New York State Capitol

Sitting majestically atop Albany’s State Street hill, the New York State Capitol has served as the seat of government for New York since the 1880s. The building is a marvel of late 19th-century architectural grandeur, built by hand of solid masonry over a period of 25 years. Today the building is undergoing extensive restoration to maintain and protect it for future generations of New Yorkers.

Visiting the Hall of Governors and Capitol exhibits: Governor Cuomo has reopened the Capitol’s historic Hall of Governors to the public. Sweeping renovations have been made, including the addition of portraits, informational signs, and a timeline. Museum-quality exhibits on New York State’s history have been installed throughout the building.

http://www.ogs.ny.gov/esp/ct/tours/Capitol.asp

Sporting License Retailers – Heatmap

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One question I had was it possible to make a Google Map into a heat map? It turns out it can be done with good results, although I think I need to tweak the settings so that the lines for the heat map aren't so course looking. But it's a good case in study. To make the heatmap in QGIS I created a raster heat map using the Heatmap plugin, converted the raster to a vector (vectorized), then stylized the vector then exported it as a KML using the MMQGIS plugin. This is something I want to explore more in the future.

January 4, 2017 Afternoon

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The weather is going to cool down quite a bit over the next day but for the second week of January we are looking at temperatures around normal or slightly above normal.

The weekend will be sunny but with the breeze will feel pretty chilly.

Not a lot of snow in the forecast but some lake effect bands could blow far enough east to impact the Albany area.

Notice how much later the sunset will be by next week.

Weather Summary
This Afternoon. Chance of Rain/Snow and 42 degrees , 4:36 sunset.
Tonight. Chance of Snow and Breezy and 21 degrees , 7:24 sunrise.
Thursday. Chance of Snow and 32 degrees , 4:36 sunset.
Thursday Night. Chance of Snow Showers and 19 degrees , 7:24 sunrise.
Friday. Partly Sunny and 30 degrees , 4:37 sunset.
Friday Night. Partly Cloudy and 13 degrees , 7:24 sunrise.
Saturday. Mostly Sunny and 26 degrees , 4:38 sunset.
Saturday Night. Mostly Cloudy and 11 degrees , 7:24 sunrise.
Sunday. Partly Sunny and 24 degrees , 4:39 sunset.
Sunday Night. Partly Cloudy and 5 degrees , 7:24 sunrise.
Monday. Mostly Sunny and 22 degrees , 4:41 sunset.
Monday Night. Mostly Cloudy and 15 degrees , 7:23 sunrise.
Tuesday. Mostly Cloudy and 32 degrees , 4:42 sunset.

November 29, 2016 Evening

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Good evening! Light rain and 52 degrees in Albany. There is a south-southeast breeze at 6 mph. The dew point is 49 degrees. 0.09 inches of rain is expected before it ends around 9 pm. 

Definitely a wet evening, but I guess it could have been snow had it been quite bit colder. I’m fine with waiting for snow for a while. 

Tonight will have periods of rain, mainly before 8pm. Areas of fog before 9pm, then areas of fog after 11pm. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low of 41 degrees at 5am. 14 degrees above normal. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2015, it got down to 22 degrees under partly clear skies. The record low of -10 occurred back in 1875.

Our weekend continues to look very nice with lots of sun and seasonable temperatures. Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 42. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 42. Typical average high for the weekend is 41 degrees. Still chewing over possibly going to the Adirondacks this weekend. There may be quite a bit of snow up there. Maybe dig out the cross country skis? Don’t need to camp that day far back in the woods. I don’t have a lot of vacation time to burn up left in the year for an extended weekend trip. 

In four weeks on December 27 the sun will be setting at 4:28 pm, which is 6 minutes later then tonight. In 2015 on that day, we had rain and temperatures between 51 and 35 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 32 and 17 degrees. The record high of 60 degrees was set back in 1895.

Traffic is quite backed up heading north out of the city tonight. I’m glad I’m not heading that way, although traffic is quite heavy going southbound too. Probably the rain and drivers either taking their time or more likely getting into crashes. I’ll make it home eventually. 

What gets me is all the motorists who have smart phones in their laps. If you’re going to have a phone, have it mounted by the windshield so at least you can be seeing what’s ahead of you when traffic starts moving again. Set your phone up so messages either pop up in big letters for an extended period of time or read to you. Only briefly touch your phone with your pinkey only rarely, don’t type detailed messages. Common sense and moderation is lacking in our society today. Next up, Donald Trump. 

At one level, I’m hopeful that Trump can change things in our country. But he keeps saying such stupid things on Twitter. I wish that the president on down could be more respectful. Maybe Trump will be at least successful about limiting the cost of health insurance in our country. Like many Americans even after selling back time, it seems like I’m paying more and more insurance I only occasionally use. I wish he would be a reasonable voice on climate change like Obama has been, unlike some liberals who have gone full nutcase on climate change. We need to take action on climate change but we shouldn’t destroy the economy or what is nice in the world. The ends don’t justify the means. 

It’s Tuesday evening and I’m dead tired. I stayed up too late last night watching the PBS Newshour. I need to a battery for my TV remote, so I can tape the earlier showing and not be staying up to 11 pm. I feel it’s important to keep up with the news of the day. I really want to learn more about Donald Trump as so much of the man is a mystery to me. 

Back in the map making business. I hope to post some new maps to the blog this evening so stay tuned. 

November 28, 2016 Evening

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Good evening! Mostly clear and 37 degrees in Albany. Calm wind. I am way over dressed for the weather, indeed I went out for my lunch time walk and didn’t bother with a coat. 

Tonight will have a chance of rain, mostly after 5am. Increasing clouds, with a low of 35 degrees at 10pm. Six degrees above normal. Light southeast wind becoming south 6 to 11 mph in the evening. Winds could gust as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2015, it got down to 28 degrees under mostly cloudy skies. The record low of 3 occurred back in 1875.

The New Moon is tonight. The Full “Cold” Moon is on Wednesday, December 14th.

Tomorrow will rain on and off, mainly before 4pm. High of 48 degrees at 1pm. Eight degrees above normal. Southeast wind 9 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly cloudy skies and a high of 41 degrees. The record high of 66 was set in 2005. 3.3 inches of snow fell back in 1945.

It looks like we have a nice weekend coming up with seasonable temperatures. Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 42. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 41.Typical average high for the weekend is 41 degrees. I hope that forecast remains true, I might go up to the Adirondacks. We will see. 

It was a pretty good Monday. Not the most exciting day ever but it is a work day after all. I wish we had more daylight in the evening but that’s not to be. 

In four weeks on December 26 the sun will be setting at 4:28 pm, which is 4 minutes later then tonight. In 2015 on that day, we had mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 49 and 34 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 33 and 18 degrees. The record high of 59 degrees was set back in 1895.

It was nice walking at lunch time around the Empire State Plaza. As I previously noted with the sweater vest on no coat was required. Lots of blue sky and the big stairs to what once was the terrace garden at the State Museum was open. Beats walking in the Concourse, which at least isn’t so dark now that they have turned all of the lights back on there. 

While my headphones are starting to crap out, I decided against going out tonight. Big Red needs a few days to rest. Granted, I do need to get to Sears some time this week to get more Oxford shirts. 

Noting that Martin Luther King Day is a week away, it is followed by Inauguration Day a week later. I’m really interested to hear what President-elect Donald Trump has planned for our country. I know my conservative friends are very enthusiastic about his election – and liberal friends are horrified. To me, Donald Trump remains kind of a mystery. Liberals tell me that the mystery is all bad but I don’t know. We could use some changes, and not all conservative ideas are bad.