As there's a warning about high winds and rain, I think this was very smart. We will go with safety first and postpone the 2012 Fair to tomorrow Sunday the 9th, set up to begin at 8:00am and run the...
The AES Cayuga plant hasn't been running since March, so our electricity is no longer coming from Tompkins County. For more on why, see Stuart Staniford's look at the paths of oil and natural gas prices. This storm mostly missed...
Just in time for my local weather talk, I've upgraded my weather station. If for some reason you want a local report on ultraviolet exposure, my weather station now reports the UV index in the left-hand table, with updates every...
next Thursday night at Dryden Village Hall: WEATHER WISE Unusual weather seems prevalent this year but as the old saying goes, "the more things change the more they stay the same." Over the years Dryden has experienced notable periods of...
I'm not sure what it is about the area near the Lower Creek / Pinckney Road intersection, but it seems to get more than its share of accidents. The most recent, Tuesday night, killed a Freeville man and injured four...
Via commenter Jason C, I see that meteorologist Drew Montreuil of GrotonWeather.com is giving a talk in Freeville tomorrow night: What do snow, tornadoes and groundhogs have in common? Come to the Freeville Potluck Dinner THIS SATURDAY starting at 5:30pm!...
Today the weather is just unseasonably warm but seasonably dismal - but sometimes we get more dangerous weather here too. I gave a talk last night to the Varna Volunteer Fire Company about weather disasters, exploring some of the extremes...
The weather's been tricky since I first started making ice lanterns, but tonight's cold and low winds are about perfect. I've also gotten a little better at making them. The main problem I've had is that candles melt everything around...
I'll be giving a talk at the Varna Volunteer Fire Company next Thursday, January 26th, at 7:30pm, on local weather, weather forecasting, and their relationship to emergency services. I'm planning to start with a look at some of Dryden's...
It's only a couple of inches (so far), but it's great to finally see my back yard looking like it should in mid-January. Snow up in the trees and still coming. Cortland and Groton schools closed, but it looks like...
"And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." (John 1:5) In the darkest season of the year, the lights go up. Every year, Christmas lights go up on houses, trees, shrubs, and lately, all kinds of...
Sorry for the late notice, but if you can make it, this should be great: On October 19, 2011 at 7 pm, Dryden Historical Society will present a program about "The 1981 Flood: 30 Years Ago" Mike Lane was mayor...
I drove around a lot of Dryden today, but only had time to explore the Fall Creek watershed. I missed something important in the southwest corner of the town - the German Cross Road bridge is closed. Bridge closed -...
Fall Creek (measured at Forest Home) is abnormally high, but just touching the 'action stage' and not crossing into flood stage territory. We got 3.67" of rain at my house yesterday, but that scarcely compared to Binghamton's record 7.49", which...
Ithaca and Dryden schools are closed today, and Cornell is currently closed. Ithaca College delayed opening until noon. Update: Closure order ends at 9:00am - Sheriff Lifts Road Closure Order Effective 9:00 a.m. Tompkins County Sheriff Ken Lansing has lifted...
Yesterday's quake was pretty peaceful here. My chair and office wobbled a bit, and I worried I was having a stroke for a few moments, but it was just Virginia sending a seismic message to the east coast. I'm a...
On my way back from the transfer station, I stopped by the side of the road to take a cell phone picture of the beautiful fog and sun over Varna and Mount Pleasant. No, it wasn't a nuclear blast. Nor...
It's not clear to me that the brine referenced in this article is hazardous or coming from hydrofracking operations, but there is clearly some use of gas wastewater being spread on roads throughout the Southern Tier. I tracked through the...
Once again, I've fallen far, far behind on keeping up with the Ithaca Journal. If you have more time than I do right now, here's some good reading: Dryden schools get award for composting TC3 students recognized for excellence Dryden...
If you prefer to get your weather through a comprehensive site like Weather Underground rather than a one-point site like mine, you can have the best of both worlds: my station is now on Weather Underground. If you go, for...
