The corrosive weather of the rust belt continues today with cloudy skies and salt encrusted everything with temperatures around 36 degrees on our way towards forty six. Galvanized steel and billions in largess from the New York City somewhat covers up the rust but that road salt ultimately does its damage. On mornings like this you have to wonder why anybody in their right mind would stay in the rust belt. Millions have already left. 

I did not sleep well last night. Maybe that’s why I’m cranky.  I was in bed by a little after 10 PM but I laid in bed listening to podcasts until after midnight and kept waking up. I guess I should have put the red light on earlier and had less screen time, and taken a sleeping pill. Maybe draw the curtains. I forgot to turn the heat up when I got home last night, so everything we frigid in my apartment by early morning. I hate sleeping in the winter, I find it incredibly difficult. Kept hearing about Trump wasting taxpayer dollars on the stupid wall and going after undocumented immigrants, who just came to our country to work hard scrubbing floors and milking cows, so we can have clean office buildings and delicious milk in our cereal.

Despite the clouds, days are getting noticeably longer.  The sun will set at 5:01 pm with dusk around 5:31 pm, which is 1 minutes and 17 seconds later than yesterday. Today will have 9 hours and 47 minutes of daylight, an increase of 2 minutes and 11 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a slight chance of showers before midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low of 31 degrees at 6am. 17 degrees above normal. West wind around 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2016, it got down to 20 degrees under partly cloudy skies. The record low of -23 occurred back in 1994.

As previously noted, next Thursday is Ground Hog Day when the sun will be setting at 5:10 pm with dusk at 5:40 pm. On that day in 2016, we had partly sunny skies and temperatures between 46 and 29 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 32 degrees. We hit a record high of 53 back in 1981.

I’m still giggling over that article that I had some country boys calling Hillary Clinton a mean old heifer. Like all stereotypes, there is a lot of truths about it, even if it’s ugly and awful. Hillary was one of the worse candidates Democrats have had in a generation. That said she was put forward in era of rising expectations by Democratic activists and forced to be a bad candidate by those who pushed her so far to the left. I told people that 2016 was going to be a lot like 1968, and so it turned out to be. Unfortunately for us all, the Republicans nominated a megalomaniac fire cracker that’s going to blow up in all our hands. So be it, we are all victims of the results of our elections. Public policy can always be reversed in future years.  So far, I’m not a fan of the new President, but that’s not to be expected as a liberal Democrat.

The first chart is up on the blog today. Didn’t work earlier in the morning, but it has been fixed. Minor typo in the code. Many others are being worked on, and as I master ChartJS, I expect the diagrams and charts only improve. I’ve been wanting to add charts for a while on the blog but I had to implement and fully test the supporting code. There is a few glitches to fix over the weekend and I hope to further automate the code to make it easier to create new graphs and charts.

Good evening! The monster pothole at South Swan and Washington Avenue continues to grow and certainly is going to hang-up  the undercarriage of one of those sporty low body cars that state legislators, prominent lobbyists and governor’s top staff drive. To say nothing of low profile tires. Watch out for swerving buses and traffic at the intersection, especially as that pothole grows to two feet or so deep. It’s entertaining to watch at the bus stop. I’m sure it will give Fred Dicker something to complain about on his show. 

Tonight was the first sunset of the year after 5 pm. Mostly cloudy and 37 degrees in City of Albany. A few breaks in the sky before sunset but not much blue sky. There is a west-southwest breeze at 9 mph. The skies will clear tomorrow around 8 am.

Traffic is poking along in Downtown Albany tonight, due to concert at the Knickerbocker Arena and a picket of City Hall by the Blue Collar Unit with their struggles for a fair contract.

Tonight will have a slight chance of rain showers and sleet between 9pm and 10pm, then scattered rain showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low of 33 degrees at 9pm. 19 degrees above normal. Light and variable wind becoming south 6 to 11 mph after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Little or no sleet accumulation expected. In 2016, it got down to 32 degrees under mostly cloudy skies. The record low of -17 occurred back in 1920.

Waning Crescent Moon tonight with 11% illuminated. The moon will rise around 4:32 am. The New Moon is on Saturday night with mostly cloudy expected. The Full “Snow” Moon is on Saturday, February 11th. The sun will rise at 7:14 am with the first light at 6:44 am, which is 51 seconds earlier then yesterday. Tonight will have 14 hours and 13 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 12 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be scattered showers, mainly after 11am. Increasing clouds, with a high of 45 degrees at 2pm. 14 degrees above normal. South wind 7 to 13 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly cloudy skies and a high of 45 degrees. The record high of 59 was set in 1950. 8.5 inches of snow fell back in 1949.

Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. Saturday, a slight chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 35. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 34.Typical average high for the weekend is 31 degrees.

In four weeks on February 22 the sun will be setting at 5:36 pm, which is 36 minutes later then tonight. In 2016 on that day, we had snow and temperatures between 40 and 21 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 36 and 19 degrees. The record high of 68 degrees was set back in 1997.

Working on a new chart feature for the blog, to be rolled out over the next few weeks. It’s going to be a new way to present interesting data. The code uses Chart JS to display the charts.

Looking ahead, March 1st is in 5 weeks, Ides of March is in 7 weeks, Average High is 60 is in 12 weeks, Flag Day is in 20 weeks and Summer is in 21 weeks. It will be here before you know it.