The Eta Aquariid Meteor Shower should peak Tuesday morning, the 6th of May at 07:00 Universal Time (or midnight Pacific Daylight Savings Time, or 1am Mountain Saving Time), but the best viewing times (due to the Moon and a low Eastern radiant) will a few hours before dawn Tuesday morning, around 4am to 5am.
At the peak, up to 55 meteors could be seen each hour. They’re pretty fast, at 66km/second, often bright with very long paths, and leave persistent glowing trails.
The source of the meteors is debris from Halley’s Comet. The Comet’s orbital path contains dust particles and ice (thinned out in spots by Jupiter). The Earth crosses Halley’s orbital path twice each year. In May we see it as the Eta Aquariid meteor shower and in October the Orionids.
The Eta Aquariids will be best seen early Tuesday morning. The Moon will have set by then, so it will be seen under a dark sky. The radiant is low in the Eastern sky, in Aquarius, which rises around 4am. So over half of the meteors will be unseen below the horizon.
If you miss the peak, they will continue to fall all week, slowly tapering off, with above 30 meteors/hr lasting from May 3 to Saturday May 10 2014.
For more information, see the International Meteor Organization Site at http://www.imo.net/calendar/2014#eta