From: Mark Stumpf, Altadena, CA Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1998 19:42:10 -0800 On Monday night, Nov 16, 1998, I & my 3 sons camped on the Colorado River 20 miles south of Blythe, CA, just south of a town by the name of Palo Verde, CA. We selected this spot in order to get to the warmest & darkest area for the Leonids. The stars (& Milky Way) provided enough light that we could walk around the beach/campsite without having to use any flashlights. There were no artificial lights at this location. Our only disappointment was that it got down to 38 degrees! Having witnessed the storm in 1966, I was hoping my sons (18, 17, & 13) would have a similar experience this year. I went to bed at 6:30pm, after witnessing a -8 Iridium flare at 6:20pm. 2 of my sons were up during the 9-10pm hours and DID NOT see the 2000/hr barrage that the Canary Island report mentioned. I got up at 11:30pm and immediately began seeing enough Leonids to begin keeping count from midnight to 1am PT. I counted 85, and realizing that since they were appearing ALL OVER the cloudless sky I must be missing 20 percent at least. So I woke up 1 of my sons at 1am and together we counted over 100 from 1-2am PT, with he lying on his lawn chair (bed) to the west, and I lying on mine looking to the east. At that point we woke up the other 2 sons and we all began to keep count. From 2-3am we were also listening to Richard Hoagland report from New Mexico on the Art Bell radio program and were amused to hear his oohs & ahs along with ours. During the 2:28-2:35am news break we witnessed 3-4 very bright fireballs and commented how we would have liked to hear Hoagland's comments on those. I am estimating that 40 percent were -2 or brighter, and of these several lit up the beach, casting shadows as they "exploded". Around 3:15am PT it got very quiet (except for the coyotes) and was so "dead" that I decided to go inside the tent and get warm bed at 3:45amand dosed off. My son reported that activity picked up again during the 4-5am hour, but not up to the 120+ per hour rate that we experienced from 1-3am. But he said several "dual" & multi-colored fireballs were the best of the night. One in particular "broke the sound barrier" in that he could hear it. It was common to see "skipping meteors", like a stone skipping across the water, these would light up, go out, then light up again. My sons & I enjoyed the Perseid shower in August '97, and this one was by far "one to remember forever". All times are Pacific Standard Time (UTC - 8hrs = PST)