5 Things You Need To Know Today, Friday, Dec. 21

(Editor's Note: The Governor of Connecticut has requested a nationwide moment of silence at 9:30 p.m. in honor of the victims of the Newtown shootings last week. Patch will be honoring that request by blacking out our sites briefly at 9:30 a.m.)

Here are 5 pieces of information designed help you get an early start on the weekend (or the apocalypse, ya know, whatever) and to help make you the smartest person in the survival shelter.

1. Your 3-Day Local Weekend Weather Forecast (Just in Case):

• According to the NWS, today will feature showers. Patchy fog between 8am and 5pm. High near 49. Breezy, with a east wind 15 to 24 mph, with gusts as high as 46 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
• Friday Night Rain and snow showers likely before 3am, then a chance of rain showers between 3am and 4am, then a chance of snow showers after 4am. Patchy fog between 7pm and 8pm, then Patchy fog between 2am and 3am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 33. Southwest wind 6 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
• Saturday A slight chance of snow showers before 11am, then a chance of rain showers. Cloudy, with a high near 42. West wind 5 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
• Saturday Night A chance of snow showers, mainly before 10pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 24. West wind 9 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 38 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
• Sunday Sunny, with a high near 35.
• Sunday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 20.

2. It's Happening Today: After a tough road loss against Lawrence, the Tewksbury Boys Basketball team will look to get back on the winning track tonight at home against Tyngsboro. Tap-off is 7 p.m. in the Tewksbury High gym.

3. Wow! It's Dark Out There: Today is the Winter Solstice, the day with the least amount of daylight. Sunrise is at 7:10 a.m. and Sunset is at 4:15 p.m. In total, just 9 hours, 4 minutes and 33 seconds of sunlight. Fortunately, the days start extending tomorrow.

4. Quote of the Day: "This is just families helping out families. We know this is a hard time, around Christmas, and people don't have a lot. But really, anything people can do is great. Even if it's just a pack of crayons." Suzanne Countie, talking about the

5. Reader Comment of the Day: "We have to have the dumbest citizens in the country. Raising taxes into a Depressionesque economy shows the vast number of people here have zero clue how the private sector works. Can they all be working for the government? Reader SalemSt commenting on the story, "Poll: Massachusetts Voters Say No to Cuts in Fiscal Cliff Talks."