Darien Morning Briefing: Nov. 23, 2011

Today is Wednesday, Nov. 23, the 327th day of 2011, the day before Thanksgiving and 32 days before Christmas.

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The National Weather Service has issued a Coastal Flood Advisory for Wednesday morning, along with its Hazardous Weather Outlook. For more information, follow the links just given, or see the weather reports below.

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HEADLINES

Thanksgiving preview

EVENTS & REMINDERS

• Darien Farmers Market is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Mechanic Street parking lot behind the Darien Fire Station (the market runs every Wednesday through Dec. 21)
• Darien public schools will be closed early (PDF)
• Darien Library has announced it will close early, at 6 p.m.
• Darien Library 7, 8, Create! drop-in program: Fun activities and crafts for children 7 and 8 years old, from 4:15 to 5 p.m. today and every Wednesday through Dec. 7. Past acitivites included code-making and breaking, paper flowers for Mother's Day, paper airplane creation, and Mardi Gras masks.
• FRIDAY: "The Class of 2006 is holding an informal reunion on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  It will be held at Gingerman in South Norwalk, from 7-9 pm.  $50 per person."—Darien High School website
• SATURDAY: The annual Boys Hockey Alumni Game to benefit Darien High School boys hockey will be held Saturday, Nov. 26 at the Darien Ice Rink. Tickets are $5. (see poster in the photos attached to this article)
  
• MONDAY: Cookbook authors speak: Former New York Times food columnist Amanda Hesser and her Food52.com co-founder Merrill Stubbs will talk about their new cookbook, FOOD 52 at 7 p.m. Monday in the Darien Library.

TEENS

Darien High School: 

• The schedule of periods will be 4 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 6. Wednesday is a "C Day"; school closes early.
• Turkey Bowl Tickets are available at the main desk from 8 a.m. to noon

Darien Library:

• We Love Wednesdays: You can drop in the teen lounge for crafts and  programs.

DARIEN PLAYHOUSE EXTRA SHOWTIMES

• The Muppets (opening day) at 1, 3:30, 6:30 and 8:45 p.m. (1 hr. 38 min.) — IMDb—trailer—trailer—website—Rotten Tomatoes
• The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1: 1:30, 4, 7, 9:30 p.m. (1 hr. 57 min.)—IMDb—trailer—website—Rotten Tomatoes

GOVERNMENT MEETINGS

There are none. Everyone's preparing for Thanksgiving.

FORECAST (as of 11:57 p.m., Tuesday)

• Wednesday: Showers, mainly before 1 p.m. High near 54. Northwest wind between 9 and 18 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90 percent. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
• Wednesday Night: A slight chance of showers before 9 p.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 34. Breezy, with a north wind between 13 and 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20 percent.

Forecast for the holiday:

• Thanksgiving Day: Sunny, with a high near 50. North wind between 5 and 13 mph.
• Thanksgiving overnight to Friday: Mostly clear, with a low around 40. West wind between 6 and 9 mph.
• Black Friday: Sunny, with a high near 55.

INTERSTATE 95 TRAFFIC CAMS

• Stamford: southbound, Exit 8 - Elm St.

• Stamford: northbound, south of Exit 9 - Lockwood Ave.

• Darien southbound, north of Exit 9 - Darien Service Plaza

• Darien northbound Exit 12 - Tokeneke Rd.

• Darien northbound, south of Exit 13 - Darien Service Plaza

• Darien southbound, Exit 13 - Rt. 1 (Boston Post Rd.)

• Norwalk southbound, Exit 15 - Stuart Ave.

• Norwalk Rt 7 south of Exit 1 - Connecticut Ave.

• Norwalk northbound, Exit 15 - Rt. 7

TIDES & TIMES

• Low tide: 2:54 a.m. (-0.3')
• High tide: 8:59 a.m. (8.7')
• Sunrise: 6:51 a.m.
• Low tide: 3:37 p.m. (-0.9)
• High tide: 9:33 p.m. (7.6')
• Sunset: 4:29 p.m.

Forecast obtained from the National Weather Service; tide information obtained from saltwatertides.com (calibrated to Long Neck Point).