Good morning! Today is the third day of autumn. It certainly feels like that.  Sunny and 50 degrees in North Syracuse. There is a north breeze at 5 mph.

Cooler weather today, but that’s to be expected. Today on average is the first day when the average high drops below 70 — sixty nine degrees to be exact. The next big milestone is when the average high drops below 60, which will be on October 7th. While it will be cool today, it will be sunny, with a high of 65 degrees at 3pm. Four degrees below normal. Crisp and clear autumn day with a maximum dew point of 44 at 9am. Northwest wind 5 to 11 mph. The record high of 87 was set in 1961.

Cool enough that I decided I needed to add more air to the tires of BIg Red. Each tire read about 40 PSI the other day when I checked via the TPMS sensors on Big Red’s DIC. So I drove by a gas station that offered 5 minutes of air for $1.25 and one that offered 3 minutes of air for $1. I obviously went for the $1 one, which envitably meant i needed to spend two dollars to get all the tires back up to 45-46 PSI. It certainly rides a lot better with the extra air, the tires much firmer and the handling better.

Having the 35 inch tires on 18 inch rims gives a nice soft ride but if you let the pressure drop a bit, they get a bit sloppy — but probably great for snow or mud but not so great for the road.  I also don’t want to cause excessive tire wear as those  35 inch tires are pretty darn expensive — but they seem to be wearing slowly and evenly. 

As we head into the second half of September, each night the sun is setting earlier. Tonight, the sun will set at 6:56 pm with dusk around 7:24 pm, which is 1 minutes and 48 seconds earlier than yesterday. Today will have 12 hours and 1 minutes of daylight, a decrease of 2 minutes and 55 seconds over yesterday. It is last day with more then day then night in Syracuse.

I’m hoping to get down to Jones Hill this afternoon/evening and watch the sun set. I expect the colors to only start turning, but that’s fine, as it’s a nice hike up the mountain, and it’s always pretty to watch the sunset, especially on a cool evening like this. I will make sure to bring my favorite blaze orange hoodie, so i don’t get shot and so I’m warm and comfortable.

Tonight will be mostly clear, with a low of 41 degrees at 6am. Seven degrees below normal. Northwest wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening. The record low of 29 occurred back in 1963.

Next Saturday is October 1st when the sun will be setting at 6:44 pm with dusk at 7:12 pm. The average high temperature is 66 degrees, with a record high of 90 in 1927.