22F with half an inch of fresh powder, overcast and gloomy. 30F and just as sombre by mid-afternoon. Update: cloud cover miraculously dissipated late afternoon to reveal blue skies and sunshine.
© J.N. Urbanski 2pm
10F at 8am and bitter, overcast and grey with the sun barely burning through the haze.
© J.N. Urbanski 9am
20F at 8am with the barest of light flurries filling the air with the rising sun clearing the mountain haze. 30F, clear and brilliantly sunny all afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 2pm
28F at 8.30am and overcast with a few inches of fresh powder and very icy roads. Very light flurries in the morning continued throughout the afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 1.30pm
28F mid-morning, rising to 36F by midday with a blanket of mist. Heavy rain late morning began to turn the snow to mush. Wet, rainy and miserable for the rest of the day with rain turning to snow as the temperature dropped to 32F after dark.
© J.N. Urbanski
© J.N. Urbanski The view from the nook through the trees
It’s about this time of year that cabin fever firmly seizes us in these mountains and we do impulsive things like go hiking up a mountain when there’s only two hours of daylight left. Spring seems like it’s just around the corner and we’re so used to the bitter cold that 20F seems nice and toasty. It’s not until we’re approaching our icy ascent (in our snowboarding boots, stupidly wearing wool and cotton), passing very sensible hikers on their way down using sticks and cramp-ons that we realise what a risk we’ve taken, but there’s a happy ending to this story, and a sandwich. Charles Dickens walked 20 miles a day in his prime, stalking around town in the afternoon after a sturdy lunch, no doubt conjuring up characters en route from his observations of 19th century Londoners. Writers love a good walk. First, the sandwich: corned beef brisket on toasted rye with a dash of mustard from Arkville Bread and Breakfast with a portion of chips (that were meant to go in the Fish and Chips, but that was yesterday’s lunch). Thinly-sliced brisket, lean, delicate and not too fatty on perfectly-toasted rye. This reasonably-sized portion, plus a cup of Twinings Irish Breakfast, got me to Giant Ledge in most unsuitable shoes and down again, occasionally sliding on my bottom because of the ice.
14F at mid-morning rising to 18F by mid-afternoon. Bright sunshine, clear and sunny with scudding clouds late afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski View from Giant Ledge 3.20pm
We’re having a warm spell…. 24F at 8.30am with a brisk wind making it feel cooler: a very bleak, overcast morning. Update: continual light flurries and down to 18F by mid-afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski Antique Trail Markers at the Catskills Center
© J.N. Urbanski 8.30am
A comparatively toasty morning at 22F with brilliant sunshine and mostly cloudless sky making up for the chill. Snow-making on hazy Belleayre Mountain.
© J.N. Urbanski 9.15am
10F at 8am rising to 14F by mid-morning and 24F mid-afternoon with wispy, fleeting cloud cover. The Black Lab is always ready whatever the weather.
© J.N. Urbanski Midday
10F at 9am: brilliant sunshine and bitterly cold, rising to a reasonable 19F by mid-afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 1.30pm
A positively balmy 30F at 7am with overnight snow having laid a thick, white blanket. Rain mid-morning with temps rising to 36F. A winter wonderland.
© J.N. Urbanski 7.3am
© J.N. Urbanski 8.30am
9F at 9.30am with dazzling sunshine, bitter breeze and a cloudless sky all day.
© J.N. Urbanski 1.30pm
20F at 10am, the day began cloudy, but brightened significantly when cloud cover broke but strong, gusty winds persisted. Overnight snow drifts had coated the car on only one side and reportedly put five inches of snow on Belleayre.
© J.N. Urbanski Midday
Zero and sunny! Record temps keeping us indoors today, with lunchtime landing the mercury at 10F. Enjoying the Catskill beauty today from the inside looking out. Unless you’re enjoying the skiing on Belleayre.
© MGP&D
The deep freeze has settled on the Catskills, with 9F (feels like -8F) this morning, and temps are only going to drop dangerously lower as the day goes on…so remember: layer, layer, layer if going outside.
© MGP&D
10F at 8am, made bearable by the absence of any wind and insulating cloud cover. A light, steady dusting of snow continued throughout the morning.
© J.N. Urbanski 8.39am
Back to freezing conditions again after overnight sleet, rain and finally, a dusting of fine, icy snow by morning. 20F at 8am and strong, blustery winds moving the trees. Alternately brilliant sunshine and cotton wool cloud cover. One day I’ll pick the Sumac at the end of the road. Update: 10F at dusk and a face-peeling wind.
