Buck's Blog With Andrew Michael

Weather, weather and more weather! Get behind the scenes access with Meteorologist Andrew Michael. He'll give you the inside scoop on the weather that affects the Miami Valley.

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Buck's Blog

Soggy Saturday Ahead and Golf Talk
03/12/10

Well it is late Friday night and I finally got to see lightning.... first bolts of 2010. Most of the rain has lifted northward, but it looks like it will slowly shift back south and remain a pretty rainy Saturday and we have already seen plenty of rain. We have seen so much actually that the earthworms have been flooded out of their holes and are now everywhere on the roads and sidewalks. Had to watch where I was walking when I got home and took Buckeye outside for a short walk. To bad not many fish are biting just yet, I would be out there with a bucket of dirt and collecting all of them, but instead I will be passing that opportunity. Anyways, Saturday looks to be a washout for most of the day, then maybe a few light sprinkles Sunday and then sunshine trying to come back late Monday and for the majority of next week, before our next system arrives, possibly bringing snow.

On a side-note and related to spring, I have been debating very hard the last few months on my plans for golfing this spring and summer. I have debated getting a membership here locally in Sidney, but it would cost about 600 at least. Additionally, if I wanted to meet up with my friends and play, more than likely, they wouldn't want to come to "my" course every time since many of them live over 30 minutes away. So I have decided against getting a membership and will just have to fork over the money when I want to go golfing instead of getting unlimited time on the links. If anyone knows of any decent courses that are less than 600 let me know! Seriously.

Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

How about a side of Thunder?
03/11/10

Looks like we could see, or rather hear, our first rumbles of thunder tonight, or Friday night, not lot but a few rumbles shouldn't be out of the question.... It will be refreshing to know that "severe" season will begin. In Ohio you can never let your guard down. Here is the Buck-cast: we should see showers tonight and then a dry spell for parts of Friday morning and afternoon, then more showers and storms Friday night into Saturday morning. Then temperatures will be on the cooler side with highs in the 40's or low 50's. A few light showers for Sunday, and then finally this nasty low pressure system, that has been giving us so much dreary weather, will move out to the east coast and we will get a break of dry, sunny weather for parts of next week.

With that being said, winter is never over here in Ohio as we all know, and we are still watching for a chance of snow in a week and a half. Right now the timing looks to arrive on Sunday, the 21st, and accumulations do not look crippling, but it does look like a shovel-able amount right now... We just need to keep an eye on the track of the system to make sure things don't drastically change. Hopefully you have been enjoying the warm temps and the dry spells we have seen lately.

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Enjoying the Beautiful Weather
03/09/10

Well, it has been a few days since I checked into Buck's Blog. I have been outside enjoying the gorgeous weather cleaning the garage and building work benches for some people. Also opened all the windows in the house to let the fresh air finally back in and get the stuffy air that has been in here out. It is amazing how much fresher everything seems inside once you open the windows a few hours. Even going to bed last night, the sheets and blankets just smelt so fresh. I hope everyone took advantage of it, like I did, while it was here because rain is on the way and should be arriving sometime this evening, Tuesday evening.

Warm temperatures look to remain warm for quite a while, but rain will be scattered for the next couple of days, it appears that the majority of the "moderate" rain will be late afternoon of Thursday and Friday and just scattered showers anywhere else. I will say this, it is NOT going to be a washout the rest of the week, but overall, it will be a little gloomy. At least it will be warm. Still keeping our eyes peeled for the chances of more snow in two weeks.... will we stay warm enough or will old man winter have one final punch of winter?!?! Models are showing snow possible, but it is still a LONG way out to pull the trigger just yet... In the mean time enjoy the warm temperatures and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Warmer, Wetter Weather on the Way
03/06/10

Today was gorgeous outside!! I went on a walk with Dawn and Buckeye today and it looks like it is only going to be getting warmer through the next seven days. We do stand to see a few light showers late Sunday evening, but should be out of the area by Monday morning. More rain looks to return Tuesday PM and then remain as on and off showers for the rest of the workweek. At least it will be fairly warm and at night we will be staying above freezing starting Sunday night for quite a while. This will help melt any remaining snow, but don't worry, winter isn't over yet.... for those of you who read the farmers almanac, you may know what I am talking about because models and the farmers almanac are hinting at a chance for snow the week of the 22nd. We will have to see if things hold together as we get closer, until then enjoy the warm temperatures. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

What a Beautiful Day!!
03/04/10

I had to work the graveyard shift from midnight until 9AM, so I had to sleep most of the beautiful day away, but MAN!!! Was it nice out there!?!?! And things are only going to be getting better!! More sun for the next three days and out of the next week, we should be in the 40's and better, meaning no more highs in the 30's.....well for now at least... Still looking at a small disturbance late Sunday into Monday, but it has been weakening on recent models.

Still keeping our eyes on the chances for cooler temperatures and the chance of snow in the far, far long term, but will just have to wait and see how things pan out, it is still the first week of March and as we all know Old Man Winter always likes to make a return uninvited. As for now and for a while, it should be beautiful. Enjoy the next few days and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Broke out my bike
03/03/10

I figured it was 36 degrees, and that is warm enough for a bike ride right? It was a bit chilly, but after having gone to the chiropractor to get my lower back re-aligned, I figured I would take it easy before going out for a run. I also removed the rest of the cinder blocks from my truck with the exception for four of them which are frozen solid together. Hopefully tomorrow with the help of more sunshine they will come free.

Temperatures will keep getting warmer from here on out and the rain looks to hold off until Monday and Tuesday. There will be a weak disturbance before then, but more than likely we will not start seeing any precip until late Sunday or Monday. Will we break the 50 degree mark? Well we may just give it a run for its money and be pretty darn close. As soon as all the snow melts we will really see the temperatures rise. The snow is acting like ice in a cooler, and keeping us slightly cooler than what we would be without it. Anyways, at least the birds are chirping and I even got an email from a viewer saying the groundhogs have started coming out.... always a good sign that spring is right around the corner.

Also, just wanted to let everyone know that my readers on here have increased greatly for the month of Feb. Thanks to everyone who reads and a special thanks to DarkeJournal.com in helping the people of Darke County(where I was raised) have a "local tie to the sky".... I like the ring of that...haha. Have a good one!!

UPDATE-Just got our my four remaining blocks from the bed of my truck, they finally thawed out.... hopefully they do not need to be replaced until November, but we will have to wait and see I guess.

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Taking the weight out...
03/02/10

Hopefully for good... So with winter weather is over for a while; I have started unloading the cinder blocks from the bed of my truck, who has put me through about 7000 miles of the worst winter weather here in Ohio. I started taking the blocks out yesterday, but even after today, about 400 lbs of the blocks are still frozen solid. They are the sole reason I did not get stuck in my truck this winter, I already took about 600+ lbs out, but still got the rest frozen, under a few inches of snow, in the back waiting to taken out. Just give them a few days of sunshine, they will thaw out and be stacked away for the next big snow.

Looks like, after a cold day today, temperatures will only be going up for here over the next week. I plan on taking my truck for a wash soon (I got salt still caked to the inside and underneath of it). But we got a slight chance for rain on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, but temperatures will remain on the "cool" side for a while. Nothing pushing 70 for a long while, although I wish it would. I can't wait for a good thunderstorm.....

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Cold, Snowy February
02/28/10

Well this month will be one for the record books. This month's snowfall, set at the Dayton Int'l Airport, was 23.0". This is the second snowiest February on record, the first place was set in 2010 with 31.6". Not only have we see a snowy February, but a cold one as well. It wasn't super cold, as a matter of fact we only dropped to -2 degrees on the 8th for the coldest temperature. The warmest was 42 degrees on the 21st, but once you compile all of the temperatures we were at 24.4 degrees for the monthly average, which is 5.8 degrees BELOW the average. So if your electric bill has been slightly more than years past, there is a reason for that.

This week high temps will be above freezing, but will fall below freezing at night, so refreezing of untreated pavement will cause icy spots this week. The good news is that we will not be seeing a lot of snow in the near future, just flurries. The east coast system looks to be out of our hair for Tuesday and Wednesday and, at most, we will see a light dusting. Warmer temperatures on the way for the rest of the week and some sunshine as well, but another wintry mix possible next weekend. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Things quieting down for now.
02/27/10

A few flurries or a light snow shower here or there for Saturday night and Sunday, but a dusting should be all we would see, and most of the area to the far west and south will remain dry. Our next "decent" shot of snow will be Tuesday into Wednesday. Right now only looking like about an inch. There is another storm system looking to push up the east coast and the Appalachian Mountains will keep most of the moisture from getting into our area, but we could see some light snow on the back side of that.

Sunshine returns for a few days later next week into next weekend, but temperatures having a hard time to even reach the 40 degree mark.... maybe by Saturday we might break the bubble once again... I just wish it was the 60 degree mark we were breaking. Well getting ready for the newscast, have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Slippery Morning, More To Follow
02/26/10

Well it looks like a lot of the Miami Valley seemed a little over confident with the snow, or as Seth Bauguess would say, Snow-ver-confident. Lots of accidents the last 48 hours, and weather is part of the problem, the main part is that we have see the 5+ inch storms and people think that the 1-2" is nothing. However, with the 1-2" and warm pavement, we get a lot of black ice when night falls and people can't see it and need to use extra caution.... more caution than when we had the 5+" of snow on the roads....

So a look at the forecast..... Strong winds will persist through the next 24-36 hours so blowing and drifting snow will continue to cause problems. The Noreaster that is pounding the East Coast will have some moisture push back towards the Miami Valley. The northeastern part of the area will see the most moisture, maybe 2-4", and the farther South and West you travel, lower accumulations can be expected, 1-3". This is all through midday on Saturday. We still stand to see light snow and flurries through late Saturday and Sunday, but it will continue to lighten up and new accumulations will be at or less than an inch.

Another storm system looks to hug the Appalachian Mountains next Monday and Tuesday. Right now we stand to see just a couple of inches, but if the track of the storm changes, we could see another sizable snowfall. I will keep you posted. Travel safe and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Maybe a few inches for Fri-Sat....
02/24/10

I wouldn't hold your breath (because that's a long time to hold your breath), but the latest models have a VERY strong Noreaster across parts of New England the next couple of days and has it progressing "backwards" from east to west and shows us getting about 1-3" from Friday afternoon into Saturday. Will keep a close eye on it to see if the models tend to keep in agreement with its retrogression. Now lets take a step back to current times....

We are still on tap to get about an inch or slightly more in some spots through Thursday morning. Nothing major compared to what we have seen the last few weeks, but could see some slick spots. Winds will pick up especially for Thursday PM into Friday AM. With the little amounts of new snow, drifting will not be a major problem, despite the strong winds... Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Quiet Week ahead...
02/23/10

Checking back in after a short break.... My home computer had some problem and had to wipe it clean and start fresh... Three virus scans found nothing and still a little perplexed by it all, but at least it is running like new now...

It looks like the next week or so will be pretty quiet. We could pick up an inch or so Wednesday night with a week disturbance, and some light lake effect snow through the end of the week, but no major storm systems on the way for a while. We will, however, remain pretty chilly with high temperatures below or near freezing for the next week.

The rain the last few days was a welcome site, I love the snow but the tease of spring with rain was a welcoming feeling. I am excited for spring to arrive along with severe weather season. I am also looking forward to starting the garden. I hope to have a lot of great vegetables and make some super spicy salsa when everything ripens up. If it isn't hot, it isn't great, haha. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Still holding its course
02/21/10

The track of the storm is still holding steady, and means we may have dodged a bullet or even more snow.... some people may be happy or sad with that....

Still watching the chance for rain for part of the Miami Valley today,slight chance a few locations would be cool enough to support freezingrain, but not likely with temperatures about 34 across the areacurrently, and will continue to warm up. Tonight as temperatures drop, we could see a little icing/rain to the far north, which will melt pretty quickly as rain moves in early tomorrow. Tomorrowseeing rain through the day switching to wintry mix/flurries on the backside ofthe cold front and then light lake effect snow for the week, still onlylooking like a couple inches, at best, as we head through mid week.

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Tracking the Storm
02/20/10

So here is the current track of the coming storm. Low pressure looks like it is going to take a path that will take it over Mercer, Auglaize, and Logan Counties on late Monday. Before it arrives,tomorrow, we will see a chance for a few flurries mixed with a little rain, mainly later in the day, and this should be pretty light. By Monday morning we will see the rain/snow mix pick up and starts witching over to all rain for most of the area. The northern counties that will be close to the track of the low, and will be cooler, and will have the chance to see freezing rain mixed with the rain through the day on Monday. The central and southern portions of the Miami Valley will stay all rain through the day on Monday. By Monday night the cold front will swing through dropping our overnight temperatures back below freezing and we could see a light accumulation of snow on the back side, around 1 inch or so.

With all of the rain, around half an inch or so, along with warm temperatures(near 40 for Sunday and Monday), we will need to watch for flooding. With more rain it could be a serious problem, but with the rain being on the "lighter" side it will not be as pronounced as it could be... Hopefully everyone has cleared out their storm drains to allow the water to go somewhere rather than pooling up.

