Bethlehem Public Library

Bethlehem Public Library values its responsibility to enhance the general welfare and quality of life in the community and region it serves. The library pursues excellence in its mission: to provide equal and uncensored access to resources and services that encourage lifelong learning, cultural enrichment, and professional growth.

http://www.bethlehempubliclibrary.org/

July 5, 2016 10 PM Update

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Good evening! Clear and 76 degrees in Delmar. There is a west-southwest breeze at 5 mph. The dew point is 58 degrees. A nice night for looking at the stars. Heading out to the back yard, I just saw a shooting star. Fireflies flicker in the trees and the crickets are singing in the background. I hooked up the light for the flag tonight again, although tonight with a brighter bulb that I will extinguish by bed time. 

Tonight will be clear, with a low around 62. One degree above normal. West wind around 6 mph becoming calm after midnight. The record low of 47 occurred back in 1962.

Tomorrow the sun will rise at 5:25 am with the first light at 4:50 am, which is 41 seconds later then today. Still the sun rises incredibly early this time of year. 

Wednesday will be sunny, with a high near 90. Eight degrees above normal. Calm wind becoming west 5 to 7 mph in the morning. The record high of 97 was set in 1886. The real heat and humidity comes in on Thursday when the dew point will crack an oppressive 70 with mercury above 90….

Wednesday Night. Mostly Clear and 68 degrees.
Thursday. T-storms is likely and 87 degrees.
Thursday Night. T-storms is likely and 68 degrees.
Friday. Chance of T-storms and 89 degrees.
Friday Night. T-storms is likely and 68 degrees.
Saturday. Chance of T-storms and 81 degrees.
Saturday Night. Chance of Showers and 64 degrees.
Sunday. Partly Sunny and 80 degrees.
Sunday Night. Partly Cloudy and 61 degrees.
Monday. Sunny and 83 degrees.

Looking ahead, the Altamont Fair Opens is in 6 weeks, Labor Day is in 2 months and Election Day is in 18 weeks.

Finally bought boots to replace the pair I am wearing that are basically falling off my feet haven’t offered any water protection for some time. They are quite worn out but it made no sense to replace them before going camping. 

Worked on some improved weather code for my blog. Just mostly minor changes but I wanted to use the NOAA hourly forecast data to develop some new products. Returned my library books. I need to get some new ones to read in the park but with oppressive conditions expected, I may end up going to the library to enjoy the artificial cool of air conditioning at the library. 

An ad for the Anker SoundCloud XL waterproof stereo Bluetooth speaker caught my eye. While I like my Jam Plus speaker I currently use camping and at home, I wish it was a bit louder with more bass and better battery life. Waterproof would be nice too in case it rains and gets left on the table. Been thinking about upgrading before vacation. But alas money is limited so I have to make choices. I’ll have to think about it in the coming weeks. 

May 5, 2016 Morning

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Good morning. Continued cloudy, damp, cool conditions today but not much rain expected. It’s 49 degrees now and we expect to reach 57 later. The average high for today is 66 degrees. Not exactly a nice day for sitting on a patio sipping a cold one on this Cinco de Mayo. The wet conditions and warmer nights have really made the leaves start to pop. Getting pretty green outside.

Uploaded some new maps to the blog including an Albany County population density map for today. It shows population density in persons per acre which is kind of interesting to look at the city versus surrounding areas.

Tomorrow is Friday. That makes me happy as its been a long week. I left my headphones home, so I don’t have music to entertain me on the bus ride. That sucks but I made the bus in time.

On Cinco de Mayo in 1866, Memorial Day first celebrated in United States at Waterloo, New York. Now that area is primarily known for the Seneca Meadows landfill, which actually dwarfs that small city.

Have a great day. Sorry that the weather sucks.

March 5, 2016 Evening

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Good evening! Currently mostly cloudy and 33 degrees with a light breeze from the north. A bit chilly for this time of year but not absurdly cold either.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy, with a low around 18. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. That’s about 4 degrees below normal. Still plenty warm compared to the record low of -21 degrees which was set back in 1948. We don’t have many record lows any more.

Tonight will have 12 hours and 29 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 54 seconds over last night. Now only a half hour away or about two weeks from having more daylight than night.

All week from tonight we set our clocks back an hour, daylight savings time begins next Sunday the 13th. There is a 7 pm sunset after the time changes and thereafter the days will only continue to grow.

Tonight we will have a Waning Crescent Moon with 21% illuminated. It will rise at 3:40 am. The New Moon is on Wednesday.

Sunday will be mostly sunny, with a high near 42. Northwest wind 3 to 5 mph. That’s about 2 degrees above normal. The record high of 63 degrees was set back in 1974. It should be a nice day and I should figure out something fun to do for Sunday. Above average weather temperatures for the next few days.

It was a nice hike over to Five Rivers Environmental Education Center. It was gray and got cloudy as the day progressed but I saw a lot of wildlife including a red-headed woodpecker, several birds, many squirrels, and a mink with a chipmunk in his mouth slithering across the ice. Unfortunately, my camera didn’t have a real good zoom, so I didn’t get many good pictures.

Went down to the library for a bit too and worked on some miscellaneous code for the blog. Downloaded some YouTube videos to watch later this evening. I might go for my evening walk, just to continue to work on building up my legs.

I hope your Saturday is going well. Have a great evening!

February 24, 2016 Night

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Good evening! Currently 38 degrees and heavy rain and a few thunderclaps with a 6 mph east-northeast wind. The wind chill value is currently 33. It pouring out but at least it’s not that cold.

Tonight look for rain and possibly a thunderstorm before 3am, then rain likely between 3am and 5am, then showers likely after 5am. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds. Temperature rising to around 54 by 1am. Unusually warm for February. South wind 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Tonight will have 12 hours and 57 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 49 seconds over last night. Tomorrow the sun will rise at 6:36 am with the first light at 6:08 am, which is 1 minutes and 34 seconds earlier then today.

Tonight we have a Waining Gibbous Moon with 87% illuminated. The Last Quarter Moon is on Tuesday and the New Moon is on March 9th.

Thursday will have a chance of showers. Cloudy, with a high near 50. South wind 9 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. Not a washout by any means.

I hope you had a good day. Sleep well!

February 24, 2016 Morning

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Good morning! What day is it? Hump Day, of course. Currently 33 degrees with light rain and fog with a 3 mph north-northwest wind. The wind chill value is currently 30. Not a super nice day but it’s not impacting people’s commutes much in the Albany area. The weekend still looks quite nice.

Today there will be periods of light rain before 10am, then periods of rain after 10am. Patchy fog after 3pm. High near 41. Not bad for mid to late February. Northeast wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. Tonight the sun will set at 5:38 pm with darkness around 6:07 pm, which is 1 minutes and 15 seconds later than yesterday. Today will have exactly 11 hours of daylight, an increase of 2 minutes and 48 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight look for rain and possibly a thunderstorm. Temperature rising to around 48 by 1am. South wind 6 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between three quarters and one inch possible.

There are 1 month, 6 days until April Fools Day when the sun will be setting at 7:22 pm (Daylight Savings Time). Less than three weeks until we set the clocks forward.

Busy day on tap for work today. I wanted to get an early start but with the weather and studying an email, that didn’t quite happen.

Looking at heading up to the Adirondacks this weekend for camping, hiking and maybe some shooting after my sister’s baby shower. I haven’t spent a weekend in the wilderness in over a month now. I don’t think there is much snow up north and it’s going to be a nice warm weekend for February to boot. Lots of sun expected too.

Presidents Day 2016 Night

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Good evening. Currently light icy snow and 20 degrees in Delmar. The plows are out now, but I can tell you from walking home from the library, the roads are slick and cars are skidding all over the road. The sidewalks aren’t terrible but the road surface even on one’s feet are slick due to the action of the cold icy snow being ground down to ice by passing motorists.

As the evening progresses into night the roads are only expected to get slicker. Tonight will have snow and sleet before 3am, then freezing rain and sleet between 3am and 4am, then freezing rain after 4am. Temperature rising to around 33 by 5am. Southeast wind 5 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total nighttime ice accumulation of less than a 0.1 of an inch possible. Total nighttime snow and sleet accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

If you could see the moon through the clouds, we would have a first quarter moon, setting at 12:27 am. Tomorrow’s sunrise will be at 6:50 am with first light at 6:21 am, which is 1 minute and 25 seconds earlier then today.

By morning we will for the most part have rain. Warm day ahead after the frigid weekend with highs expected near 53. South wind 8 to 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. Wet but not a real soaker for sure. Cooler but clearer weather for the second half of the week and a wet and warm weekend on tap, a bit more like Coors Light then a good beer of a weekend.

Spent a lot of time cleaning and picking things up this morning around the apartment. Cleaned up the closet, washed the bathroom floor, vacuumed, cleaned and oiled guns, caught up on dishes. Went to the library, researched Digital TV tuners some more. Went grocery shopping, put a trash bag in my truck full of ripped clothing and paper to take to the recycling center. Things are a lot cleaner and neater.

Got my clothes out for tomorrow, made lunch, and got the coffee pot ready for tomorrow. I’m tired but ready for the work week.

I hope you had a good Presidents Day. Sleep well!

February 14, 2016 Morning

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Good morning! Happy Valentine’s Day this very cold and sunny morning. It is currently sunny and negative 13 degrees in Delmar. With the wind chill this morning, it feels like negative 30. That said, wind chill is not very accurate when it’s this cold out.

Today will be sunny and cold, with a high near 6. Wind chill values as low as -31. Northwest wind 9 to 11 mph. Sunset will be at 5:26 pm with twilight at 5:54 pm which is one minute and 18 seconds later then yesterday.

Not quite as cold tonight. It will be mostly clear, with a low around -5. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.

Happy Birthday to Terry Gross of NPR’s Fresh Air Interview Program. She turns 65 today and has done countless fascinating interviews over the years.

This day in 2005, the popular YouTube website is launched making it easy for people to share and watch video. It’s hard to believe it wasn’t always around.

Have a great Valentine’s Day! Stay warm.