New sump pump & cold coming

Well... On Monday when I was putting away the Christmas decorations I could hear the sump pump running.  Well... The motor was humming, but no water was being pumped. The motor, after 20 years, finally bit the dust.  Luckily I noticed it before the water came into the basement.  So this is what I got into yesterday.

Summer joined me and it only took about 2 hours.  It would have only taken 30 minutes if I didn't have the radon system.  We also went with the battery backup system too... which is some GREAT piece of mind.  I didn't get to clean it up because I had to finish this then head back to Dayton.  So I have this mess to clean up today.

Finally starting to see drier air arrive and no steady rain in our foreseeable future. Today just a couple sprinkles possible and a few flurries tomorrow then dry the rest of the seven day forecast. Clouds will be sticking around through the rest of the workweek, but will give way to some weekend sun. Temperatures will drop to near normal as well after today. Today we will be above normal with highs in the lower 40s then we dip down into the 30s until the middle of next week. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Summer's first Christmas, wintry mix today, cold coming

Summer had a great first Christmas.  She is JUST old enough to want to pull on the wrapping paper.  She got a few outfits for the holidays, a few toys, a few essentials like body wash, and of course lots of love.

Buckeye was happy to be back in Cleveland at Dawn's parent's house.  He was our present guard dog. 

I love how great Buckeye is with Summer.  He is very no nonsense with his old age, but he never tries to show it.  She was smiling most of the weekend and hardly fussed at all with all the family. 

I was blessed with many gifts as well and one of my favorites is my new sleeping bag.  Yes... I am a little kid inside.  I got Dawn tickets to see Janet Jackson... BUT... Christmas Eve evening she announced that the tour is postponed because of a health issue.  So hopefully she will get to use the tickets.

We have a mixed bag of precipitation to start the final week of 2015.  

Windy with rain showers working into Central Ohio for Monday. Early temperatures will be near freezing, especially across the Northern portions of the viewing area. This could lead to spotty ice mixing with the rain early, mainly north. Rain showers on and off through midday then drier air works in for the afternoon as temperatures continue warming overnight. We reach our high temperatures near midnight as a line of showers and storms will roll through with a cold front. Early rain possible Tuesday, but drier air will work in and it will stay mostly cloudy and windy. A few showers possible Wednesday with another cold front. This second cold front will bring colder air and even a few flurries are possible for the end of the week.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Louie Vito, Brutus, Summer Rain, Santa, & Flooding?

Louie Vito stopped by the studio yesterday with his sister and father.  It was great catching up with them.

We had our nephews and niece in town the last two days, so my day kept going as soon as I got home.  We walked around Ohio State since the weather was so nice.

I am filling in for Bill Kelly this morning so I was able to be at home when Summer woke up.  Since I am normally not there when she wakes up, she is always super excited to see me when she wakes up.

So since I am working tonight... that means... Santa tracking!

And forecasting...  We have a LOT of rain on the way.  We will have to keep a close eye on Monday to see if the temperatures are very close to freezing with all the rain. 

A mild Christmas on the way... Any plans for late Christmas Eve will be dry and cool. Increasing clouds overnight and patchy fog possible. Christmas will be dry for parts of Central Ohio, however rain showers start moving into Southern Ohio by midday. More rain for Saturday including a few storms possible. Quickly falling temperatures Saturday night into Sunday with rain heavy at times on Sunday. Rain will remain for Monday and taper off a little Tuesday. Another cold blast of air arrives by the middle/end of next week. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Winter motorcycle riding & severe weather on the way

Who would have thought that I could ride my motorcycle on the first day of Winter... WITHOUT the liner in my riding jacket?!?  It was GREAT out yesterday after the morning rain washed away all the salt from the roads.

Today will be a day to stay weather aware.  As of 5AM Central Ohio is in the Slight Risk for severe weather.

Here is the breakdown of the weather on the way.  The timing looks to be between 8PM and 11PM tonight.

Our record high for today is 62 set in 1933, which we will likely break before or around Noon today. Scattered showers through the day possible. The warm temperatures will help fuel storms later in the day and evening. Central Ohio is in the Slight Risk for severe weather with damaging winds being the main threat during storms. We cannot rule out the possibility of a tornado either. A few lingering showers late overnight into early tomorrow, but staying mild. We stay mild until early next week with scattered rain possible every day, including some heavy rain for the weekend and early next week. Have a good one!


Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Back from Key West trip with my brothers

The Michael boys went to Key West.  The flights were cheap, the hotel... ehh... But we sure had fun!  The first two days were sunny and warm, but the last two days were cloudy, rainy, cool, and REALLY windy!

