Week so far... better weather coming

I have felt a little under the weather most of the week.  Nothing too major so I just sucked it up and kept on doing my thang...  Luckily it was sunny so at least that helped.

There was an energy company summit downtown and I went to get the story and I couldn't help my to capture the Statehouse in its new festive look.

I also attempted to do some Cyber Monday shopping, but nothing really popped out at me like last year.

The snow did fall early Tuesday morning, but most of it had melted before the sun came up, only a few places still had a little snow still sticking.

I spent most of Tuesday trying to get ahold of a few corporate offices for a story that I ended up doing Wednesday, but I did manage to get up to OSU to hear about their preps for the Duke game.

It is kinda weird to think that the players that we all watch on TV are just out of high school, kinda mind blowing, but awesome.

Coach Matta was pretty funny and looked forward to the game, but sadly they lost last night by five points.

Wednesday was my final day of the eight day streak and my morning coffee did just the trick for that added morning jolt.

My drive to work takes me along 670 through downtown and there has been some construction near the Dublin Rd. dam and I made a few phone calls.  The construction was just for some maintenance and that dam is not getting demolished.  The one near main street downtown will, but not until 2014 according the the city project manager.

I finished off the day with a personalized message from Santa Claus.  It is pretty cool how so many different applications there are now to talk to Santa instead of just sending a hand written card... although he does probably prefer those a little bit. ;)

And we finally get to my "weekend."  I spent the morning relaxing and made some egg, bacon, and turkey burritos for breakfast/lunch.  Pretty delicious!  The rest of my morning has been a little cleaning and catching up on some DVR shows.  Tomorrow is Dawn's birthday, and I am not sure what kinda of fun she wants to get into... probably the casino, dinner, and maybe some dancing.

Quick look at the forecast... we will keep warming through early next week.  We will top out in the low 60's by early next week so I am looking forward to that.  There is a chance for rain later on Sunday and again late Tuesday as a STRONG cold front plows through bringing winter back by Wednesday.  I will keep an eye on the timing of each rain maker in case there are any changes.  Have a good one!


Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

10PM update on tonight's snow

Today's high has was 49 in Columbus which was a couple degrees warmer than expected in yesterday's blog.  The skies stayed clear this evening for a little bit which helped us cool off some though.  So at 10PM there is a light band of snow across Northern Indiana and Ohio moving Eastnortheast.  The real moisture is to the south moving to the Northeast, but much warmer in the lower 40's and falling as rain.  We need the temps to drop and the dry gap to fill in more for any decent snow, but at this point I think a dusting is possible across part of the area, but not for everyone.  The fact that two "moist" masses of air are somewhat colliding will mean we will squeeze a little more moisture out... kinda like wringing a washcloth... but again, we got to have that temp fall faster.  Most of this will be off to our east by daybreak.

It would almost be like paint drying to watch the temperatures fall, but the rain/snow mix will last longer to the south meaning less sticking snow.  The north may have a little dusting as well as Central Ohio along I-70.  Regardless leaving a couple minutes early tomorrow might not be a bad idea.... not because YOU are a bad driver, but the idiot who didn't watch the weather or read my blog (sarcastic voice) will likely spin out when trying to drive too fast.  Disclaimer: I do not want anyone to get hurt or any accidents to occur. 

So after this kicks out of here tomorrow we begin a warming trend.  Still cold tomorrow but by the weekend we may be pushing 60.  We also stay dry after tonight until week's end.  A couple of disturbances this weekend that I am not impressed with, but I will keep you posted.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Feeling lucky

I am not a gambler.  Dawn finds it fun so her parents came down to celebrate her birthday and they went out to the casino last night and I showed up after work and after most of the winnings disappeared. 

I wonder if I should have started throwing out a few bets after Ohio State beat Michigan yesterday AND the Browns beat the Steelers today... Quite an awesome weekend for Ohio football.  I heard the Bengals won too.  Pretty sweet weekend and I am just glad that the Browns have at least won against the Steelers... something that happens very rarely.


