On Wednesday, December 21st, the Winter Soltice, it is the shortest day of the year when it comes to daylight.
Some parts of the state have less daylight than others:
– Staten Island will have 9 hours, 19 minutes, and 49 seconds of daylight.
-Massena will only have 8 hours, 50 minutes, and 39 seconds of daylight.
I will post a Google Map of this on Wednesday for every town in New York State.
Cold evening but very starry evening tonight again. While 11 degrees is warmer than the negative 19 we hit back in 1951, I certainly was cool hiking back from the library this evening.
Getting up early tomorrow on my day off, so I can beat the outdoors plumbing repairs and get a jump on my day. Still chewing over going to Overlook Mountain or maybe somewhere else to watch the sun set. Going to be fairly cold out tomorrow.
Working on some new maps and videos which will be posted over the next few days.
Looking for after holiday specials on those laser projector lights. I know my mom hates them but I think they’re kind of cool and would be neat up in the woods camping. Light up the trees. They draw very little current from what I’ve read – some use less than a watt of power. Mom says they cause distraction to pilots but I think she’s been watching too much of the old foggie news channel where they mostly report on freak stories that are mostly made up to give old folks a chance to complain about the youth and their new ideas. I’m just impressed by how little electricity they really use.
Another dark and cold December morning. Sunrise this morning isn’t until 7:21 AM in Delmar. Once some light comes over the horizon, it will be mostly clear with temperatures around 14. Wind chill values are around negative one.
Coffee is on the stove and waffles are in the oven, although I lack all the fruit that I enjoy on them. Got to go shopping soon. Maybe tonight?
Today will be sunny, with a high of 24 degrees at 2pm. Still fairly cold this morning. 11 degrees below normal. Wind chill values as low as -1. North wind 5 to 8 mph.
Tuesday will sunny and 34 and Wednesday will be mostly sunny with clouds later and 38 degrees. Colder and grayer for the second half of the week.
Good evening! Partly clear and 25 degrees in Delmar. Breezy, 18 mph breeze from the northwest with gusts up to 29 mph. You can hear the wind whipping around. The current wind chill is 11.
I just walked down to Stewart’s to buy milk for the coffee tomorrow. I didn’t think it was too cold but I was only out for a few minutes. 25 degrees is reasonable for an evening this time of year. No black ice outside, the roads and sidewalks dried out sufficiently before the the mercury dropped. The cold front has some good winds and lots of dry air.
Tonight will have isolated snow showers before 11pm. Partly cloudy, with a low of 11 degrees at 6am. Nine degrees below normal. Cool but not unreasonably cold for the second half of December. Wind chill values as low as zero. Northwest wind 9 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2015, it got down to 31 degrees with periods of snow. The record low of -13 occurred back in 1973.
Going to be a cold start tomorrow, not sure if I will walk down to the Park and Ride. I will get an early start regardless.
Waning Gibbous Moon tonight with 63% illuminated. It should be rising soon and the clouds will be breaking. The Last Quarter Moon is on Tuesday night with mostly cloudy expected.
Tomorrow will be sunny, with a high of 22 degrees at 1pm. 13 degrees below normal. Wind chill values as low as zero. Cold but sunny. Not as bad as Friday morning though. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph. A year ago, we had snow and a high of 39 degrees. The record high of 54 was set in 1895. 7.8 inches of snow fell back in 2008. The sun will rise at 7:21 am with the first light at 6:49 am, which is 36 seconds later then yesterday.
Watched some of the How Farms Work videos I downloaded earlier from YouTube, worked on some maps and blog code, and yes I watched the guilty pleasure of commercial television known as Columbo. They are the best mysteries. Guilty pleasure. I don’t normally watch television but sometimes it is fun for a change, especially on a cold winter night like tonight. Maybe I should have devoted my attention to coding or mapping but a diversion is nice from time to time.
Went out to my parents house for their tree decorating party but my sister and niece couldn’t make it because of the weather. I watched the forecast the whole time I was there, due to concerns over black ice. None seemed to happen locally due to the dry air and wind drying off the pavement before the freeze. Black ice is quite rare locally as low humidity usually precedes the freezing point but you never know.
Made up some YouTube video of local roads from the trip out to my parents house. I enjoy sharing the scenery from out along the way.