Last Thursday Clark and I were going to rent motorcycles, but the shop owner had surgery and didn't have the shop open... Since I was wearing jeans I asked my brother Bryant to drop us off at a random key while he went to Miami to get Marcus (he had a late final on Wednesday at Ohio State.)  So we tried to make the best of Lower Matecumbe Key.

I did get stung by a jellyfish.

But a cold drink a little up the road helped.  It was fun walking around the island finding stuff to do for four hours.  Manatees were getting it on outside of the bar.  

Back at the hotel we found a small geico. It actually can walk on the water.  Pretty awesome stuff. 

Clark stole the blankets that night so I was freezing (Bryant set the room at 65°) so I went for a 6AM run.  Glad I did because the sunrise was fantastic.

I ran to the other side of the island... My feet have blisters & one broken toe because I didn't bring my "good" running shoes.

I don't know why, but seeing the tropical holiday lights was pretty amazing.  Better and more creative than some holiday lights in Ohio.

And some were VERY creative.

They even put lights on their bikes and rode them up and down Duval Street.  Gotta love Key West.

The food was FANTASTIC!  We ate as much fresh seafood as possible.

We did see Star Wars one night.  Story & direction was pretty good, but I felt the acting was a little less than expected.  But I WILL see it again in the theater.

We stopped by the Everglades on the way back home.  Didn't see many animals.  Just birds and a manatee or two.

On the Florida Turnpike, coming back to Orlando, we ALMOST ran out of fuel... I mean, we did have 1 more mile of fuel, but the next exit was about 25 miles.  WHEW!  That was close!

Dawn and (especially) Summer were VERY happy to see me home.   She also liked the bib I brought back for her.  While it was a lot of fun to spend time with my brothers, I missed my family a lot and not sure if I can do a vacation without them ever again.  Just missed them too much. 

Our temperatures will continue climbing today, but it will be a wet start to Tuesday. Overnight showers and storms have dropped a lot of rain across Central Ohio. The rain will continue moving east and be out of most of Central Ohio by midday Tuesday. Highs in the upper 50s today and low-mid 60s for Wednesday. We see more rain Wednesday and Wednesday night. Our temps stay above normal for the entire extended forecast with more scattered rain returning. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

ALSO... If you look closely, this is Columbus from the airplane.  You can see the Hoover and Alum Creek reservoirs on the right (north). It was a tad hazy Wednesday morning, so the picture isn't super clear, but once I saw the airports I was able to get my bearings straight.  The interstate in the bottom middle is I-70 and you can kinda make out Rickenbacker Airbase toward the left. Reynoldsburg is in the dead middle.

This was coming home Sunday night.  That is Newark on the left and then Columbus in the middle.  Clouds got in the way of the whole city, but cool to see.

Summer goes back to the farm & White Christmas chances

Summer and I went back to Darke County on Sunday to see her Great Grandma Jean.  We also went back to see my mom and dad.  Summer was a bit fussy for my mom, but she was content with my dad watching football.  One of the cows came running up and Summer and the cow had a stare-down... Then the cow shot out a quick burst of air out of its nose and scared Summer.  She burst into screams of terror.  She was fine the rest of the time once she saw me reach over the fence to scratch the cows head.

The chance of a White Christmas is not looking as good.  A strong cold front looks to move through Christmas Eve Eve and Christmas Eve.  So rain likely next Wednesday and Thursday according to today's models.  The ground will likely be warm anyway.  So I would give a White Christmas only about a 5% chance.  So I am not ruling it out, but I do not see any significant snow for Central Ohio and two of the forecast models that go out 10 days agree on that. Stay tuned!

For the short term forecast... Cooler, but drier today with cloudy skies. We will still stay about ten degrees above normal. Clouds break up a little overnight and could lead to patchy fog. More sun Wednesday with the warmest temperatures for a long time... Enjoy it!  Some early rain likely Thursday followed by flurries Friday and much cooler temperatures. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Final holiday photos & Christmas Eve snow

We wanted a couple more photos for our holiday card, so we had an little photo shoot at home yesterday.  My sister designed and made the dress for Summer.  Summer is growing so fast that I don't think it will fit her on Christmas.  Summer did a great job for our little photo shoot. 

I mentioned yesterday how the forecast models were hinting at snow for Christmas Eve.  The above map shows Christmas Eve morning and it shows quite a decent amount of snow.  Again... we are still 14 days out so the models will bounce around a lot and things may change with timing and amount, so it wouldn't be responsible to give any totals... BUT the fact that they seem to be consistent may be a sign of some white stuff by the time Santa comes... stay tuned and check back!

