Goodbye moped & fun at the Ohio State Fair

Riding with others is always more fun with others... plus safer since drivers will see you better...

But it sad news when you part with a bike.  I am selling my Puch Magnum tonight.  It is going to a good home here in Columbus.  I have put a LOT of time and love into the bike and happy to know it is going to a good home. Plus when I see it on the road it will bring a smile to my face each time.

So I did a story on the Ohio State Fair and they had a fake beard category for the Beard Bash.  I tried my best, but judges prefer girls with fake beards instead of guys I guess... ;) Just kidding.  There were some amazing beards and mustaches in the competition.

Then afterward, Bill Kelly and I did an hour long session of weather experiments.  After that Miss Ohio, Mackenzie Bart, stopped to grab a photo with Bill and me.

A weak disturbance is moving into Ohio for Tuesday evening and few showers may move into Northwestern Ohio this evening, but most of Central Ohio will stay dry as the showers will die off quickly after sunset.  More isolated showers are possible for Wednesday.  Temperatures staying in the mid to upper 70`s.  We warm to near 80 for the rest of the workweek, with a spotty shower possible each day.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Sunday Severe WX Update - BE WEATHER AWARE

Damaging winds, hail, AND a few tornadoes are possible. Be prepared if weather breaks... 

WX Nerds-SPC has SE Ohio and E KY/WV in the 10% risk of tornadic storms. That AND models have indicated a bow echo forming over Central Ohio Sunday afternoon... A lot depends on the morning. If the warm front lifts far enough North and if there is little to no AM development then there will be plenty of CAPE and shear to work with by the afternoon. Could likely be a very active afternoon/evening, but a few early changes could hinder development later. 

Best,

Andrew Buck Michael

Another quick update on severe storms

Real quick before things get hairy... the amount of lightning in some of these storms is insane!!!  Over 3200 strikes in 15 minutes in one storm alone.

We are in the Slight Risk for severe weather for tonight in Central Ohio.  

Tomorrow things get ramped up again and about half of Ohio is in the Moderate Risk for severe weather.  Please be weather aware! Several rounds of strong to severe storms expected overnight into Sunday.  The main threat will be strong, damaging winds along with large hail followed by the chance for a tornado. 

Two things... Follow me on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/AndrewWSYX6 for any Central Ohio severe weather updates including watches and warnings.  Also, if you are looking for a great app that will give you severe weather warnings based on your location, search "Ohio WX" in your app store.  Great free app!

The storms will move out later Sunday and then bring in cooler temperatures.  Lingering rain showers for Monday then a cool, spotty rain pattern for much of the week.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Severe weather for Saturday night

Be sure to be weather aware this weekend. A warm front will lift through Ohio today allowing very warm and humid air into the Ohio Valley.  Then...late tonight a strong cold front will be approaching and triggering large scale storms. Winds a few thousand feet into the air will be SCREAMING and with late night storms developing, there is a big concern for severe winds. A downdraft will quickly pull the winds to the surface and cause damage. A few isolated storms are possible Saturday afternoon, but not likely to be severe for Central Ohio then. After midnight is the main timeframe of concern and Sunday as well. Be sure to bring in any loose items and stay aware of warnings late tonight. Our free "Ohio WX" app will alert you to any warnings. 

Best,

Andrew Buck Michael

Crew, Jazz & Rib Fest, Moving, Mopeds, Cold Air Funnels

The title shows you how active I have been since Tuesday.  Wednesday night I went to the Columbus Crew game with my wife. Can't make it to the weekend games since I am always working.  We had a blast despite the loss.

Thursday was a pretty laid back day.  I needed one to just relax.  I did a little moped work... more on those headaches shortly.

Friday morning I was a the Columbus Jazz and Rib Fest downtown.  Tons of fun!

Then I booked it up to Wooster with Dawn to help my brother move into his new home.  He beat the rest of the siblings in buying a home.

Then the rest of the time, I was mostly doing things like this... Working on the mopeds.  Such a headache.  I swear I am going to go back to stock bikes because I am just pushing the tiny motors too hard with the higher RPMs.

I blew an exhuast gasket on the Maxi and figured I might as well rebuild the top end with a new piston ring and get rid of the superclutches so I can fine-tune my braced clutches.

And then this happened... blew out the clutch bell.  No wonder I was screaming over 10k RPM.  Again... I need to go back to stock and keep it simple.

So we have had quite a few cold air funnels here in Central Ohio.  We have had some low level mixing and causing some brief vortexes forming and then turning into cold air funnel.  They are no immediate threat to anyone on the ground because they rarely come down to the ground.  The condensation of the clouds allow them to be seen better.  Since there are no strong updrafts, they are not sustained and are very short lived.

No more cold air funnels for the days ahead.  Temperatures pushing 90° for the next three days.  A few isolated showers/storms may develop in the afternoons, but most of Monday and Tuesday will remain dry for Central Ohio.  A strong cold front arrives Wednesday bringing a better chance for storms midweek and then cooler temperatures by the end of the week.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Cool air is here... for a while

There is a hidden gem in Columbus.  I know a guy who has been collecting the Mercedes Benz of Mopeds.  He has a collection of Kreidler mopeds and has every single color.  Quite a rainbow.  Kreidler used to be good friends with Mercedes and actually Kreidler taught Honda how to mass produce bikes.  My friend said he eventually will try to sell them as a whole for someone interested in all their Kreidler glory.  And yes... they are 100% and all run solidly.

So it was a pretty warm and toasty weekend.  Before I pulled a staggered triple shift I tried to enjoy some down time at the pool.

So I worked Saturday night, then a 90 minute nap, then the morning shift, then a 90 minute nap, then back for the Sunday evening busy shift with PLENTY of severe weather.  Bill Kelly was also working the morning show... but on the national level.  Kinda weird having both of the evening people doing the morning weather. 

Then I was back in at 9AM on Monday and beat everyone to the morning meeting... Yes, I was running on adrenaline.... ZERO caffeine Monday.

Yesterday was pretty quiet weather-wise during the daytime hours... Just a few clouds, but then we got rocked pretty good last night with a line of storms.

Then behind it... the cooler air has been settling in all day.  Temps will stay cool for the coming days. 
Feeling more like fall for the next few days.  Highs will remain in the 70's for the rest of the week and overnight low's in the 50's.  There is a slight chance for an isolated shower for Wednesday, mainly in the afternoon.  We then look to see drier air in place for the rest of the workweek.  The weekend will bring temperatures back in the 80's and some scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly in the afternoon each day.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Potato salad, LeBron, Storms coming, & Polar Vortex???

I broke the story about the Potato Salad Kickstarter last Friday.  Since then... it has blown up and Zack "Danger" Brown has been all over the country.  He was back in Columbus this week and I did an update to the story.  He wants to take the excess money from feeding thousands with potato salad then throw a huge benefit concert to raise money for local charities.  Kickstarter money cannot go to charities because the Backers might not approve of the charity, but money from the benefit concert can... I will keep ya posted.

I finally found my house key in my lunch box.  Lost it for a few weeks.  I had spares, but still super exciting at the time...

Well, LeBron is coming home!  I am wearing the Wine and Gold today in honor of King James coming back to Ohio.  Super exciting things going on for Cleveland.  Republican National Convention and LeBron coming home will REALLY help generate money coming back to the Rock & Roll Capital of the World.  Time to rock... and roll into a championship!

We have had some GREAT sunsets this week!

Keep an eye to the sky for severe weather on Sunday.  All of Ohio is in the Slight Risk for severe storms. Wind damage is main threat.

Saturday will be warm and humid ahead of the storms Sunday... then... keep the jacket handy!  After the storms Sunday and some rain Monday... we will see a BIG cool down.  Some on the internet are calling it the "Poor Man's Polar Vortex"... Polar Vortex is a huge planetary scale feature...  so what we are seeing is something much smaller and just an ejection of the cold air from the polar region.  So anyone saying the Polar Vortex is coming for us... chuckle under your breath.  ;)  BUT, it will be about 15 degrees cooler than normal... so something people will be chatting about.  And the A/C will NOT be needed by midweek.  Have a good one!

Fun night, moped headache, and storms coming

I got to see two of my favorite people last night.  Molly and Billy were in town to celebrate her birthday.  Always great to see some of the great peeps from my Dayton station.  Can't wait for their wedding in October.

That delayed me getting to the garage early... oh well.  Anyway, so I wanted to swap my points for an HPI unit on my Puch Maxi, Polini, 20 PHBG, Superclutch, and the first-ever MLM pipe setup.  I want the curve to run cooler.  I also am done with the points floating when I reach 9,000 RPM.  That... and I want the curve to ride the wave of power.  The problem was the inner rotor had the wrong taper.  The problem was that I rode on the bike I was doing the work on and I needed to get home.  So I had to take the rotor off my Magnum to compare and they were very different. 

But... I was able to get the bike together and I timed it too advanced.  I was getting crazy hot temperatures so I will need to back off the timing before I can really open it up... safely.

Storms expected for Monday and Tuesday.  Strong winds are main threat and hail possible or even the threat of a tornado in supercell storms that turn into right-turners.  It will be important to keep a close eye on the radar tomorrow for all of Central Ohio.

More storms for Southeastern Ohio on Tuesday.  Then a few lingering showers in the middle of the week as we see temps take a dip, but then we warm back up by next weekend... and more storms by next Sunday.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Another packed week... lightning, World Cup, kayaking, mopeding...

Sad news from the storm that hit just outside of the Columbus Crew Stadium last weekend.  I did a story Monday about lightning 101 after the Columbus firefighter was hospitalized after being struck by lightning.  You could see the black divots in the asphalt Monday where the lightning hit.

Tuesday was a scorcher!  I did a quick story on 100 fans being given away to those that need them and then I was downtown at Columbus Commons for the World Cup viewing party with USA making it to the Round of 16.  Some of my Instagram peeps found me and we got a picture.  We were LIVE on TV when USA scored.  So awesome, but sad that USA didn't advance.

Wednesday I had the day off and went kayaking with my brother on the Big Walnut.

Thursday I organized a moped ride to see Red, White, and Boom.  We had a decent turnout. 

And we also found a GREAT spot to see the show.

Buckeye and Dawn went home to visit Dawn's mother for her birthday.  Buckeye was loving the time in the yard.  Can't wait until we have a yard again for him to enjoy.

I was tinkering on my HPI units today for my moped and trying to get these pins out of the connector.  I had one of my coworkers give me a hand and he showed me the trick without doing any damage.

As far as the weather... Sunday will be GREAT for Ohio.  Partly cloudy, warm, and a VERY slight chance for an isolated shower.  The image above is for Monday with some scattered storms expected and the same for Tuesday.  Some of the storms may be strong.  Then we stay mild for the second half of the week and drier. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael