Hello! Back from a short break!

I have not posted on here in a while... but I am back.  Work has been very hectic lately and I took last Thursday and Friday off to rest up and hit the reset button.  I started off the morning Thursday with a run, coffee and a book, then breakfast and quality time with Summer.

Thursday afternoon I took Summer back to see her great grandma.  Grandma Jean ALWAYS has candy.  Then we went back to my parents' farm and spent some good time with them catching up.

Friday I took Summer to the Columbus Zoo.  We had a BLAST! The otters thought Summer had food and came up to the glass and were playing around with us. 

Friday night we drove out to Cambridge, Ohio. Our good friends live in Pittsburgh, so we occasionally meet up in the middle and let the girls play while we catch up.  It was a great trip.  Sunday was cleaning around the garage and house.

Increasing clouds today with a wintry mix starting around midday and that will transition over to some light spotty afternoon/evening snow showers. By midnight snow will move out and accumulations will light with up to 1" possible and higher totals to the north. Mostly sunny for Tuesday and colder with highs below freezing.

We warm up more for Wednesday with more clouds. Another rain/snow mix Thursday then colder and light snow Friday. Dry and cold Saturday followed by more snow showers on Sunday.  Sunday looks like our best chance of getting some real accumulations of snow and all of the models are agreeing at some light to decent accumulations.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

From Spring... back to winter... then back to spring!

Remember last Friday?  That was nice! I ran early in the morning because I knew it would change fast...

Then like a flip of the coin... we are back to winter.  We did some sledding and tubing.  Our sled isn't the best so the tube seemed to be better for us.

At the top of the hill Summer would get a little scared and once she yelled "I hate you," but she loved it while going down. 

All-in-all, we had a blast!

So before we went sledding I had to Google "best sledding hills" and found a couple sites, but I wanted to see a list and map... soooo... I made one! Here are some of the best ones that I could find:

Alum Creek Park North 221 W Main St, Westerville, OH 43081
Antrim Park 5800 Olentangy River Road, Columbus, OH 43235
Ballantrae Park 6350 Woerner Temple Rd, Dublin, OH 43016
Battelle Darby Creek 8465 Alkire Road, Galloway OH 43119
Big Run Park 4201 Clime Road Columbus, OH 43228
Blacklick Woods 6975 E. Livingston Ave., Reynoldsburg, OH 43068
Blendon Woods 4265 East Dublin Granville Road, Columbus, OH 43017
Blues Creek Park 627 Fontanelle Road, Ostrander, OH 43061
Clinton 301 W. Pacemont Rd. Columbus, OH 43202
Delaware State Park 5202 US Route 23 North, Delaware, OH 43015
Fryer Park 3899 Orders Road, Grove City, OH 43123
Gallant Woods Preserve 2151 Buttermilk Hill Rd, Delaware, OH 43015
Glen Oak Park 7126 Blue Holly Drive, Lewis Center, OH 43035
Glenwood Park 1925 W. Broad St. Columbus, OH 43223
Goodale Park 120 W. Goodale St.Columbus, OH 43215
Griggs Reservoir 2933 Riverside Dr. Columbus, OH 43221
Highbanks 466 US Rt 23 N, Lewis Center, OH 43035
Huntley Bowl Park 6199 Huntley Rd.Worthington,ÿOHÿ43085
Kenney Park 5201 Delawanda Ave. Columbus, OH 43214
Olentangy River Parkland 600 W Wilson Bridge Rd, Worthington, OH 43085
Roger A. Reynolds Municipal Park 3800 Veterans Memorial Drive, Hilliard, Ohio 43026
Schiller Park 1069 Jaeger Street, Columbus, OH 43206
Scioto Audubon 400 West Whittier Street, Columbus, OH 43215
Scioto Park (Leatherlips Park) 7377 Riverside Dr, Powell, OH 43065
Sharon Woods 6911 Cleveland Avenue, Westerville, OH 43081
Sycamore Creek Park 500 Hereford Drive, Pickerington, OH 43147
Walnut Woods Metro Park 6716 Lithopolis Road Groveport, OH 43125
Whetstone Park of Roses 3923 N. High Street, Columbus, OH 43214
Whitehall Community Park 402 N Hamilton Road, Whitehall, OH 43213
Wyman Woods Park 1520 Goodale Blvd, Grandview Heights, OH 43212

Isn't it amazing to see the different scenes, here in Ohio?!?! 

So I was asked to be a "model" for a Sneaker Soirée.  It is to raise money for Girls On the Run for Central Ohio.  I had to go get "fitted" for my clothes and can't wait to help out. 

At least the Sneaker Soirée will be inside... I have been doing the Frozen Feet Streak where I have to run at least 1 mile outside until the middle of February.  It is a group of 700+ runners trying to collectively run the miles from Dayton, Ohio to Seoul, South Korea for the Winter Olympics.  

Another cold morning with wind chills near zero. Plenty of sun today and warmer temps this afternoon with highs near 30. Some of the snow and ice will melt on the pavement today, but, with temps falling into the teens tonight, there will be new icy spots with refreeze. More sun & warmer Friday and we warm up even more by Saturday with clouds returning. A few spotty showers later Saturday, but more rain likely Sunday and Monday with temps warming into the 50s. Our temps fall quickly for Tuesday and Wednesday with highs back in the upper 30s. So not quite as cold next week. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Fog to rain to freezing rain to sleet to snow to winds... ALL TODAY!

Can't pass up these warm January temps!  I went for a two mile run this morning and it was foggy, but FANTASTIC! 

So here it comes... Want a video of my forecast? Well here you go!

