Nice for Now, Not for Long

Well I hate to be the one with bad news, but the weekend is looking pretty wet.  Tomorrow, Friday, will be very warm as we try pushing 80 degrees for the fourth time this year.  Rain will move in as we approach Saturday morning and showers will be on an off for much of the weekend, and a few storms cant be ruled out either.  Things look to stay comfortably warm on the back side of the system.  We will cool off a little for next week, but as of right now, frost is not looking like a major concern.  Hopefully last weekend when everyone got rained in they came up with good ideas of what to do to pass the time.  I will be working, so my days are  already pre-planned.  Enjoy Friday and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Next Week: Natural Disaster Week

So that's right!  Next week is a big week, myself and the rest of the weather team have been working on stories for a while for Natural Disaster Week.  If you want to check out the commercial for it, here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPPYXHS_Z_I  There will be a lot of great things discussed, tornadoes, the real dangers of lightning, and even discussing fault lines here in the Miami Valley that could trigger earthquakes at any moment....  Take a look at the video and hope to see you next week..... errr, I mean, I hope you watch... Have a good one!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Sunshine, Warmth on the way, Frost First

What a dreary last few days it has been.  Lots of rain and cool temps didn't make things any worse.  We could see frost in the coming nights so be prepared for that and keep the sheets handy.  The good news is that sunshine will return for later Tuesday and temps will slowly climb through the end of the week.  More rain looks to arrive by next weekend, although it appears we will stay pretty mild, at least during the rain. 

Hopefully everyone enjoyed what they could over the weekend.  My brother came back from college and visited with us on Friday.  We went out to dinner her in Sidney and then came back and hung out and watched Gone in 60 Seconds.   It has been out for ten years, but I hadn't actually watched it until Friday.   Saturday and Sunday I worked, as am I today, then I get a break off for a couple of days.  As much as I love doing the weather in the mornings for Mike, the last two weeks of switching from mornings back to the tonight schedule has left my body restless.... It doesn't know if it should fall asleep at 1AM or get up.... It is weird how the body works, or in this case.... doesn't work properly.  Anyways, I hope the rain will help everyone's gardens and allergies, but enjoy the sunshine when it arrives.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Stormy Night Ahead

Parts of the Deep South have been hammered with severe weather today, especially the community of Yazoo City, Mississippi which was hit with a 3/4 mile wide tornado.  We will be watching that entire storm complex move our way for tonight, but we will not be seeing as great of a set-up for severe weather.  Needless to say, we could see severe winds as our main threat and hail will be on the back-burner for tonight.  There is also a very slight risk for a brief spin-up of a tornado.  I will be in the weather center all night, so keep tuned with us via the internet(twitter and our website), your mobile devices, and also on-air if anything big breaks.  Time to get ready for the show and monitor any developments, have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Sweater-vest Questions are Answered

Well as it turns out, I get a lot of questions about the sweater-vest that I normally wear.  If you have noticed I haven't worn one in a while, but the rule of thumb is that if the high temperature is below 50 I wear the vest.  The studio kept super cool because once the lights are on for about 5 hours for the morning show, it warms up quite a bit, so in order to keep everyone from sweating, they keep it pretty darn chilly.  So in order to stay healthy and most importantly warm... I wear the sweater-vest during the cool months of the year.... Hopefully you won't be seeing them for about 6 months or so.  Stay dry this weekend, lot of rain on the way.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Wet Weekend Ahead

Well I hope you enjoyed the last few weekends of dry weather.... this weekend will be one for the ducks. Today, Thursday, will be a nice day, partly cloudy with a very slight chance for an isolated shower, though most of us will stay dry.  Showers move into the area Friday afternoon and showers and thunderstorms will stick around for Saturday and Sunday... although it will not be a complete washout.  On the back side of all the rain temps look to remain around the 60 degree mark for next week, so it shouldn't be too bad, but we will have to deal with a rainy weekend.  If anyone is heading to the Spring Game at Ohio State, take the rain gear and, of course, have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Mopeds and School Talks

Well this morning Dawn stayed home from work because she wasn't feeling well.  I had already arranged to meet someone to buy a few mopeds in Richmond and also had a school talk scheduled at Tri-Village with MY seventh grade teacher at Arcanum, but now teaches second grade.  Anyways, it takes quite a while to make the trip from Sidney to the southwest side of Richmond, close to 90 minutes today.  The mopeds turn out to be in less than great shape, but I am always up for a challenge.(I love finding old mopeds and restoring them to life.)  I had to leave at about half past 9 this morning to make it to Richmond and then headed back to Darke County.  I left plenty of time between the mopeds and the school talk, so I tried stopping by Fort Black(where I worked in high school) to get lunch.  Unfortunately it turned out that it was closed so I stopped by my parents before the school talk, but they were working, so I had to scrounge up what I could for lunch..... (they eat all organic food, so most of it takes a little longer to make than normal)  I took a homemade bread roll, homemade cheese, home-canned banana peppers and onions and made a little melted sandwich in the oven...  turned out alright, but was an interesting combination to say the least.... coulda used a little meat.

Anyways, I finished that and took off to New Madison for the school talk.  The kids ended up being a lot of fun and had lots of questions.... For some reason the questions end up asking my age or whether I am married or not.... Never fail.   Anyways, hopefully they took away some safety tips on where to head when the weather takes a nasty turn. 

Then I went back to my parents, rode one of the new mopeds a little, visited with my sister, brother, and parents when they got home, then took off for Sidney to take care of Dawn.... It turns out she was sicker than what I thought(she went to urgent care in the afternoon)... pretty bad sinus infection.... She helped a little with dinner by cutting up the chicken and then I told her to rest while I made chicken and vegetable skewers on the grill and also beer battered onion rings inside....from scratch.  Dinner turned out delicious, and just been trying to take care of her since.  Getting ready to head to bed, but just wanted to check-in..... Oh yea, had a Double Down yesterday.... not to bad.... could have been a little bigger...just two chicken strips with a little cheese and bacon in the middle.... but pretty good regardless....  (Oh yea, Mrs. Bietry took some pictures of the school talk, so I will post them when she emails them to me.)  Have a good one!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

SNOW!?!?!

So it seems with the grass so green and always needing cut (I had to cut mine today), you would think that winter was half a world away, or at least close to that far away..... So I went back and took a look at my blogs from exactly two months ago..... At that time we were preparing for another round of snow that would keep everyone pinned inside until law enforcement told us we could come back out.  I know it would be great to live in Florida or California where some parts never have to work about snow or cold temps, but to be honest that would get pretty boring.  At least here in Ohio we have to be on-guard for what may be coming around the corner because the weather never stays the same for more than a minute.  Just thought I would do a little reminiscing, and hopefully you did too....  I know I am very happy not to be wearing winter coats anymore.  Have a good one and hopefully I will have a few pictures later tomorrow of my weather talk to second graders at Tri-Village Schools.

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Frost Tonight, Symposium Wrap-up

I walked outside this morning and BOY it was downright chilly!  The wind today (15-20 mph) didn't help things out much because it blustery even in the afternoon, but the winds should calm overnight.  That, mixed with the little moisture from yesterday's rain and COLD temperatures, tonight's low of 32, we should have the perfect set-up for frost.  Technically a hard freeze is about 28 degrees for 4 hours, but regardless if frost forms on any fresh and susceptible vegetation, it could do some serious damage, so cover up any outdoor plants you can tonight, or bring in any potted plants.  The good news is that temperatures look to warm up this week into the upper 60's by the end of the week and stay dry for tomorrow, Sunday, and the beginning of the week.  Rain does look to arrive later in the week around Thursday night into Friday and linger into Saturday, but lets focus on the positive, dry for about the next 5 days and getting warmer....