Mix of sun and clouds for Monday as our temperatures warm back into the mid 40's.  Monday night a wintry mix will start after midnight and change over to snow.  Most of the precipitation will occur before daybreak Tuesday.  Most of the moisture will stay south, so areas north of I-70 may not see much, if any precipitation.  Light accumulations may develop by Tuesday morning for the Southern portions of Ohio.  Mostly cloudy for the remainder of Tuesday and staying cold.  Wednesday we start our warming trend that will continue through next weekend.  We also stay dry after Tuesday until the end of the week as a few scattered showers may develop.  So quite a roller coaster of a week.  Cool Monday then colder Tuesday with a chance for snow across the south, followed by warmth and rain by week's end.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

OSU wins & snow changes

The studio took a step into the holidays over the last twenty four hours.  I think there may be a little more added in the days to come, but still a nice spirit in the weather center.

I had to put on about five layers of clothing before heading down to the Horseshoe today.  I had a lot of fun visiting friends and stopping by The Football Fever live shot. 

There was even a little flurry activity today, which was even more fitting for the final football game for the season.  The game was a little scary at times, but after that interception the place went crazy and it stayed crazy for quite a while after the game, but Dawn and I had to run home to get ready for her parents visiting.

Clouds sticking around with the cold temperatures.  A little more sun heading into the start of the workweek as temperatures begin to warm.  A disturbance Tuesday looks to bring a little snow to the area, but the models are starting to agree that the Southern part of Ohio has the best chances to see a light snow and the Northern half of Ohio stay mainly dry.  Any slight changes in direction will affect which part of Ohio will see any of the wintry weather so check back for more updates.  We stay cool for the rest of the week and another chance for rain heading into next weekend.

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

What a change!

Just in case the bitterly cold temperatures that arrived today got you thinking about Florida... it isn't much better down there.  My parents and sister said it is super windy and the water is coming up nearly all the way to the walls along the beach in Daytona.  My sister did like her new gift.  Our mother is not a huge fan of early Christmas presents, but my sister had a camera nearly ten years old and was in desperate need of a new camera.  Dawn and I decided to send it down to Florida with my brother so she could capture the memories is MUCH better clarity.

Not sure if I ever remember the water so high.  That's my sister.

Dawn and I went out Black Friday shopping today...around noon.  We ended up buying a lot of stuff online with free shipping instead because the lines were insane at the registers.  We did each pick up a new pair of shoes.  I have had the same running shoes since college so I figured it was time to get some better support.

Coming into work I noticed a few flurries and some of the lake effect prone areas will see a little more but a few flurries will continue for the overnight hours.  I guess it was more like sleet than flurries for the most part of what I saw this evening.

Cold air returns to Central Ohio.  Blustery and cold for much of the weekend with wind chills below freezing.  If you are heading out for any shopping of heading to the Ohio State game you will need to bundle up.  We will see a mix of clear skies and clouds through the weekend and other than a stray flurry we will stay dry.  Another system approaches us for Tuesday and our temperatures will be right on the line between seeing snow or rain so it will need to be monitored closely over the coming days.  Right now I am calling for a wintry mix for Tuesday, but if we warm a few more degrees it would fall as rain.  After that then we dry out for the rest of the week.  Stay warm and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

First Thanksgiving Dinner & Important Forecasts

Hard to believe the gorgeous weather we have seen the last couple days. Almost was like a dream, but then again, it is Ohio in November... the cold air will be returning very soon.

 

 Here is another shot from my LIVE shot last night.  I was doing a story on the 10 million dollar donation the Ohio State Athletic Department got for a new arena since St. John has seen better days and in need of over 30 million dollars for renovations.

 I had Monday and Tuesday off this week so that way I could work in the weather center for Thanksgiving and Black Friday since Bob requested them off.  I worked on my forecast verification sheet.  I now will be able to grade my forecasts for their accuracy.  Took quite some time for the ten sheets of data.

I also wrapped my first gift of the season.  It is an early Christmas gift for my sister.  She is on vacation with my family and I thought of gift she has needed for a long time and I gave it to my brother to take when he flew down to Daytona to meet them.

Speaking of my family.  I got my sister to figure out the video chat on their new computer.  It was pretty sweet to be able to see my family on Thanksgiving... and of course Dawn and I got jealous when she took the computer on their balcony to see the waves crashing.

 

Dawn and I made our first Thanksgiving dinner together today.  We invited some others, but turns out everyone had work or other family plans... which means more food for us.  Muhuahahaha!  Seriously though, we are both thankful to have loving family, friends, and great health.  I think we did a pretty fantastic job making the dinner and will enjoy the left overs for the days to come. (I think the leftovers are the best part)

Mild with increasing clouds this evening.  We will see rain arrive just before daybreak tomorrow and should be done and out of here by noon, so morning shoppers will deal with some light on and off rain showers.  The high temperature tomorrow will be in the morning so falling temps for the afternoon and windy as well.  Saturday is looking downright blustery for the OSU football game.  With only an afternoon high in the mid 30's and strong winds, the wind chill will be below freezing the entire game, BUT it should be dry.  Staying dry and a little warmer on Sunday with a high in the lower 40's, then more rain returns late Monday into Tuesday bringing in more cold air.


Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

You wearing Scarlet & Gray? #BeatMichiganWeek

 

Day two of #BeatMichiganWeek and I am sporting a brand new tie.  I am stocked up and ready!

Today we celebrated an early birthday for our unofficial #TeamWeekend leader Stu.  He is our producer on the weekend and is essentially our Executive Producer for the weekends...just without the official title.  We all brought in snacks for his birthday, which is tomorrow.

Quite a lot to be thankful for this week... like the weather each day.  A beautiful week ahead for Central Ohio with highs near 60 all week long and morning low temperatures slowly warming.  We will have plenty of sunshine for Monday, but a few more clouds Tuesday and Wednesday as a very weak front moves through.  There is a very slim chance for a shower Wednesday, but most of the area should be staying dry.  We will see a little more sunshine for Thanksgiving Day on Thursday then more clouds return.  Another front approaches us for the start of the weekend with a better chance for rain and then cooler temperatures return as well.  Before that though, we have a handful of beautiful days ahead of us and hopefully you can take advantage of them.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

And it starts RIGHT NOW

Ohio State just finished off their eleventh course of a twelve course meal and that means that BEAT MICHIGAN WEEK starts NOW!  If you see me wearing any yellow with any blue, please call me out this week.  It is a magical week on campus and there is a little extra electric flowing through the veins of the students.  GREAT feeling.  I am planning on wearing red every day...

In my last entry I mentioned I had some big plans on Friday.  I went up to Cleveland to hang out with the Black Pipes moped group.  They were not getting together until 5PM, but I wanted to ride around the city a little before it got dark so I got there and did just that.  I got a few photos around downtown including Cleveland Browns Stadium.  I also met Dawn's mother after work briefly before riding to meet up with everyone else.  It was a pretty chill evening wrenching to get a couple of bikes worthy for the ride and the fifty minute freezing ride was pretty sweet.  My bike acted a little funny on turns and I found out that my front fender was rubbing the tire so it didn't want to make right hand turns very well... easily fixable.  Anyway, good times and then I drove back to Columbus last night after hanging out.

I woke up early this morning to head back to Dayton to watch Danny Zupan, Dawn's cousin, run in the Mid-East Cross Country Championships with the best runners from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and that M state up north.  It was crazy to see so many stellar runners that will be going on to big schools.  We also got to see her other cousin run in her first 5k race at Welcome Stadium.  After working up an appetite watching them run, we met Chris Mulcahy and his girl friend for lunch at Sammy's in Springboro... GREAT burgers.

The beautiful weather continues!  The sunshine will be sticking around as our temperatures continue to warm each day.  Sunday we will warm back into the upper 50's after a chilly start in the lower 30's.  A few clouds start to work their way into Central Ohio as we start the workweek, but sun will still be the dominant weather player.  There are a couple of very weak disturbances by the end of the week, but so far not impressive to cancel any outdoor plans.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Beautiful, chilly day for a moped ride

It was rather chilly so I didn't ride super long on my day off.  I did ride to the Ohio State Airport.  They have a small restaurant and since I already had lunch I only got a coffee to warm up.  I HAD to stop by, the name of the place is Barnstormers, yea, Barn-storm-ers, ha.  Pretty nice little dive, but wish there were windows to the runway.  Its was nearly all walls so I couldn't watch the airplanes land and take off.  I love doing that.  Coffee was pretty good though.  Tomorrow it looks to be a little warmer which is great news... I have some big plans tomorrow. 

I was laying in bed last night thinking about all the sweet places I have been on my moped since we moved up here to Columbus.  I have only had my moped up here a little under two months and I have already had some pretty epic rides and see some awesome parts of town that Columbus has to offer.  Pretty stoked to see some more sweet spots before they start salting the roads for snow... blah... Then comes some winter projects... I have a few things I want to do to both bikes.  Still working on that list.

Staying dry until the middle of next week when a very weak fold front Tuesday into Wednesday.  So we will continue to warm up with mostly clear skies over the coming days, mid-low 50's for the weekend.  Off to start making taco pizzas.  Stay warm and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Brrrr...

Quite a couple of cold days.  I did a story today on small engine repair shops getting busy with people bringing in their snow throwers.  I ordered a couple of spark plugs from them and they also sent me home with some SEF Small Engine Fuel.  It is LEADED 94 Octane straight gasoline that has a 50:1 oil mix in it.  I am kinda concerned with putting it in my Polini to run... considering I am running AMSoil Saber at a current ratio of 85:1.  We will see though.  I may try it in my Magnum with the Treats kit.  They did say that with it containing no ethanol that the carb will be perfectly clean after being winterized.  Pretty cool shop, Como's mowers on Indianola, and I plan on going back. 

I had a few veterans stories the last few days with Veterans' Day and also Operation Evergreen with a group that sent over Christmas trees to our troops overseas.  It was chilly, but it didn't slow them down.


A few clouds will continue to stick around for the overnight hours, Wednesday night.  We will see a little clearing, allowing our temperatures to fall into the upper 20`s again, so keep the scraper handy for Thursday morning.  A mix of sun and clouds for Thursday and we will slowly start a warming trend.  We will top out in the upper 40`s for Thursday and low 50`s for Friday and similar temps for the weekend as we continue our dry stretch.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Leatherlips & Chance for Snow

I mentioned it yesterday and I did it today... I woke up at 6:15AM and rode my moped to Scioto Park to watch the sunrise at the Leatherlips Sculpture.  Sometimes you just need those moments alone for a little peace and quiet and sunrise is such a magical time.  More on that in a second.

I was horrified when finding out that the Ohio State's Twister meteorology webpage was compromised and they lost all the content.  I ALWAYS used their MOS Diff tool.  It would compare the latest forecast model to the model that came out just before that.  So you could see how the models were trending and help with the forecast even more.  I was on the hunt for a new MOS outlet rather than just the raw data.  There is so much you can do with the data and I was not disappointed.  TxTornado had just what I was looking for... well kinda.  I was hoping for a MOS Diff, but I have told OSU multiple times before how much I love that product so I may be able to talk to the guy who developed it and see if it is on another server.  Anyway I was a total nerd looking at the new data.

So Leatherlips was pretty sweet.  I hit the road at 6:40 and had plenty of time.  No cars on the road and I even stopped a mile away from the park and got a coffee.  To warm my hands and body up... not just for caffeine.  I did spill it on my moped though.  It fit snugly between the body of the bike and my side rails... I had one hand on it for the less than a mile ride and it went perfectly until I hit a pothole pulling into the park... Oh well not too much spilled.  I was the only one at the park for about half an hour and it was nice to feel the warmth of the sun on me while riding home.

With Dawn in Cleveland it means that I get to experiment in the kitchen and not have to have someone eat the food and be worried about what it will taste like.  I made hash browns with onions, ham and chicken.  I also used some provolone cheese, marinara sauce, and Cane's sauce and it was stellar!  Pretty easy to make too; all while I was watching a movie.

The clouds rolled in today and kept us from reaching the record high.  We hit 67 at noon and only warmed up two more degrees after that.  The record was 74 and after we already got to 67 at noon I had hope, but the clouds got pretty thick.  Recording a pretty awesome sunset now with the sun peaking through the clouds on the horizon.

Increasing clouds tonight and staying mild.  The rain will arrive mid-morning on Monday and linger though the afternoon and early evening.  Our temperatures will peak around noon in the upper 50's and then fall into the lower 40's by the evening commute so a few snowflakes may mix in with the rain on the tail end of the moisture around the evening commute.  The ground will be wet from the rain so no accumulations are expected.  Our temperatures continue to fall below freezing for Tuesday morning and with light winds, plenty of moisture, and clear skies, patchy fog is likely Tuesday morning.  Our temperatures stay chilly for the middle of the week with a mix of sun and clouds.  We stay dry through the weekend and our temperatures slowly try to climb with highs in the mid 50's for next weekend.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Christmas tree, #TeamWeekend, Rain coming

After a day of resting Thursday I got productive yesterday and put up the Christmas tree... I know it is much later than my old habit of Octotber 1st, but better "late" than never.  Dawn went home for her cousin's birthday party and I invited a few co-workers over.

We always use the hashtag #TeamWeekend since we are the news soldiers that they entrust to run the ship when the bosses normally are not around.  There is always something about the weekend crew that has a strong bond.  We had fun joking around and playing some old school Mario Brothers.  None of us are gamers and it was rather pathetic how bad we were at the first generation of Nintendo.

I feel a little guilty for staying inside today watching GoodFellas so I am planning on a long day tomorrow.  Our low tonight will only be in the upper 40's so I am going to wake up early and ride my moped to watch the sunrise.  I was tipped off on a pretty sweet place to watch the sunrise so I hope to have a photo or two tomorrow.  Just excited to get out for a little zen time and enjoy the great weather on tap for tomorrow.

So another beautiful day for Sunday.  Temperatures will remain about fifteen degrees warmer than our averages for this time of year so try to enjoy it!  We will see plenty of sun with a few afternoon clouds and a bit breezy as well.  Rain returns Monday morning and this will bring in much cooler temperatures.  Our highs will go from 72 Sunday, to 58 Monday, and down to the mid 40`s for highs for the middle of the week.  Our low temperatures will be below freezing for the middle of the week as well so keep the coats handy.  After the rain on Monday we look to return to another dry pattern for the rest of the week.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Election over... recouping

Election night was a crazy one.  I can hands down say that the coverage the station did was amazing.  We were LIVE for nearly 5 hours of barely scripted content.  Going from one live shot of the Secretary of State to the former Governor... great TV and hardly a minute to catch your breath.

While everyone else was doing the coverage on-air, I was in the studio helping with the social media.  I helped moderate the chat room.  There were several unacceptable profane comments, but for the most part it was a fairly lively discussion.

It was a night I am sure I will not forget anytime soon because all the fun and lively action.

I spent part of my "Saturday" today babysitting Anderson.  He woke up for a short time and then passed back out on me.

All the cold weather reminds me of Mexico.  I wan to go back really bad.  It has been 15 months and I really miss it.  I miss the Spanish, I miss the food, I miss the drinks, I miss the friends, I miss the water, I miss the coastline, I miss the excursions, I miss it all.  I better go check my coin jar to see how many more decades until we can go back.

I have today and tomorrow off and still can't decide on what I want to get into.  I thought about going for a moped ride because it will soon be too cold for that... I know I just want to get out of the house and have some fun.  I do know that part of the weekend crew will be getting together, but no plans other than that.  We will be dry until Monday night and the temperatures warming each day and this weekend is looking great with mostly sunny skies and temps in the mid to upper 60's.  Once the rain arrives Monday night into early Tuesday we will see the colder temperatures return.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

P.S. Buckosphere has a Twitter account now.  If you have Twitter it will be sending out updates when new blog entries are out... www.twitter.com/Buckosphere

Flying & Voting

I tried to avoid all election stories and left them for the real journalists... but yesterday I couldn't turn down the opportunity.

Romney had a hot air balloon on steroids in town.  It was a blimp, but a hot air balloon with a fan the back to propel it.  I got to go up in the blimp.  It was pretty sweet to be able to see the city and Central Ohio from the air like that.  Quite a view and probably one of the most memorable stories I have ever done.

Amazing! Boy was it cold!  The cockpit was completely open and the temperatures were below freezing and then factor in the winds about twenty miles per hour and I really wish I would have put on my gloves before we took off.

One of the coolest parts was that they did not fly it from city to city.  They can take the blimp down, fully deflate it, and have it on a trailer in less than thirty minutes and then hit the road. 

After editing my blimp story together I went back to the station to do a follow up on the Scouting for Food drive that happened Friday.  The food was delivered yesterday and it totaled over seven thousand pounds.  This was their kick off for the month and they hope to get another three thousand to beat last year's numbers.

I got to sleep in a little today since I will be working tonight for election coverage.  Dawn and I did go vote this morning.  We walked to our polling location and we were only gone for 25 minutes including the walk... Still don't understand early voting... unless you plan on working a 16 hour day.  Anyway, super quick and now I wait to head into work for an election night that I, again, will probably never forget.  The station is providing dinner and my assignment has changed several times and it probably will continue to change through the night to help out where they need assistance.

Couldn't ask for better weather for election day... A little frosty this morning, but plenty of sunshine.  Still a slight chance for a spotty shower tonight into early tomorrow, but not everyone will be seeing the rain.  It will be a little cooler for tomorrow, but it will be the kickoff for a warming trend.  We will warm into the 60's for the weekend and stay dry the entire time, but then rain returns with colder air early next week.  Get out there and vote and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael