Albany’s Changing Climate

|

Many people think that the climate is warming generally in Albany or maybe that summer days are getting warmer in Albany. The opposite is actually true – in the past twenty years summers are colder then in the 1950s and 1960s. In contrast winters and especially springs are warmer than years past. 

Record Highs, 2000-2017 by Metrological Season

  • Winter (December – February), 16
  • Spring (March – May), 25
  • Summer (June – August), 3
  • Autumn (September – November) , 10

    Most Record Highs Set Per Year:

    • Since 1891: 1947 (9)
    • Since 1970: 1981/2012 (8 each)
    • Since 2000: 2012 (8)

    ‘I trapped 7 bobcats this winter’ – newyorkupstate.com

    |

    Catskills fur trapper can’t believe his luck: ‘I trapped 7 bobcats this winter’ – newyorkupstate.com

    Veteran Catskills-area trapper Shawn Coston had his best year ever trapping bobcat this winter, finishing the season last weekend with seven to his credit – a number that the state Department of Environmental Conservation says is “extremely rare.”

    Bobcats are elusive and “the (annual) average take per successful trapper hovers around 1.5,” said DEC spokeswoman Lori Severino. “According to DEC’s trapper survey, approximately 1,200 trappers pursued bobcats last season (estimate based on a subset of trappers surveyed). That season, there were 145 successful trappers, indicating that as many as 85 percent of trappers who targeted bobcat did not get one. Even if the survey overestimated the number of bobcat trappers, it’s still safe to say that a majority of trappers do not take a bobcat each season.”

    Woodhull Lake – A Place to Visit Again

    |

    I was thinking the other day it’s been six years since I’ve last been out to Woodhull Lake in the Black River Wild Forest It’s a nice, mostly wilderness reservoir that is accessible most of the way by a one lane gravel road.

    Roadside Camping at Site 5

    There are several roadside campsites along the two mile road, mostly very rustic and somewhat overgrown as they are lightly used.

    Wolf Lake Landing Road

    The lake is quiet, especially on weekdays, and often very placid and quite clear.

    Later in Evening On Lake

    There is a nice lean-to at Wolf Landing.

    Lean-To from Lake

    And it’s a nice hike back to Remsen Falls on Moose River.

    The Falls

    Good fishing on the reservoir, and you might even spot a deer or two.

    Doe and Fawn on Lake

    I’m thinking of getting back up there again this summer..

    Woodhull Lake

    NPR

    |

    Bernie Sanders Has Stuck To The Same Message For 40 Years : NPR

    There are many ways to describe Bernie Sanders: a democratic socialist, an independent senator, a Democratic presidential candidate. But the best adjective may just be: consistent. No matter how you label it, Sanders' worldview is locked in.

    Over 40 years, Sanders has built his political career on a very focused message about what he calls a "rigged economy."

    Now he's running for president, which typically means reacting to what's happening in the world, in real time. But even in the wake of terrorist attacks by ISIS, Sanders' primary focus is still where it's been since the 1970s.

    Coal

    |

    How dead is coal in New York?

    In November 2002, New York generated 2,100 gigawatt hours of electricity from coal.
    In November 2016, New York generated 22 gigawatt hours of electricity from coal.

    It’s been five and half years (July 2011) since the state has produced more then 1,000 gigawatt hours of electricity in any particular month from coal.

    We are down to two utility-scale power plants that burn coal, Kintigh Generating Station in Somerset, Niagara County (slated for retirement) and Cayuga Operating Station in Tompkins County, north of Ithaca (slated for conversation to natural gas).

    February 18, 2020 Morning

    |

    Good morning! Happy National Drink Wine Day 🍷! It’s pay day but I don’t drink wine unless I get it for free. I’m more of a Bud Heavy in an aluminum can next to a fire type guy. 🍻 Though as you push forty, drinking ain’t as much fun. Four weeks to St. Patrick’s Day 🍀. Cloudy and 28 degrees at the Elm Ave Park & Ride – CDTA. ☁ Not a session day so I can walk down to the Express bus. 🚍 There is a south-southeast breeze at 10 mph. 🍃. There is a inch of snow on the ground. ☃ ️Things will start to thaw out at around 10 am. 🌡️

    Today will have a chance of snow before 11am, then rain and snow likely between 11am and 1pm, then rain likely after 1pm. Cloudy 🌧, with a high of 40 degrees at 4pm. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 4th. South wind 9 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than one inch possible. A year ago, we had light snow in the morning, which became light snow by afternoon. The high last year was 26 degrees. The record high of 63 was set in 1981. 6.3 inches of snow fell back in 2000.❄

    Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:10 pm with sun having an altitude of 35.6° from the due south horizon (-35.2° vs. 6/21). The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:52 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (248°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (255°) starting at 5:28 pm and lasts for 3 minutes with dusk around 5:59 pm, which is one minute and 17 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:33 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 39 degrees. There will be a south-southeast breeze at 7 mph. Today will have 10 hours and 42 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 43 seconds over yesterday.

    Tonight will be scattered showers, mainly before 7pm. Cloudy, then gradually becoming partly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 30 degrees at 6am. 12 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 27th. South wind 5 to 15 mph becoming west after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2019, we had light snow in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 4 degrees. The record low of -7 occurred back in 1878.

    Tonight I want to run to the store 🏬, wash my truck 🚿 and then tomorrow morning get a hair cut 💇. Before it gets too long and shaggy like the emoji. 💈 I also need to drop off my jackets for dry cleaning. Then I have the Pine Bush dinner 🍲 on Wednesday.

    A picture perfect weekend on tap. 😎 Saturday, sunny, with a high near 40. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 45. Typical average high for the weekend is 36 degrees. I would like to get out of town this weekend but I am sure the forecast will change and they’re probably still a lot of snow around so that complicates things. ⛄

    🌹🌻🌼Only 30 days remain until the first day of calendar spring!🌹🌻🌼

    All I can say, is that spring at least as far as the calendar 📅 is concerned is just around the corner. But if course there can be snow in the Adirondacks until the black flies start biting in mid May. 🐜 The black flies have me thinking it would be almost more fun to camp up in Rensselaerville than the Adirondacks for Memorial Day Weekend.

    Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until St. Patrick’s Day 🍀 when the sun will be setting at 7:04 pm with dusk at 7:32 pm (Daylight Savings Time). On that day in 2019, we had mostly cloudy, snow showers and temperatures between 36 and 26 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 45 degrees. We hit a record high of 75 back in 1990.

    Approaching the Hunter Mountain Fire Tower