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Taking a Northern Route
02/19/10

Well as I mentioned a few entries ago, these clippers normally pull more north than the models originally show 6 or 7 days out.... The models have settled down a little, with the track of the low going through the northern Miami Valley, and according to the most recent data we may be seeing some icing. Right now we could see a brief snow shower or two before switching back over to rain Sunday night. With the snow on the ground though the temperatures near the surface could linger below freezing while the temperatures slightly above the surface will be warmer and support liquid rain.... That means freezing rain/rain could be a problem. To better understand the difference take a look at the blog entry on here from 12/03/09, which is complete with diagrams. The temperatures on Monday should get above freezing during the day and this will help melt the ice that may fall.

Again, the track of the system is still a little uncertain and if the track changes at all, I will be back on here to help pinpoint its new track and what kind of precip will be falling with that track.

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Lots of Uncertainty
02/18/10

Well the last 24 hours of models still have not pinned the track of the Low pressure for Sunday night into Monday morning. A handful of the models show the low tracking through central Kentucky leaving us with only a couple inches of snow. A few models show the low tracking between Dayton and Lima, and giving us rain before switching back over to snow. With that said, there are still a few others that have the low tracking around the Cincinnati area, which would dump over half a foot easily across parts of the Miami Valley.... It is too early to say without question what we will see, however, if you average them out and take the average centralized route, we could be in for another pretty hefty snowfall... I hope the models start to agree more through the next 12-24 hours to help finalize a forecast. I will keep things up-to-date on here as things continue getting closer.

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

A look ahead
02/17/10

Well the models are starting to settle down and starting to agree for the most part on the track and timing for the next system. It looks like Saturday AM we could see a snow shower or two, but accumulations will be pretty light... Then a brief break of high pressure on Saturday PM and Sunday AM.

The real impressive system then tracks just to our south on recent models, basically along the Ohio River. This means another shot of a decent accumulations because anything North of the low will be snow and anything South of the low will be rain. As great as rain sounds right now instead of snow, we really do not want rain with this snow.... flooding is going to be a major problem when this starts melting and rain would only flash-melt a lot of the snow we currently have, not to mention the ground is still frozen and not going to be absorbing much, if any, liquid until its warmed up a little bit. Anyways the snow looks to start late Sunday night and provide quite a quick punch of snow Monday morning. Although I expect the models to move around a little more and these numbers can chance, the most recent data shows the potential for another 4-6+" of snow..... I will keep things up-to-date on here and keep you posted in the coming days, until then, have a good one.

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Long Day, Little Sleep
02/16/10

Well getting a little fatigued.... Was out reporting all morning long in Shelby, Miami, and Darke Counties, hopefully you caught a few of the reports.... there were a few funny ones... Anyways, the winds are keeping things pretty nasty and I will be in Darke for the ABC@6 and FOX@6:30 talking about the level 2 and also having a little fun in the snow, don't miss it....

Winds will taper off a little tonight slowly and so will the lake effect snow... it will turn to lighter flurries instead. This weekends storm looks to be interesting.... the models are disagreeing a lot on the track of the low.... I think a chance for snow on Saturday is still on tap... BUT it might be a little interesting, I will be back on tomorrow to hopefully pin the tail on the system. Time for a quick nap, before more reporting! Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Today's Snow: Good and Bad
02/15/10

So I don't know how many of you have shoveled the snow yet, but it is VERY fluffy and light. The good news is that it wont be as hard to shovel as the past snows, but the bad news is with winds picking up to 10-20 mph and gusts close to 30 mph, we are going to see this snow blow and drift MUCH easier than the last couple of snows. The reason is that the temperatures have remained in the mid to lower twenties for this snow, where the previous snows have been closer to 30 degrees.

We could still see about another 2-4 inches between now, 5:00 PM and tomorrow afternoon, so the snow isn't over just yet, although it will start to lighten up and become a little more scattered. So with about 6-8 inches of this fluffy snow, I expect a lot of problems for commuters, especially in the rural areas.

Wednesday and Thursday a few lingering flurries, or light lake effect snow, but not a lot in the form of accumulation. A look ahead at the next clipper system swinging down for next weekend has it tracking through the middle of Kentucky as of the latest models, as time nears, these systems, about 95% of the time, tend to pull more northerly so we will need to keep another close eye on this system in case it trends the same as many clippers.

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Breakdown for the coming snow....
02/14/10

So here is the synopsis.... This is a clipper system that swings from western Canada and swings south towards the great lakes then pulls back northward quickly after its dip..... Now with about 95% of these systems the models show it diving deeper south than its actual track. The system has had the majority of the snow and the low tracking over the Cincinnati area. As expected the newer models are slowly pulling it slightly more North as its arrival nears. With that said here are my thoughts on snow fall totals....

I believe that the heaviest of the precip will be falling over the central and southern parts of the Miami Valley, basically along or near the I 70 corridor. This region will see about 4-8+" of snow by early Tuesday morning.... The "+" is again for the isolated spots that will see more than the 8 inches. The far North and the far South will see slightly less.

On Tuesday we stand to see about another 1-2" due to remaining snow showers and a decent fetch, or wind blowing off of Lake Michigan, as lake effect snow. A few flurries for Wednesday and Thursday, but shouldn't be amounting to a whole lot....

Grab our breathes on Friday, then another system is in the making for Saturday.... Yesterday I was wondering if people would get more upset with me if I lied and said it was going to be 70 this week and sunny, or tell the truth and say its going to be below freezing and snowy.... what do you think?

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

More snow...
02/14/10

Well now Wayne, Union, Montgomery, Clark, Champaign, Greene, Preble, Miami, Butler, Warren, and Clinton Counties are under the Winter Storm Watch. 4-8+" will be expected for these counties. For counties not listed and farther to the north, you can expect about 2-6".... The farther north you get from I-70 and also west from I-75 the less you will see..... Just wanted to post this pretty fast.... Will dive deeper into things this afternoon.

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

New models showing more snow....
02/13/10

Some of the most recent models are showing more snow than the last few days for the system arriving early Monday AM through Tuesday. I will keep you posted, but right now I wouldn't be surprised with 4-7" to the South and maybe 2-5" for north of I-70, I will keep everyone posted on here as new models come out.....

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Winter Blues... Football is over
02/13/10

Well now that the Superbowl is over.... it seems like all great sports are ending, but then I forgot about Curling in the Olympics.... which will be enough of a distraction until March Madness rolls around.... I just hate it when football is over....

The forecast actually is calling for a decent amount of snow for part of the area.... well, kinda. The storm system I mentioned swinging by the southern part of the Miami Valley has warranted a Winter Storm Watch for Sunday night thru Monday night for Butler, Warren, and Clinton Counties. The FAR southern and southeastern parts of the area could see about 3-5", and as you travel to the North, it will cut back pretty fast. Dayton may only see about 1-2", and North of I-70 will see around an inch or so by Tuesday morning. We do stand to see a few lake effect snow showers for the middle part of the week, and most of that will stay to the northern parts of the Miami Valley, and will be slowly dropping a light accumulation. The far North could see about a total of 1-2" for Tuesday through Thursday, so not much compared to what we already are seeing. Still looking cold for quite a while, so snow isn't going anywhere.

ALSO!!! We finally got approval from the Canadian version of our FCC, and we now have quadrupled our digital signal strength, which will help some people that are farther away from the Dayton Metro area. So if you had problems getting us on a TV that isn't connected to cable, like the kitchen or some of the bedrooms, you should be able to get us now, just make sure to rescan your channels. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Catching some rest....
02/11/10

Well, after about three days of getting less than three hours of sleep at a time, here and there, it finally feels great to get a 4 hour nap..... normally my "weekend" is Monday and Tuesday, but this winter storm had other plans.

It appears we will continue to entertain the thought of a light dusting/flurries for Saturday, then Sunday night into Monday a clipper system will swing down, pretty far South, from Canada, and the southern part of the area could see a couple of inches, while the farther North you go, the less you will see.. Tuesday we all will see a chance for an inch or so, but nothing major in our near future to compare to what we have already seen. Winds very light the next several days and picking up to 10-15 mph Monday PM-Wednesday AM.... so the winds lighter than what we have already seen as well. So that is all good news.... the bad news: it doesn't look like we will be above freezing for quite a while, at least a week if not longer. Hope you like the snow, cuz it isn't going anywhere anytime soon.... the good news, if we all lose power at least we got snow to boil for water... haha, have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

More Snow on the Way....
02/10/10

And you were thinking it was over.... haha....

Well to kind of recap before getting to the forecast.... I have been all over the place the last few days.... and here is my breakdown... finally got mail today, first time in 4 days. Also a first today, its the first time our street was fully plowed here in Sidney(thumbs up).... While I was traveling around, I will say that for a small community, Covington has one of the best street crews out there.... Even with all of the mess I had to deal with on Saturday morning (which was worse than the recent days, in my opinion), Covington was on top of things and kept the streets clean and top notch.... Not that others didn't, but they barely let a flake hit the ground. Also, people drive too fast.... there are some people, that if they started to fishtail, I have no doubt they would be in the ditch because they are flying on the roads....

But to get back to the forecast, we have another shot of snow in our near future... We could see a few light lake effect snow showers in the next two or three days, but only expecting a dusting at best.... not expecting any accumulations.... BUT as we head into Sunday and Monday a clipper system will swing down from Canada. Right now it will be lacking moisture, and should bring only a couple of inches, if that.... And on another good note, we will be seeing very light winds for the next several days....

HOWEVER!! With the fresh snow-pack, and the skies clearing up a bit, as we head through the next several days, if we have clear skies at night, temperatures will plummet to near zero, if not below in some places, possibly seeing a little freezing fog if temperatures fall far enough.... Keep that in mind and make sure your vehicle is ready for cold temps.
Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Winds are picking up....
02/09/10

Winds are starting to pick up... I will be up an-at-'em at 1:30 AM to begin preparations for the morning weather hits.... rest easy everyone, and anyone with a LEVEL 3, I will DEFINITELY see you in the morning since you wont be working.... send the snowmobiles to your border to take me in without getting ticketed!! I wish I was kidding, but that would be an awesome story!! Send me a comment on here and I will be in touch...seriously!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Mid-storm update...
02/09/10

Well the majority of the moderate snow has fallen across the area.... but its not over yet. While the majority of the snow has fallen, new issues will present themselves in the coming hours. We will still see a couple of inches of new snow by tomorrow evening, although it is going to be hard measuring it... we are already starting to see the winds switch from the East to the West and Northwest, and they will begin to get stronger and top out, tomorrow during the day, around 20-30 mph, with stronger gusts.

So on and off lighter snow and winds starting to pick up causing drifting. I have a great idea for an experiment for our dinner time shows.... Hopefully it works. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Checking in from Minster
02/09/10

Snow is still falling, I have been all over the place this morning. I have done reports on the snow from Sidney, Versailles, Greenville, Ansonia, Celina, Wapakoneta, Botkins, New Bremen, and now Minster.... Forecast still stands at 6-10+ Enjoy the "light" winds while they last, drifting snow will be a huge problem tomorrow. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Heading out the door....
02/09/10

Getting ready for the snow and Round 2 is entering the area as I type this at 2:30 AM. The snow is moving in from the Southwest currently and will continue to push into the area through the morning. I still think 6-10+ for the Miami Valley, 6-8 for the southern half of the area and about 8-10+ for the northern half and especially the far northwest. Either way, when the winds pick up for tonight and Wednesday, measuring the new snow will be quite a task. I will keep in touch on here through parts of the day, and will be out in the elements for every newscast from now until told otherwise, so keep a cup of coffee brewing for me, I like my coffee black. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Breakdown of the upcoming storm
02/08/10

So here is how everything is looking....

From the looks at the latest models, by tomorrow morning's commute, we could see about an inch or so on the ground, especially in the western counties, and the snow will pick-up through the morning hours. The snow will remain pretty constant and moderate through the afternoon and by about 7 PM we will have an additional 4-6 inches of new snow. As we go through the day we will warm temperatures into the lower 30's and the southern Miami Valley could see a little icing, which will cut their snowfall totals back a bit. The winds through the day tomorrow will be about 8-15 mph starting in the East, then to the North shortly, then back to the West. When the winds switch to the West, Tuesday early evening, that is when they will start picking up.

By Tuesday night and into Wednesday winds are expected to be about 20-30 mph at times, and gusts close to 40 mph all coming out of the WNW. Tuesday night into Wednesday we have a strong upper level disturbance that will help enhance the moisture in the air (snow) and we could easily see another 2-4 inches.

By the time things start wrapping up and calming down a little late Wednesday night we could see about an additional total of 6-10+ inches from this system. Most of the area will be in this range but the "+" will be for some spots that may see a little more snow with the enhanced upper level energy helping with their snowfall totals on Tuesday PM and Wednesday.

This on top of the snow we already have will cause a lot of drifting problems with the strong winds. Honestly, if I were you, don't even worry about shoveling or snow blowing the driveway, unless it is absolutely necessary, until later Wednesday..... the snow is going to drift it right back shut in a VERY short time.

Just so you know we are planning on having extended coverage, especially in the mornings the next few days, so keep it tuned to ABC 22 or FOX 45 for all the latest. I will be out doing more field reporting in the Northern Miami Valley, so I may be "Where You Live" I crack myself up... Until then, stock up on hot cocoa and soup, some of us might be stuck inside again for a day or two. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Forecasted snowfall totals for "Round Two"
02/07/10

Polish the blades on your snow shovels, and get the snow blower repaired!

