Good morning! Yeah, it’s Friday! We have a nice weekend approaching. Currently partly cloudy and 50 degrees with a 8 mph north-northeast wind. I opened the windows this morning again.

Today will be partly sunny, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 57. Not too bad. Northwest wind around 15 mph. That’s about 15 degrees above normal. The record high of 70 degrees was set back in 1977. Nowhere near that today.

Tonight the sun will set at 5:58 pm with darkness around 6:26 pm, which is 1 minutes and 11 seconds later than yesterday. Today will have 11 hours and 46 minutes of daylight, an increase of 2 minutes and 54 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be clear, with a low around 29. Northwest wind 5 to 9 mph becoming light and variable after midnight. That’s about 5 degrees above normal. Closer to what we should be expecting for this time of year and a brief break with below freezing temperatures. The record low of -12 degrees was set back in 1948.

There are 1 month, 25 days until Cinco de Mayo when the sun will be setting at 8:01 pm (Daylight Savings Time). The average high temperature for Cinco de Mayo is 66 degrees, with a record high of 91 in 1944.

Happy Birthday to Rupert Murdoch who turns 81 years old today. He is most famous for his conservative news media including Faux News and the NY P.O.S.T.

Today in 1861, the confederacy enacted it’s constitution which remained in effect until the northern aggressors told the southern states they weren’t free to leave the United States. Or something like that. I guess it depends what part of the country you are from and your perspective on the Civil War.

Much to dislike of many southerners, Bill Clinton appointed Janet Reno to be Attorney General today in 1993. I’m sure at times both parts of the country have to wonder if the war was worth it.

Also today in 2009, Toyota sold the millionth hybrid car in the United States, showing that these fuel-sipping cars could go mainstream. The Toyota Prisus remains the most popular car in the State of California, in part because of the benefits one gets in that state for driving a hybrid like being able to use the car pool lane solo.