© J.N. Urbanski 1.40pm Frozen Sumac trees waving in the wind
50F by midday: another soggy day, with every branch sodden. Yesterday’s snow drained away so quickly, as the overnight temperatures rose, that all that remained were map-like traces of the tunnels the mice had dug under the snow the night before. Light rain at dusk as mist rolled into the valleys.
© J.N. Urbanski
Only 24F by midday, windy and snowing a light powder. An enigmatic whiteout for most of the afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski
© J.N. Urbanski
26F at 8.30am; overnight snow had transformed into a mid-morning whiteout dropping an inch or two of fluffy powder, most of which blew off the branches in the gentle afternoon breeze.
© J.N. Urbanski
Last night’s teen temps turned into a beautiful mostly sunny day at 30F. As Yuletide comes to an end, may your path this new year be clear and light-filled. Happy New Year!
© MGP&D
© Melissa Zeligman
Officially in the teens, the temperature this morning was 17F, with a 4 degree rise to 21F by lunchtime. Fast flowing water is no match for the chill, and the ice is framing even the sides of even the bigger falls.
© MGP&D – Day 7 and Final Day of The Seven Days of Waterfalls: Stratton Falls
Temperatures began at 20F this morn. By 3pm, the temp was…still 20F. Instantly, ice has begun to form in the steams, bordered by a light layer of snow that fell last night.
© Mountain Girl Photography & Design – Day 6 of the Seven Days of Waterfalls: Ice Begins to Form
A plethora of oversized fluffy flakes started falling as this shot was taken. The day started at 28F, up to 34F, and by the end of the day, the tops of the mountains will be white again. The cycle of water falling from the sky and falling over the rocks continues.
© Mountain Girl Photography & Design – Day 5: Name-less Falls Around the Bend
26F at 7am, overcast with thick, foggy cloud cover, sun just managing to break through mid-morning amidst light flurries. 36F by 12.30pm, branches dripping with melting snow.
© J.N. Urbanski 12.30pm
An overnight dusting of snow had clad every branch with fresh powder. 30F at midday. The afternoon sky appears to be a hologram varying between gunmetal grey and chalky white. Today is Winter Solstice, officially the first day of winter, which is hard to believe because it started snowing in November, not including a little test run back in October. The northern hemisphere of the earth is pointed the farthest away from the sun and, tonight begins its slow return towards it until the June Solstice of 2015. The ancient tradition of Yuletide began at sundown last night and will end on January 1st, 2015.
© J.N. Urbanski 1.30pm
28F at midday with steady snowfall for most of the morning, but faded quickly to 25F by 2pm. Mostly cloudy: the low sun managed to bleach through the hazy, foggy cloud occasionally during the afternoon to reveal the brilliant, icy blue above. Looking forward to the solstice here at Upstate Dispatch.
© J.N. Urbanski 1.38pm
24F at 9am with a steady, light flurry and the habitual grey mist hanging over the mountains. 36F at dusk and cloudy.
© J.N. Urbanski 12.55pm
26F at 8am, the slush had formed a crust from the overnight frost that left a dusting of about half an inch of powdery snow.
© J.N. Urbanski 4pm
© J.N. Urbanski 8am
34F at 7.30am. 36F and bright at midday, despite the metallic grey, misty canopy of cloud cloaking the mountains. The rain came at 5pm and lasted into the night which saw 34F.
© J.N. Urbanski 11.45am
30F at 7.30am, a cloudy morning with the sun peeking through over the mountains. Warm, sunny and cloudless for most of the afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 7.40am
© J.N. Urbanski 1.50pm
32F and overcast at 10am, rising to 36F mid-afternoon. Overnight flurries on the peaks.
© Erik Johanson/@halcott718 1pm
30F mid-morning and partly cloudy, partly brilliant sunshine: perfect ski-ing weather in the peaks.
© Chase Kruppo
© Erik Johanson/@halcott718 1pm
27F and cloudy for most of the day.
© Erik Johanson/@halcott718 1pm
Atop Belleayre Mountain © Chase Kruppo
Another day of monochrome skies from which fickle flakes continue to fall in the Catskills. Temperatures only rose from 22F in the morning to 26F by lunchtime, with “feels like” temps only in the teens. Still, ice has yet to form on the frigid fast moving waters and streams.
© Mountain Girl Photography and Design
8 inches of snow on Belleayre and 2 inches of snow reported in Oneonta, the morning saw 30F, with successful ploughing and reasonably clear arterial routes. 27F and cloudy by 3pm.
