The day started out at zero degrees but it very slowly warmed to the 20s by afternoon with the sunshine brightening up the snow cover on a wintery Saturday.
Winter Sunshine
Punxsutawney Phil and Sun Prairie’s Jimmy the Groundhog predicted six more weeks of winter, but if winter only lasted six more weeks, that would be an early spring for here. It was too cold for any of my furry rodents to poke their heads out of their winter dens, but they wouldn’t have seen their shadow at sunrise, but the dozen turkeys crossing the road at noon did see their shadows so it might be a really long winter.
Turkey Predicting Long Winter
With the temperature below zero this evening, livestock would appreciate a warm barn, even if it is in the shape of an octagon. This barn was built in 1893 in Sauk County of southwestern Wisconsin and the red color stands out against the summer greens as well as winter white but I prefer the green over the cold white.
Octagon Red Barn
The sky finally cleared enough tonight to see the stars, but in January, clear skies often means cold temperatures. But since tonight might be the only clear sky with little moon the next few day, I did venture outside tonight to search for the comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF). I saw a shooting star first before spotting the comet but I didn’t try setting up my camera since the wind chills were below zero. It is more fun to observe a comet in July instead of January, like this comet visitor in 2020.
2020 Comet NEOWISE