After three decades or so of wanting one, I've finally planted a weather station in my back yard. I don't have to be the only person to see its data, though - you can get information overload from the current...
Today's snow seems aimed right at early morning commuting, and roads are the whitest I've seen on a workday in a while. Route 13 and 366 overlap in the snow....
A 21-year-old Mineah Road resident was charged with kidnapping Saturday for allegedly abducting an 18-year-old at gunpoint. The State Department of Environmental Conservation seems to be moving closer to allowing gas drilling on state forest land. (There's an earlier release...
It's changed from rain to snow now, but it was a pretty exciting morning of waterfalls and mud. Waterfalls between my house and the neighbor. Culvert emptying across 366. Fortunately, the foundation and drainage work from last year seems to...
Dryden schools have had difficult budget conversations before, but this year's conversation looks, well, extremely dark. Even if it gets better than "could lay off as many as 17 employees, including 10 teachers, to stay solvent," I don't think it...
Well, sort of. It's strange to see snow when the leaves are mostly still on the trees. Snow-covered trees, with leaves. It doesn't seem to be enough snow to disrupt traffic, though there are some power outages....
Frost came late this year, but now it looks like winter's coming early. 1-2 inches of snow forecast for October 15th and 16th? And I see snow on the radar already? Sometimes I talk about weather patterns. This year feels...
Driving keeps getting more expensive, and it isn't just the gasoline in our tanks - it's the road maintenance we pay for through taxes. This morning's Journal examines local responses to a doubling in the cost of blacktop over the...
Today's colder and rainy, sure. My ducks like it, and we need the rain, but it's not a lot of fun. If you'd like something brighter, stop by Craig Cramer's Ellis Hollow blog. He has all kinds of pictures from...
The fundraiser for Dryden High School student Grasen Alexander raised around $7000, including "a sold-out bake sale, a sold-out barbecue and a silent auction that yielded around $2,000." It's good to hear back on the success of these events. There's...
Watch out for today's weather - it's not going to be easy to get around. Road salt shortages continue to be a problem in the area, though the article doesn't mention Dryden. This morning's Ithaca Journal looks at the challenges...
March seems to have come in as an indecisive lion, one who can't decide if it prefers rain or snow. We've had an interesting few days of precipitation, and the Journal has a photo of it from the Express Mart...
I know this stuff is really inconvenient, and I'm glad I don't have to go out today, but wow - this is gorgeous. Every now and then the sun even lights it up. Snow-covered driveway and trees. Amazing - even...
Cathy Wakeman's Dryden Town Talk in this morning's Journal lists a lot of happenings, including one tonight: There will be a deployment ceremony at 6:00pm tonight for 87 men and women going to Afghanistan for a year. The ceremony will...
I was out of the house on Saturday from 8:30am to 10:30pm, and didn't get to catch up with much. Saturday's Journal had some stories that aren't specifically Dryden, but still worth exploring. There's an AP piece on our changing...
This morning's Journal reports unseasonable temperatures, a January spring. It peaked at 62 at the airport yesterday and 64 on Game Farm Road, and we'll see similar temperatures today. There was a closed hearing in the Manos murder case yesterday,...
Between some travel and connectivity problems, I'm a little behind. To catch up... Yesterday's paper reports that the Finger Lake Land Trust will be establishing a 138-acre nature preserve near the headwaters of Six Mile Creek. Looking at the map,...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports on yesterday's snow, and has an editorial on safe driving. An anonymous donor just gave the SPCA a large donation to help cover animal control costs, giving county municipalities a year at the old rates...
Every now and then I get into a conversation about lake-effect snow, and I usually talk about how Lake Erie sends snow to the Buffalo area while Ontario sends snow to the south and east. Somehow, yesterday, Lake Huron got...
Today's news is pretty general to the county and the area. There's a report on the weekend snowstorm. Groton apparently got the most snow, at five inches. There's also a report on this being the peak season for deer hunting...
I don't think the chickens have figured out snow yet. We gave them a bigger enclosure behind the coop to enjoy, but so far today they seem to think that the coop and its fenced front porch are enough excitement....
This morning's Ithaca Journal visits the Eight Square Schoolhouse festival, which I missed this year. It sounds like they had they usual fun re-acquainting people with the schoolhouse, which last served as a public school in 1941. I have my...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports on last night's storms, which dumped more than three inches of rain in the northern part of the county, including Lansing, Groton, and Dryden. We didn't seem to get anything here but thunder and lightning...
I came home last night to find my house without power, and apparently a lot of other people had similar problems with the weather. The night before last we'd watched a dead tree topple into our yard, so it's been...
Most of the Dryden activity in today's Journal is on the editorial page. Henry Kramer of Dryden writes about possible government consolidation. While I rarely agree with Kramer, there's a lot worth considering in this article. I agree completely that...
This morning's Journal has a letter from David and Christine Bravo-Cullen of Dryden, reporting their daughter's perspective on what's happening in Iraq. The Monitor reports on a Dryden man's arrest in Ithaca for DWI. There are also a few stories...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports on a fuel oil spill on Snyder Hill Road, not a place I would normally think of for "hazmat". The state DEC and contractors are cleaning up after: About 100 gallons of No. 2 fuel...
This late spring snow we seem to keep getting is very strange. I was surprised to look out the window at my car and see that a sheet of snow had fallen down the hood, forming a strangely folded effect...
I'm a little surprised that the Journal doesn't mention yesterday's surprising Easter weather, except in an article from Atlanta. We went for a walk on the Jim Schug trail and found it covered in white snow, and there are still...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports on Saturday's march for peace. I joined about thirty people marching from Belle Sherman down to the Commons, many of whom had carpooled from the Village of Dryden or walked in from Snyder Hill and...
I seem to be getting the Dryden Courier later and later in its weekly cycle, and combining that with my being out of town Monday and Tuesday means that the issue I'm about to write about isn't the one in...
It looks like both Ithaca school bond proposals passed in yesterday's vote, the first one by a larger margin than the second. The Ithaca initial school budget also came out, at a total of $92.4 million, up from $86.8 million....
While much of this morning's Journal focuses on snow cleanup, the Journal's breaking news reports that Jacob Carter's attorney reports that he has decided to plead guilty to assault, sexual assault, and sexual abuse charges in a plea deal. It's...
I hope everyone's enjoying the snow and sunshine today - Dryden and Ithaca schools are closed, as well as TC3. The Journal has lots of articles and pictures on the snow, which wasn't a record, but still closed down or...
Well, in the end, not that much, maybe a foot. Well, maybe more - it's snowing again, though it sounds like the worst of the storm's moved east of us. Still, this morning's Ithaca reports on the state of emergency...
It's not the eleven feet of snow further north, but a real storm looks likely to hit Tompkins County tonight and tomorrow. Heavy snow, freezing temperatures, and plenty of wind are on their way. Beyond the Lifton explanation of her...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that the Dryden Central School District has extra funding available for facilities work, which will allow them to get extra state aid for facilities upgrades without a property tax increase. The Journal now says that...
This morning's Journal has an overview article on the Assembly race, talking with incumbent Democratic Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton and Republican challenger Jim Rohan. There's also an article on New York's rainy summer. Ithaca has had 34.54 inches of precipitation this...
I'm behind on, well, everything, lately, but here's what the Journal's reported this week. On Monday, they reported that the Tompkins County housing market is steady, with the median price of a home sold January-June climbing from $150,000 in 2004...
I'm just now getting to yesterday's Ithaca Journal. Cathy Wakeman reports on Dryden Fire Department member Jenn Wildridge's assembling a September 11th memorial service that will be held Monday the 11th at the Village Green at 7:00pm. Wakeman also notes...
I noted Local Food Week earlier, but Cathy Wakeman goes one step further and explores the local food options in the Town of Dryden itself. I've wished for a while that there were more ways to enjoy food that's produced...
