Good morning! Happy Thursday. Four weeks to Spring 🌷. Ain’t that good news. It was cloudy to start out the day, now partly cloudy but clearing and 36 degrees in Delmar. ☁ There is a south breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. There are 2 inches of snow on the ground but melting fast. ☃ It looks like the ice storm they were threatening did not materialize to much, it’s already getting nicer out. Maybe not spring but warm enough to turn the heat back down. ️Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 11 pm.

Even on a dark mornings like today started out, ☁ the lights in my bedroom continue to be quite bright making it easier to get up and going. That said, by getting to bed at a proper time and then the earlier sunrise 🌅 makes it much easier to get out of bed. ☕ Waffles and coffee for breakfast, took a shower, walked down to the express bus.🚏

The severe weather turned out to be a bust. ☔Some rain coming home but the treated surfaces weren’t bad at all. This morning the roads were fine, and the sidewalks weren’t that slippery but I think they could have used a plow.🌨 By morning, it was partly sunny and the roads just wet. I think by the end of the day, the sidewalks will have melted away, with the sun and warmth coming today, along with a wind which will probably expose some bare spots on the ground.

Today will be mostly cloudy 🌞, with a high of 43 degrees at 12pm. Seven degrees above normal, which is similiar to a typical day around March 12th. Breezy, with a south wind 6 to 11 mph becoming west 18 to 23 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 37 mph. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning, which cleared to mostly sunny conditions by afternoon. The high last year was 73 degrees. That’s the record high for the day. This winter though, it seems like winter won’t hit . 11.0 inches of snow fell back in 1929.❄

The sun will set at 5:35 pm with dusk around 6:03 pm, which is one minute and 17 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 39 degrees. Breezy, 21 mph breeze ⛅ from the west with gusts up to 33mph. Today will have 10 hours and 53 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 48 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 27 degrees at 5am. Eight degrees above normal, which is similiar to a typical night around March 19th. Breezy, with a northwest wind 10 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. In 2018, we had mostly clear in the evening, which became light snow by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 21 degrees. The record low of -08 occurred back in 1963.

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 42 degrees at 2pm. Six degrees above normal, which is similiar to a typical day around March 10th. Northwest wind 7 to 10 mph. A year ago, we had partly cloudy in the morning, which became mostly sunny by afternoon. The high last year was 40 degrees. The record high of 68 was set in 1997. 14.8 inches of snow fell back in 1893.❄

After I posted my essay yesterday about not having Internet, I got yet another glossy advertisement from Spectrum Cable, trying to get me to sign up. 🕸 I tossed it promptly in the recycling bin. ♻ I am quite happy not having Internet at home, it’s just obnoxious how they always try to get me to sign up.

I have to say that the Save the Pine Bush dinner last night was one of the most interesting ones I’ve been to in a long time.📢 Ward Stone was great as was Keith Shue who between the two gave us a good background of the ANSWERS plant’s history and the troublesome future. I was very surprised to learn that should the state put a co generation plant in the ANSWERS facility it will increase emissions by over 50% over the existing steam plant, 🏭and it will be running nearly all the time compared to the steam plant that only runs part time, especially in modest weather.♨

I really like the improvements to Google Maps on the transit🚌 front – I finally upgraded the app which doesn’t happen automatically as I have limited space.📲 I like how the app is cleaner with transit information, tells you in big numbers how long you have to wait, how late the bus is running compared to what it’s scheduled to arrive at. Just update Google Maps and try out the app. Mine doesn’t update automatically, as my phone is always short of memory. I also am finding the battery isn’t a holding a charge very long. I may have to think about plunking down $50 for a new phone come summer. But I will have gotten 2 years out of the Tracphone, which is pretty good for those cheap phones that are just landfill fodder — although even expensive phones these days are basically the same thing. 🗑

I am continuing to work on figuring out on how to build my smart relay for my truck. It makes a lot of sense to integrate the GPS logger I built with it now that I think about it more, 🗺 and maybe also bluetooth so I can monitor battery voltages, 🔋 and the status of the system from my phone when I’m sitting by the campfire. Then  I was thinking I could use a hall-effect sensor with it too, and monitor the amperage coming off the solar panel, so I could easily see the power coming off the panel. But then again, that would make the code a lot more complicated. I have ideas, the thing I have build them so they can become more then ideas.🤔

Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. 😕 Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 42. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the afternoon. Going to be great weather for the Save the Pine Bush Hike, assuming the trails aren’t too slushy. 👢 Although who knows how much snow will be left come Saturday, and the sand doesn’t always trap the water and muck too much. Sunday, rain before 1pm, then showers likely after 1pm. High near 51. 💦 At least it will keep the heat at minimum over the weekend, assuming it’s not too damp and chilly inside. I doubt though I’ll be opening the windows, but at least I’ll save on heating, which is good because my bills have been kind of high this year Chance of precipitation is 80%. Typical average high for the weekend is 37 degrees. Above average for a few days then, cooling down for next week.

In four weeks, which is one month from now, is the First Day of Spring 🌷  on March 21 the sun will be setting at 7:09 pm (Daylight Savings Time), 🌄 which is one hour, 33 minutes and 41 seconds later then today. Dusk is at 7:38 PM, which means I might be able to go to the park after work, if it’s not too wet or cold.🏞 In 2018 on that day, we had cloudy and temperatures between 37 and 25 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 46 and 27 degrees. The record high of 78 degrees was set back in 1921. I know I am definitely looking forward to spring, especially once the snow melts and I can start spending more time in the wilderness camping 🏕and having a nice fire or two.🔥

Looking ahead, Spring 🌷 is a month away, Average High is 50 🌸 is in 5 weeks, Average High is 60 🌼 is in 8 weeks, Easter 🐰 is in 2 months, Average High is 70 🐮 is in 12 weeks (cows like to chew their cud when it’s not too warm), Independence Day 🇺🇸 is in 19 weeks and August 🌻 is in 23 weeks.