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February 15, 2017 9 AM Update

“The only constant in the world is change, and some changes are good and some are personally devastating. That’s the conclusion I got from looking at the graph of the hilltown population over the years. The economy changes and sometimes people lose their livelihoods and half to move on. Despite promises of politicians, it’s very hard to reverse creative destruction of the economy but government can encourage new industries and new uses of the land. Exurban uses of the land, small homesteads and hunting camps brought back by increased wildlife replaced the agrarian economy of an earlier era. “

Heading into the 9 o’clock hour we are up to 34 degrees on our way up to 40 degrees. Some sun and breaks in the clouds, with some light snow showers later. Not a lot of snow, probably just a dusting and no more than a inch or two. Snow is starting to melt somewhat.

The sun will set at 5:28 pm with dusk around 5:57 pm, which is 1 minutes and 18 seconds later than yesterday. Today will have 10 hours and 37 minutes of daylight, an increase of 1 minutes and 43 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a slight chance of snow. Cloudy, with a low of 26 degrees at 4am. Seven degrees above normal. West wind 13 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2016, it got down to 18 degrees with periods of fog and rain. The record low of -20 occurred back in 1943.

Tonight is the Save the Pine Bush Dinner at the Westminster Presbyterian Church. Tonight we have Chris Hauver of the Pine Bush Commission speaking. Throughout the evening we will have a slideshow of 1,912 photos — from the archives of Albany Pine Bush along with several photos I’ve taken over the year. I was going to use my laptop but due to the two snowstorms over the past week, my HDMI to VGA adapter was delayed in the mail. Save the Pine Bush’s projector is a few years old, and it doesn’t have HDMI, which is a new standard. It was only $10 and I was going to donate it to Save the Pine Bush after the showing, but I guess I will hold on to it for now and use it for a future presentation. Hopefully it will work well. I have a VGA port on my monitor, and I will test it out at home.

Watched the American Experience Special on Ruby Ridge, followed by Independent Lens show on the Charles Witman shooting at Austin college back in 1966. Talk about a depressing series of shows, but I like to be informed about history and how we got from there to where we are now. I still blame President Bill Clinton for much of the 1990s, the heightened hatred he spawned by his unneccessarily atagonistic policies towards the west. I think Bill Clinton is a lot of reason why the Democratic party is in as serious trouble as it now — there was a time when the Democratic Party was more focused on helping people and improving our infrastructure and not a party primarily focused on helping liberal ideologues.

We are starting to head towards the big climb in temperatures as we head to spring time. Maybe 45 or 50 degrees come the weekend. We might get a few more big snow storms but I don’t expect snow to last at this point. We should have averages a few degrees above freezing everyday now.

As previously noted, there are 2 weeks until March 1st when the sun will be setting at 5:46 pm with dusk at 6:14 pm. On that day in 2016, we had rain and temperatures between 38 and 21 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 39 degrees. We hit a record high of 61 back in 1991.

I hope it warms up a lot by the weekend, because I really don’t want to have to dig my truck out by the weekend. The landlord cleaned up the driveway nicely over the past few days, but my truck is still buried under a lot of snow. The good news is where it’s parked, I don’t have to move it for a while, and when I do, I can just knock the snow off it, because it’s not parked on the plowed driveway. Hopefully it won’t be all ice.

I’m almost to work! Have a great day.

January 18, 2017 9 AM Update

The drizzle continues as the morning drags on and the temperature has risen to 36 but the sidewalks remain icy in spots despite town employees being out with the ATV salt spreader attachment. Warming up to 39 degrees with rain tapering off later. Some of the side streets in Albany remain icy.

The sun will set at 4:52 pm with dusk around 5:22 pm, which is 1 minutes and 14 seconds later than yesterday. Today will have 9 hours and 31 minutes of daylight, an increase of 1 minute and 50 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a slight chance of drizzle before 10pm, then a slight chance of freezing drizzle between 10pm and 11pm. Patchy fog before 7pm. Otherwise, cloudy, with a low of 29 degrees at 6am. 15 degrees above normal. Light and variable wind. In 2016, it got down to 13 degrees with periods of snow. The record low of -28 occurred back in 1971.

It’s the Save the Pine Bush dinner tonight at 6 PM at the Westminster Presbyterian Church between State and Chestnut downtown, a few buildings up from the Empire Plaza. We have a new team volunteering in the kitchen, and new recipe for their lasagna is pretty darn good. It should be a good dinner. The featured speaker this month is Kim Fraczek, Co-Director of Sane Energy Project who will speak about Gas Infrastructure — The Big Picture.

More details here: http://www.savethepinebush.org/Current/Dinner.html

As previously noted, there are 6 weeks until March 1st when the sun will be setting at 5:46 pm with dusk at 6:14 pm. On that day in 2016, we had rain and temperatures between 38 and 21 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 39 degrees. We hit a record high of 61 back in 1991.  Usually in March, things start to warm up a fair bit, although we tend to have some big snow storms — some years. April is when it gets decent enough for camping most years, although last April was pretty frigid through the end of the month.

December 21, 2016 Evening

Good evening! Tonight is the Save the Pine Bush Dinner at Six O’clock at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Albany. We currently have partly cloudy skies and its 33 degrees. Calm wind.The skies will clear tomorrow around 8 pm.

