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A variety of maps, writings, and photos on a various topics that can’t easily be categorized into a county or place.

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How a Super El Nino Could Impact Upstate NY Weather

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A Super El Niño would most significantly affect Upstate New York by driving an unseasonably warm winter with highly volatile, “boom-or-bust” precipitation. [1, 2]

While El Niño events originate in the equatorial Pacific, their ability to alter the global jet stream creates a distinct ripple effect across New York State. According to climate scientists and meteorologists tracking the strengthening 2026–2027 Super El Niño, the region can expect the following primary impacts: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Winter Temperatures: Mild with Sudden Extremes

  • Above-Average Warmth: The northern polar jet stream is typically pushed far north into Canada during a strong El Niño, cutting off sustained flows of Arctic air. This shifts seasonal averages toward milder conditions. [1, 2, 3]
  • Historical Precedent: Past strong El Niño events have triggered extreme winter warmth, such as when Albany hit a record 72°F on Christmas Eve during the 2015–2016 cycle. [1]
  • Brief Arctic Outbreaks: Despite the overall mild baseline, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) can still override El Niño for brief periods, bringing temporary, bitter cold snaps. [1]

Snowfall and Precipitation: Volatile and Wet

  • Less Frequent, Small Snow Events: Because warmer baseline temperatures frequently hover near or above the freezing mark, routine light snowfalls often convert to rain or a messy wintry mix.
  • Reduced Lake-Effect Snow: Western New York and parts of Central NY typically see a drop in lake-effect snow totals due to shifting wind patterns and milder air masses.
  • Massive, Isolated Nor’easters: Paradoxically, El Niño strengthens the southern subtropical jet stream, which can funnel intense coastal storms up the eastern seaboard. If cold air happens to align with one of these tracks, Upstate New York can get hit by one or two massive, record-breaking blizzards that account for most of the winter’s total snowfall.
  • The “Razor-Thin” Margin: Coastal and southern tiers of Upstate NY face a high-stakes risk of heavy rainfall and flash flooding if storm tracks shift slightly over land rather than out to sea. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

Off-Season Impacts: Summer and Fall

  • Quieter Atlantic Hurricane Season: During the late summer and fall, El Niño generates stronger upper-level wind shear across the Atlantic basin. This typically suppresses hurricane development, lowering the odds of tropical remnants tracking inland to dump heavy rain over Upstate New York. [1, 2]
  • Variable Summers: While El Niño often forces hotter global temperatures, localized historical data from the University at Albany shows that it can occasionally favor near-to-slightly below-normal summer temperatures in Upstate NY, interspersed with brief, intense heatwaves. [1, 2]

Economic and Environmental Echoes

  • Challenging Ski Season: Resorts in the Adirondacks, Catskills, and Central NY face diminished snowpacks and frequent freeze-thaw cycles, making artificial snowmaking more critical yet harder to maintain.
  • Drought and Fire Risks: If the winter tracking trends significantly drier inland, the following spring could see elevated drought conditions and early-season wildfire risks. [1, 2, 3]
SVGZ Graphic: Percent of Town Developed
Map: Orebed Creek State Forest

Anonymously smashed down in the White Garbage bag

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As I smashed that empty cottage cheese container into the garbage container with frozen corn wrappers the junk mailer fliers this morning, I started to contemplate the meaning of anonymous nature of garbage once it enters the white garbage bag. I pack it down, layer in the bag coffee came in and the empty milk jug. Soon enough to be little more then an excellent fire starter – a mixture of plastic and paper garbage – turned into some bright yellow flames, reduced to carbon dioxide and little more.

I used to think recycling was important. I took pride in carefully separating out the cans and the bottles, the paper for recycling. I still separate out most of my food scraps, deposit beer cans. But the rest is just garbage, something to burn, something not to think much more about. The byproducts of an industrial society, some chemicals that might be somewhat pungent when I burn them up, but disappear to almost nothing. Blackened up in the darkness, anonymous. Just garbage, nothing more, nothing less.

Burn Baby Burn

Map: South Bradford State Forest

Don’t know that I will, but until I can find me 🫨

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Every time I turn on a podcast or scroll through a video feed, I am bombarded by the same slick advertisements. Some smooth-talking announcer tells me that if I am feeling overwhelmed, tired, or just plain sick of the modern world, I need to click a link, get a discount code, and sign up for “BetterHelp” or another online counseling service. It seems like the entire trillion-dollar media machine is trying to convince us of one thing: you are broken, you are sick, and you cannot survive without paying a professional to listen to you talk about yourself. 

Growing up out here, you learned pretty quick that life involves a fair share of dirt, hard work, and bad days. That isn’t a medical crisis; it’s just the human condition. But the dominant culture has turned normal human struggle into a commodity. They have commercialized our minds. If you don’t like the mainstream narrative, or if you prefer the quiet woods to a crowded city, the media wants to label your deviance as some sort of deep-seated trauma or mental illness. They have over-promoted the idea that every mood requires a licensed psychologist to untangle it. 

The real danger comes when we buy into this corporate hustle and start labeling ourselves. When you slap a clinical sticker on your forehead, you hand over your personal responsibility. You stop looking at yourself as a free agent who can make choices, change habits, or pull yourself out of a rut. Instead, you become a passive observer of your own supposed pathology. If you call yourself “mentally ill” because you had a rough week or don’t fit into a tidy suburban mold, you start acting out the very script they sold you. You stay down because the label says you have to. 

Let’s call a spade a spade. Real clinical mental illness is a tragic, severe impairment that stops a man from working, feeding his family, or functioning in society. It is a heavy burden, and it deserves real respect and genuine, quiet help. It is not an aesthetic lifestyle choice, and it certainly shouldn’t be a trendy identity pushed by venture-backed tech startups looking to hit their quarterly numbers. 

We don’t need more ads, more labels, or more digital hand-holding. We need a return to basic self-reliance. It is okay to be an odd duck, to hate the hollow commercialism of modern life, and to feel the weight of a hard day’s work. Let’s stop giving away our power to the corporations trying to diagnose our souls, and start taking responsibility for our own minds again. 

Map: Green Mountain National Forest North