A very Merry Christmas to all. A pretty mild day, earlier last night it was 42 degrees. Next Sunday is New Years Day 2017. Partly cloudy and 41 degrees in Delmar. There is a northwest breeze at 13 mph. 

Out for a Christmas morning walk at Five Rivers Environmental Education Center. Surprisingly not a lot of people here. I’m a bit surprised as Christmas Bird Counts are popular but I guess there isn’t an organized one here. A bit icy but I left my crampons in the pickupwhich the outdoors experts tell me are really micro spikes but that word isn’t as cool.  Then off to my parents house for Christmas breakfast with my sister and niece. Should be a nice start to the day. 

Christmas Day will be partly  cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with temperatures falling to around 30 by 5pm. Northwest wind 7 to 14 mph. A year ago, we had rain and a high of 59 degrees. The record high of 66 was set in 1889. In the hilltowns there is some snow but nothing like the 19.2 inches of snow fell back in 2002.

Not sure what I’m going to do today after breakfast. I packed a day pack with lunch  but I realized after leaving home and I left home my hoodie and hat. Based on the most recent forecast I may go camping in a state forest. For one night I only really need a tent, some bedding, the heater, and maybe a stove for coffee in the morning. Looks to be decently warm in the hill towns for camping tonight especially if I get the inside of the tent nice and warm.

Breaking in that new Carhartt this morning. It’s still a bit stiff and the colors are quite dark but wearing it plus the washing machine will change that. I got the dark brown because it won’t show the mud and muck so much. 

The sun will set at 4:28 pm with dusk around 5:00 pm, which is 40 seconds later than yesterday. Today will have 9 hours and 3 minutes of daylight, an increase of 20 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be mostly clear, with a low of 13 degrees at 5am. Five degrees below normal. North wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm after midnight. In 2015, it got down to 34 degrees under mostly cloudy skies. The record low of -17 occurred back in 1914.

As previously noted, next Sunday is New Years Day when the sun will be setting at 4:33 pm with dusk at 5:05 pm. On that day in 2016, we had snow showers and temperatures between 38 and 30 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 31 degrees. We hit a record high of 57 back in 1966.