As a kid growing up outside Philadelphia I took some pride every February 2 when the old Pennsylvania tradition: A hibernating groundhog was awakened and pulled shivering out of his cave in the little town of Punxsutawney, PA.
If it was a clear day and Punxsutawney Phil threw a shadow there would be six more weeks of cold weather. On the other hand, if it were overcast, Spring would come early!
If I recall correctly, February 2 was overcast. That means Spring was supposed to come before March 16!
Clearly, Phil never made it to Plattsburgh, NY. Yesterday, April 10, I stood in the window of WNBZ on City Hall Place and watched the snow fall. Now to be fair Plattsburgh is north of Punxsutawney. It sits on Lake Champlain at the northern end of what is known as North Country in upstate New York. It is farther north than the snow belt region of Binghamton and Utica, closer to Montreal (62 miles and 1 hour) than to New York City (313 miles and 5 hours in good traffic).
Still, snow in mid-April? And this wasn’t just light flurries. This was giant flakes driven sideways by wind off the lake. Driving north to visit one of our solar farms in Mooers we were hit with hailstones.
Hailstones in April! I’ve heard about climate change. But this is nuts.
The good news about New York State is that it gets plenty of sunshine, even in the northern part of the Adirondacks. Lots of “snow birds” fly to Florida in the winter to enjoy the sunshine but in fact the sun shines only about 15% more. To us solar geeks, 1250 hours a year of sunshine in northern New York is enough to make solar farms economical.
One of my mentors counseled me years ago, “Creating a new business is not for the faint of heart!” As we get ready to launch Solar Farms New York in upstate New York, we better prepare for anything. Yes, Mom: Next time I’ll bring a scarf and a down coat!
