December 23, 2020 Morning
Good morning! Happy Festivus π! I don’t own a colored television πΊ but I know about that holiday from interwebs. Honestly, I think I prefer bacon π₯ day. Next Wednesday is Bacon Day π₯. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve π Mostly sunny and 24 degrees in Delmar, NY. πCalm wind. Quite a nice sunny morning for early winter. Not April yet. There are 11 inches of snow on the ground. β οΈMelting fast, half as much snow as a week ago. Sidewalks are finally plowed and mostly free of snow and ice. β Things will start to thaw out at around 1 pm. π‘οΈ
Even with the weak sun angle π the sun’s warmth is pretty good. I like how I am finally able to do my walks πΆπ» without the danger of the narrow road shoulder or falling on the ice.
Today will have increasing clouds β, with a high of 35 degrees at 2pm. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around December 19th. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 50 degrees. The record high of 64 was set in 1990. 8.8 inches of snow fell back in 1947.β.
I didn’t get to the store π¬ yesterday, because I had a work project come in and then the landlord was blocking the driveway for a while with his truck while working on the other unit. π New neighbors again. π I did end up going down to the library π and working down there for a while but it cold β and I got chilled through so I ended up going home. 𧣠Sat at home by the heater, reading π until around nine o’clock then went for the evening walk.
Solar noon π is at 11:55 am with sun having an altitude of 24Β° from the due south horizon (-46.9Β° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 13.5 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour π starts at 3:41 pm with the sun in the southwest (230Β°). πΈ The sunset is in the west-southwest (238Β°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:27 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 26 seconds with dusk around 4:58 pm, which is 34 seconds later than yesterday. π At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Gibbous π Moon in the southeast (131Β°) at an altitude of 41Β° from the horizon, 251,792 miles away. π The best time to look at the stars is after 5:35 pm. At sunset, look for mostly cloudy skies β and temperatures around 34 degrees. There will be a south-southeast breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 3 minutes of daytime, an increase of 8 seconds over yesterday.
Tonight will be mostly cloudy π₯, with a low of 30 degrees at 9pm. 12 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around November 23rd. South wind 10 to 13 mph. In 2019, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 25 degrees. The record low of -15 occurred back in 1989.
It’s going to be a cold but sunny weekend. β I am still thinking about heading north on Christmas π€Άπ» Day but I’m watching the forecast. I might go that Saturday but winter camping is a lot of work so I’d rather go two nights. βΊ Going to cold enough up north that the snow shouldn’t be wet and melting but I won’t go far off the asphalt due to the ground being very soft.
A picture perfect weekend on tap. π Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 29. Sunday, sunny, with a high near 34. Typical average high for the weekend is 33 degrees.
As previously noted, next Wednesday is Bacon Day π₯ when the sun will be setting at 4:31 pm with dusk at 5:03 pm. On that day in 2019, we had drizzle and temperatures between 39 and 34 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 32 degrees. We hit a record high of 53 back in 1984.
Police still shielding disciplinary records in New York
In the Syracuse suburb of Manlius, police transparency carries a hefty price tag.
In June, the Manlius Police Department received an open-records request from MuckRock, a nonprofit news site. The request sought documents detailing any allegations of misconduct against current or former officers and any discipline the department imposed.
The department replied with a bill. For $47,504.
Six months ago, New York lawmakers and Gov. Andrew Cuomo repealed Section 50-a of the state Civil Rights Law, a once-obscure provision that had been used to shield police disciplinary records from public view for decades.
NPR
That raises concerns about the long-term health of a sector that generally operates on thinner margins and has less financial cushion.
Pantuso estimates that 85% of the 100,000 people who work in the bus industry have been laid off or furloughed — in most cases since March.
It's not just long-haul services like Greyhound that are limping. Traffic on commuter lines that ordinarily ferry workers to and from the suburbs has also dried up, since many people are working from home.