January 12, 2016 Night

Good evening. Currently light snow is coming down and 27 degrees in Delmar. Heavier band of snow is coming, roads could be slick around 11 pm.

Tonight will be snow showers before 10pm, then snow likely, mainly between 10pm and 1am. A heavy band of snow is in the Heldebergs right now. The snow could be heavy at times. Low around 21. Breezy, with a west wind 6 to 11 mph increasing to 15 to 20 mph after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of around an inch possible.

Waxing crescent moon has already set but it was pretty earlier. Stars are mostly blocked by clouds and snow showers. Another dark morning on tap tomorrow. Tomorrow’s sunrise will be at 7:23 am with first light at 6:52 am, which is one minute and 24 seconds earlier then today.

Continuing to work on fire tower maps. I have several done and will be posted later in the week. They aren’t perfect but they do give a lot of insight on what you are looking at from the summit of mountains.

Didn’t go to the library but I went for my evening walk. Seemed like a lot of police activity going on around the school. Not sure what was happening, maybe a security alarm went off. They’re so paranoid about security at schools these days.

Listening to President Obama’s last state of the union. While I haven’t agreed with all his policy proposals, especially those urban, socially liberal policies, he’s done a lot of good. Being the first African American president, he has broke down many barriers. We might next see the first woman president. I voted for Obama twice. He didn’t get a big energy and environment bill passed like Bush, but Obamacare helped ensure a lot more Americans had access to health care. It doesn’t seem important until your sprain your ankle. He does make a good point about how divided our country has become.

I hope you had a good day. Sleep well!

January 12, 2016 Evening

Good evening. Currently light snow is falling down and 29 degrees in Albany. Treated surfaces are just wet but sidewalks are slick. Use care while driving as some surfaces may be slick.

Tonight we have a waxing crescent moon, setting at 8:21 pm. Tonight will have snow showers before 9pm, then snow likely between 9pm and 1am. The snow could be heavy at times. Low around 22. Breezy, with a southwest wind 6 to 11 mph becoming west 15 to 20 mph after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible. Three to five inches expected in the Adirondacks, more in lake effect country.

Traffic is moving slowly out of the city but it looks like the driver is going up McCarthy Hill which should save some time. Rush hour, there’s traffic. I’m not in that much of a rush to get home.

A pretty ordinary Tuesday and reasonably busy. Tomorrow will be busier, especially with the crowds from the State of the State in the Empire State Plaza. But we are getting closer to the weekend. Still looking forward to heading up to the Adirondacks for the long weekend , assuming that the forecast remains reasonable.

The president’s final State of the Nation Address is tonight. It might be interesting to hear what he has to say. It will be his last address. It seems like only yesterday he was running for president. Still I didn’t mind time is going by quickly. It will be good to have a fresh face in the White House and new ideas in our country.

January 12, 2016 Morning

Good morning! Happy Tuesday. It is currently overcast and 22 degrees in Delmar. Today will snow, mainly after noon. Cloudy, with a high near 31. South wind 9 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible. Sunset will be at 4:44 pm with twilight at 5:15 pm which is one minute and 7 seconds later then yesterday. The clouds will make it seem like sunset is earlier then in reality.

There are 8 days until Penguin Awareness Day. This year with the relatively mild weather the penguins can’t be that happy, although locally there aren’t that many penguins. Also on this day in 1991, Congress authorizes the use of military force to drive Iraq out of Kuwait (Gulf War). Worth noting.

Kind of a gray morning. It’s hard getting up in the darkness this time of year. The sun didn’t rise until 7:23 and was darker later then that with the clouds. Baked some muffins for breakfast and they were pretty good.

Starting to make some better maps with viewshed analysis but it taking to figure out the ins and outs of the plug-in. Depending when I get out of work tonight I might do some more work on it.