I will be glad to see the above freezing temperatures midweek, so I can turn the heat down when I’m not home. As long as it’s above 20, I turn the heat way down in the daytime and night to save energy. When it’s cold out the heating system is undersized to raise the temperature back up quickly when I get home.
Tuesday or Wednesday this week I hope to take off to go hiking and maybe hunting. I have to ask for it off but it looks like those days they have sufficent staff. Not sure which day will have the best weather. Christmas Day I may go camping, it depends. That’s next Sunday and I have the following Monday off from work.
Looking ahead, Christmas is Next Sunday, New Years Day is in 2 weeks, My 34th Birthday is in 6 weeks, Daylight Savings Time is in 12 weeks, Palm Sunday is in 16 weeks, Easter is in 17 weeks, Tax Day is in 4 months, Mother’s Day is in 21 weeks and Father’s Day is in 6 months.
I don’t believe in subscription services like cable TV or home Internet. Like debt they are one of the greatest evil in our society. Eventually I plan to move to a house that does not have electric utility services or subscription heat like oil or gas service. Solar panels, generators, wood and coal fireplaces don’t have monthly bills. Coal can be bought with cash and loaded in your pickup from most farm and hardware stores.
For the first time in almost a year, I watched commercial television. I saw Columbo was on one of the channels that I get over the antenna hooked up to the digital converter box hooked to my HDMI computer monitor. I don’t like commercial television but Columbo is a gateway drug.
Then I saw one of those ads for Cablevision or Time Warner whatever the local cable monopoly is. Only $90 for Internet plus another certain $50-70 in fees a month. I’m not poor, but I know my budget could never afford such a rate for a service.
The digital converter box gets me PBS and most libraries and parks have free Internet. For casual web browsing, I have my $40 month basic 3G smartphone that meets most of my needs. I don’t understand the need for all these fancy services and technologies that people have.
I know I shouldn’t have watched Colombo but I muted the ads. And worked on my laptop at the same time.
Good morning! Happy Saturday. Finally the weekend! Next Saturday is Christmas Eve. Snow and 25 degrees in Delmar. There is a south breeze at 14 mph. The current wind chill is 13. Roads are snow covered this morning, watch for ice as it warms up this afternoon.
Today will continue snow until around 2pm, then a chance of snow and sleet between 2pm and 3pm, then a chance of rain and sleet after 3pm. Warming throughout the day with a high of 36 degrees at 5pm. One degree above normal. South wind 9 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow and sleet accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible. A year ago, we had fog, rain and a high of 52 degrees. The record high of 59 was set in 1984. My first Christmas! I’m 11.1 inches of snow fell back in 1970. I bet those Plymouth Newports were dogs in the snow back in the day.
Today I will probably stay in town but will walk down to the library to hop on the Internet. Working on some blog revisions to the code, and removing some obsolete code. It’s kind of nice living in the city on snowy day today.
The sun will set at 4:23 pm with dusk around 4:55 pm, which is 22 seconds later than yesterday. Today will have 9 hours and 3 minutes of daylight, a decrease of 15 seconds over yesterday.
Tonight will have a chance of drizzle before midnight, then rain, mainly after midnight. Low of 35 degrees at 7pm. 15 degrees above normal. South wind 10 to 17 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. In 2015, it got down to 36 degrees with periods of snow. The record low of -9 occurred back in 1919.
As previously noted, next Saturday is Christmas Eve when the sun will be setting at 4:26 pm with dusk at 4:58 pm. Days are getting longer, or will be soon. On that day in 2015, we had fairly heavy rain and temperatures between 72 and 43 degrees. I worked on Christmas Eve last year and I remember waiting for the bus in the rain.
Last year we hit the record high on Christmas Eve, this year is expected to be cooler. Might be a White Christmas but there won’t be a lot accumulation due to Sundays rain and above freezing temperatures for most of the week. Typically, the high temperature is 33 degrees.
"Today in 1967, the Silver Bridge collapsed while it was full of rush-hour traffic, resulting in the deaths of 46 people. Two of the victims were never found. Investigation of the wreckage pointed to the cause of the collapse being the failure of a single eyebar in a suspension chain, due to a small defect 0.1 inch (2.5 mm) deep."