Seneca Lake

Seneca Lake stands as the largest among the glacial Finger Lakes within the state of New York. Renowned for its substantial size and depth, it remains entirely contained within the state’s borders. The lake has earned distinction as the preeminent locale for lake trout angling, exemplified by its role as the host of the esteemed National Lake Trout Derby. Positioned at the northern terminus of Seneca Lake, the city of Geneva, New York, commands attention, serving as the domicile for Hobart and William Smith Colleges, along with housing the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, a constituent entity of Cornell University. Conversely, the village of Watkins Glen, situated at the southern extremity of the lake, boasts a notable reputation due to its association with motorsport, primarily due to the presence of Watkins Glen International racetrack, as well as its picturesque cascades.

Seneca Lake possesses an uncommon macroclimate that has bestowed it with the distinction of nurturing over 50 wineries, predominantly characterized as farm wineries. Its geographical attributes have led to the designation of the Seneca Lake American Viticultural Area (AVA), solidifying its reputation within oenophilic circles.

In terms of dimensions, Seneca Lake stretches across a length of approximately 38 miles, securing its position as the second longest Finger Lake. Remarkably voluminous, it is estimated to contain an impressive 3.81 cubic miles (15.9 km³) of water, accounting for nearly half of the cumulative water volume across all the Finger Lakes. The lake’s profundity is notable, averaging 291 feet, while plunging to a maximum depth of 618 feet. The expansive water body covers a surface area of approximately 66.9 square miles (173 km²).

Weather Update – August 2, 2022

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The week ahead … 😎

Today.
Feels like …
September 1st.

Slight Chance of T-storms then Mostly Sunny

A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11am, then a slight chance of showers between 11am and noon. Mostly sunny.

Northwest wind 10 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

and

79 degrees , 66 max dew point, 8:27
sunset.
Tonight.
Feels like …
August 13th.

Mostly Clear

Mostly clear.

Northwest wind 5 to 9 mph becoming calm in the evening.

and

61 degrees , 62 max dew point, 5:59
sunrise.
Wednesday.
Hot !

Sunny

Sunny.

Calm wind becoming south 5 to 8 mph in the morning.

and

86 degrees , 61 max dew point, 8:25
sunset.
Wednesday Night.
Muggy !

Partly Cloudy then Slight Chance of T-storms

A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2am. Partly cloudy.

South wind around 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

and

73 degrees , 66 max dew point, 6:00
sunrise.
Thursday.
Muggy !

Slight Chance of T-storms then Showers is likely

A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. Mostly sunny.

South wind 6 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

and

91 degrees , 72 max dew point, 8:24
sunset.
Thursday Night.
Muggy !

T-storms is likely then Showers is likely

Showers and thunderstorms likely before 11pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm between 11pm and 2am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2am. Mostly cloudy.

Chance of precipitation is 60%.

and

71 degrees , 71 max dew point, 6:01
sunrise.
Friday.
Feels like …
August 22nd.

Showers is likely

Showers likely.

Chance of precipitation is 60%.

and

81 degrees , 71 max dew point, 8:23
sunset.
Friday Night.
Muggy !

Chance of T-storms then Mostly Cloudy

A chance of thunderstorms before 8pm. Mostly cloudy.

Chance of precipitation is 30%.

and

70 degrees , 70 max dew point, 6:02
sunrise.
Saturday.
Muggy !

Mostly Sunny then Chance of T-storms

A chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Mostly sunny.

Chance of precipitation is 30%.

and

86 degrees , 71 max dew point, 8:22
sunset.
Saturday Night.
Muggy !

Chance of T-storms then Partly Cloudy

A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 8pm. Partly cloudy.

Chance of precipitation is 30%.

and

72 degrees , 70 max dew point, 6:03
sunrise.
Sunday.
Muggy !

Mostly Sunny then Chance of Showers

A chance of showers. Mostly sunny.

Chance of precipitation is 40%.

and

88 degrees , 71 max dew point, 8:20
sunset.
Sunday Night.
Muggy !