Yesterday I filled in for Mike Terwilleger on the morning show and then took off, up to Columbus, for the 14th Annual Ohio State Severe Weather Symposium which had a lot of great speakers.  I walked in just as Mike Bettes from the Weather Channel started to talk about Vortex II, a HUGE undertaking on understanding how and why tornadoes form to better understand why some strong storms produce tornadoes, and why others do not.  It is a very hard question that no one knows the exact answer to, yet.  We know what ingredients  are needed to help form tornadoes, but some of the storms with the perfect set-up do not produce any tornadoes.  So the understanding of what key element is triggering the tornadoes will be crucial in saving lives and issuing warnings even earlier.   I got to hang out and talk to Mike Bettes quite a bit throughout the afternoon and it was a great time.  Another great speaker I always love to hear was Dan McCarthy.  He is a regular speaker and just like Mike Bettes, Mike Terwilleger, and myself, he is also a graduate from THE Ohio State University.  A lot of very interesting topics were discussed this year regarding tornado outbreaks, hail climatology, and also new developments in severe weather analysis with new radar products that will be coming out in the near future. 

The symposium always brings out current students and alumni of the Atmospheric Science program and it is always a great opportunity to catch up with former classmates.  It is always interesting to hear from old classmates, and former professors, on their research they have been doing, and while all that may be fun and dandy, it was also great to chat with former professors on their love and views of the Cincinnati Reds and other topics.  The tradition, I am sure, will continue and I look forward to next year's symposium.  Have a good one and cover up your plants tonight!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Off the trail....

So yesterday I told you about Tawawa Park in Sidney.... Well today curiosity got the best of me and I decided to explore... I mean there are like 200 acres so why not...  I turned on my iPod and took "Benjamin Trail" that followed the slow stream through the park....  It was a trail that fell about 6 inches from the water and ran about 1.5 miles into the wilderness.... I reached the end and was disappointed it didn't go any further.  It ended in this S shaped curve in the natural stream that fed into the man-made park slow stream.  Someone was on a mountain bike and I didnt want to disturb them so I walked down to the stream and grabbed a handful of water and threw it into my hair and pulled my hair back.  As sad as I was to end it was nice to reach a middle point..... but.... wait a trail was across the water?!?!? 

So yes, I wore my bad shoes, so I figured... lets live a little, so I pulled my car keys and iPod above my shoulders and ran across the water to the other trail which I followed upstream about a half a mile.  I finally realized the trail ended up on a rock beach and I needed to get back.  I found a low rapidy part of the stream and I ran across, again, and ran along the shore.  I quickly sunk into about half a foot of mud and decided to head inland a little more.  I found a beaten trail back to the S curve in the steam with the mountain biker and an artist who was capturing the quiet isolated part of the wilderness.  I ran into the stream a third time to get the mud off my shoes and legs and then ran, slowly, back to the front of the park, where I finally found a drinking fountain and collapsed in my truck.

Today was a warm one, but rain on the way Friday with cooler temps following for the weekend and for the beginning of next week.  I will be doing the morning weather Friday before heading to Columbus for the Severe Weather Symposium at Ohio State.....keep updated with the forecast for the chance of frost.

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Beautiful Weather Discovery!!

So today was my first day off(finished the 14 day stretch) and I couldn't has asked for better weather.  I hope you all were able to get out there and enjoy it as well... 

I have been wanting to try out Tawawa Park here in Sidney.  I have been to the front of the park a few times, but never "into" the park.  For anyone who may not understand what I mean, or never been there I can tell you this..... By car, you can only see about 5% of the park.  Plenty of parking is available, but vehicles can only go so far into the park before "Motorized Vehicles Prohibited" signs are posted. From there the main pavement trail goes an entire mile straight back, and on each side there are huge hills, shelters, playgrounds, open grassy areas, and other trails that branch off.  Nearly 200 aches, the park is just begging for someone to take the challenge to see it all.  One of the coolest parts of the park is that they have a very slow moving stream that feeds from the Miami River.  The slow moving stream feeds from one pond to another to another to another, then finally at the end (actually the front of the park) it feeds into a waterfall to find its way back to the river.  I am planning on heading back on a regular basis to run on the mulch/dirt trails that follow the stream through the park.... very open and super maintained! If you are ever in the area, or happen to need a place to have a family gathering.... this is the place (saw about 20 shelters with picnic tables)

Just thought I would share the gem I found today....