This morning's Journal warns of a hot couple of days to come, with temperatures in the 90s today and tomorrow. They also provide advice on keeping cool. Karel Westerling's ex-girlfriend testified against him in his ongoing rape trial, stemming from...
Freeville resident and Dryden High School teacher Charles J. Hanley has a guest column on the impact of testing on education, A few excerpts: Do we teach for the test? Of course we do. At some level we have no...
could have happened here. We were very lucky that Tuesday's rain wasn't worse here than it was, but other places weren't so fortunate. Places to the south and east of Dryden are severely flooded, with part of Interstate 88 completely...
Yesterday's heavy rain undermined a basement on Foot Hill Road and toppled trees on Genung Road. I was a little surprised here to see my birdfeeder had fallen over, but this was the first good rain since I put it...
This morning's Ithaca Journal visits local school districts, whose test scores have been improving, and talks with Dryden Superintendent Mark Crawford about trends in the schools. There's also an article about recent dry weather leading to wildfires. It might rain...
It's been bright and sunny, but every time I've gone into downtown Ithaca I've noticed that it seems to be a week ahead of us for flowers. Today looks pretty nice, though! Tulips and daffodils bursting onto the scene This...
This morning's Ithaca Journal takes a look at the plans for Dryden's new Town Hall, noting that construction could start this summer and costs will be around $2.4 million. The print edition includes a drawing and a map that shows...
This winter, I've been trying to shovel my driveway rather than use my snowblower. The snowblower is small, loud, doesn't turn off until it runs out of gas, doesn't do a great job anyway, and is buried further in my...
I enjoyed yesterday's winds, but didn't think they were all that powerful here, at least until I saw this: Blown-over billboard along Route 13. The Journal reports wind gusts of 54mph, but it had sounded like most of the damage...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that Janice Cortright, 70, was killed while crossing Route 13 at Livermore Road yesterday. I have enough trouble getting my newspaper and mail from across Route 366, and walking along 13 is even scarier. State...
I've been switching my weather links from the advertising-dominated and information-light weather.com to the advertising-supported but information-heavy Weather Underground. I noticed this morning that they have a section of photos uploaded by visitors, and you can check out Dryden photos...
As everyone in Dryden no doubt noticed, there was a lot of rain in October - 7.27 inches, up from the usual 3.26. All the rain we didn't get this summer apparently fell over the last few weeks. It could...
It's early in the season for heavy snow, but: ...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM EDT THIS EVENING THROUGH LATE TUESDAY NIGHT... ...A MAJOR SNOWSTORM IS POSSIBLE OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS... ...HEAVY WET SNOW IS POSSIBLE IN THE...
Jennie Daley reports on last night's Dryden Town Board meeting, highlighting problems residents reported with their water systems and traffic. Cathi Calori and Art Berkey presented their work on a possible water district for Ellis Hollow Road from Game Farm...
While it isn't precisely news, this morning's Ithaca Journal confirms that June and July 2005 are among the hottest ever, with the statewide average for June 5.5 degrees above normal. Looking at the list of city records there, it looks...
There's lot of Dryden news today, starting with New York State's recognizing Dryden Elementary School as a Higher Performing/Gap Closing School for its work during the 2003-4 school year. The Cornell news for this week includes informaiton on Cornell's participation...
Yesterday afternoon's thunderstorm knocked out power to 2,000 local people and damaged a convertible at American Homes on Route 13. Trees came down across the county, causing power outages and damage. The lights only flickered here, but I saw NYSEG...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports on a possible 9% levy hike in the Dryden schools budget for next year, though the recently-passed state budget "would drop the levy increase by 2 percent" if all goes well. BOCES services and a...
Local firefighters had a challenging Saturday as 2.5 inches of rain landing on saturated ground caused flooding around the area. I noticed Route 366 had some water coming across the road as the ditch on the south side of the...