Chance of Showers

A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy.

Chance of precipitation is 30%.

and

71 degrees , 69 max dew point, 6:04
sunrise.
Monday.
Feels like …
August 14th.

Mostly Sunny then Chance of Showers

A chance of showers. Mostly sunny.

Chance of precipitation is 40%.

and

82 degrees , 68 max dew point, 8:19
sunset.

Daily Update – August 2, 2022

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Good morning! Happy Tuesday.

More clouds this morning but still a nice morning. The breeze makes it pleasantly cool, when the sun dips under the clouds, it actually feel quite cool.

Partly cloudy and 74 degrees at the Finger Lakes National Forest. ⛅ There is a west-northwest breeze at 10 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 66 degrees. The skies will clear around 10 am.

Yesterday, I headed into town at worked down at the library for a couple of hours. 🏊‍♀️ While not so hot up here in the National Forest, down in Watkins Glen it was really hot and a library was very cold. So I ended my day at the Watkins Glen Pool, got ice cream 🍦 sat down briefly by Seneca Lake until I decided that sun was super hot and glaring, and I headed back to camp.

Today is a hang out and hike from camp day. 🎣 Do some fishing,some wildlife observation. Supposed to have more sun later on. I am continuing on the plan of spend one day around camp, and one day out and about. That said, with the exteme heat expected to bake New York State in the second half of the week, I doubt I’ll be doing much hiking — more like hitting up swimming holes. I like hanging around camp though every other day, as I don’t have to feel rushed to do things and can have some beer.

Average High Date

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Average Temperatures

This table shows the average high, median, and low temperatures for the next year. Previous year values are shown in parenthesis. The sun angle is the maximum sun angle at solar noon for the day.

Week Date Sun Angle High Median Low
3 August 28 57.1° 80 (70) 70 (65) 59 (59)
6 September 14 50.8° 75 (73) 64 (62) 53 (50)
8 September 26 46.2° 70 (67) 59 (58) 49 (49)
9 October 7 41.9° 65 (73) 55 (62) 44 (51)
11 October 19 37.5° 60 (65) 50 (53) 40 (41)
13 November 1 33° 55 (57) 46 (47) 36 (37)
14 November 13 29.5° 50 (51) 41 (42) 32 (32)
16 November 25 26.7° 45 (40) 37 (33) 29 (25)
18 December 9 24.6° 40 (33) 32 (29) 25 (25)
21 December 26 24.1° 35 (42) 28 (38) 20 (34)
27 February 9 32.7° 35 (24) 25 (16) 16 (8)
30 February 28 39.4° 40 (41) 30 (34) 21 (26)
32 March 15 45.3° 45 (30) 35 (21) 26 (11)
34 March 27 50° 50 (54) 40 (46) 30 (38)
35 April 6 53.9° 55 (63) 44 (49) 33 (34)
36 April 16 57.5° 60 (44) 48 (37) 37 (30)
38 April 27 61.2° 65 (63) 53 (50) 42 (36)
40 May 10 65° 70 (58) 58 (50) 46 (42)
42 May 28 68.9° 75 (51) 63 (45) 52 (38)
45 June 16 70.8° 80 (69) 69 (60) 58 (50)

Weather Update – August 1, 2022

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Continues to look like a good week for vacation 🏖

Should be a good evening for star 🌟 gazing but later in the week looks more unstable but hot. Not a lot of rain though in the forecast which is nice.

Today.
Feels like …
July 15th.

Mostly Sunny

 Mostly sunny.

South wind 5 to 9 mph.

and

 84 degrees , 64 max dew point, 8:28
sunset.
Tonight.
Muggy !

Chance of Showers

 A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy.

South wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

and

 69 degrees , 68 max dew point, 5:58
sunrise.
Tuesday.
Feels like …
September 1st.

Chance of Showers

 A chance of showers before 8am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between 8am and 11am, then a slight chance of showers after 11am. Partly sunny.

