Hot, with thick ribbons of wispy cloud and a high of 80F. Refreshing breeze in the shade gets stronger towards sunset. Yellow lily pads flowers are unfurling their petals.

A high of 85F with cloudless skies and a hazy horizon. Scorching in the sun, balmy in the shade. Steamy summer day. Fields full of buttercups soaking up the sun.

Only the birds tweet here. A balmy day, sunny with clouds of gauze, looking like they’ve been white-washed on with thick brushstrokes and a high of 78F. Little hatchets keep their siblings warm.

Humid, with brief periods of sunshine, but otherwise overcast with a sky like a thick jumble of shorn wool and a high of 72F.

A balmy summer day, humid with strong lunchtime sun taking the high to 81F. A thick milky sky developing after lunch and early evening rain giving the ground a soaking. Hops grow up their bines.

An overnight plunge into the 30s, and a frosty morning rising to a high of 69F. Overcast with a milk glass sky and humid.

Warm in the sun, with a decidedly unfriendly chill lurking in the shade and a high of 62F. Blueberry blossoms come out in force early and hang in abundance like tiny paper lanterns.

Overnight rain storms, thunder, and lightning drench the landscape. Humid and sticky for a high of 73F and overcast with a blanket of cloud like shimmering fleece. Lengthy periods of afternoon rain dragging on until early evening. Juicy purslane first out of the gate in the raised beds.

After the weekend’s sleet and light snow: a wet week with the mountains hugged by fog and continual drizzle. Forest floor covered in the dappled leaves of the trout lily and a high of 52F.

Gloomily overcast with the first green shoots budding almost overnight like a rash and some afternoon rain for a high of 44F.

Sky dappled with cottony clouds and a high of 59F. Garlic that was planted last year makes an appearance.

Swirling, dirty clouds reflecting muddy waters rushing below, humid with a high of 60F and rain hammering away the afternoon.

A gorgeous balmy, breezy 60F night spills over into the day but draws foggy, blue cloud cover like curtains rippling over gusty winds and a high of 70F. Flowers bloom. Buds bud. Spring is in the air. Update: Warm afternoon rain continues all night until the following afternoon.

Brilliant sunshine and a high of 42F.

A high of 50F and clear skies. Perfect lunchtime skiing on Belleayre Mountain.

Bitterly cold for a high of 18F and an icy wind. Rivers flowing under a crust of ice. Waterfalls frozen over. Swirling cotton-candy clouds and a brief hint of sun at noon.

A balmy high of 26F and a fresh five inches of powdery snow made perfect skiing conditions. Sunny with cotton wools clouds sailing across the horizon.

More face-freezing on the peaks: 17F for most of the day with a bitter wind pushing skiers around on the slopes. Some sunshine peeking through the clouds.

Strong squalls whip up the dusty top layer of snow into small, swirling tornados that race across the frozen fields. A high of barely 30F, while most of the day sinks into the depths of frigidity somewhere around 20F.

Face-numbing 12F at 8am rising to 27F by mid-afternoon. Bright sunshine and fresh powder on the slopes after yesterday’s all-day snow.

Soggy after yesterday’s all-day rain. Soaked trees, and fog burning off in the sun by early morning for a high of 50F. Humid.

A balmy 26F at 8am with the sun rising through a jumble of clouds cluttering the baby blue sky. Thick patches of ice under last night’s light snow flurry. A high of 30F.

Back to the gloom. Steady overnight rain continues into the morning, making the going icy at dawn, and continues all day until mid-afternoon when it transforms, as if by magic, into fluffy snow. Overcast, humid and a high of 48F.

After almost a week of gloom, the sun appears and lights up the sky to a dazzling, brilliant azure blue, a consolation for the laziest, slow rise in temperature: still a bone-chilling 12F. By afternoon, a haze had crept overhead like tight muslin, dampening the sun to a enigmatic glow. A breathtaking day.

-6F (-21C) at dawn rising to 2F (-17C) with a wind chill of -15F (-26C). Overcast with some brief sun mid-afternoon and high winds. Compacted snow and ice on roads. An arctic chill.

Overnight blustery winds deposit a foot or two of wet snow by morning. Temperatures warm up to 30F. A brief glimpse of the sun mid-afternoon and a plunge into low temperatures early evening.

A dark day with freshly powdered peaks moping under a grey shroud of gloom and a high of 28F. Steady, light snow moves in late afternoon. An ice storm cometh.

A little warmer with a high of 32F and humid with low-hanging cloud rolling over like grey smoke issuing light snow flurries.

Brisk and bright with a gauzy sky and a high of 28F.

Back to the russet tones in the valleys with ice floes on the creeks conveying the frigid temperatures. Thick snow remains on the northern peaks. Overcast with a shimmering sky and a high of 26F.

A crisp, bright day on the peaks. Cloudless skies and a high of 26F. Hazy valleys in the east under the afternoon sun.

A high of 24F and partly overcast with periods of bright sunshine. A post-Christmas stint of wood gathering and chopping continues.

The big chill continues with a high of 25F and bright sunshine shining through thin stretch of rippled cloud looking like a fraying net curtain. A face-numbing afternoon that only a Black Lab could love.

Brilliant sunshine, clear skies and bitterly cold with a high of 16F. After a foot of snow this week, a plunge into arctic temperatures.

Above is the most popular Daily Catskills image of the year, a picture of our Black Lab Alfie, who regularly gets a 60% engagement rate on his own, modest Instagram account. Videos on Instagram of Alfie in his element – snow – regularly get many hundreds of likes on our own social media. We adopted Alfie from the ASPCA in Kingston in 2014 and we began hiking the Catskills 3500 just to wear him out. He’s had his portrait taken by NYC photographer Shannon Greer and we wrote a post here about him that was so popular it was picked up in New York City by Mrs Sizzle. I’ll be writing Part 2 of Alfie’s life in the New Year. He loves snow and swimming regardless of temperature because he has a thick layer of furry Labrador blubber and webbed feet. He loves hiking and turns six years old in April. If I could take him skiing, I would. There’s a chance you will find us snow-shoeing the hiking trail from Giggle Hollow to the top of Belleayre Mountain this winter to catch a glimpse of the skiers flying down Cathedral Run. Alfie appreciates his country life here in the Catskills and is such a good dog, he gets fresh, warm marrow bones straight out of the oven. I sometimes think he’s the only reason that we have readers at all.