VERMONT ALMANAC | WELCOME!

Welcome! to the VERMONT ALMANAC, a year’s worth of nature-based information that a Vermont naturalist might find useful.

Because most of what goes on in the natural world is driven by the sun, we will include sunrise and sunset times for every day of one year. We picked the year 2000 because it seemed like a good year to showcase, and we use the times for Burlington, Vermont because it’s close to where we live. But we also offer a link to the U.S. Naval Observatory’s sunrise/sunset generator to help you find the times for other years and other places.

For quick reference we will list the day length at the top of each page and just below it a bit of information from the Chinese solar calendar. Because this particular calendar, with its 24 mini-seasons called solar terms, is the purest and most natural calendar we’ve found, we have linked our brief information to a more detailed explanation of the way it works.

Weather statistics — normals, averages, records, and extremes — also provide context, so we will include National Weather Service data for the Burlington area plus historic statewide information from David Ludlum’s VERMONT WEATHER BOOK. We will also offer links to other weather sites that will help you find out about the weather where you live or about weather in general.

This VERMONT ALMANAC is the offspring of another Web site called the NATURALIST’S ALMANAC AND BOOK OF DAYS, and it’s brought to you by the same team: naturalist/author Gale Lawrence, artist Libby Walker Davidson, and Web designer Loida Thamm. Both almanacs are Web-sites-in-progress, which we will be filling up as fast as we can.

Our two Web sites will be linked when there’s a cross-reference, but they are actually quite different in content, format, and purpose. To navigate either, go to the home page you want, click on a month, and then click on one of the highlighted dates. Or use the Google search box to find what you're looking for.

We hope you will find one or the other — or both — of our Web sites useful. We welcome your feedback. Please e-mail us at feedback (at) VermontAlmanac (dot) com.