Good evening! Partly clear and 25 degrees in Delmar. Breezy, 18 mph breeze from the northwest with gusts up to 29 mph. You can hear the wind whipping around. The current wind chill is 11.

I just walked down to Stewart’s to buy milk for the coffee tomorrow. I didn’t think it was too cold but I was only out for a few minutes. 25 degrees is reasonable for an evening this time of year. No black ice outside, the roads and sidewalks dried out sufficiently before the the mercury dropped. The cold front has some good winds and lots of dry air.  

Tonight will have isolated snow showers before 11pm. Partly cloudy, with a low of 11 degrees at 6am. Nine degrees below normal. Cool but not unreasonably cold for the second half of December.  Wind chill values as low as zero. Northwest wind 9 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2015, it got down to 31 degrees with periods of snow. The record low of -13 occurred back in 1973.

Going to be a cold start tomorrow, not sure if I will walk down to the Park and Ride. I will get an early start regardless. 

Waning Gibbous Moon tonight with 63% illuminated. It should be rising soon and the clouds will be breaking.  The Last Quarter Moon is on Tuesday night with mostly cloudy expected.

Tomorrow will be sunny, with a high of 22 degrees at 1pm. 13 degrees below normal. Wind chill values as low as zero. Cold but sunny. Not as bad as Friday morning though. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph. A year ago, we had snow and a high of 39 degrees. The record high of 54 was set in 1895. 7.8 inches of snow fell back in 2008. The sun will rise at 7:21 am with the first light at 6:49 am, which is 36 seconds later then yesterday.

Watched some of the How Farms Work videos I downloaded earlier from YouTube, worked on some maps and blog code, and yes I watched the guilty pleasure of commercial television known as Columbo. They are the best mysteries. Guilty pleasure. I don’t normally watch television but sometimes it is fun for a change, especially on a cold winter night like tonight. Maybe I should have devoted my attention to coding or mapping but a diversion is nice from time to time. 

Went out to my parents house for their tree decorating party but my sister and niece couldn’t make it because of the weather. I watched the forecast the whole time I was there, due to concerns over black ice. None seemed to happen locally due to the dry air and wind drying off the pavement before the freeze. Black ice is quite rare locally as low humidity usually precedes the freezing point but you never know. 

Made up some YouTube video of local roads from the trip out to my parents house. I enjoy sharing the scenery from out along the way. 

I will be glad to see the above freezing temperatures midweek, so I can turn the heat down when I’m not home. As long as it’s above 20, I turn the heat way down in the daytime and night to save energy. When it’s cold out the heating system is undersized to raise the temperature back up quickly when I get home. 

Tuesday or Wednesday this week I hope to take off to go hiking and maybe hunting. I have to ask for it off but it looks like those days they have sufficent staff. Not sure which day will have the best weather. Christmas Day I may go camping, it depends. That’s next Sunday and I have the following Monday off from work. 

Looking ahead, Christmas is Next Sunday, New Years Day is in 2 weeks, My 34th Birthday is in 6 weeks, Daylight Savings Time is in 12 weeks, Palm Sunday is in 16 weeks, Easter is in 17 weeks, Tax Day is in 4 months, Mother’s Day is in 21 weeks and Father’s Day is in 6 months.