Good afternoon! Happy Very Wet Friday, as our summer starts summer winds down. At least it’s going to be a nice weekend. Two weeks to September 1st. It’s pouring out there and 77 degrees in Albany, NY. There is a south breeze at 5 mph. The dew point is 70 degrees. Even by the of low standards of my week long vacation three weeks ago, today is a wet one. Fortunately, the next five days I have off look to be relatively rain free.

This afternoon will have showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds and heavy rain. High of 77 degrees at 3pm. Three degrees below normal. Maximum dew point of 70 at 3pm. South wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. A year ago, we had mostly cloudy skies. It was humid. The high last year was 86 degrees. The record high of 95 was set in 1913.

The sun will set at 7:51 pm with dusk around 8:21 pm, which is one minute and 32 seconds earlier than yesterday. At sunset, look for light rain and conditions and 76 degrees. The dew point will be 69 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 9 mph. Today will have 13 hours and 45 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 36 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 8pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly between 8pm and 2am. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds and heavy rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low of 68 degrees at 3am. Seven degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 70 at 6pm. South wind 5 to 8 mph becoming calm after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. In 2016, we had partly cloudy skies with more clouds in the early hours of the next day. It was humid. It got down to 65 degrees. The record low of 43 occurred back in 1977.

In 1929, the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing women’s suffrage.  And nine years later in 1938, the Thousand Islands Bridge, connecting New York, United States with Ontario, Canada over the Saint Lawrence River via Wellesley Island, is dedicated by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It remains the primary crossing of St. Lawerence River, where Interstate 81 drops down to two undivided lanes. It’s narrow but continues to serve it’s purpose. I’m sure at some point in the future it will be replaced with a modern interstate bridge.

Still haven’t gotten my solar eclipse glasses. I am majorly bummed out by that. After the Save the Pine Bush Hike I went to two different drug stores, a Home Depot and Walmart in search of them. Maybe I should have hit Target and Toy R Us up, but it was getting late. The online eBay seller promises to reimburse my money if I don’t get the glasses by Saturday, but honestly if they aren’t in my mailbox by this evening, I’m kind of screwed. They should have arrived last week. At the time I ordered them, they seemed like a decent price with good reviews on the seller, and honestly I kind of wanted the post-marked eclipse stamp they were supposed to come in. I should have picked them up for free at the library, but I figured leave them for the kids. I’m going to try a few more places tonight and maybe early Saturday.

If I get the solar eclipse glasses, I most certainly will go out South and West. That’s the best place about seeing the eclipse. I am thinking about going out to Allegheny National Forest to camp, visiting Erie, PA on Monday, and viewing the eclipse from the beach out there. I would also go up to Red House beach one of those days in the State Park. Or I might not decide to get that far west, for such a short period of time. I might instead got to just the Finger Lakes, and spend more time at that Watkins Glen Pool.

Otherwise, I may make this into an Adirondack Park trip. I would probably leave a little later on Saturday morning, and get a kayak paddle at the Adirondack Kayak Warehouse. From there, I would go up to Mason Lake and camp at one of those campsites one night, then from there head north to Horseshoe Lake, and then to Jones Pond or Mountain Pond, just outside of the St. Regis Canoe Area. I would probably spend the balance of the week at Deer River Wild Forest, which I got up to in November 2015, but ended up camping at Walter Pratt Camping Area. Or maybe visit some of the St. Lawrence State Forests. There are many interesting lakes and ledges to explore of St. Lawrence.

Or I could up to through the Black River Valley, or areas nearby. I haven’t been up that way in a while. I did like those new campsites up at Otter Creek State Forest. I could then go up to Frank Jadwin State Forest, Greenwood Creek, and so forth. But I haven’t really given much thought to that route. Or many other possibilities. Despite late hour, I haven’t really decided where I am going to go for the long weekend, but I should make up my mind, especially before I leave tomorrow.

As previously noted, there are 2 weeks until September 1st when the sun will be setting at 7:28 pm with dusk at 7:57 pm. It will be the start of the Labor Day Weekend. I’m planning on going to Moose River Plains for that. On that day in 2016, we had mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 79 and 62 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 77 degrees. We hit a record high of 96 back in 1953.