The National Weather Service in Albany has issued a Winter Storm Watch… which is in effect from Sunday morning through Monday evening.
* Locations…southern Adirondacks, Lake George-Saratoga region, Mohawk Valley, Capital Region, Schoharie Valley, Central Taconics, Berkshires and Southern Vermont.
* Hazard types…heavy snow.
* Accumulations…greater than 7 inches of snow is possible.
* Winds…wind gusts are expected to increase Sunday night through Monday that may result in blowing and drifting of snow.
We are still in the cold of winter, but it won’t last. You have probably been noticing how much later the sunsets have gotten later. But the mercury hasn’t been moving much. But once we get into the second half of February, mercury will be starting to climb as spring approaches.
After many weeks of mercury only increasing a degree a week, we will be see jump two degrees a week in late February, three degrees in early March then four degrees come the first week of spring. Average temperatures always rise most steeply around the first day of spring. The same is true with increases in daylight and time of sunset. Daylight Savings Time begins March 12th.
While this year hasn’t been particularly cold compared to historical averages, this winter has been quite gray — especially on the weekends. Sometimes we have a break in the clouds but most of the time, it hasn’t been even worthwhile to put some gas in the truck and go anywhere.
I don’t mind the cooler weather of winter, but when it’s cloudy and dreary, it ain’t nearly as much for hiking, much less taking pictures. You don’t see the wildlife in the woods, and the pictures one takes are pretty bland. And with no sun to warm one’s face, that wind can be pretty biting.
Weather tends to be more sunny in Albany during the spring and summer. And it certainly be much warmer. I guess the best thing to do is just hibernate, save the gas, and wait for nicer days to happen, which will happen at some point.
On cold days like today, I have set my wallpaper on my computer to the above picture. It reminds me of days that were last summer, camping at the Finger Lakes National Forest, and going every day to the pool at Watkins Glen. How fast the time goes, six months ago, and how special those days were.
I guess summer will be back once again, before we know it.
At this point, we are beyond the coldest — on average — part of winter with the average high now reaching 31. We start seeing the temperature noticeably increasing in about three weeks once we get to February 15. Sixteen weeks from now we will have average highs reaching 70 degrees most days. The biggest increases in temperature occur in April in Albany, but things often don’t really green up until early May when the nights are comfortably above freezing each night.
Daylight Savings Time begins on Sunday March 12th, which is when the sun will be setting at 7:01 PM. Albany never sees a sunset during the 6 PM hour, due to the time change.
Week
Date
Dawn
Sun-
rise
Sun-
set
Dusk
Day
Avg High
Avg Low
Record Hi
Record Low
0
January 25
6:44 am
7:15 am
5:00 pm
5:31 pm
9:45
31
14
61 (1938)
-12 (1963)
1
February 1
6:38 am
7:08 am
5:10 pm
5:39 pm
10:01
32
15
65 (1989)
-20 (1920)
2
February 8
6:30 am
6:59 am
5:19 pm
5:48 pm
10:19
33
16
52 (1925)
-16 (1950)
3
February 15
6:21 am
6:50 am
5:28 pm
5:57 pm
10:37
35
17
55 (2006)
-22 (1943)
4
February 22
6:11 am
6:40 am
5:37 pm
6:05 pm
10:57
36
19
68 (1997)
-8 (1963)
5
March 1
6:00 am
6:28 am
5:46 pm
6:14 pm
11:17
39
21
61 (1991)
-9 (1948)
6
March 8
5:49 am
6:17 am
5:54 pm
6:22 pm
11:37
41
23
68 (2012)
-2 (1989)
7
March 15
6:37 am
7:05 am
7:02 pm
7:30 pm
11:57
44
25
72 (1989)
1 (1993)
8
March 22
6:24 am
6:53 am
7:10 pm
7:38 pm
12:17
47
28
81 (2012)
2 (1875)
9
March 29
6:12 am
6:40 am
7:18 pm
7:47 pm
12:38
50
31
85 (1946)
0 (1923)
10
April 5
6:00 am
6:28 am
7:26 pm
7:55 pm
12:58
54
33
82 (1928)
14 (2016)
11
April 12
5:47 am
6:17 am
7:34 pm
8:03 pm
13:17
57
36
84 (1977)
13 (1874)
12
April 19
5:36 am
6:05 am
7:42 pm
8:12 pm
13:37
60
39
92 (1976)
18 (1875)
13
April 26
5:24 am
5:55 am
7:50 pm
8:21 pm
13:55
63
41
90 (1990)
24 (1972)
14
May 3
5:14 am
5:45 am
7:58 pm
8:29 pm
14:12
66
43
89 (2001)
29 (1966)
15
May 10
5:05 am
5:37 am
8:06 pm
8:38 pm
14:29
68
45
92 (1970)
28 (1958)
16
May 17
4:57 am
5:30 am
8:13 pm
8:46 pm
14:43
70
47
89 (1977)
30 (1959)
Think spring! 55 Days Until Spring. The average high is 41 degrees, sunset at 7:09 PM.
In 2016 it was 41 degrees with partly cloudy skies.