Northwest wind 7 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

and

 79 degrees , 68 max dew point, 8:27
sunset.
Tuesday Night.
Feels like …
August 20th.

Mostly Clear

 Mostly clear.

Northwest wind 5 to 8 mph becoming calm in the evening.

and

 60 degrees , 5:59
sunrise.
Wednesday.
Hot !

Sunny

 Sunny.

South wind 3 to 7 mph.

and

 86 degrees , 61 max dew point, 8:25
sunset.
Wednesday Night.
Hot !

Partly Cloudy

 Partly cloudy.

and

 72 degrees , 64 max dew point, 6:00
sunrise.
Thursday.
Muggy !

Mostly Sunny then Showers is likely

 Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. Mostly sunny and hot.

Chance of precipitation is 60%.

and

 92 degrees , 71 max dew point, 8:24
sunset.
Thursday Night.
Muggy !

Showers is likely

 Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 2am, then a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy.

Chance of precipitation is 60%.

and

 71 degrees , 71 max dew point, 6:01
sunrise.
Friday.
Feels like …
September 1st.

Chance of Showers then Chance of T-storms

 A chance of showers.

Chance of precipitation is 50%.

and

 79 degrees , 70 max dew point, 8:23
sunset.
Friday Night.
Muggy !

Chance of T-storms then Mostly Cloudy

 A chance of thunderstorms before 8pm. Mostly cloudy.

Chance of precipitation is 30%.

and

 68 degrees , 68 max dew point, 6:02
sunrise.
Saturday.
Muggy !

Mostly Sunny

 Mostly sunny.

and

 85 degrees , 69 max dew point, 8:22
sunset.
Saturday Night.
Muggy !

Partly Cloudy

 Partly cloudy.

and

 71 degrees , 69 max dew point, 6:03
sunrise.
Sunday.
Muggy !

Mostly Sunny then Chance of Showers

 A chance of showers. Mostly sunny.

Chance of precipitation is 30%.

and

 85 degrees , 70 max dew point, 8:20
sunset.

Daily Update – August 1, 2022

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Good morning! Happy August. 🏖

Day four of summer vacation. Cool start to the morning with the breeze but it should warm up later on.

Mostly sunny and 62 degrees at the Finger Lakes National Forest. There is a south-southeast breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 61 degrees.

The coffee ☕ is percolating, birds 🐦 chirping and cows 🐮 are mooing with a gentle breeze this morning. 🌅 Going to be pretty hot later on – I need to finish up some work stuff down at the Watkins Glen library at 11 then I’ll probably do a hike and swim 🏊‍♂️ and hang out the Watkins Glen Park until 6 pm, get some ice cream 🍦and return to camp. ⛺

As planned, yesterday was a pretty quiet day 😴 with a lot of hammock time, some fishing 🎣, reading 📖 and a hike up to the top of Hector Backbone. By afternoon it was hot, muggy with that gray glare that often dominates on those not super nice sultry summer days. 💻 Also spent a few hours doing work things on my laptop and sat and watched it get dark by Foster Pond.

While gas prices are my excuse, taking every other day or so to do things around camp ⛺ just makes vacation less hectic. I have plenty of battery 🔋 bank and solar to work such schedule and it saves on having to spend so much time moving things around in the truck. That said, two days is about the maximum I can expect for the ice at camp.

I need to get ice and milk 🥛 this morning and then I will head down to the Watkins Glen library to work. Such a nice morning so I want to maximize it. But first I should get some firewood as I think I want to have a fire 🔥 this evening after star gazing at Foster Pond. ✨

I think Wednesday I will hike Enfield Glen and swim 🏊‍♂️ there. I have a 9:30 work call I need to do in the morning but after that I should have the rest of the day. Assuming Enfield Glen swimming is open, which I’ll have to check in advance as it often closes due to turbidity and other water quality issues.

Have less shame

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Have less shame

Often a common political retort is, “have you no shame?” But maybe people should have less shame. Nobody is perfect, we all make mistakes. Nothing to feel bad about but live and learn.