I wonder when they will be replacing the massive mercury vapor lamps that light the outside of Empire Plaza with color LEDs. Just think of how pride month will look when the agency buildings are lit the color of rainbow!

Good morning! Happy Winnie the Pooh Day 🍯! Maybe if Winnie the Pooh uses his microwave he can get the honey thawed enough to flow. Next Friday is 5 PM Sunset 🌆. Cloudy and 25 degrees in Albany. ☁ There is a south breeze at 9 mph. 🍃. There is a dusting of snow on the ground from the early morning snow shower. About two feet more are coming come Saturday afternoon through Sunday afternoon. ☃ Things will start to thaw out at around noontime. 🌡️ For a bit, then we will fall into a winter wonderland of cold.

Today will have a slight chance of snow showers between 10am and 11am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy 🌦, with a high of 36 degrees at 2pm. Six degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 19th. South wind 8 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had mostly sunny in the morning, which became mostly clear by afternoon. The high last year was 24 degrees. The record high of 59 was set in 1973. 7.9 inches of snow fell back in 1891.❄

The sun will set at 4:50 pm with dusk around 5:21 pm, which is one minute and 14 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 35 degrees. There will be a southwest breeze at 8 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 30 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 50 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 16 degrees at 6am. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around February 6th. Northwest wind 8 to 11 mph. In 2018, we had light snow in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 12 degrees. The record low of -28 occurred back in 1971. Ducking cold. 🦆

The big story on everybody’s minds today, is the very snowy forecast for the Martin Luther King Day Weekend, although fortunately the snow is supposed to slacken off by mid-day Sunday, ☃ but it will become very cold, making for challenge to clean the roads come Monday. I have to move my truck to the snow parking spot, and I may try to brush my truck off on Saturday night, so it doesn’t get quite so buried.❄ I have to go out on Monday, but hopefully the road will be better then, and that the wheel sensor won’t be too frozen that I can’t get the truck out of park. 🅿

I dialed the heat back a bit but I expect to crank it up tonight and leave it warm through the Martin Luther King Holiday, as it’s going to get very cold and windy 🌬 and with the snow expected I want to make sure it’s not too cold in case I lose power. Not to mention, with the weather, I doubt I’ll be going anywhere on Sunday except maybe skiing, and even that’s questionable with it expected to be as cold as it will get.⛷

Last night’s lecture on Past, present and future changes in weather and climate in the Northeast US at the Discovery Center, although admittedly most of the lecture wasn’t earth shattering, 🌍 most of the science was well known for people who follow the issue and don’t have their heads stuck in the sand.⌛ I really enjoyed the lecture as the leader was just a scientist, not an activist or politician. He discussed the changes likely to be seen in my lifetime and generations beyond, but didn’t really push an agenda, like so many of these lecture often become — political rallies with extreme goals. I am actually not surprised, as the Albany Pine Bush Commission is a public authority; they generally are not allowed to be political.

The lecture ran until 8 PM, and it was a nice hike in the Albany Pine Bush under moonlight. 🌔 Cloudy but the moonlight shown through it, and the clouds helped reflect the light pollution, and with no leaves on the delicious trees, 🌌 there was no need for a flashlight. Not a lot of wildlife in the cold, but it actually wasn’t that cold in 20s with no breeze. Very quiet once you got away from the big roads. I hiked until about 9:30 PM then went back to my truck and drove home. Worked perfectly fine once it was warmed up, as it does on most warmer days.

As previously noted, next Friday is 5 PM Sunset 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 4:59 pm with dusk at 5:30 pm. On that day in 2018, we had mostly sunny and temperatures between 25 and 14 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 31 degrees. We hit a record high of 61 back in 1938.