December 24, 2017 Evening

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Happy Christmas Eve! Another week from now we will be toasting the end of the year. I can’t believe it’s almost already 2018. Mostly cloudy and around freezing in Westerlo. There is a northeast breeze at 7 mph. Snow then clearing tomorrow around 3 pm.

Tonight will snow, mainly after midnight. Low of 27 degrees at 9pm. Nine degrees above normal. Northeast wind 6 to 8 mph becoming southeast after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible. In 2016, we had light drizzle in the evening, remaining overcast into the early morning. It got down to 21 degrees. The record low of -22 occurred back in 1969.

Tonight will have a Waxing Crescent Moon with 38% illuminated with the moon setting at 10:37 pm. The moon will rise tomorrow at 11:46 am. The First Quarter Moon will be tomorrow with mostly clear skies. The is on Wednesday night. The sun will rise at 7:23 am with the first light at 6:51 am, which is 23 seconds later than yesterday. Tonight will have 14 hours and 56 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 17 seconds over last night.

Christmas Day will snow, mainly before 10am. Areas of blowing snow after 9am. High of 32 degrees at 12pm. One degrees below normal. Windy, with a west wind 10 to 20 mph increasing to 21 to 31 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 55 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible. A year ago, we had light rain in the morning, which became light drizzle by afternoon. The high last year was 43 degrees. The record high of 66 was set in 1889. 19.2 inches of snow fell back in 2002.

People complain a lot about the TRUMP but at least he’s giving us a White Christmas.  Make Christmas White Again! 
I considered going out camping tonight, but with the snow coming and Christmas dinner, I decided put off camping until at least next week. I just don’t know how my tent would hold up with all that snow coming, even if it would be a pretty evening in the wilderness. I also don’t think I would want to worry about digging out my truck or dealing with icy roads on Christmas Day, especially with reduced plowing for the holiday. Maybe tomorrow at a local state forest, depending on how early the snow stops but I doubt it. Then New Years Day is the next best chance to get back out for a night in the wilderness. 

I’m am at my parents house for Christmas Eve dinner with my sister and niece. Then I will head home before the snow. Maybe I should get some Christmas lights out of my truck. Get a little festive. Haha. I haven’t any holiday decorating yet. I guess I could also just turn my LED strip red and green. 

My LED driver is finally put together although I do have to work out some of the bugs in the dimmer code as it seems the channels are swapped somewhere in the code.  I am hoping to fix that tonight. Then I just got build the light fixtures maybe on Monday once I can get to the hardware store to buy some parts and a hot glue gun. Once this project is done the next thing I will build is a sign using addressable LEDs. 

Looking ahead, next Sunday is New Years Eve when the sun will be setting at 4:32 pm with dusk at 5:03 pm. On that day in 2016, we had snow, cloudy skies and temperatures between 37 and 19 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 32 degrees. We hit a record high of 61 back in 1895.

Right now, a split verdict on next weekend. Saturday, a chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 16. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New Years Eve, mostly sunny, with a high near 15. Typical average high for the weekend is 32 degrees.

In four weeks on January 21 the sun will be setting at 4:56 pm, which is 28 minutes and 9 seconds later then tonight. In 2017 on that day, we had drizzle, mist, mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 53 and 38 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 30 and 14 degrees. The record high of 61 degrees was set back in 2006.

Looking ahead, New Years Eve is in 1 week, National Hug Day is in 4 weeks, Winnie the Pooh Day is in 8 weeks and April Fools Day and Easter is in 14 weeks.