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| It is almost this cold in Rochester right now... |
There has been a bitter wind blowing from the west for the
last several days. It snow-squalled lightly in Western New York this weekend
and it is flurrying in Saranac Lake
today. But at least we’re not experiencing ice tsunamis
like those in Minnesota and Manitoba.
How does the plein air
painter facing a Little Ice Age (or floods, drought, hail, or locusts) prepare?
I am a fan of the National Weather Service’s
Hourly Weather Graph.
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| Another of my favorite things... the National Weather Service's Hourly Weather Graph. It tells me everything I need to know. |
Above I’ve posted a screenshot of this afternoon’s graph for
my neck of the woods. The most pressing issue is that the temperature will rise
and the wind will drop this week…not just for us outdoor painters, but also for
the organizers of Rochester’s
Lilac Festival. And it’s certainly useful to know that the rain is done for
a while.
But I could get that information from the newspaper. What
the graph gives me that I don’t find elsewhere is the Sky Coverage forecast. This
evening and tomorrow evening, the cloud cover should diminish at dusk, giving
us the potential for beautiful sunsets. I can set my schedule accordingly.
Of course, different parts of the graph will be more useful
in different parts of the country. We’re seldom overheated up here in the far
north, but if I were in Arizona, I’d care a great deal about the Heat Index.
This year, I’ve been
watching the weather in two places: Rochester, NY and Rockland, ME. Maine tends
to be warmer in winter and cooler in summer than we are here inland. Makes for
good painting, so if you're interested in joining us for a fantastic time in
mid-Coast Maine this summer, check here for more information.
