Official 2.2 inches of snow during the morning of December 22, 2016, with wishes for happy holiday season.

For years the Byway has had a button on the home page that was a link to the National Weather Service local weather and forecast.  Nobody has commented on or perhaps even noticed that it has not been there for at least 8 months now.  Even though the Byway corridor is little more than 20 miles long, the weather on the western end, influenced by what may be coming down the Mohawk Valley can be completely different from the weather in Cohoes or Waterford influenced by the Hudson Valley.

Among my many interests is the weather, so much so that every morning about 6 AM, I send in a report to a national network of amateur meteorologists, CoCoRaHS.  My observations are taken just six miles from the official weather station (WXL34) at Albany County International Airport.  But the local conditions at each may be quite different: two or three degrees; cloud cover completely opposite; precipitation at two extremes; and wind from different directions or intensity.

In fact very often my measurement of precipitation may be quite different than my fellow observers in Cohoes or Niskayuna.  It often depends on the track of a summer shower or snow squall or northeaster.

I encourage everyone who is curious about nature around us to record weather observations and consider joining the network.