Tonight will have a chance of snow, mainly after 2am. Cloudy, with a low of 25 degrees at 6am. Six degrees above normal. Light and variable wind becoming south around 5 mph after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. In 2015, it got down to 46 degrees with periods of fog and rain. The record low of -8 occurred back in 1955.

Waning Crescent Moon tonight with 43% illuminated. The moon will rise around 11:46 pm. 

Tomorrow will have a chance of snow before 1pm, then a chance of rain and snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high of 39 degrees at 2pm. Five degrees above normal. South wind 6 to 8 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. A year ago, we had fog, rain and a high of 53 degrees. The record high of 60 was set in 1990. 12.3 inches of snow fell back in 1969.

In four weeks on January 18 the sun will be setting at 4:52 pm, which is 26 minutes later then tonight. In 2016 on that day, we had snow and temperatures between 28 and 15 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 30 and 14 degrees. The record high of 59 degrees was set back in 1973.

May 18, 2016 Morning

Sunshine came softly through my window today. Take it Sunshine Superman. 54 degrees and cloudy partly cloudy this morning. 67 degrees and partly cloudy this afternoon. Almost seasonable weather for the third week of April.

The Altamont Fair opens in 90 days. Summer will come and go before you know it. That is depressing.

Today in 1896, the United States Supreme Court rules in Plessy v. Ferguson that the “separate but equal” doctrine is constitutional. That still rules the day with city school districts allowed to segregate “colored and poor” students from the suburban school district. They really should allow students to be bussed to any school within a 30 or so mile radius.

Today In 1980, Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, United States, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage. Nature can be a bitch.

Now the weather doesn’t look as great on some of the models, with clouds expected to prevail on Saturday in some models. We’ll have to watch that carefully. I still would like to get up to the Adirondacks.

The moon will be about 80% illuminated tonight, with the full flower moon on Saturday evening. 60 degrees and partly cloudy at dusk. Neil Gifford will be at the Save the Pine Bush Dinner tonight at the Westminster Presbyterian Church on Chesnut Street.

December 16, 2015 morning

Good morning. Happy Hump Day. A gray day as is so common in December with temperatures continuing to be somewhat above normal, around 41 degrees. The clouds are expected to push off and it will become mostly sunny, with a high near 47. North wind around 5 mph becoming light and variable.

Hopefully when I get the battery back in the truck, I’ll be back in business as I have a busy weekend planned. I’m leading the Save the Pine Bush Hike at 9 AM. I have to get a haircut and refill the propane bottle. Need to return or exchange the not properly functioning battery charger. Need to busy groceries. I have a Christmas Party to go to. Among other things.

Pine Bush Dinner is tonight at 6 PM featuring Ward Stone speaking at 7. He is always a good speaker. Join us at the Westminster Presbyterian Church on Chestnut Street in Albany.

While generally the starting battery stays very well charged when I’m camping as I start the truck occasionally, I’m cautious about heading up to the Adirondacks on Christmas weekend in a place without cellphone reception, even if at this point, I won’t likely be using the inverter because I’ll be tent camping with the almost certain cold and snow that will be up there. I might instead head back out to Cherry Ridge Camping Area in Madison County if they are still snow free and I can get up there. The cellphone also provides a much needed distraction on those long, cold winter nights. Next year I’m going to buy a good quality jump start pack, just in case the starting battery gets low, but that won’t help if the battery goes totally dead like last week. I plan to check the charge voltage at the battery when reinstalled and get the alternator tested too. If there is a drop in power going to the batteries but not the rest of the system, it might mean I need thicker battery cables. I’ll talk to reputable shop that knows more about automobile electric then myself.

December 15, 2015 evening

Good evening. Currently 46 degrees and overcast this evening. Isolated showers before 8pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 36. Breezy, with a northwest wind 19 to 24 mph decreasing to 5 to 10 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 37 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

It was cloudy this evening but had the clouds broke it would have shown an earlier sunset. Tomorrow will be sunnier with a high around 46. Certainly cooler than today, but still warmer than normal.

Tomorrow is the Save the Pine Bush Dinner at 6 PM at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Downtown Albany. Ward Stone will be the guest speaker. He is always a good speaker.

Tomorrow dad is going to pick up the battery from my truck. The shop said it just needed to be charged. We will see I guess. Hopefully I won’t be stuck in town this weekend. Otherwise I’m either going to have to get the truck towed somewhere or otherwise fixed. Gosh, I don’t know but it’s a bit frustrating.

November 18, 2015 evening

Good evening. Currently 52 degrees and quite warm for the second half of November. Clouds have rolled in with the front that will be bringing rain tomorrow. In the meantime, a mild evening. A chance of drizzle, mainly after 4am. Cloudy, with a low around 49. Southeast wind 11 to 14 mph.

Tomorrow the rain and warmer weather comes. Showers, mainly after 10am. High near 62. Breezy, with a southeast wind 15 to 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

The Save the Pine Bush Dinner is at 6 PM tonight, here at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Downtown Albany. Stop by for good lasagna. Don Raeb will be talking about the eastern part of the preserve.