November 30, 2016 Evening

God evening! Rain and 49 degrees in the City of Albany. There is a southeast breeze at 10 mph. The skies will clear tomorrow around 11 pm.

Traffic is all backed up downtown. My bus was ten minutes late. I wanted to blame Donald Trump protesters but apparently it’s a pegan celebration at City Hall with the lighting of Christmas Tree. At least it isn’t super cold outside. Inside the bus shelter wasn’t too bad and the bus time was correct.

I heard Mussolini made the trains run on time. Maybe our next president can make the buses run on time. Lately my bus has been pretty much on schedule but I guess the driver can’t control for traffic. Maybe the president can find funding for the Mid Crosstown Arterial and that will ease traffic downtown. Or ban Christmas parties at City Hall during rush hour. I’m sure that’s the president’s top priority. Voters care about traffic.

Tonight will rain, mainly before 4am. Low of 43 degrees at 6am. 16 degrees above normal. Southeast wind 7 to 11 mph becoming southwest after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. In 2015, it got down to 24 degrees with periods of rain. The record low of -5 occurred back in 1875.

Right now, the weekend forecast is sliding down hill. Saturday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 42. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 40.Typical average high for the weekend is 41 degrees. So much for that amazing weekend weather. I knew it couldn’t last. I may have to rethink going up to the Adirondacks.

In four weeks on December 28 the sun will be setting at 4:29 pm, which is 7 minutes later then tonight. In 2015 on that day, we had fog, rain, snow and temperatures between 36 and 22 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 32 and 17 degrees. The record high of 61 degrees was set back in 1982.

November 30, 2016 Morning

Good morning! Where did November go? That said I’m going to be glad when 2016 is over. It’s not been a bad year compared to say 1968, Β which ain’t saying much.Β Three weeks to the First Day of Winter.Β Not very winter like this morning. Cloudy and damp around 45 degrees in Delmar. Quite foggy in the city. There is a southeast breeze at 6 mph. Rain this afternoon, but it won’t last. The skies will clear tomorrow around 6 am.

Walked down to the Park and Ride this morning.Β Definitely a pretty mild morning. Some fog in Delmar but it’s mostly just damp but warm out there. I barely was able to leave in time for the walk, as it was so dark this morning, getting out of bed was difficult. I got to stop staying up to 11 PM watching the PBS Newshour. I was bad last night and skipped my evening walk, and didn’t go down to library, instead messing with some code on my laptop. I am having trouble with part of the composer generating PyQGIS code, as the API changed recently and I haven’t figured out the change. I just need to figure how to access the map composer item. I’m sure I’ll figure it out soon.

Today will rain on and off, mainly after noon. High of 53 degrees at 1pm. 11 degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 48 at 12pm. Southeast wind 6 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. A year ago, we had partly sunny skies and a high of 39 degrees. I think I would take slightly colder weather than the crop we have today. The record high of 67 was set in 1933. 7.1 inches of snow fell back in 1972.

The sun will set at 4:23 pm with dusk around 4:54 pm, which is 19 seconds earlier than yesterday. Getting ready to throw it in reverse and let the days start getting longer in a few weeks.Β Today will have 9 hours and 17 minutes of daylight, a decrease of 1 minutes and 24 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will rain before midnight, then showers, mainly between midnight and 3am. Quite mild. Β Low of 43 degrees at 5am. 16 degrees above normal. Southeast wind 8 to 13 mph becoming southwest after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. In 2015, it got down to 24 degrees with periods of rain. The record low of -5 occurred back in 1875.

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until First Day of Winter when the sun will be setting at 4:25 pm with dusk at 4:57 pm. On that day in 2015, we had rain and temperatures between 48 and 33 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 34 degrees. We hit a record high of 59 back in 1957. Sunset at that point will already start getting later and shortly thereafter the sunrises will start getting earlier.

Fifty days until Donald Trump is the Our President. I really want to like the man but it’s so hard. A lot of good people who I respect say he will be good for our country. He’s the man chosen by voters based on rules of our existing system. I want our president to succeed. Change is good.

But they were really tearing apart his ideas on the PBS Newshour or at least the GOP’s ideas on fixing our Healthcare system. I have a lot of concerns about some of his ideas and statements but I wish the man no bad, and I certainly lack the vitriol that some of my more liberal friends have towards him. Hopefully at least he’ll be good on the second amendment and appoint judges who will protect our rights. And Hopefully he’s work to shrink government, reduce taxes, and put us on a more sustainable, better path for future generations to come.

November 29, 2016 Evening

Good evening! Light rain and 52 degrees in Albany. There is a south-southeast breeze at 6 mph. The dew point is 49 degrees. 0.09 inches of rain is expected before it ends around 9 pm. 

Definitely a wet evening, but I guess it could have been snow had it been quite bit colder. I’m fine with waiting for snow for a while. 

Tonight will have periods of rain, mainly before 8pm. Areas of fog before 9pm, then areas of fog after 11pm. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low of 41 degrees at 5am. 14 degrees above normal. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2015, it got down to 22 degrees under partly clear skies. The record low of -10 occurred back in 1875.

Our weekend continues to look very nice with lots of sun and seasonable temperatures. Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 42. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 42. Typical average high for the weekend is 41 degrees. Still chewing over possibly going to the Adirondacks this weekend. There may be quite a bit of snow up there. Maybe dig out the cross country skis? Don’t need to camp that day far back in the woods. I don’t have a lot of vacation time to burn up left in the year for an extended weekend trip. 

In four weeks on December 27 the sun will be setting at 4:28 pm, which is 6 minutes later then tonight. In 2015 on that day, we had rain and temperatures between 51 and 35 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 32 and 17 degrees. The record high of 60 degrees was set back in 1895.

Traffic is quite backed up heading north out of the city tonight. I’m glad I’m not heading that way, although traffic is quite heavy going southbound too. Probably the rain and drivers either taking their time or more likely getting into crashes. I’ll make it home eventually. 

What gets me is all the motorists who have smart phones in their laps. If you’re going to have a phone, have it mounted by the windshield so at least you can be seeing what’s ahead of you when traffic starts moving again. Set your phone up so messages either pop up in big letters for an extended period of time or read to you. Only briefly touch your phone with your pinkey only rarely, don’t type detailed messages. Common sense and moderation is lacking in our society today. Next up, Donald Trump. 

At one level, I’m hopeful that Trump can change things in our country. But he keeps saying such stupid things on Twitter. I wish that the president on down could be more respectful. Maybe Trump will be at least successful about limiting the cost of health insurance in our country. Like many Americans even after selling back time, it seems like I’m paying more and more insurance I only occasionally use. I wish he would be a reasonable voice on climate change like Obama has been, unlike some liberals who have gone full nutcase on climate change. We need to take action on climate change but we shouldn’t destroy the economy or what is nice in the world. The ends don’t justify the means. 

It’s Tuesday evening and I’m dead tired. I stayed up too late last night watching the PBS Newshour. I need to a battery for my TV remote, so I can tape the earlier showing and not be staying up to 11 pm. I feel it’s important to keep up with the news of the day. I really want to learn more about Donald Trump as so much of the man is a mystery to me. 

Back in the map making business. I hope to post some new maps to the blog this evening so stay tuned.