Good afternoon! Happy Thursday. Tomorrow is the start of the Independence Day Weekend. Overcast and 70 degrees in City of Albany. There is a south breeze at 8 mph. The dew point is 55 degrees. Much more humid come this afternoon through Sunday. I still don’t feel all that great, maybe somewhat worse then yesterday, but it’s just the usual throat/nose crap, and at some point I will feel better — especially with the fresh air of the Adirondacks.

Last night I got home from work around 2 AM but fortunately now the Extraordinary Session is done, and hopefully the legislature won’t be back in Albany until January. I was a bit concerned that work would interfere with Independence Day Weekend Plans or even worse my vacation plans for the end of the month of July but I think I am good now.

This morning I had a little extra time because I don’t have to be at work until noontime, so I got to sleep in a bit, got the kayak on the roof of my truck and got the remaining gear out of the crawl space. It’s going to be hot and muggy tonight and I have to go shopping this evening so I wanted to have as much done as possible in advance.

Today will have a slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high of 78 degrees at 3pm. Three degrees below normal. Maximum dew point of 61 at 5pm. South wind 8 to 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had rain, shallow fog, mostly cloudy skies and a high of 81 degrees. The record high of 96 was set in 1944.

The sun will set at 8:36 pm with dusk around 9:11 pm, which is 6 seconds earlier than yesterday. At sunset, look for mostly cloudy conditions and 76 degrees. The dew point will be 63 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 9 mph. Today will have 15 hours and 16 minutes of daytime, an increase of 35 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low of 68 degrees at 5am. Eight degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 64 at 10pm. Sticky sleeping.  South wind 8 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. In 2016, it got down to 57 degrees with mostly cloudy skies. The record low of 47 occurred back in 1938.

Tomorrow I plan to go into the office for a few hours before heading up to the Adirondacks. I hope to be up to Moose River Plains by around four, depending on how much congestion there is on the Adirondack Northway. Then I will establish a camp for four nights. I’m thinking about camping closer to the Inlet side of things at Moose River, preferably at one of the campsites far away from others. I probably will go to Inlet a few times during the weekend to do some fishing and swimming in the official beaches. They often have more sand, and have the safety advantage of being lifeguarded. I might swim one day at Cedar River Flow, after paddling out along it.

On this day in 2006, in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld the U.S. Supreme Court rules that President George W. Bush’s plan to try Guantanamo Bay detainees in military tribunals violates U.S. and international law.

Looking ahead, next Thursday is National Fried Chicken Day when the sun will be setting at 8:35 pm with dusk at 9:09 pm. On that day in 2016, we had mostly sunny skies and temperatures between 90 and 64 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 82 degrees. We hit a record high of 97 back in 1886.