “profile” Southern California’s largest natural lake.

“The second portion of this research,” says Kirby, “will begin next fall with the acquisition of a 40-50 meter (up to 164 feet) sediment core from the lake’s deepest basin. This core will extend our research from 10,000 years back to — hopefully — 40,000 to 50,000 years (the last glacial period.)

The research also is expected to reveal more about the seismic history of the lake, which is located near the Elsinore fault, a system that runs through northeastern Orange County. Seismologists say the fault could produce an earthquake up to 7.5 in magnitude.

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If you’d like to know what you would weigh if you visited Venus or Jupiter, click here.

Follow Sciencedude on Twitter at grobbins, and add him as a friend on Facebook. Send him email at grobbins@ocregister.com