Good evening! Blowing snow and 26 degrees in Delmar, NY as the Blizzard of 2017 continues. Breezy, 23 mph breeze from the north with gusts up to 37 mph. The current wind chill is 10. I just back from shoveling and when your working outside and properly dressed it’s not too bad. The skies will clear Thursday around 11 am.

Dug my door and truck out for a second time this evening. If I wasn’t bored as shit, I could have avoided doing that but I didn’t want my truck to get too buried and I wanted to keep my doorway as clear as possible for tomorrow. I’m hoping to just need a quick shoveling out for my come Saturday. Snowbanks on my driveway are over five foot. 

Not having my laptop or Internet at home I was pretty bored. I left my laptop at work because I went to the Brooklyn Night reception and honestly I didn’t need it at home. I couldn’t envision my office closing as the first ten years I worked there that never happened before. Who would have thought they would cancel work on a session day? 

If my office had been open today, I would have made it to work and home fine. The Route 18 ran close to on time this morning and kept running through evening. CDTA cut the handful of neighborhood routes that run after 6:30, but is going to run the trunk routes including 18 all evening. No South End or Glenmont service for any buses this evening after 6:30, the roads must be really bad down there. 

While it was a winter day with a lot of snow, I think the blizzard warnings were very overrated. We had some wind, it was fairly cold and the snow piled up but there never was a whiteout in Albany. You never know. It could have been a hell of a lot worse. State government could have operated today, although it would have been a challenging commute for those living in outlying areas. I guess living on a trunk line bus means I have easy access to work even in adverse conditions. Those newer buses are a lot better in the snow then the old ones that lacked traction control and had trouble with fish tailing and getting stuck easier. I think Albany does makes plowing the State Street Hill and Madison Avenue Hill a greater priority then in years past. 

Tonight will snow. Widespread blowing snow, mainly before midnight. Low of 17 degrees at 5am. Eight degrees below normal. Blustery, with a northwest wind 16  to 23 mph, with gusts as high as 37 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible. In 2016, it got down to 39 degrees under cloudy skies. The record low of 1 occurred back in 1993.

Waning Gibbous Moon tonight with 84% illuminated. The moon will rise around 8:05 pm. The Last Quarter Moon is on Monday night with mostly cloudy skies expected. The Full “Pink” Moon is in 4 weeks. The sun will rise at 7:07 am with the first light at 6:39 am, which is one minute and 44 seconds earlier than yesterday. Tonight will have 12 hours and 3 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 55 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have a chance of snow showers. Areas of blowing snow. Cloudy, with a high of 25 degrees at 3pm. 19 degrees below normal. Northwest wind 14 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible. A year ago, we had cloudy skies and a high of 58 degrees. The record high of 72 was set in 1989. 10.4 inches of snow fell back in 1916.

I have a lot of work to get done tomorrow in the office, so I need to catch a relatively early bus downtown, as there will certainly be some delays. But I think things will be fine but I will need my big boots. I imagine Delaware Avenue will still be a mess tomorrow and it will be narrow with the snow banks so the buses will be moving slowly. 

Despite all the snow, the weekend may not be a great weekend for cross country skiing. Saturday, snow likely before 2pm, then rain and snow likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 37. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Maybe not a washout. Sunday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 39.Typical average high for the weekend is 45 degrees. Still cold. 
In four weeks on April 11 the sun will be setting at 7:33 pm, which is 32 minutes and 7 seconds later then today. In 2016 on that day, we had rain and temperatures between 52 and 40 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 56 and 36 degrees. The record high of 82 degrees was set back in 2011. It could warm up quickly but hopefully not too quickly as I want those creeks running at an appropriate level for the opening of Trout Season. 

Looking ahead, Spring is Next Tuesday, Average High is 50 is in 2 weeks (that means blizzards are less likely), Good Friday is in 1 month, Tax Day is in 5 weeks, Mother’s Day is in 2 months, Average High is 70 is in 9 weeks, Flag Day is in 3 months, Independence Day is in 16 weeks, Election Day 2018 is in 86 weeks and Election Day 2020 is in 190 weeks.