December 17, 2016 Night

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Good evening! Light freezing rain and 32 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a south-southeast breeze at 8 mph. 

Tonight will have light freezing rain before 11pm, then a chance of rain between 11pm and 2am, then showers after 2am. It’s warm enough on the pavement that the treated roads haven’t froze much.   Temperature rising to around 40 by 5am. South wind 8 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. In 2015, it got down to 36 degrees with periods of snow. The record low of -9 occurred back in 1919.

Waning Gibbous Moon tonight with 70% illuminated. The Last Quarter Moon is on Tuesday night with mostly cloudy skies expected, so even if you stay up late, you probably won’t be able to see it.

Went down to the library and got some DVDs. Didn’t get as much coding done as I had planned but learned about a new mapping feature in QGIS – the raster calculator. Cleaned up the cables around the computer, which had gotten tangled up and kept unplugging the DTV box, so half the time I tape recorded shows nothing would tape. Also figured out that I needed to turn on and attach the dongle for my wireless keyboard to make it work, now I can control movies once again from my bed. 

Tomorrow will have rain showers before 4pm, then a chance of rain and snow showers. Temperature rising to near 44 by 8am, then falling to around 32 during the remainder of the day. Breezy, with a south wind 11 to 16 mph becoming west 18 to 23 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 34 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. A year ago, we had snow and a high of 52 degrees. The record high of 60 was set in 1921. 17 inches of snow fell back in 1887. The sun will rise at 7:20 am with the first light at 6:48 am, which is 38 seconds later then yesterday.

Looking ahead, Christmas Eve is Next Saturday, New Years Eve is in 2 weeks, Average High is 40 is in 11 weeks, St. Patrick’s Day is in 3 months, April Fools Day is in 15 weeks and Patriots Day is in 4 months.

December 17, 2016 Morning

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Good morning! Happy Saturday. Finally the weekend! Next Saturday is Christmas Eve. Snow and 25 degrees in Delmar. There is a south breeze at 14 mph. The current wind chill is 13. Roads are snow covered this morning, watch for ice as it warms up this afternoon. 

Today will continue snow until around 2pm, then a chance of snow and sleet between 2pm and 3pm, then a chance of rain and sleet after 3pm. Warming throughout the day with a high of 36 degrees at 5pm. One degree above normal. South wind 9 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow and sleet accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible. A year ago, we had fog, rain and a high of 52 degrees. The record high of 59 was set in 1984. My first Christmas! I’m 11.1 inches of snow fell back in 1970. I bet those Plymouth  Newports were dogs in the snow back in the day.

Today I will probably stay in town but will walk down to the library to hop on the Internet. Working on some blog revisions to the code, and removing some obsolete code. It’s kind of nice living in the city on snowy day today. 

The sun will set at 4:23 pm with dusk around 4:55 pm, which is 22 seconds later than yesterday. Today will have 9 hours and 3 minutes of daylight, a decrease of 15 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of drizzle before midnight, then rain, mainly after midnight. Low of 35 degrees at 7pm. 15 degrees above normal. South wind 10 to 17 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. In 2015, it got down to 36 degrees with periods of snow. The record low of -9 occurred back in 1919.

As previously noted, next Saturday is Christmas Eve when the sun will be setting at 4:26 pm with dusk at 4:58 pm. Days are getting longer, or will be soon. On that day in 2015, we had fairly heavy rain and temperatures between 72 and 43 degrees. I worked on Christmas Eve last year and I remember waiting for the bus in the rain. 

Last year we hit the record high on Christmas Eve, this year is expected to be cooler. Might be a White Christmas but there won’t be a lot accumulation due to Sundays rain and above freezing temperatures for most of the week. Typically, the high temperature is 33 degrees. 

Poll Shows Sharp Partisan Divide On Obama’s Historical Legacy.

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Poll Shows Sharp Partisan Divide On Obama’s Historical Legacy.

I thought Barack Obama did an exceptionally good job over a tough eight years. Then again, I thought same about George W. Bush.

Our country's presidents tend to be exceptionally hard-working men (and hopefully women soon), and we should respect them for all that they do to move our society.

I don't think America has ever had a bad president, at least in the modern era of mass enfranchisement, because to become president, you have to go through such a vetting process by the public.