The next system has even more moving parts with it... I will cut to the chase and tell you I am calling for 6-10" as of right now. We will be seeing an enhanced snowfall with a LOT of upper level energy Tuesday PM through Wednesday. There may be a slight icing for the southern counties Tuesday PM cutting down on their snowfall totals. This is a very interesting system and the enhanced snowfall will be the deciding factor whether we end up closer to the 6" or the 10".

IMPORTANT!!! With all of the snow we have seen, we have filled in all the "holes" and open spots, so drifting will be a big problem as winds pick up Tuesday night into Wednesday night. Winds are still expected to be between 20-30 mph. We could be seeing drifts that may be larger than we have seen in a long, LONG time. I will be updating this more as the storm approaches.

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Round Two on the Way!!!
02/06/10

So after a hectic morning reporting in the Northern Miami Valley, where I could without getting a ticket, it looks like we could be dealing with more problems in the coming days.

Early Tuesday morning we will see another system arrive to the area before the morning rush hour. Models are hinting at several inches, but less than what we saw with this system that just passed. Temps will be close to the freezing mark again so I am going to wait tomorrow before releasing any estimated totals to see if we will be seeing all snow, or possibly some icing for some of the Miami Valley. The big problem will be the winds Wednesday into early Thursday. Sustained winds of 20-30 mph with gusts over 30 will be expected, and with the current snow already forming drifts, Tuesday and Wednesday's snow will now have to fill in any of the cracks or crevasses and will be fair game to "drift away."

Thanks to everyone for all the comments on the blog the last few days with snow totals, conditions, as well as photos. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

I got stuck...
02/06/10

That's right! I am out reporting and actually in Covington currently. I was coming from Troy to Covington on St Rt 41. I came up to a tow truck in the ditch and a box truck in the ditch. One lane was recently plowed, but was drifting shut very rapidly. But anyways, coming up to it, I tried to go around one of the trucks, but it turns out what looked like the road was the ditch..... Then after a while I found out two snow plows were stuck as well about a hundred feet up and everyone was in super deep..... I surveyed the area and figured if I could rock myself out of the ditch and into the cornfield, the snow would drop from 18 inches to about 3. So I got out of the truck and on my hands and knees in the drifted snow, dug out each tire til I had about 2 feet of grass or pavement. It took some time and patience, but after about close to 100 rocks of the truck, I finally got into the field. There was no way that I would be able to cross the ditch to get back to the road to try to pull anyone out and it was already starting to drift back shut about 12 to 18 inches high, which is even un-doable for my Silverado. So I drove through the field and got to a farm and shot through a snow drift to get back to the road.... There wasn't anything I could have done to help the others get out of the snow, I would have gotten myself stuck in the process in the drifted snow, and these guys were in DEEP, so I pressed on down 41, had to drive though a few drifts over a foot high. You really couldn't see them either, visibilities are down to less than 100 feet and by the time you get to the drift, you hold on and hope its not a long drift.... Anyways, currently camped in Covington because the Covington Police just told me that almost all roads in and out of town are impassable and even with 4 wheel drive they would just wait a little bit.

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

EARLY Saturday Morning Check-in
02/06/10

So as previously mentioned, the line from Richmond over to Logan County is where we have seen the heaviest snow, and to top it all off so far as of 1:49, the heaviest snow looks to be between Piqua and Troy. The attached image is from the National Weather Service. Now you may think the area by Wilmington got more, but keep in mind that they saw icing and their snow totals will not be close to what they have seen so far in Miami County.... Anyways looks like an interesting morning, I will be out and about doing reports in the thick of it, so keep it tuned in to ABC 22 or FOX 45 for our special coverage today... Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

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Pushing a foot?
02/05/10

Earlier this morning the freezing rain QUICKLY turned back to snow, and in a line from Richmond through South Central Darke County through all of Miami County, through all of Logan County and northern Clark, we could easily be seeing close to 12" by the time all is said and done. The lack of the rain/snow and ice mix did not cut back on the allotted snowfall totals, and actually will cause them to bump up even more....

A lot of photos have been rolling in a few below are from some friends on Darke Journal. One photo of the road is near Abbottsville on St Rt 49, the other is at Shawnee Prairie in Greenville.

Thanks for the photos and keep the reports and pics coming!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

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Goodbye Grass!
02/05/10

Well it looks like the grass will be gone for a while... We have 3" now in Sidney and it is continuing to fall pretty heavily. Greenville is reporting 3 inches as well as of 2:00. Also as of 2:45 Darke County is under a Level 2 snow emergency and Champaign is under a Level 1 snow emergency. Use caution out there and if you live in Darke County stay at home unless it is an emergency or you have to go to work, but call first... Keep sending comments of the snow reports...

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

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Starting to accumulate
02/05/10

Here in Sidney we got about 1.5 inches right now, I attached a photo of what we got so far.

Snow finally reaching the far northern parts of the Miami Valley. Here are a few comments of current conditions around the area:
Greenville 12:34: "I just measured 1.5"
Lima 12:38: "so far a big disappointment, lol. We have nothin' at this minute"
Lima 1:07: "Just started here."

Keep 'em coming... The first hour or so here in Sidney the snow melted on the pavement, so that will refreeze into ice later with snow on top. I expect this will be common across much of the Miami Valley, be weary of hidden ice under snow covered roads!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

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Update on the snow...
02/05/10

Well the evaporative cooling is working, I know here in Sidney at my weather station we have cooled 2.4 degrees since the snow started falling... Right now a light dusting of snow as you can see in the picture.

Here are a few reports from the readers, keep them coming, just post a comment at the top or bottom of the blog!!
Greenville 9:36 "snowing outside my front window right now"
Abbottsville 10:18 "it has about completed the transition from freezing rain to snow"
Greenville 10:31 "it has covered quickly in the last 10 minutes.....we have had no rain....all snow"

Again, keep the reports coming in! Also we will be having special reports on the snow coverage on ABC 22 starting at 5 AM Saturday.... I will be out field reporting for it all day tomorrow, so leave a comment on here letting me know where you live and why you want me to do a snowfall total there and I will try to make it happen, just leave a comment on here.... Like I said before, why not have a little fun with this storm!!

I will be back on shortly, until then, have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

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Snowfall totals ramped up!
02/05/10

The most up-to-date models are in and they are calling for even more precipitation due to enhanced conditions.

Now I have gotten a few reports here to the blog, my parents in South-Central Darke County, said they are seeing a few flakes of snow at 9:20, one person in Arcanum said it was freezing rain at 8:15, but now, 9:20, turned to a few flakes of snow, and someone in Celina actually reported rain at 8:15 as well.... If you would like to send in what you are seeing and at what time, I would be glad to repost those so others get an idea of what it is doing. The radar tries its best to decipher what is falling to the ground, but nothing beats human observation.

If the evaporative cooling does the trick and we switch back over to all snow, I think 6-10" is definitely within our reach, possibly slightly more in some spots. If we continue to see a light icing, it will take an inch or two off of our expected totals. The snow looks to be more enhanced and the atmosphere is basically holding a basket of moisture over us and if it decides to cool down, we are about to get dumped on...

I will be back on throughout the day so keep up-to-date right here, and comment in your observations, thanks in advance.... Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Might need to tack on a couple more....
02/05/10

Well it is 1:50 AM Friday morning and my first chance to sit down and check the models, been busy doing a story on all the people heading out to get ready for the snow. Here is a video of it.

Anyways the new models are showing some enhanced snowfall.... Again, if you see any icing, or especially any prolonged icing, expect your snowfall totals to be less, but if you are seeing all snow, I think 8" would not be out of the question for the mid part of the Miami Valley with some locations seeing slightly more. The system is ramping up as it is entering our area and the icing and rain/snow mix will be the deciding factor as to how much snow people will be seeing.... Mike Terwilleger and Jeff Booth will be in on Friday and Saturday with extended coverage starting each day at 5 AM, as well as myself doing field reports on the snow....

Here is a thought that I might be able to swing by the boss, leave a comment on here letting me know where you live and why you want me to do a snowfall total there and I will try to make it happen during my field reporting, just leave a comment on here.... Why not have a little fun with this storm!! Have a good one and travel safely!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Sidney Storm Blues
02/04/10

So the farther north you go, such as Sidney, and northward, still are not part of the Winter Storm Watch..... A little sad up here for me because according to the National Weather Service it's as if Sidney will be missing a lot of the action, although they still will see a sizable snow.

So here is the breakdown, Highway 35 and south look to start off as a rain/snow mix and could linger into the afternoon hours as well. South of 35, I think the snowfall totals will be around 3-5", with a few spots getting up to 6".

Between Highway 35 and 36, there may be a brief period of the rain/snow during the morning or early afternoon hours, but expect this area to see about 4-7" of snow. The longer the rain/snow and ice sticks around, the less snow once the system has passed.

Once you start heading farther north of 36, it should remain mostly all snow and the snowfall totals will taper off the farther north you go. The north could still see the 4-7", but once you start getting closer to Highway 33, expect the snowfall totals to be closer to 3-5".

So the heaviest looks to be through the central part of the Miami Valley. Keep in mind, if you happen to see heavier cells of snow, you may be on the higher end of the spectrum, or you may be on the lower end of the spectrum if you happen to see lighter cells. If this changes, I will let you know, but that is the breakdown as of 10:30 AM. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Still on course...
02/03/10

We are still set to see the precipitation arrive in the morning hours on Friday....

Also still looking at a rain/snow mix for the southern half of the Miami Valley on Friday-day.... right now still to early to say whether Highway 35, 70, 36, or 47 will be that dividing line.... But if you live right on the northern side of the rain/snow line, that will be where the deeper accumulation will settle. Anyone seeing the rain/snow will cut down the snowfall totals. I still feel that on average 4-7" is a good estimate for recent models. Since it is moving in a little earlier, we will see the warmth of daytime keep temperatures near the freezing mark until Friday evening when it will switch back to all snow for everyone.

Another thing to think about is icing on the roadways during the day on Friday. The mix will freeze over on untreated roads Friday evening and ice hidden under the snow will cause drivers to feel "safe" on snow but forget that a sheet of ice may be hiding underneath.

As we head into Saturday winds will be between 10-20 mph, so drifting snow will also be a problem that will linger after the snow has stopped.

I will have another update mid-morning Thursday, until then, have a good one!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Snow Storm is yelling: "Early Delivery!"
02/03/10

First off, I want to say that there are a lot of moving parts with this system and I will continue to up date the blog twice a day until it passes to keep everyone posted.

So the newest information has the storm system coming a little earlier compared to yesterday's models. The rain/snow mix could move into the Miami Valley before or around Noon on Friday depending on where you live. With the rain/snow mix it will cut back on our expected snowfall totals. Once the evening comes Friday we will cool off to turn to complete snow. It is still hard to pinpoint as to how far the rain/snow line will progress northward right now, because the difference in just a degree or two will mean the difference between rain and snow. I think the Miami Valley could see about 4-6." Now with that said.... if we get enough evaporative cooling, we could see the rain/snow turn to snow a little sooner and bump up our totals. Evaporative cooling is when precipitation falls through the air, it actually evaporates a little if the humidity is less than 100% and actually causes the atmosphere to cool down slightly... On the flip side, if we warm up a little more we could see our snowfall totals be dropped a bit.

I will update this again this evening when new data is in to help refine the forecast... until then, have a good one!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Late-Night update
02/02/10

So after the afternoon and evening models, we are still on-track to see a sizable snow.... Parts of the southern Miami Valley could see a little rain to start things off Friday afternoon.... I will dive into estimated snowfall totals more on Wednesday, but recent models are still in agreement and we will be seeing the most snowfall of the season from one storm.... Just so you know, 4.3 is the most we have seen from one storm for the Miami Valley... so expect 4.3 to be on the lighter side of things for this system.... Again, updates tomorrow, rest easy and obviously have a good one!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

This weekend looking like a Winter Wonderland
02/02/10

So things are looking better for more snow for us coming up Friday late afternoon through Sunday, with the heaviest of the snow overnight Friday night. The track of the storm will still be staying to our south, but not looking quite as far south as the "gutter balls" that yesterday's models had. With the track of the storm staying south, the southern half of the Miami Valley could be be seeing about 6" or more according to the most recent models. The snow will slowly taper off the farther North you go. The northern part of the Miami Valley could still see up to 5" according to the recent models. The best thing is that the two of the "beefiest" models or the ones that have the most up-to-date weather data added to them are the ones that are showing more of a northern track... still keeping the rain out of our hair and showing it all snow.... It is still too early to start talking exact numbers, but I hope to start getting more into that tomorrow as long as the models keep their consistency.

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Second Frame
02/01/10

Since I got so much good feedback on the bowling analogy yesterday, I thought I would keep it going for at least one more frame.... This blog will be a bit more techincal and bumpy so keep your hands inside at all times and fasten your seat belts.

So we went from a consistent bowler from 180 feet, to a less consistent bowler at 150 feet. Lets first talk about the gutter balls.... In weather terminology, our "weather midnight" is 0z... 7PM while daylight savings time isn't in effect. At 7PM and 7AM they send up weather balloons so these models normally have the best "grasp" of the storm with up to the minute data, and both the 0z (7PM) and 12z (7AM) models were showing the storm shifting a little farther south compared to yesterday's models which means much less snow. When I first saw the 0z late last night, I told my friend, Jimmy Noe, think of one fluke model as a gutter ball. You can remember the muscle memory you just did and visualize how you messed up and just try not to repeat it, so basically put it at the back of your mind and do not think about it. HOWEVER.... When you get a second gutterball, 12z, you start to wonder....

The 6z model still showed us with a decent snowfall, the most we have seen this year, but will that hold true or will the 12z model. The most recent model, 18z, has just came through and it is showing that the storm has shifted a little south, but our area still seeing some snow.... just not the most so far this year, but at least it hinted that it wouldn't completely skip over our area like the last system.

In addition to our American long-term model, I took a look at the CFM, Canadain Forecast Model. Their 12z model looked a lot like the 18z American model. It has us seeing some snow, just not a "snow storm".

The problem now is that we are not as consistent as we were this time yesterday.... Once the models all agree once again and get back onto the same track it will be easier to pin-point the estimated totals that we could see. Another benefit 24 hours will bring is an American additional model that goes out 4.5 days. This will act as a "bowling coach", and help correct any inconsistencies that we are having. So right now, we still have the system in our line of sight, but its bouncing around a little.... How much snow will we see, well it all depends on the track of the system, hopefully the models will have a better handle and agree a little better within the next 24 hours, and you can bet I will will be back on here to keep you updated, until then, have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Bowling and Forecasting
01/31/10

Bowling isn't a sport of strength and force, as much as it is about finesse. With that said, bowling and forecasting have a lot in common.

To help make this analogy a little clearer I will compare it to this weeks forecast. It should be pretty quiet for now until next weekend. The three latest models have all been agreeing on the Miami Valley seeing the most snow we have seen this year in one system arriving for Saturday.

Now to the comparison.... I imagine the bowling lanes (60 feet) equivalent to two days of forecasting.... The first half of the lane (30 feet) is the first day, you can pretty much know when you release the bowling ball that it will stay in the lane. When you start getting to the second day, or the second half of the lane, things start getting interesting.... normally it will stay out of the gutter and knock over a few pins. If you are lucky and your forecast is spot-on, you get a strike. Now imagine all the angles you could throw the ball, you threw it down the lane and not sideways, and for the most part hitting at least one of the pins is reasonably do-able, if not a few pins.

Now comes the fun part.... Imagine, if you will, taking that lane and doubling its length... now you went from 60 feet to 120 feet. A bit more challenging then right? You bet!! The ball may have a little hidden momentum that may catch you and the ball off guard and send it into the gutter right before you hit the pins. With that said, I would wager with enough practice 120 feet would eventually be successfully completed but still remain challenging.

So we took a look at extending the forecast to 4 days, now what about the snow system we got coming in 6 days???? That would make the lane 180 feet.... woah!! I am pretty sure that even the best bowlers in the world would tell you that it would be pretty challenging to hit a strike. Sooooo, lets compare this to the last three model runs of the snow system coming on next Saturday. The last three model runs have been in pretty much agreement that we will see several inches (3-6 inches) and you could bet to wager that we would at least knock over at least one pin at that distance with the consistency you have built up.

Now the tricky part comes in.... if we shorten up the lane by a day or two (30 or 60 feet), do you think you could still knock over those same pins? Will there be some previously unforeseen momentum or oil on the lane that may make it slip off course? One thing is for sure.... If you were bowling at 180 feet, I am betting that you would take up the ball and throw it again when the lane dropped to 150 feet, 120 feet, 90 feet, and especially 60 feet..... You would want the victory and satisfaction of keep throwing that ball just like you previously did in hopes of continuing knocking over the pins, maybe even a strike.... With that said, I will be back on here later this week to keep you updated as our distance shortens and the forecast becomes a sure-fire strike!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Time to get LOST
01/30/10

So it has finally came.... It is now time for the final season of LOST to begin on ABC starting this Tuesday. I love the show but if you have never seen the show, you may not understand, but please here me out....

There shall be ABSOLUTELY NO TALKING while LOST is in play. This is the sole reason I will not partake in any viewing parties. If I would partake in any viewing parties, I would bring my own TV, a cable splitter and run the feed into the bathroom or closet... NO INTERRUPTIONS. Now I do love joining in on the lively discussions of the latest questions and mysteries of the island and plot, but in order to fully grasp what happened during the episode, there needs to be complete silence with no interruptions.

IF and that's a big if, I were to attend a viewing party, everyone must be caught up. During the episode there is no need for silly questions about, "What's that statue?" or "I thought Locke was alive, is he?" There are a million questions with LOST and you should assume my answer would be "I don't know."

With all of that said, I am excited to see what the final season has in store. With the abrupt ending of last season, the gate (or hatch) is blown wide open.... they could all be dead, they could all be in the 70's still, they could all be in the present time on Flight 815, and it goes without saying, that they could also be anywhere on the planet too. Who's to say they haven't been placed in the middle of the Sahara Desert in Tunisia.

Another thing I would like to point out, during season 4 I read spoilers for that season.... worst mistake EVER!!! It ruins the show and you loose the climax that is LOST. If you read spoilers and enjoy that, please keep them to yourself.

Anyways, needless to say, the sixth season has to have more answers than questions because for the last 5 seasons we have been left with cliffhangers at commercial breaks leaving us yelling at the TV. I wish you the best in your LOST journey, and if you would ever want to chat over coffee or some DHARMA drinks let me know!! Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Spring with a side of sunshine....
01/29/10

That's what I tried ordering, but it looks like it will be a little while for that...

I do love winter and it was refreshing to melt all the pre-existing snow and get rid of the nastiness and start over with a clean white slate... With that said though, I am ready for temps back, in the 60's with sunshine. I was laying in bed last weekend when it was warm and heard a bird chirping in the tree out back and it really made it feel like spring....

I grilled out last week twice when it got "warm" into the 40's. My neighbors looked at me a little weird like: "Are they REALLY grilling out." But once the smell of burning charcoal hit their noses, they probably wished they would be doing the same thing.

Anyways, the forecast is calling for slowly warming temperatures through the next seven days, and we should be in the 40's by this time next week. Little to no precip as well, so hopefully the light snow we have on the ground will be melted by then as well. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Grab the extra blanket!!
01/27/10

Tonight we will see a little snow move in, around 1" or less of accumulation. Then as we head through the next couple of days we will see COLD temperatures return. Wind chills will be near or below zero and highs in the afternoon barely able to break the 20 degree mark. Next shot of snow not until Tuesday, but that looks like a weak system as well and not a major snow expected with it.

Had the privilege to talk to my younger sister's class at school today... It was a lot of fun testing the students on their weather skills. We were drawing surface maps and I challenged them to draw weather station wind readings in preparation for the OAT test. Hopefully I helped them learn a little and get them excited as well. Drive safe on the fresh snow and have a good one!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Icy Morning
01/26/10

So a big downside to the warm weekend, is what we saw this morning. The pavement warmed up above freezing over the weekend that the first few hours of snow yesterday melted the snow, then once the temperatures finally cooled the blacktop and concrete below freezing, it iced back over. That coupled with the light snow on top of it makes things even worse because what looks like a little snow actually has hiding underneath of it. With temperatures in the mid 20's for today, salt should take care of the ice, but untreated roadways will remain icy. The snow will taper off this afternoon, but more snow is on the way for Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Accumulations right now look pretty light for the next system, but as many found out this morning, it doesn't take much to cause problems on the roads. Travel safe and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Snow returning....
01/25/10

Well the warm temperatures couldn't last forever... Thought I would pop on here and give an update to the snow headed our way. As long as the ground doesn't melt off too much of the snow, we could see around another inch by tomorrow at noon. Things look to be quiet for Wednesday and hopefully a little sunshine for parts of the day. More snow Wednesday night into Thursday morning, that looks to be pretty light as well. The system I talked about in the last blog looks to be tracking farther to the south and dumping a lot of snow on Kentucky and parts of Tennessee.... will keep an eye on it though, just in case it swings a little farther to the north... Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Sunshine or Warmth?
01/23/10

Today was a GREAT day despite it being January 23rd. We hit a high of 48 at the Dayton Airport today, fantastic! With it being so warm and wonderful, the only thing to make it better would have been some sun. We saw the clouds linger all day today which kept things kinda dreary despite the warm temps.

We got rain on the way for early Sunday morning and a few light lingering scattered showers through the day. Temps look to warm up above 50 for tomorrow before we bottom up as we head into the workweek. A few flurries could be around the area for Monday morning, and despite starting the day off around freezing, windy conditions the next three days should be enough to dry the roads off and icing not being a major problem. Light snow showers as we head into Monday night and Tuesday. Right now we are looking at about 1-1.5 inches of snow, so not enough for any major problems, but enough to make the roads a little slick and also turn things white again.

What really will be interesting is the system on Thursday and Friday. The system's track will determine if we see rain or snow. This system will have a lot of moisture with it and could cause some major problems for some parts of the plains and Midwest.... I will keep you posted on it, but right now the models cant make up their mind yet, one models shows it tracking right over us giving us a lot of rain with a little snow, the next model shows it tracking south of us, giving us a modest accumulation of snow.... Once it settles down and gets a little closer, it will be more certain. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Are you feeling lucky?
01/22/10

So yesterday I was a photog for Seth Bauguess and it was quite an interesting little trip. We had a few technical difficulties so we had to slightly alter our plans a hair, and as it turned out, they were for the better. We were assigned one story for the day, and then by the time we returned to the station we had about three new stories on top of it. Had we not have had the technical difficulties to begin with, it would have altered our schedule, and the news wouldnt have fallen into our laps.... Seth wanted to buy a lottery ticket, but I am not a betting man.... Figured I would use my luck on a safe commute home.

So it looks like a warm weekend around the Miami Valley. Temperatures will try to break the 50 degree mark on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday will be mostly cloudy, possibly getting a little sunshine, but a decent amount of clouds will be around. Then on Sunday it will be windy and also rainy. So if you have any outdoor plans or want to go out for a walk, Saturday is the day to take advantage of the warm temps. The rain comes in on Sunday and then on the backside of that system temperatures will fall back down with highs near the freezing mark. We also have a chance to see a little snow next week, right now not looking like a lot, but we could see enough to turn things white. I will keep you update in the coming days. Jeff Booth is off tonight and I will be filling in for him, doing the weather all weekend, then also filling in for Mike Terwilleger on Monday morning. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Wind energy anyone?
01/20/10

Hope everyone is enjoying the thaw we are seeing.... personally, if its going to thaw, at least lets make it the 60's! Maybe that's just me, but 33 or 34 degrees just isn't my idea of a decent thaw. Anyways, you might have "caught the wind" that next week it is Where You Live: Sidney, and if you have read many of my blog entries, you obviously know its always Where I Live! I hope you will enjoy it, and as a matter of fact, I did a special story, where I drive around and give you a look at the Sidney high points, should be fun!

I don't know if have mentioned it on here, but behind Christmas, my favorite hobby or ambition of mine is wind energy. I obviously love the weather, and a huge "Go Green" person when it comes to finding new energies and harnessing them. Well the idea of wind and energy is enough to spark my interest three fold! So yesterday I went to Union City where the school and community each purchased their own wind turbines. Here is the link to the video. It is the first place in the country that both the school and community joined efforts. Round of applause for you guys!! It was a blast to be there and to actually see one of the motors being mounted... I had a 2009 calendar of wind turbines actually.... yea I know, weather geek.

Update on the weather, could see a few light showers this afternoon, maybe even a little freezing drizzle tonight as temps fall below freezing, but better shot at rain tomorrow PM. Things warm up in to the 40's for the weekend, then cold air returns with the chance for snow for next week. Have a good one!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Christmas lights come at a price.
01/16/10

So I seriously did not expect to get an electric bill as large as I have the last two months. I am not going to reveal the actual number, but it was more than double our normal bills the last two months, and since we have a gas heater and hot water heater, all Dawn and I can figure is that it was the Christmas lights.

It's not like I left our lights on a long time either, we started lighting them on a nightly basis about a week before Thanksgiving and then took them down the day after Christmas and were only on for about 5 hours at night. I could see maybe an extra $20, but its much more than that.... Oh well... Maybe next year I will invest in solar panels. I guess I can thank Dawn too for not letting me put up the number of lights I really want to put up..... Our bill would be more than the bill to light the Las Vegas strip.

Also I was reminded last night of an old friend I used to work with. He always used to tell me: "Smile, people will wonder what you are up to." I was a bit smiley yesterday and sure enough, it never fails, and I wasn't even trying to look mischievous. Anyways, just thought I would pass that along...

Quick look at the forecast, chance for more fog tonight with rain arriving Sunday morning. Light scattered showers for much of the day tomorrow, we could see a little freezing rain in spots, mainly isolated spots, on the leading and tail edge of the rain, mainly North where it will be colder. Most of the precip however will mainly stay to the South and especially the East as the system rides up the East Coast. More rain will arrive on Tuesday and possibly a few flurries on the backside for Wednesday as cold temperatures return to the area. Have a good one!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Hello from the cubby-hole!
01/14/10

I join you tonight from the dark corners of the photographers cubby-hole, since I am a photog today and have to keep up-to-date on work emails, thought I would check them and drop a line to my readers, you! Today I am working with Regina and shooting the top news of the day. Yesterday, I didn't get the companionship of another person to do the news with since I was solo and doing two stories to the north in St. Henry and Russia on their connections to Haiti. It is just such a shame what happened down there and your heart really goes out to those devastated by the earthquake.

We got a few systems the next few days that could cause some problems on the roadways. Friday morning, tomorrow, we have a weak cold front swinging in with very little moisture. If we happen to see anything tomorrow morning it will be freezing drizzle and be in isolated locations, mainly north of Dayton. Keep an eye out on the road conditions and take some extra time. Then on Sunday another system will be swinging by to our east and we may be able to get a few flurries or sprinkles, mainly east of Dayton. This again looks to be light over our area, so basically remaining pretty quiet for the next few days. Warmer temps will help melt the ice and snow, but refreeze at night, so its a good idea to get the driveway cleared off as best as possible in the afternoon while its melting to avoid an icy driveway. Anyways, enjoy the warmer temps and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Here comes the sun!
01/13/10

Get your sunglasses!! The snow and sunshine will be causing a lot of retina strain the next few days, so better to avoid the headache early and make sure you have a pair of sunglasses handy. With the sunshine, we will see things slowly start to warm up as well, which is a good and bad thing. The roads that still remain snow covered, like mine, will finally reveal pavement again, but at night when we drop below freezing, it will ice back over until it is all thawed and dry. So keep that in mind the next few days, black ice will be visiting us again.

Another thing that will help the melting will be light rain showers for the end of the week and the weekend. Right now things look to be very light, but will still help the melting, and additionally will give more moisture to re-freeze at night, so another positive right along with the negative. BUT!! We will see 40 degrees, if not this week, next week for sure. As a matter of fact, it looks like things will remain on the "warm" side until around the last week of January before another strong arctic system plows back into the area. So enjoy it while it is warm!!

Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

More Snow for Monday
01/10/10

Hope you all enjoyed the Winter Wonderland outside this morning. I think the best part of it all was that it was nice an pretty on the trees, and you didn't have to worry about shoveling it or dealing with a few inches of it on the roads. Well we saw all of the crystals on the trees because the temperatures fell to the same as the dew point last night forming fog in the light wind and calm conditions. With the temperatures so cold, it formed ice crystals, so with what little breezy we did see, it caused it to accumulate on the tree limbs and such.

Tonight we will see the winds starting to pick up out of the southwest, which will keep us warmer tonight, but wind chills will be near zero again. Tomorrow snow returns for the morning and afternoon, but it should be pretty light. Accumulations look to be between half an inch and one inch. A few locations could see slightly more than an inch, but I think most of us will be slightly under that one inch reading. Either way take it easy on the roadways and have a good one!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Left with a Winter Wonderland
01/08/10

Well it is about two weeks late for a White Christmas but Old Man Winter's watch must have ran out of battery life.... A lot of schools finally got to start tapping into their allotted snow days, which makes the kids and teachers happy, and parents are left with the chore of deciding what to do with the kids at home; whether that be staying home, calling a babysitter, grandma, or another relative.

I had a busy day yesterday, I started off the day in Richmond monitoring the snow moving in. Then I had a brief break before returning to Dayton for road conditions for the dinner time shows, then for the late shows I rode around in an ODOT snow plow. It was a lot of fun, and afterwards I was kinda left in amazement. We assume that they have to get the roads clean, but if you think about it, it is an amazing service. We all pay taxes, and as soon as the first flakes start to fall, these guys and gals, are out there getting things as clean as fast as possible in order to keep the flow of traffic in order. It was just kinda cool to actually see where are tax money is going.

Well now that the snow has came we got more things to worry about, winds and temperatures. Today's winds will be about 10-15 mph, which will cause some minor drifting on the rural roads, but winds will calm down a little until late Sunday. With the fresh snow pack, we are expecting temperatures to dip into the single digits the next few mornings, with wind chills near or below zero. One thing to keep an eye on is the clouds. If we see any clearing during the next few nights, temperatures will easily dip below zero. Keep that in mind if you park your car outside. Sunday night and Monday winds will begin to pick back up from 10-15 mph and we will see wind chills below zero, so remember that as the kids head back to school or you head back to work on Monday morning.

There is one "bright spot" in the next 7 days, we may be able to reach the freezing temp, although the snow may have other plans. The snow acts like ice cubes in a drink and likes to keep us much colder, but as of right now we may hit 32, or at least come close the middle and end of next week. After all of these wind chills below zero, I think 30's will sound like a heat wave, ehhh?

Haha, have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Snow is knocking our our Door!!!
01/08/10

No time to talk long this morning, typing this in between each fruity pebbles spoonful. Snow is approaching Richmond, and that is my first place of business.

The models are still showing snow still being the heaviest from around noon until nightfall today. Be sure to keep it tuned to ABC 22 and FOX 45 for team coverage throughout the day today. Drive safe and have a good one!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Afternoon forecast update...
01/06/10

The recent afternoon models have come out and I think that our area could see slightly more than first anticipated. My thoughts on the forecast totals will be around 3-5" by Friday morning. About 2-4" by Thursday night and then an additional inch overnight as long as we are in the lake effect band. We will be seeing a very high snow to rain ratio, meaning the colder and drier the air is, the more fluffier the snow will be and it will not pack very easily. This means more air pockets will be in between the snow flakes and it wont compress as it would if we were closer to the freezing level. Scientifically, instead of the common 10 inches of snow to one inch of water, it may be closer to 15 inches of snow to once inch of water. Our predicted liquid precip through Friday morning is about 0.29, and if that holds true and we see the 15-1 ratio, we could be seeing about 4 inches.

The latest trends on the models are showing the heaviest snow from around 11 AM until 4 PM. Road crews may have an extra challenge on keeping up with the falling snow during these hours.

Now obviously some areas will be in the lighter bands of snow and not see the full amount others will, so keep in mind 3-5" does not mean you will see the 5", you may only see the 3" and other areas seeing the heavier snow will be seeing the 5". Winds will not be as strong Thursday as what they will be Friday, where blowing and drifting snow will be a big problem.

Make sure to keep Dayton's News Source, ABC 22 and FOX 45, on all day tomorrow for all the latest. Travel safe, keep warm, and as always: Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Wednesday AM update on Thursdays's Snow
01/06/10

I will be updating this later today after looking at new and up to date data, but many people are wondering some basic questions, When, How Much, and Will There Be School?

When-As of the latest data, it looks to start as a light snow between 7 AM and 10 AM, Thursday. It will start in the western counties around 7 AM and work its way westward and should arrive in the eastern counties around 10 AM. The snow will linger through the day and be pretty persistent and start tapering down in the evening, with flurries remaining for Friday.

How Much-The snow will start out light and constant, and become fairly heavy especially in the afternoon. Within about 12-15 hours we will be dumped on, and with it coming within a short amount of time, it may cause a problem for road crews. Once all is said and done, I think about 2-4 inches by Midnight Thursday night. With us being as cold as we are, the snow to liquid ratio is higher than if we were warmer, so I think we may be a bit closer to the higher end of the 2-4, although some locations may still see that 2 inch reading on the ruler. With that said, some locations could be seeing a tad more than the expected snowfall totals, it just depends on where the heavier bands of snow seem to ride.

Will There Be School-Well a few schools may choose to delay school tomorrow to see how things shape up, but with a decent amount of snow in the afternoon, I wouldn't be surprised if some schools decide to have an earlier dismissal, so having a plan for your kids would be a good idea in case they are sent home before you expect. With winds 10-20 mph on Friday, drifing snow will be a very real problem. Depending on how the road crews tackle this problem, some schools may be off Friday as well. Keep it locked to ABC22 and FOX45 because Dayton's News Source will updates all morning tomorrow, including the only local newscasts from 7-9 AM.

On the backside, get ready for VERY VERY cold temperatures! Especially in the morning, low temperatures in the single digits.

Unrelated to the upcoming storm, but a little tidbit: I know it has been pretty cold and nasty the last few days, but I did keep warm pretty nicely yesterday in Darke County. I went home and helped my dad get more hay for our livestock. I have a truck and help them move the hay, and its always fun to see how many bales of hay we can stack on it. Yesterday we only did 31 bales at once just because we didnt want to overload on one trip and then come back and get a few remaining ones... I still think we could have done more, but my dad and brother said we would just come back... Anyways, despite the fact that it was 19 degrees the entire time, when you are out on the farm doing work, it isnt hard to keep warm.... Have a good one, and get ready with your snow shovels!! I will post an update later this afternoon.

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

More Snow on the Way!!
01/05/10

Thursday could be interesting here in the Miami Valley. Models have been pretty consistent and are showing a few inches around the area. Snow should start picking up in the morning hours and then start to taper off by the evening, so the snow could be coming down at a pretty good pace through the day. Plus we are looking to be pretty windy on Friday, so get ready for drifting snow.

Speaking of drifting snow, every time I shovel my driveway, it just drifts back over. Now that I do a lot of traveling on a daily basis, it is quite impressive how much more snow we have an hour north of Dayton. Most of it is due to the warmer temperatures they saw a few weeks ago, all of the snow melted in Dayton, but stayed on the ground up here in Shelby County. The side of my driveway has a two foot pile of snow along it from all the shoveling. My hopes are that I can get it to get a few more feet higher for a huge drift and then I can dig tunnels through it like my dad used to do with me back in Darke County as a kid. Goodtimes. Well I am off to help my father pick up some more hay for the livestock before the snow arrives, have a good one!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Cold tonight, snow tomorrow
01/03/10

Looks like another cold night tonight, although not quite as cold last night where many locations around the area dropped to only a few degrees above zero. My weather station at home dropped to a wind chill of -17. YIKES!!! Glad I was under a few extra blankets! Tonight it appears we will fall into the lower teens and hold steady with clouds building into the area and helping to keep us stable as far as the temps are concerned. Strong winds out of the Northwest from 10-15 mph will make things feel closer to zero, if not below at times, so bundle up!!

Snow will start developing overnight in the Northern Miami Valley and slowly work their way southward as we head towards and through the morning. Snow showers will be a little more widespread and numerous tomorrow afternoon. The computer models are showing about 1.5 inches to the far northern reaches of the Valley, and up to an inch for the southern part of the Valley. Another decent shot of snow looking to arrive late Thursday and Friday.... I will keep you posted on that... Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Nothing sounds good to eat....
01/02/10

Do you ever just get tired of eating the same old stuff???? I was going to try and be a little healthier, and get a Meijer sub and eat it dry. I don't know if they stopped making them or they were sold out, but no dice. So I was like, oh well and just bought my trail mix and Extra gum for my oral fixation. I was figuring it would be my excuse to get some fast food on the way home, but every fast food restaurant I passed just didn't sound good. Now I know there wasn't a whole lot of them, but the eight or so I passed, all sounded bad.... So I came back to the station and have been eating the trail mix.... I need to call Elaine from Seinfeld and ask her where I can get a "Big Salad" at around here. I just want something healthy. Then I called Dawn and we talked about how its so easy to eat unhealthily. I mean think about it... To go to a restaurant and get a "healthy salad" it would be like 6-9 bucks. And its just as easy to roll up to a restaurant and get a hamburger for a dollar.... Now I would have got a head of lettuce or something for here at the station, but its not like I have a kitchen to cut it up or anything.... So it looks like I will be a bit on the hungry side for the rest of the night, which I guess is better than gorging myself full of greasy unnecessary food... Maybe it has something to do with the cold temperatures. We only hit a high of 19 today.... Maybe Monday and Tuesday I will try to catch a flight to the island on LOST. Maybe Jin could make me some awesome sushi. Anyways, I am out, take care everyone, bundle up, and have a good one!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Let the Wintry Mix begin!!
12/30/09

Well parts of the area have seen a light dusting of snow, mainly to the North of Dayton, so far today. We have been in a dry lull the last three hours, but an area of convergence out to our west is pulling in a lot of moisture. We are below freezing in the northern part of the valley and above freezing to the south. So as you can imagine, the next 12-24 hours will be interesting because some areas to the north may see all snow, and some areas to the south may stay all rain until this time tomorrow when the cold air really punches into the area. All in all, the highest accumulations for the next 48 hours should be about one to two inches. Nothing major, but roads will be icy tomorrow night, keep that in mind as you are heading home from any festivities.

On a completely unrelated note, I am returning my brother his Sachs mopeds tomorrow. He gave it to me to get it back running after he almost put it into its grave. He didn't check the clutch and there was no fluid in there.... lucky it didn't blow on him. Then he also caught his birds nest of wires in the peddle and really did a number on those... So basically I had to do some rewiring, engine/clutch work, and also take his stock (cough cough) exhaust and clean out as much of the carbon out of it as possible to actually allow air to flow through it again. Anyways, it is running again, and I have to give it back. I am still waiting for the stator plate for my Sebring. I cant wait to get her running again, I look so big on her two beautiful wheels, but I still love every minute she runs.... Then my Tomos, I need a few piston rings and I should be able to get that back together after trying to piece the top end back together after it was seized.... Mopeds are a never-ending headache, but the reward of riding them is worth it...

Have a good one, see you back tomorrow to finish off my 14 day-16 shift stretch of working...

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

More snow on the way.
12/29/09

Hope you all had a happy and safe holiday! I have been super busy working the last few weeks straight along with a few double shifts.... Finally catching up on sleep and enjoying the sunshine, but things look to quickly change...

