Friday, May 24, 2013

A Rose-Breasted Grosbeak perched high in a willow along Fargo Brook.

Morning Observation:

This morning in Huntington at 6:10AM it’s currently 50 degrees and raining lightly under overcast skies. Winds are calm. Relative humidity is 97%, dewpoint 49, barometric pressure 29.71″ and rising. We picked up 0.73″ of rain in the past 24hrs. Yesterday’s high was 77 and the overnight low was 50.

Forecast:

A developing coastal low–similar to a wintertime nor’easter–will bring more rain and much cooler temperatures to our region over the weekend. Temperatures will be 15 to 20 degrees below normal with some high elevation accumulating snowfall possible on Saturday into Sunday. Quite a change, no?

Today we’ll see showers and near steady temperature in the upper 40s and lower 50s with north winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain is near 100%. Tonight will bring more rain with lows in the lower 40s and north winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain is near 100%.

Saturday will bring more rain with highs in the mid 40s and north winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain is near 100%. Saturday night? More rain with lows in the upper 30s and north winds 15 to 20 mph gusting up to 30 mph. Chance of rain is near 100%. There’s a strong probability of accumulating snowfall in areas above 2500′ Saturday night into Sunday morning. Forecasts are calling for as much as 6″ in the ‘Dacks, Mt. Mansfield and Jay Peak. Zoweee!

Rain will continue into Sunday with highs only in the mid 40s and northwest winds 15 to 20 mph gusting up to 30 mph. Chance of rain is near 100%. The low should finally move off the coast Sunday night, so we should see mostly cloudy skies with a 40% chance of rain. Lows will be in the upper 30s. High pressure will build into the region Monday, moderating temperatures into the lower 60. All in all, it’s gunna be a chilly, soggy and raw weekend folks. Rainfall totals should be on the order of 2″ to 2.5″ by the time the low leaves us. Guess we’re getting the rain we so needed just last week… Never a dull moment here in the North Country!

Almanac:

Last year on this date we had a high of 80 and a low of 53.

Burlington norms for this date are highs of 70°F and lows of 48°F.
Record high was 88°F in 1991.
Record low was 28°F in 1963.

Sky Notes:

Sunrise: 5:16 AM EDT
Sunset: 8:22 PM EDT
Length Of Visible Light: 16h 15m
Length of Day: 15h 05m
Tomorrow will be 1m 46s longer.

The Moon is waxing gibbous, 14d 10h old with 99% illumination.
Moonrise: 7:59 PM EDT
Moonset: 4:48 AM EDT

About Today’s Photo:

I was out getting some first shots with my new Sigma 150-500mm telephoto lens yesterday afternoon. I heard one of our resident Northern Orioles  up in the trees along the brook and was trying to catch a shot of it. I saw some movement and slew the big lens towards it, and there was  this male Rose-Breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus)! Quite the handsome fellow! The shot was taken with my 150-500mm tele @ 500mm, ISO 800, f/14, 1/800 second.