Good morning! Happy Tuesday.  Today 52 years ago was the Gulf of Tonkin incident that got us fully involved in the Vietnam War. But for today in 2016, the dark clouds are lifting for partly cloudy skies and 68 degrees in Delmar. There is a east-northeast breeze at 5 mph. The dew point is 64 degrees.

Today will continue to have a chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high of 78 degrees at 2pm. Four degrees below normal. East wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. Maximum dew point of 64 at 8am. It will drop throughout the day. The record high of 97 was set in 1975. The sun will set at 8:13 pm with dusk around 8:44 pm, which is 1 minutes and 12 seconds earlier than yesterday. Today will have 14 hours and 23 minutes of daylight, a decrease of 2 minutes and 14 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be partly cloudy, with a low of 60 degrees at 5am. One degrees below normal. Light southeast wind. Maximum dew point of 64 at 7pm. The record low of 44 occurred back in 1976.

0.1 inch of rain expected between Tuesday 8am and Tuesday 7pm. 0.2 inch of rain expected between Friday 8pm and Saturday 7am. Within the next four days, a total of 0.3 inches of rain is expected.We have some muggy weather coming up. Thursday 3pm – Thursday 9pm. Maximum temperature will be 86 degrees, a heat index reaching 88, and a maximum dew point of 66. Friday 11am – Saturday 1pm. Maximum temperature will be 86 degrees, a heat index reaching 88,

There are 2 weeks until Altamont Fair Opens when the sun will be setting at 7:54 pm with dusk at 8:24 pm. Those days are really getting shorter now. The average high temperature is 81 degrees, with a record high of 97 in 1936.

Besides the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964, a lot of history happened today… 

Today in 1937, the Marihuana Tax Act was passed, which would enact a federal ban on the possession and sale of the odorous weed that people like to burn and eat to get high. The ban is widely regarded to be racist, designed to target Mexicans who supposedly smoked it in greater numbers. Donald Trump probably likes this law.

And in 1937, Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard write a letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging him to begin the Manhattan Project to develop a nuclear weapon. It would lead to the horrors we know of the nuclear age.

I’m thinking increasingly about heading out to Schoharie County this weekend and spending the hot weekend days at Burnt-Rossman State Forest and the Mine Kill State Park. It would be fun to spend more time in the sun and swimming, and doing some fishing in the Mine Kill Reservoir. I think I would leave early Saturday, so I don’t have to deal with traffic driving downtown in the Cesspool on Friday, and so I can get my propane tank refilled.

There are few people besides wilderness advocates who tick me off to no end. I just hate their smug attitudes as they lock up the public lands for ideological purposes and promote bad management policies.

Good morning! Happy Tuesday on this second day of August. Mostly cloudy and 66 degrees in Delmar. There is a east-northeast breeze at 5 mph. The dew point is 64 degrees.

Today will have scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 11am.The rain from last night has mostly pulled off to the southeast. Mostly cloudy, with a high of 78 degrees at 2pm. Four degrees below normal. Some clearing expected later as we head into the evening. East wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. Maximum dew point of 64 at 7am. The record high of 97 was set in 1975.