Cloudy Wednesday with snow arriving later in the evening. Right now only expecting a light accumulation, between a dusting and half an inch. Then it will switch over to a Rain/Snow mix for New Years Eve in the morning, then back to snow later that night. The northern Miami Valley will see more snow, and the south seeing more rain. Then frigid temperatures will be returning to the area for the late weekend and early next week. Right now wind chills look to be below zero, brrr!!!

Hope you got to catch my siblings on-air the last two days. Since my family lives in Darke County and they had a Level 1 Snow Emergency, I had them find snow drifts, and without me asking, went and stood right in the drifts to show how deep they actually were. Thanks guys!!

Travel safe in the days to come and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Snow on the way
12/26/09

So there wasn't any snow for Christmas morning, but at least we will be getting some tomorrow. The system that has been blanketing the Plains with Blizzard Warnings will cough a little moisture our way and we look to get a light accumulation. The latest models are showing that South of Dayton will see between 0.5" and 1" and then areas north of Dayton will see between 1" and 1.5" of snow before Monday morning, with a few spots seeing a little more to the far Northwest. Much of the snow will not arrive until later in the afternoon, starting in the Northwest and work its way to the Southeast slowly.

Take it easy on the roads, and send in your weather photos!! amichael@daytonsnewssource.com

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

It's here!!! Merry Christmas!!!
12/25/09

Another morning on the morning show, and today will turn out to be a special one... hope you tune in to find out. It will be special ALL morning, but especially from 8-9 AM.

It looks like light spotty rain for the day today, not a complete washout. Tonight the temps will fall below freezing and the rain will turn to snow. We will see light snow and flurries tonight, with a dusting at most by tomorrow morning. Light snow possible for tomorrow as well, but the best shot of snow will come on Sunday. We could see about 1-2" of snow, a few places could see a little more but most of us only seeing 1-2".

Snow then tapers off as we head into the last week of 2009, and snow holding off until later next week.

Well have a safe and happy holiday and see you back here soon!!!

0 days left!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Merry Christmas Eve!!!
12/24/09

A small batch of moisture, snow, moved over the western counties early today, most of the precip, but didnt hit the ground, evaporating instead. That will not be the case tonight as heavy rain is headed our way. The heavy rain will end tomorrow morning and a few remaining light showers will be around the area. Then the light showers will switch over to light snow showers or flurries for tomorrow night. We are still looking at about one inch, maybe slightly more, as we head through the weekend. Colder temperatures as we head into next week. Travel safe everyone!!!

1 day left!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Quick Update
12/23/09

Busy day today. Wintry mix this morning caused for a hectic commute for parts of the Miami Valley, As a matter of fact, the central part of the Miami Valley had a Winter Weather Advisory for several hours.

Tomorrow there is a less risk of the wintry mix, but still a slight chance as we see flurries switch over to rain showers for the late morning and early afternoon into evening. The rain will persist through the overnight hours and could be heavy at times. Christmas we will see scattered showers turning to flurries and snow showers as we head into the evening hours. The roads could see some re-freezing so keep an eye on the roads Christmas night. A lot of this will depend on how fast the roads dry, we will see pretty strong winds the next 48 hours. As we head into the weekend, temperatures will remain cold and we could see a light accumulation of snow, right now the models are looking around 1-2" of snow. I will be back on tomorrow with an update on the accumulation totals possible. Have a good one, travel safe, happy holidays and Merry Christmas!!

2 days left!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Morning snow only a tease of a White Christmas...
12/22/09

Well the light snow we saw this morning was only a tease... It would have been great it today was Christmas and waking up to a light snow falling.... nothing major to cause travel problems, but enough to make it pretty...

Unfortunately, the forecast doesn't have snow on Christmas morning. We will see a few flurries the next few days at times. On Christmas Eve we will be cold for most of the day, a few flurries at times, then by the evening, rain will arrive and last overnight. The rain could be heavy at times, so its a good thing Rudolph's nose will light the way. Rain will lingering, at times, through Christmas Day and switch back over to snow showers and flurries later Christmas evening. The snow will then remain around the area then for the rest of the holiday weekend. If you are traveling westward out to the Great Plains, get ready for very heavy snow!!

3 days left!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Crazy morning on the roadways.
12/21/09

Well the half an inch of snow we got last night was just enough to look pretty and people to think it was harmless, but caused major headaches, especially in Dayton. The wet roads that refroze and got that dusting of snow turned out to be a bad combination and accidents littered the highways. Parts of 35 going through town were shut down for several hours as salt trucks tried to get control of a few extra dangerous spots. Reports from other counties such as Darke County had vehicles sliding off the roadways so no where really in the Miami Valley saw decent roads this morning.

It is looking pretty dry for most of Christmas Eve, so any commuting on Thursday should be fine. Still expecting like flurries on Christmas Eve changing over to rain in the evening and remaining rain as we head into Christmas. It doesn't look to switch back over to snow until Christmas late afternoon or evening. As much as everyone wants a White Christmas, at least we wont have to deal with shoveling out of near blizzard conditions, which parts of the Central Plains could very likely see in the days to come.

Time to wrap presents!! 4 days left!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Christmas forecast finally getting pinned down
12/20/09

With the recent computer models and blogs on here, the Christmas forecast has been on the line. Finally the models are agreeing on the same track of the storm. Unfortunately for us, it does not mean a White Christmas, instead it is looking like a Wet Christmas. We could see a little snow to start things off on Christmas Eve, but things will warm up and change over to rain for overnight and into Christmas. Flurries and light snow showers will linger Christmas evening and overnight. Things could still change, but the models have been in agreement the last 24 hours, which normally means things will hold pretty close to the models. I will have updates here on Buck's Blog in the coming days just in case the track of the low changes and keeping an eye on things.

Well time to get ready for the evening news, then sleeping here at the station a few minutes, then back up for the morning show.... see you all this week in the mornings!!!

5 days left!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael.

We got our first "real" snow!!
12/19/09

By real, I mean seeing all white outside and actually able to measure it. We did get that dusting a few weeks ago, but was quickly melted and so light you couldn't actually measure it. With the temperatures warming up today above freezing and now back below freezing, any roads that are left untreated and less traveled will begin to ice over. Use caution because it may see wet and not icy, but then all of a sudden the wheels will feel like you are riding on marbles.

It looks like we will see a light dusting for Sunday night up to an inch of snow, nothing too major, but could still cause some slick spots for Monday morning.

For Thursday and Friday, we will be, once again, right on the line of the rain and the snow. The latest models are showing the system starting out as snow late Thursday, changing back over to rain overnight and into Christmas morning, then back to snow flurries Christmas evening.... If the system shifts 40 miles one way or another from its current track, it could be all rain or all snow... Very interesting system and will definitely bear watching in the coming days.

6 days left!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

A few changes to the upcoming systems...
12/18/09

The first system arriving tonight looks to hold together. Most of the area should see 1-2" with some isolated spots, mainly south and east of Dayton getting a little more. It should start this evening, maybe as a light sprinkle first then turn quickly to snow, and last through Saturday night. This will be the first accumulation of snow this season, so take it easy on the roadways, accelerate slowly and give yourself plenty of room to stop.

They next system clipping us on Monday will be staying a little farther to the north. We could still see a dusting or up to an inch of snow from Sunday night into Monday evening.

The biggest of the changes is coming with the system later next week. As I said yesterday the rain/snow line was very near our area. The last three models have indicated that we will be warmer than what they were showing yesterday. This means that instead of the Miami Valley seeing the first snow "storm" of the season, right now it is showing a lot of rain on Christmas Eve and temperatures getting near or into the 40's. This will melt a lot, if not all, of the snow on the ground from tomorrow and Monday. It will need to be watched closely in the coming days to see how the track of the storm progresses. I will say this, the fact that the models have not consistently been able to grasp the storm means that it still is a little to early to said without question whether it will be a snow or rain event. With that said, the latest of the models are showing rain on Christmas Eve and a few lingering snow showers and flurries for Christmas. I will update this frequently in the coming days, as always.

7 days left!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

White Christmas?
12/17/09

As it looks right now we will see about three rounds of winter weather before Jolly Ole St. Nick slides down the chimney. I will break down each of the storms.

The models are always changing, so make sure to check back in for an update on snow totals in the coming days.

First storm: Friday night until Sunday morning. This system has been fairly consistent in the recent models. It looks like most of the area will see at least an inch of snow. As of right now, a few locations could see 2 or 2.5 inches.

Second storm: Sunday night into Monday night. This system has been showing gradual building and strengthening. This system is showing an additional inch of snow in recent models.

We will see a cold break of high pressure for the middle of next week, but the third system, and strongest of the systems, looks to arrive later week. It should start Wednesday night and last through Christmas Day and into the weekend as flurries. With the fact that this system is so far out, models are still getting a grasp on it and have not been completely in agreement. The majority of the models have shown this as all snow. A few other models have shown this starting off as a wintry mix and then back to snow. If the system stays as snow, we could see several inches, giving us a White Christmas. If the system shifts gears at all, we could see this turn into a rain event, and greatly decrease our snowfall. It will need to be watched, but right now we are trending towards a White Christmas.... As always, check back on here to get an update on the predicted snowfall totals for the coming systems.

8 days left!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Anyone got directions???
12/15/09

Cuz I am LOST!!! That's right, I talked about LOST in my last blog and season three came on DVD yesterday, so it has basically been LOST non-stop since yesterday. Also got a new dryer yesterday because the last one was broken, and it takes half the time to dry the clothes now. I expect to see a decrease in my electric bill.

Update on the chance for snow this weekend... right now it is looking like we could see a light dusting over all of the area, but a few spots could see 1-2" of snow, coming up this weekend. It is still pretty far out to pin-point who will be seeing the most snow, if the system happens to switch angles it would drastically change the amount of snow. As always, I will be back on, in the coming days.... and as a sneak peek, next week looks cold, and we have a few more systems in the long range.... could we see a White Christmas??? You will have to check back in to see.... Have a good one!

10 days left!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

LOST!!!
12/13/09

So Dawn and I currently do not have the third season. We think it is at her parents house, and we have flew threw season one and two, but now we are moving at a much slower pace. It was so nice when it was on DVD and we could watch it while falling asleep, but now I have to take my laptop out to the living room and hook it up to the TV. The bedroom TV doesn't have the hook-ups for the laptop. So anyways, now we have to watch them on Hulu and wait for the ads to play and such.... time wasted... especially on the internet... Anyways, Amazon had a HUGE deal the other day. Season five came out on DVD last Tuesday, so Amazon was offering 70% off if you bought seasons one through five, and the price was the same, if not less, than if you bought two seasons. So we thought, ehh, why not get it and find a use for seasons one, two, and four. (Maybe Christmas gifts.) Haha.

Icy morning today in Sidney, looks like with temperatures dropping close to freezing again tonight and patchy fog forming, we could see a little black ice form in some of the colder locations. Not everywhere, but basically the normally cool spots. Warm for the afternoon on Monday though, close to 50 degrees. Then a cold snap Tuesday with a rain/snow mix. The end of the week could be interesting, possibly our first accumulation of snow for the season. I will keep you posted on that. Have a good one!

12 days left!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Keeping it close to home...
12/12/09

So for those of you who were out of town and didn't get to see my story on the Shelby County Community Christmas Dinner, here it is. It was amazing to see how many people came out for the event and got together to just have a good time. Anyone that wanted to come was welcome. The line wandered around three sides of the building (inside, so no waiting outside), and it was a record-setter with 1625 people served. It was a good time and I plan on returning again next year.

Looks like we could see a few pockets of freezing rain tonight. If anyone happens to catch any of it, email me and let me know, amichael@daytonsnewssource.com. Not everyone will see it because it will be widely scattered, but the good news is that by 7AM it all should be melted with temperatures warming through the night and rain showers through the morning. Have a good one!!

13 days left!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Another Cold Morning....
12/11/09

Now I love my dog, Buckeye, but taking him out at 2 AM with the winds about 20 mph, and the wind chills below zero is not fun at all... Luckily he doesn't like the cold either and doesn't waste time. I need to start getting back into the winter mindset while taking him out... Last year, I had a dedicated pair of hat and gloves. So far, I haven't done that just yet.

Wind chills right now are around zero across the area, but temps will fall slightly and winds will pick up, so the morning will have wind chills around zero, or slightly below. This afternoon, despite "warming" up into the upper 20's, it will feel like the teens, at best, with the winds remaining steady from 10-20 mph.

It is hard to believe that Christmas is only two weeks away!! I still need a little shopping for Dawn and our parents left to finish. I have all of my siblings taken care of, and they are normally the hardest to shop for.

Keep warm out there, and remember, only 14 days left!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Cold last 36 hours for me....
12/10/09

If you had the news on yesterday or today, I was on there for every newscast doing reports on the windy, cold conditions here in the Northern Miami Valley. We had wind gusts around 30 miles per hour during some of my reports, but that wasn't too bad. The bad part was when I was out this morning for four hours when the wind chill was below zero for most of the time. It dipped to 9 below zero a few times, brrrrr. I will say, it was a lot of fun going around with the mobile weather unit and monitoring the conditions. I look forward to continuing that when the weather warrants. I guess the good news is that DP&L was on top of the power outages and the few thousand people who did lose power during the day, had it restored very quickly due to the extra crews out in the field ready for problems with the 50+ mph gusts of wind some areas saw. I couldn't imagine trying to keep warm at home with no heat or electric on a night like last night.

So now that the ground is finally cold, it looks like the season of school delays due to snow and ice has begun. On the near horizon, it looks like the next week will remain pretty snow-free. The best chance is a wintery mix early Sunday morning. Other than that, just rain and flurries for the upcoming seven days.

Browns are playing tonight on NFL Network, which might not be a bad idea.... it just means that less people will be able to see how bad the Browns really are as a team. I am a fan, but things really need to change in Cleveland, they are just downright embarrasing and not even competing as a professional football team.

One good uplifting thing to look forward towards: 15 days left!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Quick one...
12/08/09

Getting ready to head to bed, might be called in early for the dangerous weather headed out way. Rain will persist through tonight and very strong winds through Wednesday night. In fact the entire Miami Valley will be under a High Wind Warning from 7 AM Wednesday until 1 AM Thursday. We could see sustained winds of nearly 30 to 40 mph and gusts close to 60 mph at times.

We will see the temperatures fall below the freezing mark during the afternoon tomorrow. Roadways that remain untreated could see ice starting to form, so as ODOT says: "Ice and Snow, Take it Slow." Things remain very cold for the rest of the week and when the temps fall, we could see a light dusting of snow. The big story will be the high winds and cold temperatures plowing into the area through the next 24 hours. Time for bed, take it easy!!

17 days left!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael.

So the snow stuck....
12/07/09

as I talked about in my last blog, and made it pretty slippery for the morning drive today. Countless people sliding off the roads and some even causing main arteries of traffic to be shutdown for the morning commute. The ODOT webcams on the morning show were a key part in not only showing the backed up traffic, but even placed in locations perfect to show a few of the actual accidents.

Tonight the wet roads will refreeze so keep an eye out for icy locations, especially on back country roads that are not salted. It is also a good reminder to get your vehicle prepared for the winter, I added about 30 concrete blocks to the back of my truck today, with Dawn's help, who was off using a vacation day. Also might want to add that ice scraper, brush, blanket, extra clothes, few bottles of water, a flare, or anything else you might need to hunker down in your vehicle for a while.

Update on the mid-week storm. We could see an icy mix to start things off Tuesday evening, it will turn over to rain for Tuesday night. Heavy rain at times will persist thru Wednesday morning, and then temperatures will plummet, and winds will start becoming VERY VERY strong. We are talking about sustained winds about 30 miles per hour with gusts close to 50 at times. There will not be a lot of moisture on the backside of the storm when the temperatures drop into the twenties for highs on Thursday and Friday. We could see another dusting or maybe a light accumulation. Too far out to pin-point how much, but I'll be back on in the coming days, as always with updates.

18 days left!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Frigid Mornings=Good News for Snow-Lovers
12/06/09

With the last couple of mornings down into the teens, it might upset some people who do not like to cold, but for those who like the snow, it is a blessing in disguise. The ground recently has been too warm for the snow to stick, but the ground finally has cooled below the freezing level at the surface. If temperatures remain cold it will freeze the ground farther down, under the surface of the earth, and enhance our chances for snow to stick.

One side note, on the way home from Canton yesterday, after Alter's win, a kid, about 7 years old, pulled up next to me on the highway and held up an Alter hat for me to see. It made me smile and I gave him a thumbs up.

Interesting system moving our way for the middle of this week, should start as a wintery mix Tuesday night, rain for early Wednesday, and then switching back over to flurries or snow showers Wednesday night and early Thursday. I will keep an eye on it, in the days to come, with updates on here.

19 days left!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

From Canton, Good Morning!!
12/05/09

Getting ready for the Alter game here in Canton!! Hopefully it will be as energy packed as I am hoping for. We got your entire exclusive coverage coming up tonight on Dayton's News Source, and I will update my blog later with all the updates on the behind the sidelines action!!

Looks like its going to be a cold one, 24 degrees here currently!!

20 days left!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Gooooood Evening from Canton!!!
12/04/09

I will say this first and foremost: Way to go Coldwater, you really played as best as you could, and you should be proud.

Second of all, it was cold tonight!! I am still wearing my long johns as I write this!! That's right, I admit it, it was a cold game!! Luckily though, no snow or rain, only clear skies. Anyways it was a cold night in Canton.

So I got to Canton about 1:30 and the kick off wasn't until about 3:00, so I decided to shoot some video of the Coldwater fans tailgating and having "breakfast." Within about thirty seconds of starting to shoot the video they drug me into the tent and started shoving food at me.... I then only requested some caffeine because I knew it was going to be a long day. I started to drink the Mountain Dew, which never tasted so good, when the MC of the tailgate came up to me with a heaping plate of food. Now to let you know, I just finished a "Five Dollar Footlooooooong" from Subway, so I was pretty much stuffed. When they brought me the plate, one of the senior moms took my camera and drink away from me so I had two hands to eat my food..... Needless to say, I had to eat the food, and it was DELICIOUS!!! So I ate as much as I humanly could, and I mingled with the Coldwater fans before the game, and got some video of the kids Coldwater playing football on the "Hall of Fame" football field, and finally had to part ways to go into the stadium to try to get ready for the football game.

Once inside, I got my credentials and headed to the media room on the field level, under the stands, which was a 12 by 12 room with lockers and a 7 foot ceiling beneath the fans, a random Reebok football cleated shoe, and two tables for us to work on... Needless to say, it felt like home!! Seriously!! I set up my editing station inside and talked with some of the newspaper photogs there, and finally headed out for the game....

Stepping onto the field, the bitter windchill hit you in the face reminding you that it is December here in Ohio. Coldwater came out strong and scored the first points, but YU (Youngstown Ursuline) responded just as strong. The defense of YU tore apart Coldwater because if there was one missed route or one missed pass, YU was there to gain on the play. Coldwater did one HECK of a job playing tough. Coldwater honestly NEVER gave up. Even in the last seconds when they were down by 30 points, I remember Coach John Reed yelling out at them to get the play off with less than a minute left in the game. I know they did not get the rings and didnt get what they were hoping for, but to any of you Coldwater players, you should be proud of what you have accomplished this year. You represented the MAC and Western Ohio!! We are proud of you and all you have done!!

So then after the game, I got to talk to John Reed, Head Coach of Coldwater, and QB Keith Wenning, as well as a few of the mothers of the Coldwater Seniors, including the kind mother, Bev Sanning, who held my camera and Mt. Dew. The team let the parents come into the locker room after the game and almost every single parent coming from the locker room was chocked up with sadness, but still proud of how their team did this season. Coldwater has overcame a lot of obstacles this season, but still came out as the second best team in all of the State of Ohio, hats off to you!!!

21 days left!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Packing up my bags.....
12/04/09

Heading off to Canton for the State Finals for high school football. Both games will be in Canton, Coldwater today at 3 PM and tomorrow at 11 AM Alter is playing. Make sure to tune in tonight starting at 6PM on ABC 22 for complete coverage including post game reactions. I will also be blogging from Canton later today, so expect a few more updates on here. To anyone else planning on making the trip, BUNDLE UP!!! Wind chills today will be below freezing, dipping down into the lower 20's at times for today's and tomorrow's game. Have a good one!

21 days left!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

What's That Falling?????
12/03/09

I hope you enjoyed the title as much as I did...

Snow vs Sleet vs Freezing Rain vs Rain vs Rain/Snow Mix

Most people have a hard time understanding the difference between the forms of precipitation, so this will be a little tutorial because it is pretty basic and easy to understand.

There are two main set-ups for the various forms of precipitation: Cold Air Under Warm Air & Warm Air Under Cold Air. I built two graphics to help demonstrate the proper atmospheric conditions for each to occur.

Lets start with the Cold Air Under Warm Air. No matter if is winter or summer, you will find snow in the clouds that are producing any form of precipitation. Starting on the left: you need air that is below or at freezing, 32F, for snow to fall. This way there is no thawing of the snow as it falls from the clouds to the earth. Moving toward the right: The next form of precipitation on the ground is Sleet. The snow falls through a layer or warm air, melts and turns into liquid rain. The rain then falls back into the cold air and refreezes as sleet, or little solid ice pellets. These will bounce off your coat if you are outside in the elements. Continuing right: the third form of precip on this diagram is freezing rain. Many people find it hard to understand freezing rain, so I will try to be very specific. The snow from the clouds melts in the warm air and turns into liquid rain. It falls ALL THE WAY down to the earth as rain, but as you can see, it drops back into the cold air. There is NOT enough time for the rain to refreeze into sleet, so when the liquid rain comes in contact with the ground, grass, or your coat, it instantly freezes into ice. The surface that it is comes in contact is actually below the freezing mark, so once it stops falling and touches it, it begins to freeze immediately. For freezing rain to form, the temperature at the surface has to be at or below 32 degrees. If it is above 32F and rain does not freeze on contact with the surface it is NOT freezing rain. The fourth and final form of precip all the way on the right is rain. The snow will fall from the clouds, melt in the warm air, and stay as a liquid all the way to the ground because it does not encounter any air below 32F.

Now on to Warm Air Under Cold Air. We just finished talking about rain, which is on the left of this diagram, and as you can see, the snow melts into rain. The rain/snow mix occurs very near the Melting Level. When the Melting Level is very close to the surface, you can see that this is where you get the Rain/Snow mix to actually fall to the earth. When there is too much warm air, it melts all the snow into rain, but if the distance is just right, you can get the rain/snow mixture. Then as you can see on the far right, when you get completely freezing air, you get snow all the way from the clouds to the surface of the earth.

Hopefully this helped clear a few questions up for you, and help you better understand the different forms of precipitation that we will be seeing in the coming months. If you have any questions at all, feel free to comment on this blog because it will send me an email, and I can help you better understand.

22 days left!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Update on our current storm...
12/02/09

As I start off this blog update, I made a map diagram to better explain our system that we are seeing.... right here. This image is at 10 PM December 2nd. The low is currently located over Louisville, KY with the cold front draped just to our west. The single big arrow shows where the low will move out front of the cold front. It will move through before the cold air behind the cold front from the west arrives. As you can see the majority of the moisture is in ahead of the cold front. There is a little moisture behind it near the Ft. Wayne area, but the cold front will be moving eastward slower than the low. So basically we will see the cooler air from the south before the really cold air arrives. Thus our temperatures will not be cold enough for any accumulation of snow. Had there been more moisture behind the cold front, AND the cold front came through about 6 hours earlier, we could have seen a light accumulation of snow, but as you can see there had to be a lot of things perfect for that to happen.

These systems that come from the south, as this one is, are our normal "big snow" set-ups. The systems ride up the back side of the Appalachian Mountains, and use the mountains as a bumper, kinda like bowling. If we have seen cold weather long enough, like January and February, then we could have seen a very nice snow amount, as long as we aren't in the warm sectors. As for the clipper systems that swing in from Canada, well, they normally bring a much more blast of cold air, but they tend to be a little drier, and not bringing the moisture like the gulf systems.

It is still very early in the winter storm system season, so have no fear if you are wanting snow, we still could get a few flurries tomorrow. Northwestern counties could see it first, but the roadways should be pretty decent for the morning... the temperatures should remain above freezing until the afternoon. Meaning chances of things icing up should hold off until the later commute, and by then the windy conditions should dry up the roadways faster than normal.

On a side note, I made pulled pork sandwiches tonight. Dawn said it was the best thing she had eaten. Hope so, took a long time in the crock pot, then had to pull it all apart.... looking forward to eating the leftovers tomorrow. Have a good one!!

23 days left!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Winter still is a few weeks away....
12/01/09

And it looks like the chance to see any snow has greatly diminished on Thursday. The system showed a few model runs earlier in the week with the cold air and moisture mixing, but now by the time the cold air arrives, there is no moisture left. The only thing left will be a few light flurries... I am not going to lie, I was kinda looking forward to seeing an inch or two of snow to help everyone get into the holiday spirit, but as the title says, winter doesn't officially start for a few weeks. Needless to say, the ground would have been really warm, and even if we did get snow this week, it wouldn't have lasted long on the ground. Oh well, that is why we have January and February right?

24 days left!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Hurricane Season comes to an end.
11/30/09

Well today marks the end of the Hurricane Season for 2009. A pretty quiet year, if I would say so myself.... Only eleven named storms, as you can see below... and only three of the storms were even a Cat. Pretty quiet year in the Atlantic, however the Eastern Pacific was twice as active as the Atlantic. There were a lot of factors playing into the lack of storms to our east, a lot strong upper level winds, and slightly cooler than average water temperatures.

Atlantic named storms for 2009:

#	Name	Date	Wind	Pres	Cat
1	Tropical Depression ONE	28-29 MAY	30	1006	-
2	Tropical Storm ANA	11-17 AUG	35		-
3	Hurricane-4 BILL	15-24 AUG	115		4
4	Tropical Storm CLAUDETTE	16-18 AUG	45		-
5	Tropical Storm DANNY	26-29 AUG	50		-
6	Tropical Storm ERIKA	01-04 SEP	50	1004	-
7	Hurricane-3 FRED	07-12 SEP	105	958	3
8	Tropical Depression EIGHT	25-26 SEP	30	1008	-
9	Tropical Storm GRACE	05-06 OCT	60	986	-
10	Tropical Storm HENRI	06-08 OCT	45	1005	-
11	Hurricane-2 IDA	04-10 NOV	90		2

Back home, we are keeping an eye on the storm system coming from the south, which will be arriving Wednesday into Thursday. Yesterday the models were showing that the storms system would be bringing cooler air in sooner, and resulting in the first possibilites of accumulation snow this season. The models have slowly been trending toward the warmer temperatures lingering a little longer, and resulting in more rain, before the initial switch over to snow. The latest models are showing the switch over to snow overnight Wednesday night and currently showing a very light accumulation or possibly just a light dusting. The difference between one and two degrees can mean the difference between the rain/snow transition being bumped a few hours one way or the other.... Needless to say, on the back side of this storm, we will see our coldest temperatures of the season, and making it hard to even get above freezing for Thursday and Friday. It is a touchy system, and as always I will be on here daily with a blog update on it... Until then, take it easy and have a good one!!

