We were wet most of the morning and then a break midday with only a few scattered light rain showers. Then a line of storms this evening. One of the cells that moved through Columbus along I-670 had very light rotation for a short time. I love it when the rotation is light and nothing too much to worry about... It's like Mother Nature blowing you a kiss.
Here is a picture of that last line as it was pushing into downtown. Nice shelf cloud.
Other than a few sprinkles tonight and early Monday... most of the rain is done as it moves east. We could see some fog overnight due to the partial clearing clouds and winds lightening. The skies will continue to clear tomorrow and then we tap into sunshine for most of the workweek. Highs near 80 for the middle of the week. High pressure will build for the middle-end of the week across New England and slow down a cold front. GFS has been the most aggressive today bringing the rain as early as Friday, but the Euro and CMC has held off on the rain until the weekend. Here is the GFS model run from today:
I think we will still stay dry until at least Friday, but will need to watch it closely for the exact timing of the rain. The Cap City Half Marathon is next weekend, so I am sure a lot of people will be glued to the forecast. Enjoy the sunshine on the way and have a good one!
Had a great few days at home... Recorded these video clips. Click the speaker button for sound.
It was great to decompress a little, especially after being sick for the first part of the week. Gotta love being up before the sun comes up.
I also went through all of my keep-sake items and found some hilarious photos. Hope you enjoy!
I will be sharing some other stuff I dug out. Ya gotta check back in for those...
On to the weather... Rain is already pushing in tonight. It will be pretty steady and heavy Sunday morning and afternoon with some breaks midday. There is a slight chance for a rumble of thunder or two, but not really expecting severe weather. We will be a little cooler Sunday because of the rain, but we warm right back into the 70's for highs much of next week. Monday will have a few pesky showers sticking around, but the sunshine returns quickly.
The middle-end of next week is interesting. There is a HUGE change compared to yesterday's forecast. There will be a strong area of High Pressure over New England which will help stop the weather pattern a few days. Low Pressure with a cold front will be forced to stall out in the Central Plains for the middle to end of next week and then finally try to move through later next weekend... so basically... after Monday we should stay dry until next weekend... if not longer. I will keep you posted if that changes. Off to the news... Have a good one!
In need of some family time and quiet time... Came home to the farm.
Haven't been able to hang out with my sister in a while so it was nice to come home and visit. Already in bed now. Kinda weird not having a TV on. I guess I picked up a bad habit from my wife. Looking like a nice few days ahead... But a little rainy Sunday. Night!
Quite a frosty start to the day today. One of our producers took this photo around 5AM on his way into work.
Monday I did a story on yard waste pick-up in Columbus switching to every other week. I drew quite the audience for the live shot for the 5 and 6PM news.
Tuesday I did a story on the renovations at Ohio Stadium. The spring game was moved to Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, so I reported on why.
There was a little disconnect between calendars since it was set up a few days in advance. That meant I got to hang out in The Shoe for an hour... no complaints!
The good side to the warm weather is that all the patios are open. Great weather to hang outside.... but the downside... allergies. I have been taking Claritin D. Until yesterday. I was afraid I was having a sinus infection on top of my allergies. I went by the doctor and it was an eye opening experience. The decongestant in the allergy medication is made my blood pressure sky rocket. The doctor took several readings thinking that something was wrong. I told her that I had high blood pressure before, but nothing like this. I think the measurements averaged out to about 170 over 100... CRAZY high. I think I seriously need to make some life changes. The doctor said to immediately stop taking the decongestant and cut out all salt out of my diet. I have already been trying to exercise more, but I guess not enough. Either way, I see a lifestyle change is needed. And to think I was doing good by loosing a couple pounds this month already... I guess it is like getting your car fixed... something else ends up broken.
Alright on to the weather... cool for the upcoming days, but we will slowly warm up. Rain showers push in late Saturday into Sunday, but it looks to be pretty light. Our temperatures will not cool off too much from that and we will continue to climb back into the 70's for next week. The models can't agree on timing of rain for the middle of next week, but plan on some pop-up showers/storms then. I will keep ya posted, but for the next several days it looks like Sunday will be the only wet one... and light, at that. Have a good one!
I know I have mentioned Caleb's Puch Magnum in my garage a while ago. The last thing we needed was to get the fork welded. The brake tab needed to be extended on the k10 fork. I had that welded this morning and I was too eager to get the bike back as a rolling frame so I ran over to the garage during my dinner break and made it happen. Looks great in the new stance.
Weather is looking pretty quiet and peaceful the next few days. Tonight there is a Frost Advisory for most of Central Ohio, so be sure to bring in any sensitive plants. A mix of sun and clouds for Monday and then a few more clouds Tuesday and warmer. Some of the models are trying to pop a few showers Monday, but I am not buying a whole lot because our air is so dry. We will, however see rain Tuesday night into Wednesday morning with another cold front that will cool us off for the second half of the week. Welp... back to work, have a good one!
No time for a blog yesterday... glued to the police scanner, TV, and even more than those: Twitter. The search for the Boston Marathon bombers was crazy. I stayed Thursday night to keep an eye on the radar with the "storms" rolling in. They weakened a LOT and so while I was here watching the radar I noticed a lot of buzz on Twitter. There was a police officer shot at MIT in Boston. I tried turning on the national network news and they had nothing, but twitter was blowing up. Then there were shoot outs and explosions and I started searching the local news affiliates and WCVB was streaming their coverage online. The local news affiliates were right in the middle of the action and the quickly developing story was crazy. Finally the national news started to pick up on the story, but if you were following twitter you could get the details at least fifteen minutes faster. (Although some of the details needed to be taken with a grain of salt) Since many people in the Watertown neighborhood were shook awake from the gunfight, they were tweeting photos and the local news stations were retweeting them... Then half an hour later the national news networks would finally mentioned what was happening. This is the first situation where I have seen Twitter and local news coverage win, hands down. GREAT job especially to WCVB and Garrett Quinn (@GarrettQuinn) for getting the information out in real-time instead of 20-30 minutes later. I ended up not falling asleep until after 5:30AM, but was back up a few hours later to see if there were any updates.
I got a little burnt out on the details during the late-morning and middle of the day because there was not a lot of action going on with the search. The uncle and aunt were a nice change of pace compared to the stories of where they went to high school. I was also worried that once it got dark that finding Suspect #2 was going to be next to impossible again because, let's be honest, you can't see much even with flashlights or flood lights. At 5:30PM my weather got cut out of the news due to the FBI press conference. When they announced that people could leave there homes I was a little saddened. Until I read a tweet by Rob Nelson (@TVRobNelson)
The police were a decent size force, but they don't know all the "odd" things on people's property. So when Dave Henneberry went outside for a smoke, once the curfew was lifted, he noticed something odd. One of his straps on his boat cover was hanging loose. Then the manhunt heated up! I was on my lunch break at home when the national news affiliates (who were there on the scene) mentioned the few dozen shots fired. Here is the RAW video:
The law enforcement had Broadcastify take down the scanner feed because people were tweeting the scanner traffic. I did find a UStream of someone streaming video of their police scanner. I think by that time everyone knew not to tweet about what was going on and the police were VERY vigilant not to release any big details on the radio. It was crazy to read the tweets from reporters on the scene, listen to the scanner, and watch the entire event unfold... It is, also, amazing how social media played a part in the entire search. The entire joint effort was impressive and hopefully they can bring justice to such a cruel and heartless crime.
Switching gears to weather... So it is cold again! Our temperatures were about forty degrees colder Friday afternoon compared to Thursday when we reached 86.
Temps kept falling and by the evening we had pockets of air cold enough to support snow falling down to the surface.
My dad emailed me from Western Ohio and said the ground was covered in snow and one of their neighbors sent me a photo of the snowy ground. Thanks Teri!
And as if things were not cold enough already... we have a Freeze Warning for most of the viewing area. The counties that are NOT part of the freeze warning are not in the "growing season" according to the National Weather Service, so they do not have a warning... but it will be just as cold there.
So cold start to Sunday then the sunshine will help us warm back into the upper 50's. More sun on Monday with a few clouds and mid 60's and then low 70's Tuesday for the high with rain arriving Tuesday night. Not looking at anything severe Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, but could pick up another quick half an inch of rain. We cool off a little bit into the mid 50's for the middle of the week and then a few more rounds of rain. A weak system later Thursday and then a more impressive dose of wet weather for next weekend. Either way... not too bad and no more snow in the forecast. Have a good one!
The rain still keeps tracking through Indiana, but is taking its good, ole time. The good news is that the threat for severe weather is being cut down, thanks to the cool air from the earlier dieing storms by Sandusky.
SCIENCE LESSON - Outflow Boundary - Sometimes you may have heard us talk about that term before. So what is it? Take a look at the radar, just north of Springfield, the radar is picking up a little "return" where the cool air is sinking under the warm air, lifting it, and causing some "false rain" to show up. That cool air is the winds flowing out from the storms earlier across Northwestern Ohio. Take a look at the temperatures, dramatically cooler. The good news is that the cooler temps will also cut down on the threat for severe weather overnight. Feel free to share!
Storm Prediction Center has dropped us out of the Slight Risk for severe weather for tomorrow morning. Only expecting "General Thunderstorms." Still expecting gusty winds and heavy rain expected for the morning
commute though, most of it may be just shy of the severe criteria (58+
mph winds) Have a good one!
Warmest day of the year so far... We still could bump up a degree or two, but 85° is our current temp at 5PM in Columbus.
Good news is that Moderate risk was dropped by SPC, Storm Prediction Center. It still keeps Western Ohio under a Slight risk for severe storms overnight.
They also dropped the severe wind fields.
There is currently no watch or warning for Central Ohio. There is also no
discussion of one since the main threat of storms will not arrive until
well after midnight.
IF a watch was issued later, I would bet on a Severe
Thunderstorm Watch. The winds for our area are not as conducive for
tornadic storms, but the chance is not completely ruled out. Main line
of storms will roll into Western Ohio around 2-6AM
and then Columbus Metro area between 4-8AM and then kick out to the east by noon
with lingering showers.
Once the line of storms moves through there will be a few lingering showers through midday along with quickly falling temps.
Saturday and Sunday we remain partly cloudy and dry for the most part
with highs in the 50`s and overnight lows in the 30`s. Don`t put away
the jacket just yet. Have a good one!
Tornado Watches are already going up ahead of the line of storms pushing into Indiana. Actually, they issued a PDS, a Particularly Dangerous Situation Tornado Watch for much of Indiana. To the best of my knowledge, that is the first PDS of the year. PDSes are not issued very often so take the weather serious.
Luckily the majority of the severe weather will be to the west of Ohio. The storms are moving to the east very slow so by the time they reach Central Ohio the sun will be setting and we will have passed the max heating of the day.
There is a slight chance for tornadic storms. Above is the probability for a tornado within a twenty five mile radius. Again, most of the tornado warned storms will be to the west, but the Western half of Ohio is in the 5% area.
The main threat will be strong winds with the storms. Be sure to stay alert. The line moving through Indiana will begin to fall apart and a new line will form stronger behind it. This kind of phasing will continue through the afternoon and early evening. The leading line will try to pull some of the energy out of the atmosphere... going to be an active afternoon.
The storms will begin to roll into the NW counties of Ohio this evening. They will push into the Miami Valley around or just before midnight and Central Ohio just after midnight. The arrival to Columbus will be around or just before 3AM. This is all timing for the line of storms... BUT there could be a few pop-up thunderstorms across Ohio today ahead of the line of storms thanks to the heating of the day. The rain kicks out of here on Friday, leaving us MUCH cooler for the weekend and drier. Be sure to stay alert tonight and I will be covering it all at FOX28 and ABC6 tonight. Also, be sure to follow my work twitter for any watches or warnings for Central Ohio: www.twitter.com/AndrewWSYX6. Have a good one!
Best,
Andrew Buck Michael
PS. I have an update, click the top banner for the newest look at the storms.
Pretty jealous of Bill Kelly. I pitched the idea about a month ago to head out to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center and National Severe Storms Laboratory. Not to mention the Plains to go storm chasing. They picked a heck of a week to go out... There are tornadic storms moving their way toward him currently...
Here is the radar from earlier and you can see the track of the storms moving toward my finger, which is where Bill is currently.
Ohio has its chance for storms on Friday morning, but mainly strong winds and hail for the threats.
First, we have a REALLY warm day on Thursday. The winds will really pick up out of the South and that will increase our moisture and temps into the low-mid 80's. With our temps getting that warm and humidity as high as it is expected, there is the chance for a few pop-up storms in the afternoon. Be sure to keep an eye on things because if anything does pop then it could get strong quickly. Our main chance for rain will be early Friday, though. The line of storms is expected in the Columbus area between about 3 and 7AM on Friday. There will be a little lingering rain through the morning, then we dry out for the weekend. We will also cool off considerably for the weekend with highs in the 50's and lows near freezing. I will have an update on the storms tomorrow, in depth, so be sure to check back in. Have a good one!
I was under the assumption that Monday was going to be my only day off this week and with the nice weather on tap... I couldn't let it pass. So I went to bed a little after 1AM after working Sunday night and then was on the links already before 7:30AM... rough, but worth it. Played so, so for my first time out for the season.
Took the clubs back to the garage and then took the moped out for a ride around downtown and thought it would be appropriate to get a picture of the bike in front of the statehouse.
Hurried home to watch Anderson, my nephew, for a while. He loved being out on the patio and sitting under the umbrella. Goodtimes.
Went on a kayak trip with my brother Marcus. I got a few miles down the Olentangy, but flipped thanks to a downed tree in the river. I had to get to the shore because of a low dam coming up. Made it then had to run along the rushing river to catch back up with my brother and the flipped kayak. Both of us worked together and we got everything back except for an oar and the kayak license... Gotta respect the water. Luckily only got a few scrapes and cuts... luckily. Quite and adventurous day!
I ran out of Claritin D Sunday night and I should have restocked Monday... but I didn't and I paid for it this morning... Ready for the rain to arrive and help knock out the pollen in the air.
Ran to the garage today and put sealed bearings in Taylor's freshly painted wheels. They look great... crazy paint, thought. They look green under any lights other than the sun's light. The sun's light makes them look like a dark yellow... crazy one-off paint.
Here is a look at the storms about ready to roll into Central Ohio. Keep updated with any watches and warnings for this evening. Hail and wind will be the main threat, but tornadic storms are also possible. Scattered storms for the coming days as well as we deal with warm, humid, spring-like weather ahead of the colder air for the weekend.
Been keeping an eye on the Aurora levels today and made a new diagram to better understand how low the radiation has been today. We would need to double our levels to even start thinking about seeing anything here in Ohio. Not sold on it ramping up tonight either, but who knows...
On to the weather for Central Ohio...
The models giveth, the models taketh away. Upcoming week no longer looks identical to last week... not surprised, but at least we will be seeing highs in the 70's most of the week.
Very slight chance for a shower Monday. Rain will be approaching from
the west and the models are trying to pop a little convergence. Not
buying into it a whole lot with our dry air, but I put in a 20%
chance... the Western counties may see the line by the
evening. Much better shot for rain the remainder of the workweek.
Tuesday the rain starts to move through with scattered showers and storms, slight chance for severe.
Models vary for Wednesday with Euro lifting front to the North around
Lake Erie and CMC & GFS drop the stationary front to the Ohio
River. This will play an affect on temps.
Everything agrees on Thursday that the stationary front is right along I-70 and then the cold front slows down a little.
Here is the current timing of the cold front passage on Friday: Euro 2AM, GFS 11AM, CMC 2PM.
Still looking at another cool weekend next weekend. Have a good one!
Lot of people buzzing about the Northern Lights. I have had a lot of people ask "when" will be the best time to see the Northern Lights. Astronomers knew the sun ejected a lot of radiation and we have about a 48 hour window for Aurora starting earlier today. As for as specific forecasts... they can only accurately forecast one hour into the future because the radiation has to pass by satellites rotating the earth, which give us a heads up down on the surface. I have been posting updates every hour and MAN, people are eating it up. I have only witnessed it once in my life and it was pretty amazing. Practicing with my high school band playing Metallica and the sky lights up red... pretty epic. I still have some hope for tonight... Gotta keep an eye on things.
I found out that the buildings on Google Earth are built by people like you and me. So I decided our station needed to be added to the 3D buildings.
I submitted it to Google and they just need to approve it.
On to the weather: Not sure if I have EVER witnessed the weather from one week to be
identical to the following week with timing of the rain. Next week
looks almost exactly like last week, with storms mid-week
and then cold front pushing through late Thursday into early Friday.
(Hence why Friday morning low is warmer than afternoon high)
Warm front lifts through tomorrow and I bumped us up to 69°F. Clouds
early then clearing later. I took out the chance for rain Monday
because it looks to stay to our west. Then the convection builds back
in.
One BIG difference between last week and the upcoming week is moisture.
Last week we were dry, but this week we could see more convection, but
temps a little cooler than last week due to moisture as well.
Next weekend is looking cooler than this weekend. Saturday and Sunday
we have 850mb temps around -7°C. There is a slim chance for a weak
disturbance next Saturday PM into Sunday... could be interesting with
the colder temps.
Back to the Aurora updates on my Facebook page... Have a good one!
I have always wore a tie on-air when doing the weather, but since I was filling in for Bill Kelly and he does the Friday Casual Forecast, I decided to open it up to Facebook. I asked everyone on my station Facebook page and every single person to loosen up a little and lose the tie. So I did for the 11PM main forecast. It felt a little awkward like forgetting to wear my watch or forgetting my phone. I still switched out the pocket square for a white one... Always have to be prepared.
Speaking of being prepared... I got burnt on the computer today. I was trying to maximize my show and I crashed the system and hadn't saved in about fifteen minutes. Luckily I remembered all the new additions I had and I was able to get back up to speed pretty quickly, but what a pain. I was afraid I hadn't saved for nearly an hour. Keep Calm and Save Often. Have a good one!
I thought I was going to have a little fun on my Facebook page. I asked people to comment to guess my middle name, but if they already knew it then I asked them to "Like" it. Apparently not many people read the BUCKosphere, hahaha! Good times!
While I was online, I messed around on Google Earth and MAN is that so cool. Every time I go back more and more 3D buildings are added. Here is a pic of the skyline of Columbus. So cool.
Keep the coat handy this weekend. Highs will be in the 50's and 60's, but lows will be down into the mid 30's. Hard to believe we had a couple days in the 80's earlier this week. We could see a few sprinkles or flurries to the far north Friday night into Saturday, but most of Ohio should stay dry. Then we warm back into the 70's for next week, but... almost a repeat of the weather from last week. So scattered showers for the early/middle part of the week, then scattered storms for the middle/end of the week. One thing that all the models agree on, is a MUCH colder weekend, next weekend. Winter isn't over just yet. I will be back in tomorrow, until then, have a good one!
We saw some strong storms yesterday across Northern Ohio and today we will see the Southern portions of Ohio get their shot. The stationary front was sitting across the North yesterday and the rain was just riding along it. Today that will be met by the strong cold front from the west. The wave of rain from last night is moving across Western Ohio currently. This will mainly stay as light to moderate rain for the first half of the day.
As our temperatures warm with daytime heating it will help fire up some storms ahead of the main line. I added the Future Radar for 6:30PM and 7:15PM to the bottom. The way the models are showing it, there is the main threat for strong winds an hail, but the leading edge could have some embedded tornadic storms, however the strongest of the tornadic storms will be across the Deep South.
The good news is that the steady morning rain will help to diminish the threat for afternoon storms and push the threat to FAR Southern Ohio. Stay informed and keep the coat handy for this weekend when our temperatures drop for the weekend.
