That said, it’s only expected to last for a few more days. But expect high heating bills and bone-chilling cold outside for a few more days before things warm up a bit and turn to rain for the second half of the week.

Good morning! Clear and 9 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌞 Breezy, ️20 mph breeze from the northwest 🌬 with gusts up to 36 mph 💨💨💨. The current wind chill is -10. There are 3 inches of snow on the ground. ☃ ️Things will start to thaw out at tomorrow around 2 pm. 🌡️

I can remember colder days, in years past, 🌡 but it’s been such a warm winter with El Nino and warming climate, I’m not used to feeling the cold or having the hit running so much. The electric blanket is nice and actually with the cold and heat running more, it seems warmer inside.

Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 21 degrees at 2pm. 11 degrees below normal. Maximum wind chill around -10 at 6am. Blustery, with a northwest wind 15 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 38 mph. A year ago, we had light snow in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 33 degrees. The record high of 61 was set in 2006. 7.2 inches of snow fell back in 1990.❄

Yesterday was much less of an ambitious then maybe I had first hoped 😴 though a lot of it was the cold and wind kept me indoors. I just get chilled through much quicker these days then I used to when I was younger. I also have only a 1/4 tank of gas left in my truck and 100 miles of fuel left ⛽ and want to make it through another week before fueling up again. But I had plans, but they were never implemented yesterday. Truth is after I got shopping, I got studying the GNU coreutils and especially the text-editing functions to help advance my new career at work, then it was cold and I decided to hide under the covers and take a nap after having a big pot of pea soup with stewing beef and carrots. 🥘

I did get Walmart and stocked up on $140 on groceries. 🛒 The $80 in groceries I bought last week really didn’t go that far and I didn’t want to risk running out this week before the end of the week. When I run out of fresh fruit and vegetables, 🥦 🍏 I too often find myself reaching for other sweets 🍬 and sugars — or for that matter carbs. The best thing to do is make sure my pantry is well stocked and remains stocked. Unlike many people, I’ve not had problems with things going bad — I eat plenty 😋 and a large portion of fruits and vegetables I buy are frozen.

I don’t necessarily buy that fresh fruits and vegetables are healthier or better then flash-frozen, the later are significantly more affordable. 🍓 The thing is I am running low on freezer space. Some due to how much ice blocks I have in freezer for camping 🧊 — which truth be told I don’t need right now  but I keep there for thermal mass or in case of power loss. But I figure if I use them up some older, maybe less healthy stuff, then it will save money and provide good eats. With inflation, every little bit helps. 💸 Sounds silly but it’s true.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:07 pm with sun having an altitude of 27.4° from the due south horizon (-43.4° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 11.6 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:11 pm with the sun in the southwest (236°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (243°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:54 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 15 seconds with dusk around 5:24 pm, which is one minute and 15 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Gibbous 🌔 Moon in the east (92°) at an altitude of 44° from the horizon, 239,204 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:59 pm. At sunset, look for sunny skies 🌃 and temperatures around 20 degrees. The wind chill around sunset will be 6. ☃️ There will be a northwest breeze at 15 mph with gusts up to 25mph. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 39 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 57 seconds over today.

This afternoon I am heading out to the folks house for Sunday dinner. 👪 I want to hike Bennett Hill this afternoon 💨 but every time I hear the wind gust up, my mind is changed. Maybe it’s best to just stay home and work on some various projects before going out to see the folks. Tomorrow will be warmer, I can go for a bike ride before work 🚲 or at least walk laps in the plaza before work. 🏃 And maybe an evening walk tonight, as the wind will hopefully die down this evening. Or at least tomorrow, though the rest of the week may be hard with rain coming in.

Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 11 degrees at 6am. Four degrees below normal. Maximum wind chill around 5 at 6pm; Northwest wind 6 to 11 mph becoming light west after midnight. In 2023, we had light snow in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 30 degrees. The record low of -20 occurred back in 1984.

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until Don’t Cry over Spilled Milk Day 🥛 when the sun will be setting at 5:22 pm with dusk at 5:50 pm. On that day in 2023, we had mostly sunny, snow showers and temperatures between 38 and 23 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 35 degrees. We hit a record high of 59 back in 1981.