Along sidewalks or roads, old snow tends to be brown and slushy. Left in a pristine state, however, it can develop its own strange magic. A canyon wall of snow. Undulating and gravity-defying snow. A stream of snow. It's very...
This morning's Journal mentions a project I've heard rumored but not seen in print, the possibility of Cornell setting up windmills in Dryden and elsewhere in Tompkins County. The University is doing tests now in Dryden, "though Joyce declined to...
There's not a lot of Dryden-specific news in today's Journal, though there's plenty of news that affects us. We'll be sharing in the weekend forecast of snow and cold, and the current winter storm warning claims: SNOW WILL SPREAD ACROSS...
The cold and snow are taking their toll on local driving. This morning's Journal reports 43 accident reports by 6:50pm yesterday, though none of them were fatal. A look at this morning's radar shows snow in a narrow diagonal strip...
Today's Ithaca Journal provides more information on the Etna fire coverage agreement that was discussed at Tuesday's Town Board meeting. The article looks at the agreement between the four Dryden fire departments as well as the new Mobile Response Vehicle...
I was hoping to be in Albany today for a rally on reform, but the weather kept me home, so the Ithaca Journal's focus on the weather and Governor Pataki's State of the State address will have to do. The...
I've reported a few times on meetings about traffic calming (1 2), and today I found an article on a traffic-calming approach that's pretty different from what we discussed there: Monderman and I are tooling around the rural two-lane roads...
This week's Dryden Courier is stuffed full of Dryden news. The front page leads with coverage of Dryden Middle School's presentation of The Pirates of Penzance, including both a picture and a story on the musical and its production. An...
Yesterday morning was a small warning of snow to come. Last night was much stronger - I had trouble seeing the road by the airport at one point, but it seems to have slowed overnight. First real snow. Time to...
It's not much snow, and it's gone already, but it's the first morning I've seen it since spring. First signs of snow. I'm glad I finished my mowing and raking yesterday....
Much of the Journal's coverage today is about yesterday's elections. They lead their local coverage with a piece on the defeat of the OTB referendum, which quotes Bruce Drowne of Dryden as supporting the measure. There's also an article on...
I took this picture of Fall Creek from the bridge in Etna yesterday. I don't think it's that unusual a picture of the creek for this summer, but it's not normally like this in the fall that I can remember....
It's a quiet day for Dryden news in Thursday's Journal. Hurricane Frances' remnants are soaking the area, though not producing flooding. There's an article on Ithaca High School's rules for parents opting out of information sharing with military recruiters, which...
Wednesday morning's Ithaca Journal reports on the return of students to schools. Dryden schools opened Tuesday. The Dryden Recreation Department is hosting fall sports events, including an eight-week field hockey program and the NFL Pepsi Punt, Pass and Kick contest,...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that 10 to 15% increases in the cost of materials may force changes in plans for elementary school renovation. The Dryden Central School Board will have to look at a list of options and choose...
Yesterday's heavy rains are a big story in the Ithaca Journal today, with a piece on a rollover on Hanshaw Road caused by flooding, an article on flooding in Groton and throughout the county, and an article that looks at...
It just won't stop raining lately, and it's been raining hard. Here are some pictures from my yard. Water pouring down stairs This is normally a path. I've seen worse, of course....
This morning's Ithaca Journal notes a community yard sale that will be held in Varna on Saturday, August 21st. There will be tables at the Varna Community Center (map) and maps for other local yard sales will be available. There's...
The August Town Board meeting was relatively brief and not very dramatic. Only three board members (Trumbull, Stelick, and Hattery) were there. It included: Nancy Zahler and Liz Vance presented on the Tompkins County Recreation Partnership, discussing Dryden's participation, the...
The Ithaca Journal reports that the Tompkins County Board of Assessment Review is meeting today to review 290 scheduled grievances plus walk-ins. Scheduled sessions are from 10am to 2pm, while unscheduled sessions are from 4pm to 8pm. Both will be...
