For somebody in relatively good health, the unhealthy smoke filled air hits you when you step outside but I can only imagine how it can feel for people with asthma, breathing problems or a weak heart. I heard the cows aren’t loving the smoke either, they breathe in a lot more air then us humans.

Good morning! What day is it? A smoggy Day, of course. Canadian wildlife smoke, smog and 47 degrees for the morning walk out by the Elm Ave Town Park. ⛅ There is a west-northwest breeze at 8 mph. 🍃.

Out walking 🚶 early this morning, I figure before traffic and the smog gets worse. Plus it might be another long day at work and I want to get in at least six miles today, just like I did yesterday despite the late night, smog and much needed rain. ☔ Already the AQI is above 150 and today may be worse for air pollution then yesterday. It’s a bit hard to breathe at times at least you have to work harder but I figure the added strain on my heart ♥ is better than getting out of the habit of exercising. Most other people are inside this morning. Not a lot of walkers or joggers out today.

Woke up last night after the rain ☔ and got a deep breath of the smoke and coughed a bit. I guess it’s something people get used to, these levels of air pollution weren’t uncommon in big cities years ago or even Albany on hot summer days. But usually the heat and humidity hits you more when the air quality is bad. Especially now that the sun is rising as is the mercury you can smell the on smoke on the air. Kind of like wet campfire.

Today will have a chance of showers, mainly after 3pm. Widespread haze between 7am and 2pm. Mostly cloudy 🌦, with a high of 71 degrees at 2pm. Six degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around May 16th. Maximum dew point of 49 at 9am. Northwest wind 8 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, which became light rain by afternoon. It became somewhat humid as the day progressed. The high last year was 80 degrees. The record high of 95 was set in 1999.

Yesterday session ended about 7:40 pm so I got stuck waiting for the 8:15 bus 🚏. It wasn’t bad in the sense it gave me time to walk some laps in the Capitol while I waited for the bus. Ended up doing a little more then six miles yesterday 👣 mostly because I did a midday walk on the Plaza to take in the air pollution and then laps in the office 🏢 in the evening and later in the Capitol. I hate to break the pattern. It was better to walk inside in the evening as it was raining by the time I left and it was so smoggy out downtown and everything stunk like wet wood on the campfire. I wonder how much of the summer we will be dealing with bad air quality locally. I’m hoping tomorrow is the last day of session, though I’m prepared with one more set of dress shirts and pants if necessary for Friday and can press another shirt and pants into service or necessary or find time to do a load of wash at laundromat on Saturday, not such a thing is likely in my mind but it could happen. I’m ready for casual dress and 9-5 at work again.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:55 pm with sun having an altitude of 70.1° from the due south horizon (-0.7° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 2.2 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:49 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (296°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (303°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:31 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 25 seconds with dusk around 9:05 pm, which is 39 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:50 pm. At sunset, look for a chance of rain 🌧 and temperatures around 60 degrees. The dew point will be 46 degrees. There will be a north-northwest breeze at 11 mph. Today will have 15 hours and 15 minutes of daytime, an increase of 56 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of showers, mainly before 8pm. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 49 degrees at 6am. Six degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around May 19th. Northwest wind 5 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It was somewhat humid. It got down to 61 degrees. The record low of 38 occurred back in 1951.

On this day in 1965, the Supreme Court of the United States hands down its decision in Griswold v. Connecticut, 💏effectively legalizing the use of contraception by married couples. An important decision but has been whittled down a lot since Row was overturned. I don’t like the celebration or promotion of abortion by Planned Parenthood and the alike but I don’t think the Supreme Court should have overturned that decision. Somethings should be condemned but kept private, civil matters.

The weekend has slid downhill a bit. 😕 Saturday, a chance of showers after 8am. Partly sunny, with a high near 72. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Maximum dew point of 54 at 7pm. Sunday, a chance of showers after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 78. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Maximum dew point of 58 at 8pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 78 degrees. Still think it might be good for the Gas Up with Dad on Saturday ⛽ and doing some overnight hammock camping 🏕 and then a second day at the Gas Up, followed by hiking at Thacher Park. 🏞

Looking ahead, there are 2 weeks until Summer ️⛱️ when the sun will be setting at 8:38 pm with dusk at 9:11 pm. On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy, rain showers and temperatures between 70 and 51 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 81 degrees. We hit a record high of 97 back in 1938.