A little fog to start your Thursday morning. Dry with more clouds than sun today and breezy. A slight chance to see a few sprinkles or light rain Friday & Saturday. A little more sun Sunday with mild temperatures, but a strong cold front looks to move in late Sunday night into early Monday and we could have some gusty winds with that system. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Summer met Santa, White Christmas?

Summer got to meet Santa for the first time yesterday.  She made sure she was on the naughty list.

Santa was also pretty insistent on a family photo.  Dawn said she was not ready for that and didn't like the photo, but I think she looks amazing!  Santa also said he was a loyal viewer of the morning show!

So here are the numbers for when we normally see the first 0.10" of snow and first 1" of snow in Columbus, OH.  We have only picked up a "trace" officially so far, so we are running behind normal.  El Niño anyone?

BUT... and this is a big but... the GFS model is showing snow for Christmas Eve.  It is still 16 days away... so it will likely change some, but the models are showing colder air trying to work back in by the end of the month.  So stay tuned... because a forecast models 16 days out is like trying to shoot a hole in one.

A little morning sun to start your Wednesday, but increasing clouds ahead of some isolated rain showers possible for the late afternoon and early evening today.  The rain will move out and temperatures staying mild. Dry Thursday and just the slightest chance to see a few sprinkles or light rain Friday, Saturday, and early Sunday.  A strong cold front looks to move in late Sunday into early Monday and we could have some gusty winds with that system. Stay tuned and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Saying goodbye to Grandma Judy

Just coming off the air on Friday my mom called me from home.  My Grandma Judy was moved to Hospice in Cincinnati and I knew my mom was there with Judy.  So when she called me from home, 90 minutes away, I knew it could not be good news.  Judy passed at 1:11AM on Friday morning.  We were so blessed to have the chance to visit her last week, talk with her, and say goodbye.  She was an amazing woman and always pushed the 22 grand kids to do more and try harder... or she would call us out.

As mentioned in my last blog entry, she had a rare lung condition that didn't allow much oxygen to get to her blood.  She had many tests and trials to see if there was anything modern medicine could do and there was nothing that could help her to completely fix the issue.  So she was on oxygen for the final ten or so years. She and Grandpa, Giles have seven kids, twenty-two grand kids, and two great grand kids. Mom said that on Thursday she shut her eyes around 10AM and didn't open them the rest of the day and the family knew the time was coming.  So now Summer Rain has a guardian angel.

Since she had the issue she knew she wanted to donate her body back to University of Cincinnati.  That is where she went to college and she wanted to give them the chance to find a cure for her condition.  So no viewing, no funeral, just a big party (her request) in a month.  Saturday the family got together for a brunch, and while it was a heavy atmosphere, it was great to be around the entire family.  My sister came down from Kent State to stay with Dawn and me this weekend.  She rode with us down to Cincinnati.  Grandpa came out and said goodbye to everyone one by one as they were leaving.  He has stayed strong, but when he breaks down so does everyone else around him.  He loves to travel and I hope to have him as a guest more often now.  When we got home to Columbus on Saturday night Amanda played a few voicemails from Grandma Judy.  It had Amanda, Dawn and me crying and laughing hysterically.  Judy was a funny one and always was concerned with others before herself.  Even in her final days she was concerned about the grand kids finishing school and "finding a nice man or woman".  Judy also loved reading this blog, but since my Grandpa doesn't get on the computer, I can fill you in on his/their Christmas gift.  A while ago he gave me old school video film from the 50s, 60s and 70s.  At home, with lots of time, I was able to digitize it.  I used a projector to shoot the film on a screen, then tape it with VHS, then hooked up the VHS to the computer and recorded it on the computer.

This is a still frame from their wedding.  The video has memories of their wedding, family vacations, the family at Christmas and so much more.  So I will be burning the 4.5 hours of film to a DVD and that will be his Christmas gift this year.  Judy... if you can log on to my computer from heaven... watch it whenever you want.

And since Grandma Judy would want things to roll on... Some spotty light morning rain for Monday, then mostly cloudy to partly cloudy tonight. Tuesday looks partly cloudy & dry, but starting off foggy in spots. A few rain showers return for Wednesday and some on and off light spotty showers possible through the rest of the week. Temperatures slowly climb up to the low 60s next weekend. Have a good one!

Best,'
Andrew Buck Michael