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Finding the needle in a haystack....

As many of you have learned by now, I love mopeds.  Many of you may wonder why, but there are WAY more reasons than I can list right now... you can ride or pedal(two for one)....you must understand how they work(because they break down all the time)....you get the pride and thrill of repairing them to run again(understanding is half the battle)....they are a great way to bring smiles to peoples faces(especially young kids), but most of all, the stories they bring.... 

I was looking around on the internet today and I found a great website.  Since you are reading this blog, you have SOME time to kill, let's be honest.  If you got more time to kill and enjoy hearing a good story, I got a treat for you.... Even if you aren't into mopeds.... maybe this will give you an idea.  The site: http://www.mopedarmy.com/inc/main/avery_bloom.php takes you along with a 20 year old, Avery Bloom, in his diary entries, as he tries to travel across the country on a moped.... that's right!  He is heading back to college and decides to use his summer off to travel back to school on an engine that gets about 120-150 mpg.... 

The entries are so vivid and real you honestly feel like you are riding along side him and experiencing what its like traveling across the country meeting average, hospitable, people along the way and camping in their front yards and taking pictures to help capture his story.  He also explains why he loves mopeds as well.... Anyways, I just found the site very inspiring and even forced me to do a little reflection to think about some of the stuff he said.... very moving stories in his diary entries and after reading it, you can really tell there is NO WAY he made it up.... Anyways, just thought I would pass it along, so go ahead, read a few of his entries.... I know I couldn't stop... Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Great wx for golf!

So since I will be moving closer to Dayton in the coming months, I am excited that there will be more options for golfing.... and no, its not just cause the Masters is on and Tiger is playing about as good as I do, but just because living so far up north, there weren't as many links to go to in a short drive.  I am excited to try out new places I haven't played before, and the fact that many of my friends from work and school are closer, it will be a lot easier meeting up with them to play.

I still haven't had time this year, been pretty busy (currently day 11 of 14 straight) and with the extra hassle of moving, it seems there hasn't been enough extra time.  Once I move though, it will save me about 90 minutes a day of just driving.  Add that up for a week and that means plenty of time to get a few rounds in a week.  My time may be limited in the coming week, but with the weather as nice as it looks... I may just have to clean the dust off my clubs and hit a few hole-in-ones.... err, I mean bogeys.... Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Ohio Severe Weather Symposium

Well the cool weather the last few days will be leaving shortly with sunshine doing its work in the coming days.  I doubt we will break the 80 degree mark for a little while, but at least all the highs are in the 60's or better. 

If anyone is available next Friday, the 16th, you should try to come to the 14th Annual Ohio Severe Weather Symposium.  When I was at Ohio State I helped plan one of the symposiums and there is A LOT of work behind it and I know how excited the students are to get the symposium underway. This year there will be a lot of great and prestigious speakers, one of those being Mike Bettes, who used to work here at WKEF back in the day.  I will be working that morning doing the weather and then heading straight up to Columbus for the symposium, so I hope to see a few of you there.  It will be a great time!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Importance of Trained Weather Spotters...

As added information to start this blog I want to let everyone know that the NWS, National Weather Service, who issues the severe thunderstorm warnings has bumped up their criteria for T'storm warnings.  It has went from 3/4" hail or 58 mph winds to 1" hail or 58 mph winds to cut down on the number of warnings so the public isn't "washed out" with warnings and take them more seriously.....

On Monday night strong storms roared through the Miami Valley with an intense amount of lightning, with one especially strong storm moving through Montgomery County.  Several calls were made to the weather center here asking why there wasn't a Severe Thunderstorm Warning issued by the NWS.  The reason is that the NWS in Wilmington knew the storm was strong on the radar, but no hail was being reported up to the 1" size yet.  Then at 8:20PM local law enforcement called in reporting 1" hail just North of Downtown Dayton.  By 8:23PM the NWS issued the Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Montgomery County and also for Miami and Clark Counties, which was where the storm was heading. 

