Short Wave : NPR

The Fight Over The Future Of Natural Gas : Short Wave : NPR

A growing number of cities are looking at restricting the use of gas in new buildings to reduce climate emissions. But some states are considering laws to block those efforts, with backing from the natural gas industry. Today, NPR science correspondent Dan Charles takes us on a tour of three cities where this is playing out. 

March 4, 2021 7 AM Update

Sunset Times …

  • Albany – 5:48 pm
  • Allegheny National Forest – 6:09 pm, 21 minutes later then Albany
  • Blenheim, NY – 5:51 pm, 3 minutes later then Albany
  • Dolly Sods, WV – 6:13 pm, 25 minutes later then Albany
  • Fox Lair – 5:49 pm, 1 minutes later then Albany
  • Kelly Stand, VT – 5:43 pm, 5 minutes earlier then Albany
  • Massena – 5:51 pm, 3 minutes later then Albany
  • Moose River Plains – 5:51 pm, 3 minutes later then Albany
  • Montauk – 5:42 pm, 6 minutes earlier then Albany
  • Jamestown – 6:10 pm, 22 minutes later then Albany
  • Staten Island – 5:51 pm, 3 minutes later then Albany
  • Syracuse – 5:57 pm, 9 minutes later then Albany

Views of Harvey Mountain from Lean-To

March 4, 2021 Morning

Good morning! Happy Average High is 40 β˜€οΈ ! If anything, that’s a real sign of spring, although the weather is far below that right now. Six weeks to Tax Day πŸ’° . My taxes are mostly done, although I am still waiting on one more form which I have yet to get regarding my IRA. Partly cloudy and 33 degrees in Delmar, NY. β›… There is a north-northwest breeze at 8 mph. πŸƒ. Breeze is making it a bit cold. A few snow flurries around. ❄ There are 2 inches of snow on the ground. β˜ƒ ️Bigger piles around, still waiting for that big pile to melt on the driveway where I normally make my three-point turn.

Today will have a slight chance of snow showers before 8am. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny 🌞, with a high of 32 degrees with temperatures falling into the 20s by evening. Seven degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 5th. Northwest wind 8 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Kind of another chilly day. But definitely warmer next week. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 50 degrees. It was a nice day last year. The record high of 59 was set in 1919. 8.3 inches of snow fell back in 1971.❄

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:08 pm with sun having an altitude of 41.1Β° from the due south horizon (-29.7Β° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 6.9 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour πŸ… starts at 5:11 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (256Β°). πŸ“Έ The sunset is in the west (262Β°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:49 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 55 seconds with dusk around 6:16 pm, which is one minute and 13 seconds later than yesterday. πŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 6:50 pm. At sunset, look for mostly clear skies πŸŒ„ and temperatures around 27 degrees. The wind chill around sunset will be 14. β˜ƒοΈ Breezy, 18 mph breeze β›… from the northwest with gusts up to 30mph. Today will have 11 hours and 23 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 53 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌀, with a low of 15 degrees at 5am. Seven degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around February 5th. Maximum wind chill around 0 at 5am; Northwest wind around 16 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. In 2020, we had light rain in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 29 degrees. The record low of -12 occurred back in 1948.

Today in 1985, Food and Drug Administration approves a blood test for AIDS infection, used since then for screening all blood donations in the United States. 🩸 In 1917, Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first female member of the United States House of Representatives. πŸ‘©β€πŸ’ΌAnd in 1957, S&P 500 stock market index is introduced, replacing the S&P 90. πŸ“ˆ

It seems like the issue I had with the toilet 🚽 went away after I tightened up the bung under the float. Really had to wedge it in, came loose because it looks like the plumber didn’t tighten things up again. Hopefully it will be good for a few more weeks, or I’ll have to give the landlord another call. πŸ“ž I try to care of issues that I see myself in part because when my landlord fixes them, which he is usually good at doing, the fixes rarely last.

Cool this weekend with temperatures running 11 degrees below normal but otherwise sunny. πŸ˜ƒ Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 27. Northwest wind 8 to 13 mph. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 32. Typical average high for the weekend is 40 degrees.

I am still leaning towards going up North this weekend, 🧊 but I concede it looks like increasingly it’s going to be a cold weekend. πŸ• My real issue is how sunny it will be — I can dress warm and deal with the cold but if it’s going to be gray and cloudy the bulk of the weekend then maybe not. But I really kind of want to do a weekend in wilderness before the snow is gone and things get all soft and melted. πŸ”₯ It also would be nice to have a good roaring fire before the snow melts and I have to be more careful. Usually it’s not too bad where I like to camp in April but you know it never hurts to be safe.

🌹🌻🌼Only 16 days remain until the first day of calendar spring!🌹🌻🌼 Looking forward to nicer weather. It really tends to happen quite quickly once we get later into March. It might be fun to get away around Easter or at least some time in April, this way I can limit the actual amount of time I have to take off and work remotely with my phone and laptop.

One month πŸ“… from now will be Easter 🐰 when the sun will be setting at 7:25 pm with dusk at 7:53 pm (Daylight Savings Time). The average high temperature is 40 degrees, with a record high of 59 in 1919.