Delmar is a hamlet in the Town of Bethlehem, in Albany County, New York, United States. It is a suburb of the neighboring city of Albany. The community is bisected by NY Route 443 (Delaware Avenue), a major thoroughfare, main street, and route to Albany.
A census-designated place (CDP) has been established since 1980 by the U.S. Census Bureau for tabulating the population of what the census has defined as the boundaries of the urbanized area in and around Delmar. The population was 8,292 at the 2000 census, but it was not included as a CDP in the 2010 census.
In 2005, CNN/Money Magazine named the Delmar ZIP Code (an area larger than the Delmar hamlet or CDP) as one of the “Best Places to Live” in America, rating it the 22nd best place to live among what it called “Great American Towns.
Good morning. It’s around 73 degrees with a dewpoint of 69 on this cloudy, wet morning. The temperature dropped a few degrees with the last brief rain fall.
Today, there is a chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1pm, then a slight chance of showers. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 82. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
This evening is 75 degrees with a muggy dewpoint of 64 degrees. When I got out of work, it was much cooler with the dewpoint only about 59 degrees but it had crept up noticeably around the 9 o’clock hour. Clear skies with fireflies around and stars above. Crickets are making their noise.
Tommorow will be the warmest day in a while with temperatures in the mid-80s and a dewpoint expected to reach 71. It’s going to be muggy with only thunderstorms and downpours to break the heat.
While I was cooking I started playing with some new GIS campsite data I got from the DEC. I discovered my laptop had automatically upgraded to QGIS 2.10 which has all kinds of new features, including being able to finally place latitude and longitude lines on a UTM map. A much needed features, especially if you’re trying to make professional quality maps. QGIS isn’t perfect or able to make maps quite as nice as the professional software but it’s still free as is the data I use. I wish they would more to deal with colliding icons but other than that, it’s finally gotten much better. Those programmers that volunteer so much time on perfecting it, really deserve a lot of acclaim.
With the new DEC data I will need to re-run the script I use to make the county Waypoints and Tracks. It’s pretty simple task to do, but it does take the computer like new hour to fully run the script. Hopefully this week.
Learning QGIS has had a lot of benefits including helping me learn where many of the campsites are along the back roads of the state forests. But beyond that I’ve learned a great variety of mapping skills and knowledge, including using Census data for mapping and a basic understanding of the redistricting process, and how to build districts out of census blocks. I have no formal training but I can do some pretty amazing stuff with QGIS. Still there is a lot to learn but the Internet often has good answers with a quick Google search. Maybe at some point I can turn my knowledge into a career, or at least make my self more marketable. I’d love to move to a laid-back small town in a less strict state and live out in the country off-grid at some point.
Kind of wish I got out to the park this evening but I totally lost track of time. It’s fine, as the days will remain long for a while and we are certain to have more nice evenings before the short days of fall are upon us. If I go up to Powley Place this weekend, reading will be part of the agenda. Best to enjoy summer before it’s gone.
I guess that’s all I have to say for tonight. I’m off to bed. Everybody sleep well, tommorow is going to be a hot one.
Good evening. 59 degrees with partly cloudy varying to mostly cloudy skies. Very humid this evening from the persistent on and off showers that failed to kick the bucket until almost 9 PM.
Maybe the temperatures will drop off to 50 degrees by late but it looks like the rain is gone for tonight. Thunderstorms are possible tommorow with continued humidity and temperatures around 80.
Independence Day Weekend is now looking good starting on Thursday. Independence Day will be the warmest and most humid which brings the chance of afternoon thunderstorms. The weekend otherwise is trending warm and summer like with mostly clear skies. Should be a nice one.
I have Thursday and Friday off from work, so I am planning on leaving early on Thursday for Moose River Plains. This way I will avoid the worst of traffic and not have to drive in the dark but still get a good campsite. Should be a great weekend.
Overcast, 57 degrees and dripping in humidity. I thought I would get soaked my evening walk but I only got soaked in sweat and not rain. There looks to be a good soaking rain to the north and showers to the east but nothing is touching the ground in Albany. The spring peepers are silent but there is a frog singing this evening. A bit of moonlight through the clouds. I swear I smell lady bugs, maybe an infestation soon out back? A few sprinkles as I write these words but still nice enough to sit out back with a cold glass of water. I’ve cut back on drinking so much beer these days as it’s not much fun as when I was young.
Later look for rain and 50. Tommorow should be a bit warmer and maybe some clearing by late in the day. Maybe mid-70s. The Independence Day Weekend forecast keeps changing but now it’s warmer with thunderstorms and showers for Saturday and Sunday. Right now it doesn’t look like a washout.
Probably leave on Thursday for Moose River Plains. I’m going to try to take off Thursday from work but if that doesn’t work, I’ll just drive up after rush hour in the dark. I have absolutely no interest in taking the Northway in rush hour for the holiday weekend. I’d prefer to drive in daylight as Cedar River Road is dark with tons of crossing deer. I want to have time to stop in Glens Falls and pick up some of the small fireworks now legal in NY.
Probably spend the weekend fishing, kayaking, hiking, and maybe some plinking up at Moose River Plains. I haven’t been up there since late September of last year. The vast size of the area makes it an experience like few others in New York. Plus the campsites mostly all have outhouses, picnic tables, and decent fireplaces which are always nice. Might camp at 56 or maybe one of the sites in the upper 30s. I have a lot of cheap target ammo to waste, so having no neighbors and a good backstop from camp is important. Camping at site 67 last Independence Day was quite nice too. Maybe hike back to Falls Pond? I haven’t been back there since 2012.
After Moose River Plains next week, I probably will head out to the Finger Lakes in mid-July. I want to hike the gorges and swim in the gorge pools in the heat of summer. With the Empire Passport, I can visit as many gorge parks as I want and not pay and additional cent. Hike Watkins Glen then visit the pool, or swim at Enfield Glen or Buttermilk Falls. Camp at one of the roadside campsites at Finger Lakes National Forest and be entertained by the cows chomping around on the grass and the farmers herding them around.
