Well by the time you wake up in the morning it will officially be winter. Today was cool but without much of a breeze and adequate clothing it was bearable. Tonight isn’t too bad but with a slight breeze we do have a slight wind chill around 14. Mercury wise we are at 26, which is much warmer than this morning. Times of clouds and stars tonight. 

Kaaterskill Falls was quite nice. It was so cold this morning with temperatures in the single digits that I almost stayed home. I didn’t leave for the Catskills until after lunch time and was primarily planning on just taking a drive. I canceled my plans for Overlook Mountain as I was afraid it would be icy and truly frigid up top. I’ve watched many a December sunset up there on many cold nights. On a weekday that mountain tends to be pretty empty. 

But with enough layers it was plenty warm for hiking and I almost had the new Kaaterskill Falls overlook and trails to myself. I’m sure on a warm, sunny summer day that area is now packed. The trails and overlook are nice, although I do think the area is getting a bit too over developed for forest preserve. With the rock stairway blasted into the mountains and trails blasted into the side of the falls, seems more like a park then wilderness in the form of forest preserve. I worry that the extensive development will only produce more overuse and more stupid and risky behavior as the falls and they’ll have to reduce public access. 

I wish I had gotten an earlier start but I poked around at home, as I wish I could have seen more of the Kaaterskill Rail  Trail. Get some good snow and the trail would be perfect for cross country  skiing. Nice and flat, pretty woods  and not right at the edge of the escarpment so you don’t have to worry about losing control and plunging to your death. Need a decent amount of snow to avoid the ties which stick up in parts of the trail. The falls probably aren’t going away. 

Tonight will be partly cloudy, getting down to 22 degrees at 5am. For the last night of the year in Delmar, that’s pretty reasonable. One degree above normal. South wind 6 to 9 mph. In 2015, it got down to 33 degrees with periods of rain. The record low of -18 occurred back in 1942. People complain about the arctic blast lately but it could be a lot colder. Just imagine living in a poorly heated cold water flat in Downtown Albany in 1942 in December with temperatures 18 below… 

Last Quarter Moon tonight with 49% illuminated. The moon will rise around 10:51 pm. The New Moon is a week  Wednesday night with mostly cloudy skies expected. No late December star gazing for you. Maybe next week.

After playing hookie today, back to work through Friday. It was a nice to get away for a day. I don’t have any more vacation time remaining before the end of the year. But Monday is a state holiday! I might go camping Christmas Day to Monday based on weather. In the meantime, tomorrow is going to a nice first day of winter.  

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny, with a high of 36 degrees at 1pm. Three degrees above normal. Southwest wind 6 to 8 mph. I would have taken tomorrow off instead of the much colder and clouds today but I have the Save the Pine Bush dinner to go to in the city after work. A year ago, we had rain and a high of 48 degrees. The record high of 59 was set in 1957. 6.6 inches of snow fell back in 2008. The sun will rise at 7:22 am with the first light at 6:50 am, which is 31 seconds later then yesterday. I believe it’s the latest sunset of the year but I’d have to check. 

Looking ahead, Inauguration Day is in 2 months, Valentines Day is in 8 weeks, Presidents Day is in 3 months, Spring is in 13 weeks, Average High is 50 is in 14 weeks, Tax Day is in 17 weeks, Average High is 70 is in 21 weeks and Independence Day is in 28 weeks.