The first verse of this poem, written by Dryden's namesake, the poet John Dryden (1631-1700), seems especially appropriate as we approach the first official day of spring, but switch suddenly from mud with a few flowers starting to grow to...
David Weinstein writes again to report the effect of all that snow melting from our hillsides: After reaching a peak flow of just over 2000 cubic feet per second (cfs) on Friday night (March 5, 2004) and remaining there for...
David Weinstein writes with news about a sign of spring, Fall Creek's current flow of water: The USGS gage site web page has continuous flow records from Forest Home (right below the lower bridge) for the last 78 years. Since...
It's much warmer now, but there was some amazing frost this morning when it was -5. Field of frost Tree of frost...
This morning's freezing rain falling on snow produced miniature models of white canyons. Snow canyon Snow closeup...
The weather this week hasn't been all bad, but it hasn't been all good either. Traffic in snow (map) Winter sunset along 366...
The Ithaca Journal reports another accident caused by snow on Route 13, this time near the Gulf Hill Road intersection. This accident was a rear-ending rather than a head-on collision, and there were no fatalities. The Journal also has part...
Both the Ithaca Journal and the New York State Department of Transportation now offer road condition warnings on their web sites. When there are warnings (as there were yesterday), the Journal's reports are on their main site and at least...
Yesterday's Ithaca Journal is filled with articles on the hazards of winter driving and the difficulties of snow removal. The longest, Deadly Highways: Blowing Snow, Unsafe Speeds Create Recipe for Tragedies, starts from a fatal accident last year on Route...
After visiting the weather station at Game Farm Road yesterday, I decided to go take some pictures of the weather station just north of Freeville, next to Cornell's Homer Thompson Vegetable Research Farm. The first picture shows the weather station;...
I suspect that the keepers of the weather station on Game Farm Road are happy about the automated instruments which collect the data these days. Game Farm Road weather station (map)...
The severe cold lately has some nice side effects in glorious patterns of frost that survive into (and through) the daytime. Taking pictures of sunlit frost is tricky, though, especially if you want to get anything at all of the...
I bought a copy of the 2004 Ithaca Weather Calendar yesterday at Ludgate Farms. I bought it partly because I'm perhaps a little too interested in weather, but also because it turned out to have a lot of Dryden pictures...
The news yesterday into this morning was snow, and lots of it. I removed about three inches from the driveway yesterday at 4pm and a foot this morning. When I'm making the first run with the snowblower (which now works,...
At 6:19 pm, I crossed the Dryden town line on Route 38 coming from Harford. I barely had time to enjoy that I was finally home before the world went white with snow and I had to slow down to...
It is my peculiar misfortune to have to get to Philadelphia today, as snow blankets the northeast and Tompkins County. We're kind of on the edge of the storm here, but I just shoveled away about three inches. (The snowblower...
The Ithaca Journal has an article from David Nicosia of Binghamton's National Weather Service office on their efforts to provide more detailed forecasting, especially where changes in elevation make a big difference. They've put up an experimental site that provides...
Yesterday was a busy day for the Dryden Central School District - it started with a surprise snow day, and concluded with the approval of the June 2004 retirement of superintendent Patricia Archambault. Archambault, who's retiring to Florida, noted "My...
Today's Ithaca Journal brings an article on the Dryden school renovation referendum, as well as a brief letter to the editor on the subject. The vote takes place tomorrow from 7am to 9pm in the Dryden Central School auditorium. Apparently...
The weather was pretty definitely the most exciting news yesterday. High winds, trees falling, lights flickering. The Ithaca Journal reports bricks blowing off a building in downtown Ithaca, while Dryden had more ordinary power outages. It was loud most of...
It's not quite the first snow, as we had a dusting in late October, too, but this feels a little more substantial. Snow and birdfeeders It seems to have lasted a bit better on the wood of our deck and...
According to the NOAA, the Northeastern United States has "equal chances" of a warm or cold winter this year. The Ithaca Journal notes that normal winters in the Finger Lakes range from "45 to 90 inches". The winter before last,...