I wonder if this means any new swimming pools will open up at State Parks near where I like to explore. More like shouting protestors and State Troopers swarming the Capitol complex. I kind of wish at this point I was moved to the new office to avoid all the craziness. But summer time at State Parks is on my mind, not the ice fog of today.

Good morning! Happy State of the State Day. 🏫 For me that just means avoid the Concourse and Capitol like the plague or risk crowds of people yelling you, probably about the Isreal and Palestine conflict which is on the other side of the world and I have nothing to do about. Ice fog from the snow and 20 degrees in Delmar. 🌫 Calm wind. There are 5 inches of snow on the ground. ☃ ️Things will start to thaw out at around noontime. 🌡️Then rain tonight.

Ironing my shirt and pants 🕴🏻getting ready for another session day. Drinking coffee ☕ and enjoying the very good pancakes 🥞 I made topped with frozen wild Maine blueberries 🫐, Greek yogurt and pure maple 🍁 syrup. Very tasty, I used more whole wheat flour 🌾 then oats in the mix with an egg, some milk, water and baking powder for fluffiness. I’m just now waiting for the inevitable blood sugar crash😔. Been a bit heavy on the carbs lately so I skipped making bread for now. 🍞 Maybe knead more tonight. I took salmon 🐟 out of the freezer for cooking tonight after work.

Today will have a chance of snow between noon and 3pm, then rain and snow. 🌧 High of 35 degrees at 3pm. Three degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 14th. Light southeast wind increasing to 11 to 16 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. The high last year was 36 degrees. The record high of 62 was set in 2008. 9.9 inches of snow fell back in 1953.❄

I like my early morning bike ride 🚲 and will head out at 6:45 again after it’s no longer pitch black. 🐮 I like seeing the cows and the mountains along Meads Road. It’s a good ride with the hills on Orchard Street, and while they were a bit icy yesterday, there was enough sand on them that I could maintain traction with my bike. 🌨 Not sure if tomorrow I’ll be able to ride to work, it’s not a session day but it depends on when the rain ☔ stops and how much snow is left on the rail trail. I guess I could take in city streets. 🚘 Going to certainly be mild by tomorrow morning but windy.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:03 pm with sun having an altitude of 25.2° from the due south horizon (-45.6° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 12.7 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:55 pm with the sun in the southwest (232°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (240°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:40 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 21 seconds with dusk around 5:11 pm, which is one minute and 2 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:47 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and snow 🌨 and temperatures around 35 degrees. Breezy, 16 mph breeze ⛅ from the southeast. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 19 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 19 seconds over today.

Tonight will rain, possibly mixed with snow, becoming all rain after 7pm. ☔ Temperature rising to around 49 by 4am. Windy, with a southeast wind 23 to 28 mph decreasing to 15 to 20 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 46 mph. 🌬️ Chance of precipitation is 100%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. In 2023, we had light snow in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 22 degrees. The record low of -13 occurred back in 1968.

I have my doubts about the evening walk. 🌧 That said, I didn’t bother bringing an umbrella to work this afternoon, as there is no reason to have an umbrella with that kind of wind. Just going to get wet waiting for the express bus. 🚌 It’s fine, I’ll head home, change into dry clothes, cook my salmon and brocolli 🐟 🥦 and whatever else I want for dinner, then knead the bread 🍞 and put it in the oven to rise.

Saturday looks to be quite wet.🌧️ Saturday, rain, mainly before 1pm. High near 48. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Then it turns cold for Sunday into MLK Day. ❄ Sunday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 31. Breezy. MLK Day, mostly cloudy, with a high of 33. Typical average high for the weekend is 33 degrees. Deep and dark of winter.

As previously noted, there are 2 weeks until National Cheese Lovers Day 🧀 when the sun will be setting at 4:58 pm with dusk at 5:27 pm. I like cheese but I enjoy it in moderation these days. But the good news is we are almost to the 5 pm sunset then. On that day in 2023, we had snow and temperatures between 34 and 30 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 32 degrees. We hit a record high of 64 back in 1906.