© Mountain Girl Photography and Design 12.30pm
© Erik Johanson/@halcott718 1pm
32F and cloudy in the morning, icy rain leaving a thin layer of snow crunching underfoot and a storm predicted for the afternoon with 12 inches of snow expected. Update: freezing rain turned to snow by midday. 36F and a whiteout by dusk.
© Robert E. Block 4.30pm
© Lydia Brunt 10.50am
© Robert E. Block 9.30am
© Robert E. Block 9.30am
30F by midday and a crunchy layer of overnight snow was vanishing in the areas where the brilliantly azure sunshine reached. Cloudless and sunny for most of the day.
© J.N. Urbanski 1.07pm
24F at 8.30am with a light sprinkle of crunchy, icy snow having fallen overnight. 30F by 2.30pm with the occasional flurry of snow.
© J.N. Urbanski 2.20pm
28F at 9am with freezing rain having left a crunchy layer of icy snow and ice where the mud used to be. The sun came out just after midday, raising the afternoon temperature to 32F. Cloudy and 28F at dusk.
© J.N. Urbanski 1.30pm
21F at 8am: a cobweb sky dissolving in a brilliantly sunny dawn and snow making on Belleayre Mountain. The temperature rose to 30F by 1pm, as ominous cloud cover rolled in, then rapidly back to 27F at 3pm. A flurry of crunchy snow that began at 3.30pm had turned into a blustery whiteout by dusk.
© J.N. Urbanski 8.15am
© J.N. Urbanski 1pm
© J.N. Urbanski 4pm
25F at 10.30am with gusty winds blowing snow through the naked forest. Light flurries all day with intermittent sunshine and cloud clearing and rolling in throughout the afternoon with temperatures dropping to 24F by 2pm. 17F at sunset.
© Erik Johanson/@halcott718 1pm
28F at 8.30am, overnight snow had lain almost another foot by the morning of Thanksgiving. Winter wonderland continues today with light flurries in the morning becoming heavier throughout the afternoon. 31F at 2pm.
© Erik Johanson/@halcott718 1pm
© J.N. Urbanski 12.38pm
Winter has begun in earnest with the first few feet of the seaon dumped in the lower valleys of the Catskills today 11/26/14 and further south towards New York City with anecdotal reports of cars on the I-87 sliding and spinning off roads. Up until now, we’ve only had occasional, whimsical flurries and a light blanket on 11/14/14. Compared to last season’s Fall Foliage, taken in the same place, today’s image looks barren and frigid. The home fires are truly burning across the Catskills this evening.
© J.N. Urbanski 11/26/14
The winter chill seems to have permeated the Catskills for good, with temperatures only rising 2 degrees, from 20F to 22F. A light snow fell in the higher elevations last night, but today the sun broke through so the skies and the mountain peaks are showing off their majestic blues.
© Mountain Girl Photography and Design
First blanket of the season. 30F at 8am and although the temperature only rose to 32F, the brilliant sunshine had melted most of the snow in the valleys by midday. Update: snow came back with a vengeance at 4pm to create a whiteout.
© J.N. Urbanski 9am
40F at 11am, ovenight rain having stopped and been replaced by snow flurries at the higher elevations. Moody, tumultuous skies lowering a fine mist over the mountains by 1pm. Update: steady, light snow began just after 1pm turning into a whiteout which had faded to a light flurry by 4.30pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 11am
A frigid 30F at 9.30am with a crunchy topping of overnight snow on the ground and in the treetops of the highest peaks, like Belleayre and Peekamoose, that still lingered in shaded areas by the afternoon. 35F at midday with bracing wind and cloud cover rolling through quickly with bursts of sunshine. Update: cloud cover rolled away completely to reveal briliantly clear skies until dusk.
© J.N. Urbanski 12.02pm
A grey morning and a sullen grey day, with not a scrap of sky to be seen. 40F at midday. The outside world might have stopped for all we know. There would be an eery stillness in the air, if it wasn’t for a light breeze that moves the branches gently and chases the odd leaf here and there. An endless-cups-of-tea kind of day. National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) starts today: 1666 words by midnight. Update: Light snowfall began late in the evening.
We had a surprising flurry of light, icy snow this morning just after 9.30am with a steady temperature of just under 40F all day. Then the sun came out at 9.58am. More flurries of snow mid-afternoon and intermittant cloud, sun, freezing rain, flurries and gusts: a Catskills winter sampler.
© J.N. Urbanski 10/19/14 9.58pm
© J.N. Urbanski 10/19/14 12.57pm
© J.N. Urbanski 10/19/14 1.41pm Alfie the Media Lab is not scared of the freezing temperatures.
© J.N. Urbanski 10/19/14 2.07pm