While viewing the radar, we can see that the storm is intense and can assume hail is in the storm, but technology still isn't able to tell exactly how large hail is or if there is a tornado on the ground, which is why trained storm spotters are such a HUGE part of the NWS.  They are literally the eyes and ears on the ground while the NWS meteorologists are monitoring what is happening up higher in the atmosphere, the balance between the two is the perfect mix, and without one or the other, the system wouldn't work as smoothly and efficiently to issue warnings to save lives.

The good news.... no severe weather for at least a week, just bundle up for Thursday and Friday as it will be cold with a few light showers.  Then the weekend is looking much better with sunshine and slowly warming through next week.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Buck-cast: More Storms....

Last night was a crazy night of severe thunderstorms across the Miami Valley, Preble County saw extensive damage due to the winds and other areas, such as Clinton County saw hail well over an inch in diameter.  Today was much better, or at least not severe.... We have tied the record high temp at the Datyon Airport of 83 set back in 1929.

Tomorrow will be cloudier than today and should remain dry for the daytime hours, but later tomorrow night a line of storms will once again push through the area, and this time it appears all of the Miami Valley has a chance for severe weather. Right now the timing of the system looks to arrive around midnight Wednesday night and then quickly be out of here by Thursday morning's commute.  Thursday and Friday will be much colder with highs in the low 50's.....brrrr!  Warmer and sunnier from there on out.... Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

"And This One Belongs To The Reds!!!"

Well we are only 15 hours away from the first pitch at Great American Ballpark.  Growing up I remember working on the farm as a kid and my Great Uncle Em would come buy and he always had the Reds playing on his radio in his truck.  I even remember asking him why he liked listening to the game so much and he said I would understand when I got older.... I also remember my dad buying a brand new broom to mount on our mailbox for a week after the 1990 World Series.... But to be honest, I never truly became a Reds fan until I went to my first game at Cinergy Field a few years later....

Now I will admit it isn't easy being a Reds fan sometimes, especially after the all-star break, but as with almost any professional sports team here in Ohio....we seem to have some sort of a curse...  Unfortunately I will not be able to go to Opening Day this year because I will be in the weather center watching it on a 13 inch monitor getting the forecast ready, but I got a feeling that this season will be a little different.  I feel that we might have the right mixtures in place to make this year count, pending the one thing that always "injures" us: injuries.  As long as we stay healthy, I think the Reds can do it....So put on your rally caps for now because hopefully we will do something this year that we haven't done in 20 years.....

Have a good one and Go Reds!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Easter Candy

With the holidays you always remember different memories, but with Easter comes a whole on-rush of sugar.... It was almost like Christmas morning with one of my younger siblings waking up WAY too early and then hunting for our Easter baskets of candy and eggs before heading to Sunrise Service at church (not to mention eating about half of the candy even before the sun came up).  But the one thing that has stayed constant and probably is my favorite is my grandmother's house.  We always go to her house in Arcanum in Darke County on Easter for one of the best meals of the year,(Christmas and Thanksgiving there as well) but the only candy we got there was taped to our Easter card: a Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs.  MAN!!!  Those things are the best!!  Smooth peanut butter coated in a thin layer of creamy milk chocolate....  We only got one of those every Easter and they were the highlight of all the sweets, maybe we just cherished it more because it wasn't a whole basket of sugar.

I can remember all of this pretty well, but the one thing I can't remember is if we were aloud to eat it before our dinner or after.... Anyways, I guess I will be refreshed by this time tomorrow.  Have a good one and Happy Easter everyone!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Evenin'!!

Well it is shortly after midnight on April 2nd and I am sitting here in the newsroom listening to the scanners as the shift is about to change. 

What a beautiful day today... If the windows aren't left open when I get home in an hour, they will be!!!  Today we tied the record high of 79, tomorrow the record high is 81, and I think we should be able to tie that if not surpass it.  Saturday we will see a few more clouds, and more than likely will stay shy of 80, but we will see a slight chance for a few showers, maybe a rumble of thunder or two.  Sunday will be a little cooler still and remain mild through next week, but also keeping an eye on rain for parts of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. 

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael