February 14, 2017 Night

“It was a pretty good Valentines Day. Fairly quiet but what needed to get done got done. Off to bed shortly. Hump Day tomorrow. Possibly quick inch or two of snow tomorrow. So be it. Hopefully it will melt enough by the weekend so I don’t dig out my truck too much.” 

Good evening! Mostly cloudy and 30 degrees in Delmar. There is a south breeze at 8 mph. After a fairly sunny afternoon today we will have some clouds until Friday around 1 am.

Tonight will have a slight chance of snow before 4am, then a slight chance of snow after 5am. Mostly cloudy, with a low of 29 degrees at 5am. Nine degrees above normal. South wind around 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2016, it got down to -4 degrees with periods of fog and rain and snow. The record low of -22 occurred back in 1943.

Waning Gibbous Moon tonight with 73% illuminated. The Last Quarter Moon is on Saturday night with partly cloudy skies expected. The Full β€œWorm” Moon is on Sunday, March 12th. The sun will rise at 6:51 am with the first light at 6:22 am, which is 1 minutes and 23 seconds earlier then yesterday. Tonight will have 13 hours and 23 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 43 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have a chance of snow before 10am, then a chance of rain and snow. Cloudy, with a high of 36 degrees at 11am. One degree above normal. South wind 6 to 8 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. A year ago, we had fog, rain, snow and a high of 20 degrees. The record high of 55 was set in 2006. 9 inches of snow fell back in 1894.

Still the weekend forecast looks quite nice. Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 38. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 49.Typical average high for the weekend is 35 degrees.

In four weeks on March 14 the sun will be setting at 7:01 pm (Daylight Savings Time), which is 1 hour and 34 minutes later then tonight. In 2016 on that day, we had rain and temperatures between 47 and 40 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 43 and 25 degrees. The record high of 75 degrees was set back in 1946.

Looking ahead, Spring is in 5 weeks, Average High is 50 is in 6 weeks, Good Friday is in 2 months, Tax Day is in 9 weeks, Mother’s Day is in 3 months, Average High is 70 is in 13 weeks, Flag Day is in 4 months and Independence Day is in 20 weeks.

Why do we no longer use $1,000 bills?

Why do we no longer use $1,000 bills?

I wish they would do away with the $100 bill. I occasionally get them at work, and they are a pain to deal with. 90% of currency I keep in my wallet is $1 bills, because they are most useful. I occassionally have a $5 or $10, or maybe a few $20 when i am on a road trip, but these days plastic is much easier, as you don't deal with change.

February 14, 2017 9 AM

“We are working our way into the second gear of the week. I think the synchromesh is all but gone but after all these years, I’m good enough at matching the engine rpms, so it’s not really necessary. Maybe in my younger years, I should have been easier on the transmission. ” 

26 degrees on our way up to 31 degrees on this Valentine’s Day. More sun later which should make the skies and land less bleak. But still about four degrees below normal. Might be a nice sunset if you bundle up. 

The sun will set at 5:27 pm with dusk around 5:55 pm, which is 1 minute and 18 seconds later than yesterday. Today will have 10 hours and 35 minutes of daylight, an increase of 2 minutes and 41 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of snow showers, mainly after 2am. Mostly cloudy, with a low of 29 degrees at 7pm. Nine degrees above normal. South wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. In 2016, it got down to -4 degrees with periods of fog and rain and snow. The record low of -22 occurred back in 1943.

There is a car that crashed into the snow bank at Morton and Delaware. Doesn’t look like it’s damaged but it’s causing minor delays at the intersection. It looks like the motorist took the intersection too wide and got hung up on the snowbank. 

As previously noted, there are 5 weeks until Spring when the sun will be setting at 7:09 pm with dusk at 7:37 pm (Daylight Savings Time). On that day in 2016, we had snow and temperatures between 46 and 32 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 46 degrees. We hit a record high of 78 back in 1921.

Today in AD 278 St. Valentine was beheaded.

Today in AD 278 St. Valentine was beheaded.

"Under the rule of Claudius the Cruel, Rome was involved in many unpopular and bloody campaigns. The emperor had to maintain a strong army, but was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues. Claudius believed that Roman men were unwilling to join the army because of their strong attachment to their wives and families.

To get rid of the problem, Claudius banned all marriages and engagements in Rome. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret.

When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. Valentine was arrested and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off. The sentence was carried out on February 14, on or about the year 270."