Wet Labor Day Weekend

I went to the American Idol Live concert last night and it was a lot of fun.  Dawn wanted to go when we were on vacation, but why spend an evening of vacation doing something that we could do back home? 

Hot and humid again for today and the Labor Day weekend.  There is also rain expected for the weekend as well, so keep the poncho handy for the football game and any outdoor activities planned.  We cool off after Labor Day and also dry out.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Buckeyes & Severe Storms

I spent about five hours yesterday baking, polishing, and organizing everything for Buckeye necklaces.  We are making some on Good Day Columbus on Friday.

In the evening, I went to the pool with Dawn and we just dangled our feet in the pool.  Our hot water heater is out so we didn't want to have to rinse off in the cold water.  Dawn's toes matched the sunset while we were there.

Today will not be the best pool day because there is a slight risk for severe storms later today.

The National Weather Service office in Wilmington made this graphic and you can see that the main threat for the storms will be strong winds and hail for today.

There are a few showers trying to push down from Michigan and if they stick around then it will help stabilize the atmosphere and cut down on the chance for severe storms.  Regardless, stay alert later today for strong storms.  They will be isolated, so not everyone will be seeing the rain.

Tomorrow more steadier and a little more widespread, but still only a 70% chance for rain.  We dry out and stay hot heading into the end of the week.  There is a 20% chance for rain this weekend, each day, so keep that in mind for your Labor Day plans.  I will be updating the holiday weekend forecast as it gets closer.  Stay alert today and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Briede Wedding

I was in a wedding over the weekend and I could not be happier for the Briede couple.  Fantastic, beautiful wedding and lot of fun afterward!  Congrats Shannon and James!

It is going to be quite a hot week ahead!  Highs near or into the 90's all week long BEFORE you factor in the humidity.  Tuesday and Wednesday there is a chance for scattered showers and storms, but still hot.  We then dry out for the rest of the week.  One model is trying to bring some rain in later for Saturday, but right now still keeping it dry for the opening game for Ohio State football.  Stay hydrated, cool, and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Great weekend ahead

We had a few showers and storms pop up yesterday afternoon, but I was able to squeeze in a quick seven mile bike ride.  I have been trying to up my speed.  The last few times I have came close to getting a three minute mile (20 mph) and yesterday I had back to back miles that were under three minutes.  It may be because I only rode seven miles instead of my normal route of fourteen miles, but ehh... I nailed it!

Morning showers and storms, mainly across Eastern Ohio.  It will clear out of here quickly and leaving us with sunshine for the afternoon.  We also could see fog tonight, but otherwise a fantastic weekend is on tap.  We warm up heading toward next week and rain holding off until Tuesday/Wednesday.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

More storms today

Yesterday will be repeated today... with the rain.  I do expect to see slightly stronger storms today than yesterday.  Above is a great panoramic shot by a friend in Hilliard, Ohio.  Quite impressive.

Even the radar was impressive.  The line of storms had strong winds and some embedded hail that was being reported.

And then... The storm just died out.  I was out with some of my meteorology friends for dinner and we were all excited for the storm then watched it slowly die out.  Earlier in the afternoon we had storms move through the metro area, and by the time these storms pushed thru there was not as much energy. Oh well, we did get a few showers, but nothing strong or severe in the metro area.

So you may remember a while ago when I made a glass paperweight at The Works in Newark for our Ohio Road Trippin segment.  Well that week was one of the last weeks that I reported.  I have been doing weather five days a week since and have not been back to Newark.  I saw that Jen French was in Newark yesterday for a story and she was kind enough to stop by and pick this up for me.  Super excited to see how it turned out.  I love it.  Thanks to Jen and The Works! 

Well for today we are tracking more showers and storms.  They will still be scattered, so not a guarantee that everyone will see rain, but a little better shot than yesterday.  We could see a few gusty storms with some small hail, but the threat for severe weather, again, is pretty low.

The good news is that tonight a cold front pushes through dropping our humidity for the weekend, leaving us a little cooler, and providing plenty of sunshine.  It looks fantastic for any outdoor activities.  Maybe a little cool for a day at the pool.  Rain holds off until the middle of next week, after today. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Amazing sight in the sky

Raw photo taken by Russell Reynolds from Lima, OH. The moon was bright red early this morning as it fell lower in the sky. It had to "cut" thru more of the lower atmosphere which contains a lot of smoke from wildfires in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Perfect winds and clear skies allowed for a rare sight. 

Another foggy morning, especially South of Columbus with some dense fog setting up.  We will see mostly sunny skies for the afternoon today with highs back in the mid 80's.  Wednesday into Thursday we will see scattered showers and storms, but temps stay in the mid 80's clear thru the weekend.  Just warm enough for the pool, but not too chilly and not too oppressively hot.  Gotta get ready for my shows to start.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

#SaluteYourPorts Moped Rally & Foggy Morning

To all those who came out and helped plan the #SaluteYourPorts moped rally... thanks!  It was an amazing time to hang out with a couple hundred of my closest friends.

We got in kinda late Friday so it was a rather quiet night with no riding since we only had enough daylight to put up the tent.  Saturday we rode about fifty miles and the halfway point was Lake Michigan.  I got in the water and it was super cold.

We had some food in South Haven then Marcus and I decided to go explore some of the beaches and shoreline.

Here is a picture of the front half of the group.  I have to say that I was happy to see how well Marcus's bike was able to keep up with the group and was in the middle of the pack most of the ride.

The DeadPeds brought hammocks and it was a great way to relax Saturday evening.  So much fun for my last rally of the year. I go back to weekends in two weeks so I am trying to enjoy my weekends as much as possible.   I rode up and back with Marcus and two guys from Cincinnati, Sam & Carl TBS.  Sam was hilarious and we all got a great ab workout by laughing, thanks to his comments and stories.

This picture is from Kings Island this morning and you can see how thick the fog is especially West and North of Columbus.  The fog will lift and more sunshine through the afternoon today.  The temperatures will warm back into the mid and upper 80's for the entire week this week with the humidity high as well.  Heading into the middle and end of the week we will likely see scattered showers and storms thanks to the heat and humidity.  Keep an eye to the sky and I will be back with updates.  Drive safe this morning and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Back to school

Hope to see some of you guys out at the ABC6 School Drive today.  The Salvation Army is already showing up and so is our school bus.  Can't miss us at 1261 Dublin Road.  Anything you can donate to help some kids with going back to school, awesome!

I asked my mom and sister to dig up some pictures of going back to school and my mother also found this note from my Great Grandmother June.  We would always call her June Bug.  Anyway, I shared it on Facebook and a lot of mothers and grandmothers were really touched by it.  You don't see notes like this very often any more with the hustle and bustle of life.

The last few days have been pretty chilly, but we are on a slow warming trend.  A few scattered showers later Sunday and Monday as a warm front lifts through bringing temperatures pushing 90° by this time next week.  So enjoy the taste of fall before summer returns.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Crew game them back to the farm

This weekend was my last "relaxing" weekend before I go back to working the weekend shift.  I still have a few more "go get'em" weekends, but it was my last chance to soak in Columbus and all its weekend glory.

Dawn's cousin had a few free tickets for the Columbus Crew game so we went with them after I bought the last needed ticket.

Lot of fun and some awesome skies.  After the game, Dawn and I went to the casino where we spent a pretty good amount of time and left only losing ten dollars.

Then an old friend said that we should come to a wedding reception after-party.  So Dawn and I went to that and we got a picture with the bride and groom.  Good times. 

Sunday we went back to the family farm.  Always good food back on the farm.

My sister, who is only 16, finished her wall of Disney female characters.  She did an amazing job.  We were impressed when it was only hand drawn with a pencil on the wall.  She has a gift that I wish I had.

Showers and storms last night rolled through, but nothing severe, only some heavy rain and a few places saw flooding.  The warm temperatures are clearing out with the cold front pushing through.  Highs in the 70's for the coming days and much lower humidity.  As a matter of fact we will be about ten degrees below normal tomorrow and downright chilly for August.  Other than a passing shower or sprinkle later today, we stay dry through the end of the week.  A few models are trying to bring in some weekend rain, but they look like very weak disturbances.  I will keep an eye on it, but enjoy the fall-like temps.  I should have DVRed more preseason football to keep the mood going. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Mo-peds Mo-problems

It was great to get back in the garage yesterday.  I went for a run and decided I was dirty, and sweaty enough in the tropical humidity, that the garage sounded like a good idea.  I needed to pick up my Puch Magnum and bring it back to the house.  I put it in the garage while on vacation.  Anyway, I stopped and looked and noticed all the projects going on.  I need to get a couple of them ready for the road and sell them.

The first thing I wanted to tackle was the Murray moped.  The gas tank tabs were busted off when I bought it and the main set-back was getting a gas tank mounted.  The motor runs well and I need to mount the front fender and shorten the pedal chain and she is ready for the road!

A few of us had some rain yesterday, mainly to the south and north.  The above image is the rainfall totals estimated by the radar for yesterday.  More rain expected today.

The good news is that the threat for severe weather today is less than yesterday.  The SEE TEXT over Indiana and Ohio is saying that strong winds and hail are still possible, but the SPC is not expecting the storms to become severe.

So more scattered showers and storms today and tomorrow, but then we try to dry out by the weekend.  The humidity will also be very high today and tomorrow until the cooler, drier air pushes in for the weekend.  I still think there is a very, very small chance for a spotty rain shower Saturday to the south because the cold front will still be moving away.  But other than that I think it should be a pretty good weekend for outdoor activities.  Back to the news... have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Amazing photo

This is AMAZING!  I found this on storytimewithunclecraig.tumblr.com/ It is a complete Puch Magnum moped taken apart for a rebuild.  I have went through the photo a couple of times and I can't find anything missing.  Major props for a solid pic (and idea to take a pic with all the parts laid out before the rebuild).

Still tracking the chance for severe storms later today across Northern Ohio.  The main threat will be hail and damaging winds.  The cold front will still be pushing through tomorrow so all of the pop-up showers and storms today will be ahead of the front. 

A few lingering showers and storms early Thursday as the cold front moves south.  Then the front stalls out and sits stationary over Southern Ohio for Friday.  With the front becoming stationary it will keep that chance for rain around for Friday.  Some of the models are also trying to keep the front close enough on Saturday for a slight chance for rain.  Sunday is looking drier as more dry air pushes in and slowly nudges that front further south.

So keep an eye to the sky for storms later today and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Back from vacation with LOTS of photos

Nothing beats a comfortable morning having coffee on the patio.  The start of my vacation was great.  I enjoyed some patio time with Buckeye before things got hectic.

My brother, Bryant, got married on the 26th of July.  We had the rehearsal outside the night before even though the chance for rain was pretty significant.

My mom made dessert for the rehearsal dinner and no one can compete with her cherry pie, black raspberry pie, or peach cobbler.  SO GOOD!

It was a shame they didn't get married on Friday night because it was gorgeous!

I made a quick stop by Swensons on the way to the wedding.  Dawn always raves about it and I never got a chance to try it.  Pretty tasty for sure.  I would go back.

So the wedding was inside.  The rain was over by the wedding time, but the rain all morning made it pretty soggy in the grass for all the ladies in heels.

Here is a shot of my parents and siblings.  I have a great family.

Here is a picture of Dawn and me before the wedding.   The wedding went well considering we didn't really rehearse the wedding in the rain location.

One of my co-workers, Kristen, was at the wedding because she went to college with the bride, Jackie.

Speaking of Jackie... she looked fantastic and I loved her dress.  

The reception was a lot of fun and it was great seeing friends together.

We flew out of Cleveland on Sunday.  By chance, a few of our friends were on the same flight so that added a little more fun to the flight.

I love taking pictures of the clouds from the plane.  Even though we didn't go to the beach, we at least flew over it. I believe the beach below is Daytona as we approached Orlando.

I was SHOCKED at the price of corn on the cob in Florida.  I should have brought a few hundred ears and it could have paid for most of the trip.

Our resort was really sweet.  It had a long lazy river that took about twenty five minutes to get around.  We also had a putt-putt course and the Hippo, the worlds largest inflatable slide.  More pictures of the resort a little further down. 

Some people call me crazy, but I LOVE running in the heat.  Temps in the 90's and humidity making it feel like 100's... sign me up for a run!

This year was the opposite of last year.  I remembered to get an anniversary card this year... however I spotted Dawn buying her card at Target.

Tuesday, the 30th, was our two year wedding anniversary and we went to Disney.  I had been to Disney about six times, but it had been ten years.  It always brings out the kid in me.

We spent the morning at EPCOT and tried to beat the rush to the big attractions.  Super hot for sure so we took a photo early before we got too sweaty.

For the afternoon we went to Magic Kingdom and BOY was it hot!  I think we honestly spent about $50 on iced tea.  We managed to squeeze in almost everything we wanted to do in one day, but we were exhausted by the time we were done.

Wednesday we took it easy at our resort and got a little silly at the arcade while it was raining.

Another couple stayed with us for a few days and we went to Downtown Disney Wednesday night. 

Thursday Dawn and I went around to a few of the Disney resorts to scope out where we may want to stay when we return in a few years... maybe with some little ones.

We also stopped by Riverside, which is where my family normally always stays.  Brought back a lot of memories.

While enjoying Florida, a few of my co-workers had a get-together and decided to do my wide smile and so they sent me a photo of what they call #BuckFace... I prefer #BuckSmile.  I think they nailed the smile though.  You may ask why... because life is too short to smile small.

I did get a pretty sweet tan line while on vacation.  Go Browns!

And so the final day there... Dawn wanted to go around and take a few photos to show her parents the resort.  I wanted to just lay in the hammock. 

Even at 8AM there were people in the lazy river.  It got super packed in the afternoons with a lot of people walking with and against the current.  I wish it was kept to only people that paid for the tubes.

Floating along the river, you miss out on some of the beauty of the resort.

It felt great putting your shoulders under the waterfall.  

We stopped by a gift shop on the way to the airport and I couldn't help myself.  I did the #BuckSmile with the alligator. 

Our flight was a bit of a nightmare.  There was a fire at the Orlando airport on one of the luggage conveyor belts.   So that meant they could not load the plane with any of the checked luggage so we we had to sit on the plane for two hours.  The good side of the situation is that it allowed us to see a beautiful sunset from 35,000 feet.

And no one was more excited to see us than Buckeye.  He was beside himself with excitement when we got home. 

On to the forecast...  A beautiful sunrise this morning with a break in the clouds on the horizon.  For today we could have an isolated shower or two, but most of us staying dry.  The humidity will slowly be on the rise as we head through the day and our temperatures warming back into the mid 80's.

Tomorrow there is a slight risk for severe weather.  I think the chance is fairly small for severe weather, but scattered showers are a pretty good bet.  Our temps stay warm through the entire week ahead with the chance for isolated rain Thursday and Friday.  We cool off into the lower 80's by the weekend and dry out.  Looking like a pretty awesome weekend.  Back to the newscast... Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael