Getting errands done before our winter storm

I spent the day yesterday running around and shopping for stuff before the winter storm arrives for us. 

If you still need to take care off some errands, DO IT TODAY!

Damp today with rain showers and temps in the 40s. Rain quickly changing to snow tonight with light accumulations and wet surfaces refreezing then dangerously cold with very high winds.

Good Thursday morning! The entire area is covered in different winter/wind advisories/watches/warnings. They all boil down to this: rain this evening will refreeze for a layer of ice under light/moderate accumulations of snow that will fall mainly before daybreak tomorrow. The advisories/watches/warnings continue through Friday into Saturday because we will have dangerously cold temperatures and wind chills. Wind chills could dip as cold as -30 Friday and Saturday AM. Any unnecessary travel should be avoided Friday into Saturday when the roads will be the most treacherous and exposed skin could experience frostbite in less than 15 minutes.

Today our temperatures are starting in the mid 30s and some rain showers are moving in from the south. A few pockets of freezing rain could occur in the colder pockets, but we will continue to warm up into the lower 40s today with some spotty light rain and cloudy skies. Rain will pick up this evening and a very strong cold front will blast in from the west just before midnight. The latest projections have the rain changing to snow a little before midnight tonight for Central Ohio and then continuing into Eastern Ohio just after midnight. Wet surfaces will refreeze to ice and we will then coat those icy surfaces with snow. The snow will be the heaviest between midnight and daybreak Friday and that will be the bulk of our snow accumulations. Most of Central Ohio will see 1”-3” of snow with higher totals to the north and lower totals to the south. We could also see some lake effect snow for far Northern Ohio to add to the totals for Friday PM and Saturday. Keep in mind that the strong winds will blow the snow all around, so it will not be a snow that falls and stays in one place. The wind will cause reduced visibility all of Friday and Saturday due to the blowing snow. Winds will be out of the west-southwest so north-southbound roads will see the worst drifting of snow Friday and Saturday. Then we are dry the rest of the 7-day forecast and partly cloudy next week.

While the snow is exciting before Christmas, the bitterly cold temperatures will be more impactful and dangerous. We will go from around 40 tonight at midnight to -1 by daybreak tomorrow and only have a high of 4 degrees tomorrow afternoon. Winds will pick up when we change over to snow and continue to strengthen through the day Friday. So wind chills will be around -20 to -25 all of Friday through Saturday morning. Take this serious because frostbite is a big concern. Please also keep pets in mind. We will stay around 0 for the Saturday morning’s low temperature and warm to a high of 10 on Saturday. Staying cloudy on Saturday with the blowing snow. Winds will be slowly becoming lighter by later Saturday.

Sunday we start around 4 in the morning and warm to 16 with partly cloudy skies and a brisk breeze. 

Monday we warm to 22 for the high and 30 by Tuesday. Staying partly cloudy the first half of next week with 37 by Wednesday. We may be into the 50s by the end of next week! Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Elf the musical, shipping Balm By Buck, snow on the way!

Summer and I had a fun date night this week. We went to see Elf the musical on Tuesday night. Summer wanted dinner at Culver's before the show. The show had a few delays and I did not get home to bed until 11PM and then my alarm went off at 12:55AM to take up for work. Whew! But she was LOVING the show and singing along, so it all made it worth it. 

It has been a busy week shipping out orders of Balm By Buck. Still a little time left to order and get your package before Christmas. I thought about doing personal deliveries the week before Christmas because USPS is slower that me hopping in the car. Reach out if there is something you need!

Good Friday morning! Mostly cloudy, chilly, and very breezy today with temps in the 30s all day long. We will see a few light showers today, mainly snow but possibly some rain mixing in, for "warmer" areas/times. A few more areas of light snow showers this evening and tonight with a dusting possible in pockets. The flurries and pockets of light snow tonight could cause some slippery spots on untreated pavement by Saturday morning. A few flurries early Saturday then a dry pattern will stick around through the middle of next week. High temps this weekend will be in the lower 30s and overnight low temps in the 20s. Mostly cloudy for the weekend with the sun popping out occasionally. We will keep a mix of sun & clouds around for Monday and Tuesday. High temps in the mid 30s as well to start the week. Wednesday we will cool to a high of 32 with increasing clouds and a slight chance for some snow showers late. More snow showers looking likely on Thursday, possibly starting as a wintry mix. High temps in the 20s on Thursday and winds picking up. High temps will likely stay in the 20s heading into next weekend and high temps possibly dipping into the teens. Wind chills will also be in the single digits or below zero heading into next week. Santa will need extra layers! Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Weekend at Landoll's Mohican Castle

What a weekend! Saturday night we went up to Landoll's Mohican Castle to stay the night and had a great time! 

