From: Sammy Lockwood, Oak Flat, New Mexico 
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2000 12:06:59 -0700


My Son and I laid-out at Oak Flat last night, about 9 miles south of
Tijereas New Mexico, USA.   From 7 UTC till 8 UTC, we counted 41
Leonids, 3 Geminids, and 3 strays.

There was a fair amount of snow cover on the ground, temp was in the
mid-low 20's, with a light breeze. There were 4 other people there when
we arrived, all bundled in blankets and comfortable in reclining lawn
chairs. By midnight we were doing the same.

We used our blankets to mask the moon, which was fairly low to the east
while we were observing, so we missed anything E of the moon. The cloud
cover varied as the high-thin cirrus drifted from the SW, but was as
much as 50% at several points, mostly transparent.

The clouds made it hard to see the radiant, so we pretty much counted
anything that came from the vicinity of the Moon as a Leonid. From 7 UTC
till 8 UTC, we bagged 41 Leonids, 3 Geminids, and 3 strays. 2 of the
Leonids could be counted as fireballs, and one broke-up mid trail. Not a
bad show.

Around 1 o'clock the breeze started picking up, and our cheeks went from
numb to number, which of course meant that our number was up, and we
went home.