Good morning! Happy Thursday. Light snow and 18 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a north-northwest breeze at 9 mph. The current wind chill is 2. 

The roads are somewhat greasy heading downtown, the bus driver is going with due caution. It seems like today’s snow is particularly slick, so be careful if you are motoring. Alas, it’s only going to get colder and snowier as the day progresses with extreme cold tomorrow through the weekend. 

Only 75 days remain until the first day of calendar spring!

Today will snow. Areas of blowing snow after 1pm. High of 23 degrees at 3pm. Eight degrees below normal. North wind 9 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible. A year ago, we had mist in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 44 degrees. The record high of 64 was set in 1950. 8.8 inches of snow fell back in 2003. I don’t expect to break that record today as the Nor’Easter is tracking the coast. 

The sun will set at 4:36 pm with dusk around 5:07 pm, which is 57 seconds later than yesterday. At sunset, look for light snow and conditions and 23 degrees. The wind chill around sunset will be 9. Breezy, 18 mph breeze from the northwest with gusts up to 31mph. Today will have 9 hours and 10 minutes of daytime, a decrease of one minute over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of snow before midnight, then a slight chance of snow showers between midnight and 1am. Areas of blowing snow. Cloudy, with a low of 3 degrees at 6am. 12 degrees below normal. Maximum wind chill around -16 at 6am; Blustery, with a northwest wind 16 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 33 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible. In 2017, we had mostly clear skies. It got down to 19 degrees. The record low of -24 occurred back in 1904.

So winter is back. Not that it ever went anywhere. In recent years with the warning climate, I’ve forgotten what a real Albany winter is like. Whether or not you believe in science, I can you both based on the records and personal experiences  that in recent winters they haven’t been so cold and snowy. Whether or not you believe the Mercedes drivers doctors in their white coats, chain smoking cigarettes will likely lead to premature death. But they are so pleasurable smoke. I mean, who doesn’t like burning fossil fuels and all the cheap energy services they provide us, even if they are killing us slowly just like every drag on the cigarette. 

Lately I’ve been following more of the bushcrafting, prepper, off-grid and homesteading groups to learn more about their communities and learn more about sustainable living, away from the plastic, abstract, fake and generally unsustainable society we live in today. I guess centralized services are more efficient on a per capita basis but they are sure ugly too. 

A lot of the prepper types are definitely really southern, very suburban and conservative. Most probably live in large suburban tract housing, McManisons and the alike that are deeply tied to the grid, and urban services like garbage and sewage removal. I laugh when they are bitching about the shock of losing municipal electric and the heat provided by the electric baseboard heat or electric powered gas furnace. But how can you be a prepper if you struggle to survive a few days without electricity supplied by vulnerable power lines from a large, highly technical coal burning fossil plant? A prepper lifestyle should prioritize conservation of energy and sourcing of it from fuel sources that aren’t dependent on vulnerable wires and centralized facilities. I know I would be screwed if we lost power for a long time, although I guess I could use my propane heater temporarily. Wood and solar heating eventually though, and maybe stored on site propane for hot water and the stove. The woodstove could heat should I run out of propane. That said, I’m not worried about SHTF right away as modern society is fairly wealthy, and while it might be fracture critical in its infrastructure, we have a lot of money to rebuild and different regions of the country are unlikely to be impacted the same way by a disaster. Wasteful yes, but survivable for now, probably. 

There are 5 months until Independence Day when the sun will be setting at 8:36 pm with dusk at 9:10 pm (Daylight Savings Time).