Good evening! Partly cloudy and 62 degrees in Westerlo. Breezy, 17 mph breeze from the west. The dew point is 53 degrees. We had a pretty good rainshower roll through around 6 PM but now it’s cleared back out. Not going to be a real cold but it will be damp. I’m sleeping in my truck tonight, trying out the lights and just checking out my gear. I like having fresh air come the morning.

Went out hiking this afternoon to the Keheler Preserve aka Wolf Hill. I am a big fan of that preserve, I like the views and the trails. It really is one of the better non-profit preserves in the region. So many of the small non-profit preserves are just ditches and waste lands, but this one has some nice views. It’s actually relatively new preserve, which is why I wasn’t familiar with it until I stumbled upon it on OpenStreetMap about a year back.

Tonight will have a slight chance of rain before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low of 51 degrees at 6am. 10 degrees above normal. West wind 15 to 17 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2016, it got down to 36 degrees under mostly clear skies. The record low of 21 occurred back in 1971.

Waning Gibbous Moon tonight with 63% illuminated. The moon will rise around 10:45 pm. The Last Quarter Moon is on Wednesday night with chance of rain expected. The Full “Flower” Moon is on Wednesday, May 10th. The sun will rise at 6:11 am with the first light at 5:41 am, which is one minute and 36 seconds earlier than yesterday. Tonight will have 10 hours and 29 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 43 seconds over last night. Nice starry night out tonight. Should be good weather for sleeping.

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny, with a high of 53 degrees at 2pm. Four degrees below normal. Northwest wind around 18 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies and a high of 76 degrees. The record high of 91 was set in 2002. 0.3 inches of snow fell back in 1965. So much for the 84 degrees that we hit today.

Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 55. Sunday, a chance of rain. Partly sunny, with a high near 55. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Going to be rather cold, but I can at least get up to the Adirondacks for the weekend to go camping. It’ s been a long time since I’ve been camping up north, so I look forward to some nights around the campfire. Typical average high for the weekend is 61 degrees.

In four weeks on May 14 the sun will be setting at 8:11 pm, which is 31 minutes and 9 seconds later then tonight. In 2016 on that day, we had fog, rain and temperatures between 73 and 46 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 69 and 46 degrees. The record high of 93 degrees was set back in 1900.

All and all, I felt it was a pretty successful weekend, even if it went by quickly. I got almost all of my long list of things done that I needed to get done. The big question now is the weather and whether or not I will get out on my trip next week, and if I do, how many days and where it will be. I keep studying the forecast from across the state to figure out what my best options are. I just don’t want to spend 5 days in the woods with rain pouring down and temperatures around 50 degrees, all while burning through expensive gasoline and camp supplies. I’d rather just stay at home and hang out in town if that’s going to be the case. But I’m still hopeful for the weekend.

Looking ahead, Mother’s Day is in 4 weeks, Average High is 70 is a month away and Father’s Day is in 9 weeks.