Here comes winter, after a brief visit of spring. There is a Winter Weather Advisory along I-70 and north and a Winter Storm Watch for Southern Ohio for today and tonight. Today we will have patchy dense fog in the early morning with rain showers moving in for the morning commute. We will transition over to freezing rain around noon or shortly after. Then we transition to sleet about an hour or two after that. Then we turn cold enough for snow by the evening. It is starting in Western Ohio so they will see the transition a little earlier and Eastern Ohio will see the transition a little later today. Ice accumulations could reach up to 0.1" and Southeastern Ohio could see up to 0.25" of ice followed by snow. The I-71 corridor will see 3-6" of snow on top of the ice and 2-4" for Northwestern Ohio and Southeastern Ohio, by daybreak Saturday. Snow will be done by daybreak Saturday then much colder. Winds will stay brisk today, tonight, and Saturday with wind chills overnight and for the weekend near zero. Another round of light snow Monday with 1-2" possible. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Quick update on coming snow...

Today we start chilly with some spotty light rain and we will continue to warm today with some on and off light rain. More rain heading into Thursday, especially later into the day. Temps are mild all day tomorrow with 40s in the morning and then 50s for the afternoon. Friday will start with rain in the morning then quickly falling temps. We will transition to a wintry mix, including freezing rain, then over to snow.

(Click image to make it larger)
The timing of this change is still not nailed down because the storm system is 1800 miles away and over Las Vegas currently. Once the storm finishes crossing the Rocky Mountains the track and timing will be more fine-tuned. The same goes for snowfall totals. Right now it appears that 6"-12" is likely by Saturday morning for parts of Ohio with some pockets of even higher totals. We will need to watch the models later today and overnight to get a better handle once the storm gets closer and finishes crossing the Rockies. Storms sometimes adjust their track over the Rockies, so be sure to stay tuned to the forecast the next couple days. Much colder this weekend. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Big snow coming?

The cold weather has been a lot of fun to run in... Seriously.

Because you can't get icecycles on your eye lashes in the summer! 

So when it finally warms up to 36, you run in shorts!

Pretty stoked that I will not have to buy chapstick ever again.  Made my own over the weekend.

Fairly quiet Tuesday, but be care for icy spots from the melting on Monday. Today mostly to partly cloudy skies and warming into the upper 30s so more melting this afternoon. Rain starts to move in tomorrow and it will be spotty. In the morning our temps will be cold enough for a few pockets of freezing rain, early Wednesday. More rain showers on Thursday and warming into the 50s. Temps fall quickly Friday and we start with rain in the morning and switch to snow showers by the afternoon and evening. The track of a Low, still out in the Pacific, could bring a significant snow for parts of the region. The track is still uncertain and a slight shift this far out could mean a lot of snow for Central Ohio or just a few inches. If it passes over us, we will see snow Friday night into early Saturday. This could be the biggest snow we have had in a few years, since the last couple winters have been so mild. Stay tuned to the forecast on-air with up-to-the-minute updates because models are still not certain on the track. Arctic air returns for Sunday. Let's break it down a little more.

The Euro model, above, typically handles winter systems and their track the best, but this seems to be an outlier for the track.

The American GFS has most of the snow hitting Southern and Eastern Ohio. 

Same for the German model, but a little farther East.

The Canadian model is going right down the middle and splitting the paths.  Right now... I would probably go with more of this path. 

I woke up to LOTS of messages asking about a big snow coming... There are still a LOT of variables, but parts of our region could have a big snow later this week. The confidence is high for a big snow somewhere in the region... but it hard to specifically say where since the storm is technically still out over the Pacific Ocean.  Stay tuned!

Andrew Buck Michael, Meteorologist.

Post-Christmas post and looking ahead to 2018

Christmas was great with all the family.  Summer had a great time.  All those presents were not just for her...

But the grandparents did spoil her! This is a shot of the family visiting out house the Saturday before Christmas. 

Dawn got me a Noxgear light up vest for running in the dark.  I have really enjoyed running before work.  Less cars out and I am more awake for the morning show... PLUS my afternoons are free for a nap while Summer naps.

Speaking of running... I have really enjoyed running in the snow.

Sure it is a little slippery at times. 

But no one is out and it is very peaceful. 

Yesterday's run was my final run of the year.  It was GREAT running on some pristine trails at a local golf course.  I checked to see if I was allowed to run on them while it was winter and as along as no one is golfing then they gave me the nod... and NO one was was golfing yesterday with a few inches of snow!  

This morning's run was my final run for the Runner's World Run Streak. They challenge runners to run every day from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day because it is a very easy time to toss in the towel and get a good excuse not to run.  I managed to rack up 123.3 miles during the 40 days. I am going to take a little bit of a break to recover then back to training for the Cap City Half marathon in April.

No surprise that running made my top 9 photos on Instagram.  Lots of family here as well. 

So December will go down colder than normal for Columbus... MAN! What I would give for some of these 50s again... In due time.

The week before Christmas was actually warmer than normal, but we REALLY got cold for the last week of the month.

Overall we were drier than normal for the month with more than in inch below normal.

BUT... we picked up more than 8" of snow with the cooler temps. We normally see 5" of snow for December, so even though it was drier overall, it was also snowier with the cooler temps.

Back to the current cold snap... There are cold watches/warnings/advisories from Canada to Mexico, including Central Ohio.

Bundle up!!! Super excited to have t5h

Get ready for a VERY cold start to 2018! We have a Wind Chill Advisory for Central Ohio for your Monday morning with wind chills between -5 and -10 most of the time and occasionally dipping colder with a strong breeze. Temps warm into the lower teens today, but wind chills stay below zero with a mix of sun and clouds. Tonight our temps will dip even farther below zero, but winds will be lighter. Other than a few flurries, we do not have a major system on the way until next Sunday and Monday. Staying frigid until then. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael