February 2, 2017 Evening

“While I’m displeased with the decision of the Ground Hog to see his shadow, the beer at Center Square Pub was good. I can’t wait until it’s nice enough to sit out on the patio. At six pm catching the bus home, there was still a little light in the sky, nautical twilight. Pretty deep blue. I can’t wait for pleasant evenings like this with the mercury around 70 and sunset around nine.”

Good evening! Partly cloudy and 29 degrees in Albany. There is a west breeze at 14 mph with gusts up to 25 mph. The current wind chill is 18. The skies will clear around 10 pm. A bit chilly but let’s be honest it was a beautiful sunset for one who was properly dressed. 

Tonight will continue to have scattered snow showers from Lake Effect, mainly before 10pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low of 16 degrees at 6am. One degree above normal. West wind 5 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. In 2016, it got down to 30 degrees with periods of rain. The record low of -18 occurred back in 1955.

The HDTV box didn’t seem to pick up any channels this morning. I look and found the antenna amplifier was melted from sitting on the radiator. I unplugged it and connected the antenna. Seems to work fine. Thats good. I’ll have to make sure not to leave shit where it can fall on the radiator. Wouldn’t want a fire. 

Waxing Crescent Moon tonight with 44% illuminated. The moon will set around 12:56 am. The First Quarter Moon is on Saturday night with mostly cloudy skies expected. The Full β€œSnow” Moon is on Saturday, February 11th. The sun will rise at 7:06 am with the first light at 6:37 am, which is 1 minutes and 6 seconds earlier then yesterday. Tonight will have 13 hours and 54 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 26 seconds over last night. Nights are getting shorter. 

Tomorrow will have isolated snow showers after noon. Partly sunny, with a high of 29 degrees at 2pm. Three degrees below normal. West wind 5 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had rain and a high of 57 degrees. The record high of 57 was set in 2016. 6.1 inches of snow fell back in 2004.

Not a particularly nice weekend on tap. The best weather day of the weekend, Saturday, isolated snow showers before 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 30. Light west wind increasing to 10 to 15 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A bit chilly . Sunday, a slight chance of light snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 35. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Much too gray. Typical average high for the weekend is 32 degrees. I guess I’ll continue my hibernation. I’m saving a lot of miles I can burn up come summer on Big Red. Summer will be nice. 

In four weeks on March 2 the sun will be setting at 5:46 pm, which is 35 minutes later then tonight. In 2016 on that day, we had rain, snow and temperatures between 48 and 20 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 39 and 21 degrees. The record high of 65 degrees was set back in 1991.

Looking ahead, Start of June is in 17 weeks. Thursdays are a bit deficient of holidays. But nice weather and campfires are in the future. 

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February 2, 2017 8 AM Update

“Like most people, I was deeply disappointed with the Ground Hog seeing his shadow. But I choose to move forward, not dwelling on what could have been but what will inevitably happen as the sun’s angle moves towards a more direct position over the northern hemisphere. Spring will happen, it’s only a matter of time now.”

It’s one of those days when you have sunshine to the south and more clouds to the north. Sun sometimes peaks through the clouds.Β Mercury reads aroundΒ 25 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a west-southwest breeze at 5 mph. Snow showers today with a high around 35 later.

Running a bit late for the express bus this morning, by the time I got out the door, so I walked about a mile down to Town Hall and caught the local down there. It wasn’t as nice the express bus into the city, but at least I got to go for a walk. Not a bad walk this morning either. Certainly not spring like, but with the Ground Hog’s decision, we will have six plus more weeks to see when spring comes.

Eventually things will thaw out.Β I don’t know what the Ground Hog really means in the grand scheme of things, meteorologists tell us that he is only right about 1/3rd of the time. In a month the average high will be 40 degrees, and sometimes we get March thaws. Other times we get big blizzards. We will see, but it would be fun to get camping. I miss having fires and getting to burn stuff.

Bought some fertilizer for my Christmas cactus whose leaves has gotten increasingly red from a lack of potassium. Or so the Internet tells me. I don’t know shit about fertilizer but the label at the bottle I got from Walmart seem to suggest I made a good choice. It’s the kind you spread on the soil and apply water. Hopefully this will bring life to the plant and make it bloom once again for Easter.

This evening, the sun will set at 5:11 pm with dusk around 5:41 pm, which is 1 minutes and 19 seconds later than yesterday. Today will have 10 hours and 4 minutes of daylight, an increase of 2 minutes and 25 seconds over yesterday. We are now a bit over ten hours of daylight. While I’ve noticed that in the morning, it’s really noticeable in the evening down at the bus stop. I like it not being pitch black when I go home from work.

Tonight will have a chance of snow showers, mainly before 10pm. Partly cloudy, with a low of 17 degrees at 5am. One degree above normal. West wind around 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. In 2016, it got down to 30 degrees with periods of rain. The record low of -18 occurred back in 1955.

Looking ahead to days with nicer weather, there are 17 weeks until Start of June when the sun will be setting at 8:27 pm with dusk at 9:01 pm (Daylight Savings Time). On that day in 2016, we had partly cloudy skies and temperatures between 85 and 57 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 74 degrees. We hit a record high of 94 back in 1918.

February 2, 2017 Morning

“The Ground Hog failed us again. Six more weeks of winter. I hate Ground Hogs. Don’t worry, there is already more snow blowing in on this cold and gray winter morning.” 

Good morning! Ground Hog Day. Overcast and twenty seven. There is a south-southwest breeze at 5 mph. More sun later. The skies will clear around 3 pm.

Today will have a chance of snow showers, mainly after 10am. Partly sunny, with a high of 35 degrees at 2pm. Three degrees above normal. Southwest wind 5 to 15 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. A year ago, we had partly sunny skies and a high of 46 degrees. That year the Ground Hog didn’t see his shadow. The record high of 53 was set in 1981. 11.9 inches of snow fell back in 2015.