Good evening! Clear and 48 degrees in Delmar, drinking some beer that I just got from the store. Went fancy. Bud heavies in glass. Glass is colder and I’m not camping so it won’t break. Calm wind. I wish I was in the wilderness. Some ways I think it a mistake to stay home. At least I can sleep in on my staycation. I hear the spring peepers in the distance. Lots of stars. Air smells like silage or maybe manure from the farm down the street. Almost a sweet smell, hard to be bothered by it.
Went down to the park for a while. A pretty nice evening and it’s not dark until well after eight now. It could be a bit warmer and with more sun but those days are coming soon.
Definitely a nice evening, makes me wonder why I’m stuck at home, when my vacation started this evening. But with the rain coming Wednesday night into Thursday, and with my desire to go the Save the Pine Bush Dinner and hear metrologist Hugh Johnson speak, the trip was not to be. I’m still on the fence about taking a shorter weekend trip starting Friday through Sunday to the Adirondacks, but that’s something I’ll need to think about more. Weather doesn’t look that great this weekend and I’m worried about the mud, even in a well drained campsite off an asphalt road. But still an inch of rain in spring time will make a lot of muck.
I’m really kind of sad about missing out my trip to the North Country, but I realize it’s my choice to stay home — I have the days off — and I had no idea what my choice would have meant weather wise when I took the time off in March.
It’s really not a bad thing get away from work, as the last day I took off from work was November. Maybe I took a day off in December, but I can not recall. I might take off a Friday in May or June for a long weekend — it’s not something I’ve done in the past — but if we have some exceptionally nice weather, it would be nice to take a long weekend. I would still like to get up to the North Country, but I think that will have to wait until autumn. I have the time to use, there is no sense in going into work. I do plan to take some nice long weekends in summer, and maybe I can take a block of time off so that I can get up to the North Country mid-summer. With the latest DEC GIS data, I now know of a whole bunch new campsites that I didn’t know about in the past. It is really helpful.
I mean if I really wanted to, I could leave tomorrow morning. The forecast for the next five days has improved somewhat, and there is nothing keeping me home, except for thinking it’s stupid idea to be camping out on cold, damp, rainy days in April when i can be at home in my warm bed. I have camped plenty of times in shitty weather, but I don’t really enjoy it that much when I know nice warm days are not that far out in the future. It seems especially stupid to drive five to six hours to outside of Massena to spend my days huddled under a tarp, watching the rain pour down, when I could just be at home, laying on bed, or going out fishing locally. There is so much summer ahead, to be wasting my gas and camping supply money on camping in the cold, very cold rain. I just remember that Memorial Day Weekend 2013 at Moose River Plains. It rained so much that weekend, it was awful.
Still thinking about hitting up a trout stream tomorrow, which fishing should be good, as water levels have receeded a bit, and it will be cloudy. I do need to get some night crawlers but both Stewarts and gas station next door to where I live, sells them, so it’s not a problem. Catskill Creek or Rensselaerville. Based on the latest forecast, it looks like the rain will hold off to late. Maybe I’ll also do some hiking at a local state forest, or maybe visit one of the river preserves, which should all be greening up with the warmer weather of recent. I also look forward to hearing retired NOAA metrologist speak on climate change at the Save the Pine Bush dinner.
Tonight will have increasing clouds, with a low of 40 degrees at 5am. One degree above normal. Light and variable wind becoming south 8 to 13 mph in the evening. In 2016, it got down to 44 degrees with periods of rain. The record low of 18 occurred back in 1875.
Last Quarter Moon tonight with 51% illuminated. The moon will rise around 12:02 am. The Full “Flower” Moon is on Wednesday, May 10th. The sun will rise at 6:07 am with the first light at 5:37 am, which is one minute and 34 seconds earlier than yesterday. Tonight will have 10 hours and 24 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 42 seconds over last night.
Tomorrow will have a chance of showers, mainly after 5pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high of 55 degrees at 3pm. Five degrees below normal. South wind 13 to 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. Not a big washout tomorrow but still cool. More rain in the evening. A year ago, we had rain and a high of 65 degrees. The record high of 92 was set in 1976. 8.8 inches of snow fell back in 1983.
Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 58. Sunday, a chance of showers after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 57. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Typical average high for the weekend is 61 degrees.
I think on Thursday I will decide on my weekend plans. A lot will depend on how heavy it rains and what the final weekend forecast looks like. Right now it seems okay but if we are going to have exceptionally nice weather the following week, I might stay home so I can participate in the March for Science and save my gas and supply money for next week. If I decide to head north, I’ll go grocery shopping for camp supplies on Thursday and get packed for early departure Friday. I don’t mind setting up camp in the rain if it’s followed by a nice evening and weekend. I will bring my heater to keep my butt warm.
May this year may prove difficult to head out of town because I have a number of events I have to go to, and I’m going to be house sitting for my parents a few of the week. It’s black fly season too which isn’t always the most pleasant in the Adirondacks. Hopefully summer will come fast but in June I will likely be on call and will have to plan accordingly for camping. Brookfield is always fun and I have good cell service there, although the campsites are close enough that I have to keep the music down a bit and be careful what I burn.
In four weeks on May 16 the sun will be setting at 8:12 pm, which is 30 minutes and 57 seconds later then tonight. In 2016 on that day, we had rain and temperatures between 59 and 39 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 70 and 47 degrees. The record high of 89 degrees was set back in 1991.
I’m back to thinking about permanently mounting the solar panel on my truck cap. It looks like the mounting hardware for the Yakima racks is relatively inexpensive and I can bolt the panel directly to the tracks. Wind resistance isn’t as big of an issue as I first thought, so I’m reconsidering it. I would love to be able to top off my accessory battery just by parking on a sunny spot. I have joined a Facebook group on this topic and look forward to learning more in the coming months.
Still enjoying the Easter candy that my parents got me. I never buy candy for myself so it’s a treat. I do sometimes get Stewart’s Ice Cream of the Week during the summer and enjoy roadside stands on vacation but I generally prefer things like corn cereal and frozen blueberries as an evening snack. I think that’s how I avoided cavities despite not going to the dentist since turning 21.
Looking ahead, Average High is 70 is in 4 weeks, Father’s Day is in 2 months, Independence Day is in 11 weeks, Election Day 2018 is in 81 weeks and Election Day 2020 is in 185 weeks.
