Good evening! Mostly cloudy and 73 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a south breeze at 6 mph. Up to about a half hour ago you could still see the stars but now the clouds are pushing in and the humidity is more noticeable.  The dew point is 63 degrees. Also lots of fireflies around tonight. The skies will clear Saturday around 11 am.

It was a nice day off. Got caught up on my sleep, washed down the kitchen and bathroom floor which had gotten dirty from spills and mildew, then hiked up Bennett Hill, paddled around and did some fishing in Lawson Lake. Only kept catching those Rock Bass which are only good for cutting your finger on. A quiet day, it was nice to have it off from work, although tomorrow I’m heading back to the office at least for a few hours to get caught up on work and so I don’t burn up too much time before I go on my long Independence Day Weekend to Moose River Plains. 

On my truck I hooked up a matching set of color adjustable lights inside the cab of my truck as in the truck cap. Now at night when I drop something in the cab of my truck I can just turn on lights so I can see the floor well in my truck. I can also illuminate the inside of my truck the same color as the truck cap in the future but it’s mostly just so I can find things knocked on the floor of the truck. I also permanently mounted the color selection remote in the cap of my truck, so hopefully I won’t keep misplacing it. Also think I figured out what type of laptop charger u need to run it on a 12 volt input. Didn’t yet pack for my weekend trip, I’ll do that quickly tomorrow night. It’s not all that much stuff to pack for one night. 

Tonight will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low of 68 degrees at 2am. Nine degrees above normal. Going to get increasingly humid tonight, sticky by morning. Maximum dew point of 66 at 6am. 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. In 2016, it got down to 49 degrees with partly cloudy skies. The record low of 44 occurred back in 1940.

Waning Crescent Moon tonight with 6% illuminated. The moon will rise around 3:59 am. Probably too many clouds to see it well. The New Moon is on Saturday night with partly cloudy expected. The Full “Buck” Moon is on Sunday, July 9th. The sun will rise at 5:18 am with the first light at 4:43 am, which is 17 seconds later than yesterday. Tonight will have 8 hours and 41 minutes of darkness, an increase of 8 seconds over last night. Nights are getting longer once again. Be winter before you know it. But tomorrow happens to be the latest sunset of the year if not the longest day. 

Tomorrow will have showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 3pm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Might want to bring your rain coat. Mostly cloudy, with a high of 85 degrees at 3pm. Five degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 71 at 10am. South wind 9 to 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies and a high of 83 degrees. The record high of 96 was set in 1888.

Saturday morning things will clear out by morning but watch for thunderstorms both days.  Saturday, a chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 2pm. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 82. West wind 6 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. Maximum dew point of 64 at 6am. Should be a nice day with less humidity as the day progresses. Sunday, scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 11am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 78. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. Maximum dew point of 56 at 8am. Typical average high for the weekend is 80 degrees.

I think it should be a pretty nice weekend. Swimming at Mine Kill State Park, camping at Burnt Rossman, hitting the farm stands and doing some hiking should be quite nice. The Schoharie Valley and Northern Catskills in mid summer is always quite beautiful. Look forward to swimming, taking pictures and making some movies. 

I picked up the camp oven today. It’s everything I expected it to be – lightweight and folds up small but should do the job. Based on what I’ve read on the Internet, they recommend adding some thermal mass like pizza stones but for now I’m going to see if a rock in the woods to put at the bottom of the stove to help it cook more evenly or consistent. Might also try an unglazed floor tile as recommended by the Internet but I would be worried about a clay tile it breaking bouncing around the back of my truck. Maybe clay pigeons? But I’m sure they’re very prone to breaking and making a mess. Going to try it out this weekend using Grands Biscuits for Sunday breakfast at camp but I will definitely do a lot more baking at camp for Independence Day Weekend at Moose River Plains. 

In four weeks on July 20 the sun will be setting at 8:27 pm, which is 9 minutes and 59 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2016 on that day, we had mostly sunny skies and temperatures between 81 and 53 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 83 and 62 degrees. The record high of 97 degrees was set back in 1991.

Looking ahead, National Fried Chicken Day is in 2 weeks, Hottest Day of Year (83 Average) is in 3 weeks, Ugly Truck Day is in 4 weeks, Hottest Time of Year Ends (83 Average) is a month away, State Fair Opens is in 9 weeks, 7:30 PM Sunset is in 10 weeks, Average High is 70 is in 13 weeks, Autumn Begins is in 3 months, Hunter’s Moon is in 15 weeks and Thanksgiving is in 22 weeks.