I put together this short video with some of the shots from the trip.

So you arrive to the castle and the sign that greets you, coming in, is just the start.

The "hotel rooms" are super cool in the castle and each one is unique. They have about a dozen suites in the castle and then there are a couple nearby buildings with more rooms. There is also "The Stable" with more traditional hotel rooms, which works great for weddings. Once we got everything in the room we went around the castle to explore before dinner.

There were quite a few people exploring the castle because there were holiday activities like a scavenger hunt for the kids.  You can climb to the top of one of the towers to look around. The kids loved it and we did that a couple times.

On the way to dinner (on-property restaurant), we stopped by one of the buildings where Santa was visiting! He told the kids that he heard from our Elf on the Shelf, Rosie, that they have been behaving. Summer was shocked that Santa knew about Rosie. He gave the kids a couple small gifts for behaving and completing the scavenger hunt. Then we went over to the restaurant for dinner.

 

Some of you may have heard about Landoll's when chef Gordon Ramsay visited in 2017 and he helped revamp the operations and restaurant, The Copper Mug Bar & Grille. I ordered the short ribs and they were FANTASTIC! Everyone loved their food. Santa stopped by the restaurant too, before taking off for the North Pole.Lots of fun memories were made, but we were not done yet... Seeing Santa Saturday night was a bonus. We were not sure what time he was going to be available, but luckily got to see him twice.

Sunday morning we had brunch with Santa! It was another great selection of food, buffet style, before we stopped by to see Santa one final time before heading home. 

Rosie was jealous that we stayed in a castle, so she decided to spend the night in a castle too. We came home to her going to the top of the tower to check out the view as well. The weather for us was cloudy and cool and it looks to stay that way the next couple days before rain and eventually changing to a winter mode:

High pressure is trying to clear out the clouds, but with our winds out of the north it is pulling moisture off the Great Lakes to give us mostly cloudy skies today. A few breaks in the clouds later today. Winds will change to the east tonight and the clouds clear more for patchy fog for Tuesday morning then partly cloudy skies for the day tomorrow. Highs in the lower 40s today and tomorrow and overnight lows tonight in the upper 20s. Wednesday and Thursday will be wet with scattered rain and showers. We will be chilly Wednesday with highs in the mid 40s and then we warm to 51 on Thursday. Cold air will race in following the rain. A few flurries on Friday with clouds skies and a high of 38. More light snow and flurries Friday night and Saturday. Highs in the lower 30s for the weekend. The cold air will be sticking around for a while, so enjoy today and tomorrow while it is dry and in the 40s. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Santa, Red River Gorge, White Christmas odds

SANTA!!!! We had the Toys for Tots drive at our TV station over the weekend. I volunteered the early shift and Dawn & the kids stopped by with a bunch of toys to donate. Santa was there and I rode in the back of the car to help hand the toys to the kids to hand out to the volunteers. 

After my shift, I hopped into the car with by my buddy Mike and we headed south to Kentucky. We ran the Red River Gorge 25k trail race on Sunday morning. Really cool carvings in the sandstone from the Red River.

A few stream crossings as well and the cold water felt good on the feet.

All-in-all it was a fantastic trip. We also picked up some bourbon to make the trip complete. 

The house is all decorated for the holidays! I have been working on mastering my smoking techniques over the last few months. Ribs are fun, pork shoulder can feed an army, but brisket is tricky and delicious. 

You may want to give yourself a little extra time for the morning commute due to patchy dense fog, especially to the west. We will have scattered light rain showers today with temperatures going from the lower 40s this morning to the lower 50s this afternoon. More scattered light rain showers tonight and early Wednesday with a low around 48. Wednesday, we remain cloudy with highs around 54. A few breaks in the clouds possible later, but generally staying cloudy.

Thursday we may start with a little sun, but clouds will thicken up as more rain returns later Thursday and Friday. Highs around 50 on Thursday. Friday looks wet with rain a lot of the day and a high of 52.

Most rain looks to leave by the time we get to Saturday, but it will be cooler for the weekend with chilly highs in the mid 40s for Saturday and Sunday. We will be cloudy for the weekend as well with maybe a couple peeks of sunshine. More rain returning later Monday into Tuesday of next week with the chilly temps sticking around.

Looking ahead... The forecast models are trending colder in a few weeks. Our normal odds for a White Christmas in Central Ohio is 1 out of every 4 years, so 25%. With colder air moving in before Christmas I am leaning towards a little better chance than normal, so I would say there is a 40% chance of a White Christmas this year. Stay tuned! Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael