Snow flurries and 36 degrees this morning on the bus ride in. Most of the regulars are back on the bus this morning. Four degrees above normal. Going to be cloudy for most of the day with near constant temperatures, then some clearing for a while tonight, with a low of 26 degrees at 5am. Snow pushes in tomorrow, now they’re calling more for about four inches of snow locally. Maybe a quarter inch for the morning commute, with the worse roads around the evening commute. More of a nuisance then anything else.

Today we have the first 4:30 PM sunset in a while. Not that you will notice with the clouds making it look dark earlier.  Dusk tonight is around around 5:02 pm, which is 46 seconds later than yesterday. Today will have 9 hours and 5 minutes of daylight, an increase of 34 seconds over yesterday.

There are 9 weeks until March 1st when the sun will be setting at 5:46 pm with dusk at 6:14 pm. On that day in 2016, we had rain and temperatures between 38 and 21 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 39 degrees. We hit a record high of 61 back in 1991.

Last night I was watching the 1994 PBS special, Moon Shot about the Appollo missions, interviewing the original astronauts. It’s both amazing and sad that the United States went eight times to the moon between December 1968 and 1972 then abandoned it after four years. After 1972, man kind has never gone beyond low earth orbit 250 miles of the ground. The moon is around 250,000 miles away from the earth’s surface.

You can make the argument that the moon landing was fake, but it seems difficult to think that half a million Americans could be in on an conspiracy over flight to the moon. People like to talk and brag. The more likely explanation is that man kind got bored with going to the moon and with the inflationary times brought on by excessive government spending and the oil crisis it was no longer seen worth while. Each moon flight burned through half a million gallons of rocket fuel each launch. In a country that burns through 400 million gallons of oil a day  that isn’t much but it had to be seen as fuelish during the gas crisis. The moon is a boring wasteland of rock and human dumped space debris. 250 miles away from earth where the International Space Station is located gives man kind a much better view of the earth and its environment and gives man kind a chance to experience weightlessness and outer space like conditions.  So that’s what I’m thinking about this morning.

Heading home time on our final Tuesday of 2016. Drive carefully and cautiously you’ll make it home in due time and it won’t be that long. Traffic actually ain’t too bad tonight as is to be expected with schools closed and people taking the week off. Pretty quiet day at work but a few things came up throughout the day. Still feeling a little under the weather but not really sick. I’m sure I just breathed in some mold scrubbing last night. Or maybe it was the cold air from camping or seeing family over the holidays. God only knows. 

No blooms for the Christmas Cactus which effectively makes it late. The buds are getting bigger and redder so it’s only a matter of time before it blooms. I got to make sure to bring my camera to work tomorrow so I can get pictures. I’m hopeful it’s in full bloom before I leave Friday for the New Years Eve weekend. 

Breezy but mild this evening. Around 38 degrees under mostly cloudy skies. There is a 16 mph breeze from the west-northwest. The skies will clear tomorrow around 5 pm.

Tonight will have a chance of snow showers, mainly after 4am. Mostly cloudy, with a low of 29 degrees at 6am.  While that sounds cold, we are in the last week of December and the history books tell us that’s 12 degrees above normal. West wind 9 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. In 2015, it got down to 22 degrees with periods of fog and rain and snow. The record low of -14 occurred back in 1951.

Waning Crescent Moon tonight with 6% illuminated. The moon will rise around 5:16 am. The New Moon is tomorrow night with snow expected. Enjoy the snow not the stars tomorrow. 

Tomorrow will have a chance of snow showers, mainly before 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high of 38 degrees at 1pm. Six degrees above normal. West wind 7 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. A year ago, we had fog, rain, snow and a high of 36 degrees. The record high of 61 was set in 1982. 7 inches of snow fell back in 1967. Seems like we used to get a lot more snow back in the 1960s.

While New Years Day will be partly sunny clouds are expected to dominate through the long weekend. New Years Eve aka Saturday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 32. New Years Day will be partly sunny and 38. For the Monday we have off after the holiday, mostly cloudy and 37. Typical average high for the weekend is 32 degrees.

I might go hiking and camping up in the Adirondacks for the long weekend but we will see. Seems nice enough and I’d like to get away, more than just a local state forest. Of course lake effect may be an issue and I don’t want to drive on icy roads. 

In four weeks on January 24 the sun will be setting at 4:59 pm, which is 30 minutes later then tonight. In 2016 on that day, we had partly cloudy skies and temperatures between 29 and 9 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 31 and 14 degrees. The record high of 54 degrees was set back in 1999. It’s just cold during that time of year.