February 24, 2017 Night

Good evening! Partly cloudy and 63 degrees in Albany. There is a south breeze at 9 mph. The dew point is 52 degrees. Did I mention that it is February and we are talking about the dew point? 

After work I went to Center Square Pub then hung out on a stoop on State Street until well after 8 eight with the regulars. Beautiful evening, you could even see the stars downtown. When I got home, sat on my tailgate for an hour or so eating dinner and looking up at the stars. 

Never got around to clean out the bed of my truck or the refrigerator so I’ll probably skip the transfer station for another week and just clean out the truck this weekend and pile the extra bottles and cans in the bed. The actual trash can stay in the cans, especially if I free space by putting bottles in the truck. I should be home next weekend, at least Saturday morning, and I don’t envision camping at least for a few more weeks. I really don’t make that much trash that it’s a big deal one way or another. 

I opened up more windows at home tonight including putting one of the screens in the windows because it was a bit warm upstairs and I wanted more fresh air tonight. Only getting down to 56, which is summer night. Still a few snow banks around but not that much. 

Tonight will be mostly cloudy, with a low of 56 degrees at 6am. Only 36 degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 52 at 10pm. South wind 6 to 9 mph. In 2016, it got down to 33 degrees with periods of fog and rain and snow. The record low of -14 occurred back in 1914.

Waning Crescent Moon tonight with 9% illuminated. The moon will rise around 4:24 am. The New Moon is on Sunday night with partly cloudy skies expected. The Full β€œWorm” Moon is on Sunday, March 12th. The sun will rise at 6:36 am with the first light at 6:08 am, which is 1 minutes and 34 seconds earlier then yesterday. Tonight will have 12 hours and 55 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 50 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 3pm. High of 61 degrees at 1pm. 31 degrees above normal. But cold compared to the 74 degrees of today. Maximum dew point of 52 at 6am. Not too humid. Breezy, with a south wind 14 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 34 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. A year ago, we had fog, rain, snow and a high of 58 degrees. The record high of 67 was set in 1976. 16.8 inches of snow fell back in 1966.

Tomorrow I’m off for dad’s breakfast birthday early. Then I’ll come home and do some much needed cleaning. I will finish my taxes, clean out the truck and put the bottles in can’t fit outside in the bed of my truck for next week. The more I put off, the longer until the next time I have to go. 

In four weeks on March 24 the sun will be setting at 7:12 pm (Daylight Savings Time), which is 1 hour and 33 minutes later then tonight. In 2016 on that day, we had rain and temperatures between 59 and 33 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 48 and 29 degrees. The record high of 69 degrees was set back in 1976. Which is much colder than the 74 degrees of today. 

Looking ahead, St. Patrick’s Day is in 3 weeks, Good Friday is in 7 weeks, Arbor Day is in 9 weeks, Cinco de Mayo is in 10 weeks and Memorial Day Weekend is in 13 weeks.

Good night. We may have colder weather for all those upcoming holidays. 

February 24, 2017 Afternoon

Good afternoon!Β I just went out for a walk this afternoon during lunch, and it is a beautiful day. We have bright blue skies, and temperatures and the Albany International Airport recorded a temperature ofΒ 72 degrees at 1:51 PM in Albany.

Today marks the first ever 70 degree day in February !!

The mercury could even push up to 73 degrees at the airport by later.Β The former record high for today was 65, set in 1985. The record high for the month of February is 69 degrees, which was set yesterday.Β We are 37 degrees above normal today.

The sun will set at 5:39 pm with dusk around 6:07 pm, which is 1 minutes and 16 seconds later than yesterday. At sunset, look for partly clear conditions and 68 degrees. The dew point will be 54 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 11 mph with gusts up to 21 mph.

Should be a very pleasant evening.

February 24, 2017 8 AM Update

Already warming up quickly with temperatures aroundΒ 51 degrees in Delmar, NY. Otherwise fairly cloudy and damp but no rain yet. Foggy heading into the downtown. Β Heading up to 68 degrees later which will once again break the day’s record high of 65 degrees in 1985 and it will be February’s second warmest February day after the record breaking 69 degrees on February 23, 2017. 30 plus degrees above normal.

The Normans Kill is roaring along with all the snow melt.Β 

The sun will set at 5:39 pm with dusk around 6:08 pm, which is 1 minute and 16 seconds later than yesterday. Today will have 11 hours and 2 minutes of daylight, an increase of 2 minutes and 50 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a slight chance of showers after 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low of 55 degrees at 4am. 35 degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 53 at 9pm. South wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2016, it got down to 33 degrees with periods of fog and rain and snow. The record low of -14 occurred back in 1914.

This evening I have to clean out the refrigerator and get the bottles, cans, and trash into the back of my pickup truck. I want to run to the transfer station before I go to dad’s birthday breakfast in Clarksville. His breakfast is at 8:30 AM, so I have to get the transfer station as close to opening at 8. I am out of room on my outside trash cans. I probably should take some of the non-confidential, junk mail paper to recycling too, because I don’t think I will be out camping right away, and using it to start fires.

Tomorrow will be cooler, with showers expected both today and tomorrow. I wonder how long until it gets into the 80s, last year we hit 81 on March 9th. Last year was great — I was out camping at Burnt Rossman that following weekend, and it was quite pleasant. Not sure if that will be possible this year, as things may still be quite mucky with some icy and snow left.

I hope to the low voltage relay switch installed next weekend, although I don’t know if it will come that quickly as it may be backordered. I also need to get another high-amperage battery cable installed to wire it up. Once I am certain is working properly, I am going to get another Group 24 Marine battery from Walmart, and this time I with the relay, I shouldn’t be trashing it every two years by running it too low while camping.

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until St. Patrick’s Day when the sun will be setting at 7:05 pm with dusk at 7:33 pm (Daylight Savings Time). On that day in 2016, we had fog, rain, thunderstorm and temperatures between 61 and 38 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 45 degrees. We hit a record high of 75 back in 1990.

Percentage Of K-12 Students Living Below The Poverty Level

This map shows by census tract the percentage of K-12 students who are living in poverty.

Data Source:
POVERTY STATUS IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS BY SCHOOL ENROLLMENT BY LEVEL OF SCHOOL FOR THE POPULATION 3 YEARS AND OVER
Universe: Population 3 years and over for whom poverty status is determined more information
2011-2015 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates