Items tagged with 'weather'

His name is Earl

nws hurricane earl projected path

And with any luck, he won't be stopping by.

The National Weather Service is projecting that Hurricane Earl will skim its way along east coast, grazing North Carolina, Long Island and Cape Cod on Friday. If it sticks to that path, we shouldn't see an effect here (well, unless you were headed to the Cape for the weekend). Of course, things can change.

Here the paraphrased weekend forecast for our area:

Friday: Highs in the upper 80s. Some chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon.
Saturday: A lot cooler -- highs in the mid 70s. Slight chance of rain in the afternoon.
Sunday: Sunny. Cooler -- high around 70.
Labor Day: About the same, maybe a little warmer.

So, the weather looks like it could be OK.

image: National Weather Service

The hottest month?

capital region monthly average temps

August was crushed to find out that the NWS says July is hotter.

After seeing some chatter (chirping?) about today's temperature on Twitter (essentially: it shouldn't be this hot), we figured we'd look it up to see what the typical temps are for August (and every other month, for that matter).

The chart above shows the monthly normal temps as recorded by the National Weather Service in Albany for the years 1971-2000 (so, yep, it doesn't include the last decade of data). As you can see, July is typically the hottest month, though August is close behind. The numbers are also in a table after the jump.

The average high so far this month has been 81.5, which is a few degrees warmer than usual.

About today... The highest temp on record here for August 31 came in 1953, a day that topped out at 93. As of 3 pm today, the temp was 91. The average high for this date is 76.

(there's more)

Paging Mr. Sun

sky blue sky

Don't worry, blue skies are on the way. Probably.

OK, so we're on dreary day number 4, but the sun will come out. Tomorrow even. A "moisture starved" cold front is apparently on its way -- with high pressure behind it -- which should mean clearer skies and drier air.

The paraphrased forecast:

Thursday: Partly sunny, high near 80.

Friday: Sunny, but cool. Highs in the low 70s.

Saturday: Approaching perfect. Sunny, with highs around 80.

Sunday: More sun, highs in the upper 80s.

Everywhere the hum of air conditioners

air conditioner

Vrvrvrvrvrvrvrvrvrvrvrvr...

New Yorkers set a record for single month electricity usage in July, according to NYISO -- the org that manages most of the power grid in the state.

Total usage was at 17,312 gigawatt-hours (yeah, sounds big). It tops the old record, set in August 2005, by about two percent. And it's up 19 percent from last July.

The state also almost set a new record peak demand on July 6.

This past July in the Capital Region was hot -- but not extraordinarily so. The average temp was 74.9, which doesn't even rank in the top 10 (we needed to hit 76.5 to crack that list). There were eight days over 90 -- about four more than usual.

New York City was smokin', though. Its July was the second hottest month on record there.

(there's more)

The aurora might be visible tonight

NASA sun coronal mass ejection 2010-08-01Thanks to "wonderful fireworks the Sun has been producing," there's a chance we could catch a glimpse of the aurora borealis tonight (you know, the Northern Lights.) [CS Monitor] [HSCFA]

Forecasts indicate New York State could be on the edge of the aurora's viewing area. Around midnight, look to the north for a red or green glow. Your chances will better the more north you are, and the darker the sky.

OK, about those fireworks on the sun...

(there's more)

Mooning

almost full moon

Last night's almost-full moon.

We were struck by how bright the moon was last night -- and it wasn't even totally full.

It will be tonight. And it looks like the weather should make for some excellent viewing -- clear and cool.

This whole week looks like it could be nicely summery. The paraphrased forecast:

Tuesday: Sunny and warm, highs in the upper 80s, cool in the evening.

Wednesday: Even warmer, near 90.

Wednesday into Thursday: Maybe some sprinkles.

Thursday: Warm, chance of thunderstorms.

Friday: Sunny, cooler (temps near 80), lower humidity.

Weekend: Mostly blissful.

Gray skies are going to...

nws radar 2010-06-09

Blech.

We've been fighting flashbacks to the lost summer of 2009 the past few days. Fifty-six degrees on June 9? Sorry, wrong answer.

The (paraphrased) forecast isn't helping much:

Thursday: rain "likely" in the morning, high in the upper 60s, blah
Friday: Some sun, high in the mid 70s (yippee)
Saturday: Cloudy, chance of rain, high near 80
Sunday: Cloudy, chance or rain, high around 80

Upside: we won't have to water the garden.

image: NWS

This is May, right?

arielle's thermometer

Sizzle.

Arielle passed along this photo this afternoon. She wrote:

This was taken in my yard moments ago. It's in the direct sunlight. It's always been very accurate.

The highest temp on record for this date is 94, set in 1914.

At 5 pm, the National Weather Service site reported the temperature was 93.9.

Hot, hot, hot

hot Otto

Hot. Dog.

This just in: it's a bit warm outside. The temp at ALB this afternoon hit 88. And it looks like Wednesday will be even hotter.

Here's the (paraphrased) forecast:

Tuesday night: Some relief, low of 61.
Wednesday: Find a cool drink -- and swim in it. High of 93.
Thursday: Eat the ice cream cone quickly, high in the upper 80s. Fifty percent chance of thunderstorms.
Friday: Cold snap. High in the upper 60s. Chance of rain.
The weekend: What you hoped for -- sunny and 70s.

Now, if you'll excuse us, Otto's demanding more ice in his drink. And a tiny umbrella.

Warm up ahead

iris with rain dropsYes, it was in the 30s last night. And, yes, today's high temp is projected to be in the 40s. But better weather is just ahead. The paraphrased forecast:

Today: Windy, cold. Blerg.
Thursday Windy, sunny, high around 60.
Friday: Sunny with a few clouds, high around 70.
Saturday Mostly sunny. High around 80. The faint sounds of harps being strummed by angels.
Sunday: Cloudy, chance of rain. But a high in the upper 70s.

A sky blue sky

sky blue sky

Deep.

We were struck by how deeply and awesomely blue the sky was today.

Credit goes to low humidity and good air quality. And Rayleigh scattering.

Cooling off

flowering treeThursday's high temp of 87 tied the record for that day (the high was set in 1991).

The next few days look cooler -- but not bad. The paraphrased forecast:

Friday: Cloudy, maybe some rain, highs in the 50s.
Saturday: Sunny, highs in the mid-50s. "Slight" chance or rain/snow at night.
Sunday: Sun, high near 60.
Next week: Sunny, 50s.

The normal high temp for this time of year is mid 50s.

Hot, hot, hot

single crocusThis past Friday's high temp of 77 was a record, according to the National Weather Service. The previous high was 69, set in 1967. The daily normal for that day is 51. (Saturday's 77 missed the record by two degrees.)

Wednesday's forecasted high temp is 81 -- hot, but it would still be short of the record. It was 87 on April 7 in 1991.

Relaxing on a spring day

swyer statue flower

Taking time to take it all in.

Bob -- of Nipper's Hot Dogs fame -- spotted this spring moment today.

The statue is of Lewis Swyer and it sits in Academy Park in Albany (here's another pic). Swyer was a developer (he developed Stuyvesant Plaza) and philanthropist (he sat on the boards of many non-profits, including SPAC).

Just a few more puddles...

january puddlesYep, it's damp and gray. But hold on. Things are about to get a lot better.

The paraphrased forecast:

Tuesday: Heavy rain, not particularly warm.
Wednesday: A bit drizzly. Temps in the 50s.
Thursday: Ahhhhh... sunny. Highs near 70.
Friday: A chorus of angels. Bright. Clear. Mid-70s.
Weekend: Approaching perfect. Temps near 80.

You did read that correctly.

That warm weather was bought on credit

snow on green grass

Thought this morning: Who dropped powdered sugar on the grass? Oh, wait...

It's sunny! The grass is greening! It's 29 degrees!*

Blerg.

It's like we bought all of those above average temps a few weeks back on credit -- and now we're paying them back. Here's the paraphrased forecast for the next few days:

This afternoon: Sunny. High of 35.
Saturday: Sunny. High (if that's the word) of 42.
Sunday: A little warmer, chance of rain.
Monday: Rain/snow "likely" -- temps in the mid 40s.

The normal high temp for this part of March is 49-51.

* At noon on Friday

A lot of water, falling

Via the Exile comes this video of the Cohoes Falls yesterday:

Here are a few stills: a triptych and a panorama.

The Mohawk was near flood stage yesterday at Cohoes.

Earlier on AOA:
+ A better look at the Cohoes Falls
+ An even better look at the Cohoes Falls

Hello, sunshine!

first crocus

The first crocus we spotted this year.

It was a good day to wake up from a long winter's nap.

We hit 62 today. The forecast for rest of this week:

Thursday: 61 and sunny

Friday: 66 and sunny

Saturday: 67 and sunny

Sunday: 61 and chance of rain

Snowpocalypse in Westerlo

westerlo snowpocalypse

We understand that there's a car under there -- somewhere.

Greg sent along a gallery of photos from the "snowpocalypse" out in Westerlo. He says he spent the weekend "helping my girlfriend's family dig out from the insane amount of snow that got dumped on them."

Insane is the right word. While the central Capital Region just got slushy rain toward the end of last week, the snow just kept falling in western Albany County. An observation station to the west of Thacher Park recorded snow depths of more than 3.5 feet by the end of last week.

From Greg's description of the gallery:

There's a few pictures of us excavating her brothers car, and some shots of the abandoned barn that collapsed across the street (no cows were hurt). The first picture is of Hartford, CT the same day as I drove back from a work trip.

Other places weren't so lucky -- CBS6 reported that farm animals were killed in two separate barn collapses this past weekend in the hill towns.

(Thanks, Greg!)

Icy, Snowy Apocalypse Watch Update

snowy apocalypse meter 2010-02-23

The projected snowfall totals for the rest of the week are starting to increase. From the National Weather Service:

Today: mix of rain/snow
Tonight: "New snow accumulation of 4 to 8 inches possible."
Wednesday: "New snow accumulation of 3 to 7 inches possible."
Thursday: Chance of precipitation 80 percent. But as the forecast discussion notes for Thursday and beyond, "a high degree of uncertainty remains during this period."
Friday: Chance of precipitation 70 percent.

The forecast continues to include high temps in the mid to upper 30s for the rest of this week.

We're bumping this up to a "Winter's Making an Effort" situation because, while it sounds like any one day this week might not be too bad, the string of them could add up. It seems that a lot will depend on which way temperatures break, elevation and a storm on the coast.

In other words, your wintry mileage will almost certainly vary. And it looks like the snow we're getting will be the wet, heavy kind. So, make sure you car has its snow brush. And bring a shovel.

Necessary note: You should take this all with an enormous bag of rock salt. AOA has absolutely no weather forecasting expertise. At all. We do, however, think it's funny how every winter storm is treated like the end of the world. Also: Ellsass, we're sorry.

Icy, Snowy Apocalypse Watch

snowy apocalypse meter 2010-02-22

Today is gorgeous -- sunny and warm (for February). The rest of this week? Uh, different story.

The paraphrased forecast from the National Weather Service:

Today: Sunny with highs near 40!
Tonight: Not really cold, but snow is expected to start around midnight.
Tuesday: Precipitation in many of its forms: snow, rain, something in between. Highs in the upper 30s. Might have about two inches of accumulation from the night before.
Wednesday: Some snow probable. But also temps in the upper 30s.
Thursday: Chance of snow/rain. Temps in mid-30s.
Friday: Snow? Still not too cold.

OK, so this week could just end up being damp and chilly. Or, if temps drop... we could be in for some real snow because there's almost certainly going to precipitation. In fact, the models are pointing to significant snowfall for the higher elevations (hello, ski slopes).

We're going to hope that this week stays warm and the precipitation stays unfrozen -- but it could be slushy out there. And if we do get snow, it'll probably be heavy. So we're going to peg this as "mildly annoying" on the icy, snowy apocalypse meter.

Necessary note: You should take this all with an enormous bag of rock salt. AOA has absolutely no weather forecasting expertise. At all. We do, however, think it's funny how every winter storm is treated like the end of the world. Also: Ellsass, we're sorry.

Icy, Snowy Apocalypse Watch

snowy apocalypse meter 2010-02-16

Look out the window: it's probably snowing. But it appears this is just part of winter's half-hearted effort this year. Here's the paraphrased forecast from the National Weather Service:

Today: It will snow. Accumulation of maybe three inches. High temp around freezing.
Tonight: Probably some more snow, but not much. Maybe an inch.
Wednesday: High temp in the upper 30s. Maybe a bit of snow. Very gusty.
Thursday: More highs in the upper 30s. Maybe some sun. Again, windy.
Friday: About the same.

With that in mind, we're pegging this Icy, Snowy Apocalypse at just a touch above "whatever." If this keeps ups, we're going to have re-calibrate the meter.

By the way: This season's snowfall total is just 22.4 inches (as of yesterday) -- that's more than 21 inches behind where we usually are by this point in winter. Pity the snowmen.

Necessary note: You should take this all with an enormous bag of rock salt. AOA has absolutely no weather forecasting expertise. At all. We do, however, think it's funny how every winter storm is treated like the end of the world. Also: Ellsass, we're sorry.

Icy, Snowy Apocalypse Watch

snowy apocalypse meter_2010-02-09

By all accounts there is a large, rather snowy winter storm headed east. And also by most accounts, that large storm is projected to just miss us. Again.

Are you feeling lucky?

Because here's the thing: this could either way. We're right on the edge of the action. The storm steams by to the south and we get 3, maybe 4 inches. But the high pressure ridge that's been keeping all the snow off us shifts a little bit -- and hello, 6-10 inches. (If you're headed to NYC or other points south, do wear your boots.)

So we're going to tentatively peg this as a "mildly annoying" icy, snowy apocalypse. But, you know, things change. Bring a shovel.

Here's the paraphrased forecast from the National Weather Service:

Tonight: Not too cold. Maybe a few flakes after midnight.
Wednesday: Not all that cold. Snow starting in the late morning. Maybe 1-3 inches.
Wednesday night: Probably more snow, but not a lot. Windy.
Thursday: Sunny. Again, not that cold -- but windy.
On to the weekend: Partly cloudy/sunny, temps in the low 30s.

Necessary note: You should take this all with an enormous bag of rock salt. AOA has absolutely no weather forecasting expertise. At all. We do, however, think it's funny how every winter storm is treated like the end of the world. Also: Ellsass, we're sorry.

Earlier on AOA: A tough year for local snowmen

A tough year for local snowmen

snowfall city totals snowmen

Even DC is beating us this year.

As cold as this winter's been at times, it has not been snowy. In fact, the Capital Region has gotten just 21.5 inches of snow this season -- that's off more than 18 inches from the usual total by this time of year.

But while we've been relatively snow-free, other parts of the East Coast have been in the middle of Snowmegeddon. So, indulging in a bit of wetterschadenfreude, we thought it would be fun to see how our snowfall totals stack up (or down) to these other normally not-so-snowy climes. (Yes, DC -- that's very unfortunate. Very.)

A few select cities are compared above in the snowman graph. More totals -- with normal totals -- after the jump.

By the way: we've actually noticed lately a few people lamenting the lack of snow this year. Gotta say we didn't see that coming.

Snow is forecasted for Wednesday...

(there's more)

Icy, Snowy Apocalypse Watch

snowy apocalypse meter 2010-01-28

Here's the situation, straight from the NWS's "hazardous weather outlook":

THE ARCTIC FRONT WILL SWEEP THROUGH THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON. IT WILL BRING A ONE TO TWO HOUR PERIOD OF NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS...A QUICK 1 TO 3 INCHES OF SNOW...AND WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 50 MPH. THIS WILL RESULT IN WHITEOUT CONDITIONS AND DANGEROUS TRAVEL.

After that: snot-freezing cold. The forecast includes overnight temps in the single digits and sub-zero wind chills.

We've pegged this Icy, Snowy Apocalypse somewhere between "Annoying" and "Winter's Making an Effort" because this afternoon could be tough for a few hours -- but after that it's expected to just be really cold. And, as a hardy northeasterner, you can handle that.

Necessary note: You should take this all with an enormous bag of rock salt. AOA has absolutely no weather forecasting expertise. At all. We do, however, think it's funny how every winter storm is treated like the end of the world. Also: Ellsass, we're sorry.

The Scoop

Ever wish you had a smart, savvy friend with the inside line on what's happening around the Capital Region? You know, the kind of stuff that makes your life just a little bit better? Yeah, we do, too. That's why we created All Over Albany. Find out more.

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