March 6, 2016 Night

|

Good evening! Currently mostly clear and 31 degrees with a 6 mph west wind. The wind chill value is currently 25.

Tomorrow the sun will rise at 6:18 am with the first light at 5:51 am, which is 1 minutes and 42 seconds earlier then today. We lose an hour in the morning next week but still we’ll have some light before 7 AM.

With the time change, and the coming of spring, the weather will get progressively nicer. The average high in four weeks on Monday April 4th is 53 degrees, and the record for that date is 79 degrees was set back in 1981.

Probably the lesson I learned most this weekend is the beauty and enjoyment of things local. Getting out and walking to places can show you much missed by motoring. Local state forests also have a lot to offer. No need to drive am hour and a half every time you seek an adventure. It’s nice sometimes to leave your car parked for a week and hoof it around or take a bus everywhere. Walking is good for you.

Tomorrow starts a new work week. But I think it will be a good productive one, and heck Tuesday evening is payday. And we get one more day closer to the time change and nicer spring weather. So I’m ready for it.
I hope you had a good weekend. I certainly did. Good night. Sleep well!

March 6, 2016 Evening

|

Good evening! Currently mostly clear and 42 degrees with a 10 mph north wind. The wind chill value is currently 36. Honestly, it’s not too bad of an evening. Tonight will be partly cloudy, with a low around 25. South wind 3 to 6 mph. That’s about 3 degrees above normal. The record low of -6 degrees was set back in 1950. It could be a lot colder.

Decent sunset to close out the weekend. Now we have 12 hours and 26 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 54 seconds over last night. If you get up early, you will be able to see the Waning Crescent Moon with 15% illuminated. It will rise at 4:30 am. The New Moon is on Wednesday. One week from now, it’s day light savings time, and it now will be around sunset, aka 7 PM. That’s pretty nice. Now if that weather is nice, I’ll be able to go to the park after work.

Monday will be partly sunny, with a high near 54. South wind 7 to 11 mph becoming west in the afternoon. That’s about 13 degrees above normal. I guess this means the spring thaw is upon us. But it’s far below the record high of 62 degrees, set back in 1974.

While Sunday March 20th is the first day of spring, Thursday March 17th will have close to equal darkness and daylight, as sun is refracted against the atmosphere, making the days appear slightly longer then what the calendar would suggest. The first day of spring actually has 12 hours and 10 minutes of daylight, and a sunset at 7:09 PM.

Today I went grocery shopping and bought some needed supplies. Checked the oil and other levels in the car, all were fine, topped off the windshield washer fluid. Truck started up easily after 7 days parked, with the warm weather and the new, quality battery. Cleaned up the kitchen.

I also went up to Cole Hill State Forest in Berne, hiking around there for a bit with my GPS, trying to find good places to tent camp. I came up with 5 potential locations for making backcountry campsites, with the goal of being within a short walk from parking, but also in a quiet, isolated location more then 150 feet (or 0.03 miles) from road or trail. I found one campsite with an existing fire pit I really liked, but I want to let the ground dry up and grass turn green before I spend a night out there. I saw another strong possibility, and the other three where were just so-so. Took some pictures, will post them on the blog later.

This summer I’m thinking of doing more tent camping, and staying local, now that I have good working lanterns and figured out who do to the candle thing in a nice way. My phone and bluetooth speaker plays music in the woods without any electricity. Those long drives to the Adirondacks tend to get long, and there are many delightful little places to go locally. Most of the campsites I studied were just a short walk from parking, so I could bring the big table back and even the 20-lb propane tank if I wanted plenty of energy for light and cooking.

Don’t be sad the weekend is coming to a conclusion. A new one is just five days away!

March 6, 2016 Morning

|

Good morning! Happy Sunday. Currently partly sunny and 29 degrees with calm wind. At this point next Sunday, it will be a little after 10 AM with the day light savings time change. I’m glad for the time change, as it will make for easier sleeping and longer evenings.

Today will be sunny, with a high near 41. Calm wind becoming northwest around 5 mph in the afternoon. That’s about normal. The record high of 63 degrees was set back in 1974. Going to quite a nice day. A big warm up coming.

Tonight the sun will set at 5:52 pm with darkness around 6:20 pm, which is 1 minutes and 13 seconds later than yesterday. Today will have 11 hours and 32 minutes of daylight, an increase of 2 minutes and 54 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be partly cloudy, with a low around 26. South wind 3 to 6 mph. That’s about 4 degrees above normal. The record low of -6 degrees was set back in 1950. The warm up continues through the week as the Ground Hog’s prediction proves true.

The long range for next weekend looks like partly sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 50s. That’s still a ways off though.

There are 2 months, 2 days until Mother’s Day when the sun will be setting at 8:04 pm (Daylight Savings Time). The average high temperature for Mother’s Day is 67 degrees, with a record high of 91 in 1936.

Happy Birthday to the coke snorting, former mayor of Washington DC, the late Marion Barry. He passed away in 2014. Former Senator Kit Bond of Missouri also has a birthday today.

Today in 1970, an explosion at the Weather Underground safe house in Greenwich Village kills three.

Also In 1981, After 19 years of presenting the CBS Evening News, Walter Cronkite signs off for the last time.