Good morning! Happy Sunday on my second full day of vacation here in the Finger Lakes. The bright red skies have been replaced with mostly cloudy skies and temperatures 72 degrees at the national forest. Light breeze and the sun is poking out a bit. The dew point is 63 degrees. The skies will clear Tuesday around 2 pm.

Eggs and sausage for breakfast this morning, sipping down on some coffee. The cows came over and visited or more likely they just wandered over to this part of the pasture to see if there was any tender new growth. Very cloudy, humid and a bit damp. Planning to head to Watkins Glen State Park by 11 am so I can take a shower and go for a swim before the thunderstorms and rain roll in during the afternoon. I also need to buy some groceries and a few random supplies. 

I have a big pile of firewood under my camp table which after I lock up the stove and tank with the cable lock, I’ll cover with a tarp to ensure it keeps dry. I’m sure it will rain by afternoon so having dry wood is good, although I suspect the wood is still damp from all the rain we’ve had. Bugs and poison ivy are worse than most summers because it’s been so dang wet. It’s the opposite of the very dry drought conditions last year when the grass and even pastures were fairly brown from the lack of rain. 

I’m going to spend one more night at this campsite and may then move down to Chicken Coop Road assuming that campsite is free and it doesn’t pour all day Monday. While it’s a pain to relocate camp, I would still rather be by Foster Pond so I can do some fishing in the dark and enjoy the stars until midnight. I didn’t set up a tent yet to store boxes and dirty clothes or take the kayak off the roof of my truck on grounds that I may be moving tommorow. That said, I’ve grown to like my current campsite and should the sun come out, there would be some great sunsets and views across Seneca Lake at night for sure. 

Today will have a slight chance of showers before 1pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between 1pm and 4pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 4pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high of 78 degrees at 3pm. Five degrees below normal. Maximum dew point of 65 at 11am. Southeast wind 3 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. A year ago, we had cloudy skies. The high last year was 91 degrees. The record high of 96 was set in 1955.

The sun will set at 8:35 pm with dusk around 9:08 pm, which is 55 seconds earlier than yesterday. At sunset, look for light thunderstorms and conditions and 74 degrees. The dew point will be 65 degrees. There will be a southeast breeze at 6 mph. Today will have 14 hours and 44 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 53 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have showers and thunderstorms before midnight, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm between midnight and 2am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2am. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds and heavy rain. Patchy fog after 2am. Low of 66 degrees at 4am. Four degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 65 at 7pm. Southeast wind 6 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. In 2016, we had cloudy skies. It got down to 59 degrees. The record low of 45 occurred back in 1985.

On this day in 1967, today was the start of 12th Street Riot In Detroit, one of the worst riots in United States history begins on 12th Street in the predominantly African American inner city. It ultimately kills 43 people, injures 342 and burns about 1,400 buildings.

As previously noted, next Sunday is National Cheese Cake Day when the sun will be setting at 8:28 pm with dusk at 9:00 pm. On that day in 2016, we had rain, mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 79 and 64 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 82 degrees. We hit a record high of 100 back in 1933.