25 days left!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Beautiful Day!!
11/28/09

What a COLD morning today, my weather station, in Sidney, showed a low of 25.5 this morning!! BRRRR!! I stayed in bed most of the morning and enjoyed a little peace and quiet while watching several episodes of LOST. Things warmed up this afternoon with all of the sunshine and southwesterly winds. By the afternoon, temps were in the 50's so I walked over to the park and shot some hoops. It was a little breezy and that is my excuse why so many shots didn't get into the hoop. Most of my shots were right on as far as aim, but the distance was a little touchy, most of the time it hit off the back of the rim and came right back to me...

Tomorrow looks to be a lot of the same as today, at least to start the day. We will see more clouds and rain arrive for later Sunday. The entire game, Cleveland @ Cincinnati, should be dry and sunny. Hopefully the Browns can get a second win. Back to the weather, we will cool things down for next week, especially late into the week... Highs looking like they will be in the mid 30's.

Oh yea, forgot to mention, I was at the entire Coldwater football game last night, where they secured their spot in the game for State. The state game is this coming Friday, and as of the last I heard, I will be making the trip to the Canton area for that. I look forward to seeing another high energy game like last night. It was amazing how much time the Coldwater QB had in the pocket..... He could have taken a phone call while waiting to throw the ball, seriously. Great game Cavs!! Best of luck!!

27 days left!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Happy Thanksgiving Morning!!!
11/26/09

Early morning for myself, filling in for Mike Terwilleger who is getting ready for the Feast of Giving. I did the weather last night at 10 and 11, tried to sleep at the station, but just couldn't, maybe to excited for the holidays... who knows.... haha... Anyways, I will be down at the Dayton Convention Center joining Mike and Jeff later this morning, and excited to see all the thousands of people coming out for the festivities. I will be there for the morning, then heading up to my grandmother's for another great thanksgiving dinner. I cant wait for her famous sweet corn.

An update on our current weather system bringing us a chance for flurries. The clouds cleared away this morning which allowed temps to plummet to the freezing mark for parts of the area. We should stay dry for the rest of the morning and early afternoon. Currently tracking a band of moisture by Chicago now that will be swinging our way for this evening. If it holds together and does not lose its moisture, that will be our best shot of seeing flurries this evening. The computer models are showing it holding together and it arriving around 5 PM or so. With the temperatures so cold because of the clear skies, we may actually see a few more snowflakes than rain drops in the mix. The pavement over the ground will be pretty warm and the snow will melt almost instantly, but keep an eye out on the bridges and overpasses, where it will get icy first. The flurries will linger through part of the night, and into your Black Friday morning. I will be back in all morning tomorrow to keep you up to date if you are heading out for any great deals. Time to get ready to do the forecast, have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!! Hope to see you at the Feast of Giving.

29 days left!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

LOST
11/25/09

So last night I started something that is going to be hard to stop, LOST. I am a huge fan, and it was decided last night to pop in the DVD from season one in preparation of the final season coming in early 2010 on ABC. The show is so amazing and so horrible at the same time. While watching it you sit there on the edge of your seat while Jack, Kate, Sayid, and the other 47 original survivors try to cope with life after crashing on the island. You sit in complete silence and bogglization of the mind. Then when the commercial comes on, you are like, WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!?!?! You complain about how lost you are and how you have five new questions since the last commercial break and how you hate the show because you have no idea what is going on. Then as soon as the commercial ends, you wave your hands and yell at everyone to shut up because its back on. The cycle will continue forever; its a complete and definite love-hate relationship.

So an update on the flurries heading our way. We are tracking a few light rain showers moving in from Indiana currently. We could see a few light showers early on Thanksgiving, but the afternoon should dry up a bit, then a few flurries possible as we head into the evening tomorrow night. The flurries might mix with a few rain drops on Friday, but if you are heading out Friday morning, bundle up for wind chills that feel like the upper teens at times. If you aren't a fan of snow, don't worry, there will not be enough flurries of snow to really cause too many problems; it should be melting away just about as fast as it falls.

30 days left!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Foggy morning.
11/24/09

Busy morning for me today!! We has some pretty thick fog and actually a Dense Fog Advisory for most of the Miami Valley, mainly to the North. Anyways, Dawn already took the day off because she has ten vacation days she has to use up before the end of the year. So she came along with me as I did reports on the foggy conditions. We first started out in Sidney then up to Anna were visibilities were just under a mile at both locations. We then started heading to southern Darke County where the first delays started coming in. Minster was on the way and things weren't very bad there, about three miles visibility. Versailles was next and visibility was about a half mile or slightly under,which was bad enough to warrant a two hour delay. Ansonia was next, and the fog had started lifting and we had about two or three miles visibility, so we pushed on to Greenville. It was pretty easy to see the fog lifting in Greenville, the cell phone towers could be seen for the first one hundred feet off the ground, then instantly disappeared into the cloud deck, showing how things slowly were lifting. From there we went to Arcanum, which had the worst visibilities of the morning. It was about a quarter of a mile if not lower at times, so easily the worst conditions of the morning. Needless to say, I was pretty tired after all of that reporting this morning, but it was a lot of fun doing reports from all the communities on the weather.

So an update on the first taste of winter we are going to get later this week. Right now it looks like we will see a few light rain showers tonight and early tomorrow morning. Then things will continuously be getting cooler as we head through the day tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday. We will still see a break in the rain tomorrow afternoon, but rain should start back up on Turkey Day. The rain on Thanksgiving will be very light and widely scattered. By the time we head into the evening, we could see a few flurries mixing in. By Friday morning, looking like all flurries switching to a rain/snow mix for Friday afternoon, then drying things out for the weekend.

Time to do some laundry, have a good one!! 31 days left!!

Best,

Andrew Buck Michael

Using my imagination...
11/23/09

So, as I have told you on here, my neighbor has Christmas decorations he has been collecting for years and years, so I basically decided I just have to accept having the "other" house on the street. However, I did get pretty innovative. I had three strands of lights left, still in the boxes, and I was trying to think of the best way to use them. So I decided to try and make a Christmas tree in the front yard. I took a five foot PVC pipe, put it into ground standing up and ran the lights up at an angle to it is in the shape of a cone...

So an update on our chances to get snow later this week. The latest models keep trending on less precipitation. First off, let me say this, there will be no accumulation with this system, the ground isn't cold enough yet, and there isn't enough moisture with this system. The cold air will not arrive until late in the day on Thanksgiving. Until then, we could see a light rain shower Tuesday night, and then again Wednesday night and into Thanksgiving. These will be pretty light showers. Then things will get cold through the day Thanksgiving, so the warmest temperature will be early in the morning, and continue getting colder as the day progresses. Once we hit the late afternoon and early evening places like Mercer County could see the first of the flurries. It may not be until early Friday morning before places to the south, like Clinton County, see any flurries. These will be light flurries and at most, although we could see a light dusting on cars, grass, and mulch. Friday a few rain drops and flurries can be expected, switching back to all flurries on Friday night and maybe lingering a little into early Saturday morning.

Be back on tomorrow with another update, until then, have a good one!! 32 days left!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Browns can't catch a break!!
11/22/09

So it was just another unfortunate day for the Browns. They did actually look like a real team today, and scored several touchdowns, but then again, they were playing the Lions. The Browns defense seemed a little lax today and did not seem to play as tight as normal. We did finally get the ball moving on offense, so hopefully they will learn how to do that the rest of the season.

So an update on the winter storm coming this week. Still looking like we could see a flurry or two early Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, but the best chance will be later that night and into Friday. Here is how the week looks to shape up... We will see a slight chance for a stray shower for Monday, but that wont cool us down too much. Our first punch of cool air will come Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. This will be bringing a chance for rain showers, but we should dry things out for Wednesday afternoon. The second punch of cold air will come then on Thursday. The rain should start late Wednesday night and, like I said, maybe a flurry or two mixed in with the rain that morning, turning to on and off rain showers for Thanksgiving. The rain looks to be pretty light, and then that evening we could see it switch to a light wintery mix and then to almost all snow flurries on Friday morning. Friday during the afternoon we could see a few rain drops mix in before finishing things off Friday as flurries.

With the ground still very warm, no snow will be sticking to the pavement, and at best, we would see just a dusting on the grass or mulch in our yards. Regardless, it should definitely kick up the holiday spirit, especially for those going shopping on Black Friday. Unfortunately I will be working and doing the morning show. Well, I guess its not that unfortunate, I love doing the morning show with Kylie and Pete. I normally am laughing the entire four hours we are doing the news because its a good time. However, I think we will have to spice things up that morning so we can get the feeling of all the craziness that will be going on with all the shoppers. I haven't been out shopping on Black Friday for a few years. Hmmmm....

I will be back tomorrow with an update on the approaching snow. Anyways, 33 days left!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Go Buckeyes!!
11/21/09

So I will say this about today's game, if Tate Forcier played as well as he normally did, today's game might not end up the same way. It was the worst I have seen him play all season long. As to not gloat and hurt Michigan's fans' feelings anymore, all I will say is GO BUCKS!!

So, on the horizon it looks like we will be getting our first "taste" of winter weather on Thanksgiving. I hope you all have your ice scrapers, especially those of you heading out to the sales on Black Friday. Things, right now, to be a wintery mix later this week, switching over from rain to the mix sometime Thanksgiving and maybe even a mix still lingering into Friday. With these winter systems it always is very touchy to predict what kind of precipitation will be falling because the freezing temperature is 32. If you happen to be just slightly above or below that, it will mean the difference between rain and snow, respectfully. I will keep an eye on the situation all week and be back for updates. Have a good one!!

34 days left!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

I have been upstaged....
11/19/09

So as I was heading into work today, my neighbor was out putting up his final decorations for Christmas... I know I mentioned him before, but his lights have been left off as he slowly has been putting them up the last few weeks, and today he really brought out all he could... Dawn called me and said she could see a glow in the sky when she got off the highway in Sidney.... There is little I could do to match his decorations. There were years and years of constant collecting of decorations. I think I counted about 5 or more Santas, about 6 or more Frostys, and a lot of reindeer. I think the only thing I could do to match it is to actually have real life reindeer in my yard. Don't know how Dawn would feel about that. But regardless, I am glad I have neighbors who are completely in love with the holiday spirit.

On a separate and completely unrelated note, I am going to Althea Harper's family's home tonight to be there to see if she won Project Runway. The viewing party should be a lot of fun, too bad I didn't know sooner I was going, I would have tried to be a little more fashionable, than just a shirt, tie, and sweater vest. Best of luck Althea!!

Sweater vests---I am a huge fan of them. I have been told I look like Mr. Rogers because of it, but I still like them. They add a little class when wore properly and also add a little suave to someone's appearance. I think Althea should come out with a line of sweater vests and call them Buck Vests. I am literally laughing out loud here in the newsroom. But I think that it will be huge hit!!! That is one thing that will be on my Christmas list.

Anyways, got to get ready to head out the door. 36 days left!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Thanksgiving is right around the corner...
11/18/09

So, Thanksgiving Day is less than 7 days away!! Man does time fly!! I love Thanksgiving because it normally involves going to my grandmother's house in Arcanum and enjoying her feast she prepares only three times a year. It is a lot of fun and pretty quiet because there are only about twelve to fifteen of us all together.

This year, I may be a little late due to the Feast of Giving at the Convention Center that morning... I am sure my grandmother will keep it warm, or at least make me a few plates of food. Grandmothers never let their grand-children go hungry... EVER!! But I am excited about the Feast of Giving because it sounds like a lot of fun.

So I need to talk about the Browns.... normally a team coming off a bye week will do pretty well.... I cant tell if the Browns did well or not. Lebron James said he could play for them... wouldn't that be a sight to see. I really am getting depressed as a Browns fan because they just cant seem to do ANYTHING on the field offensively. I guess we will have to wait to see how the rest of the season goes, and then see how management reacts to our poor season.

37 days left!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Not for the sqeamish....
11/15/09

So if you do not like the sight of blood or anything of the such, you may want to skip to another entry.... I happened to do a little damage to my right pointer finger.

This actually happened last night. It was a normal night, getting ready to go on-air, and putting on my makeup. I was reaching in my bag to get my foundation. For those of you who didn't know, yes, we have to wear makeup because if we didn't the lighting would make us look like a ghost, and a glistening ghost, at that. So I was reaching into my back and I couldn't get this small glass bottle of foundation in the bottom because my finger was being blocked my something... So I pushed harder and put more weight behind it. It turns out I was pushing against my razor, and the razor's plastic blade cover had fallen off. Needless to say, I had a lot of "red stuff" coming from my finger. So much, in fact, that I couldn't even see the actual cut. So I cleaned it up, and then bandaged it up as well as I could.

Then I got home and my finger was still throbbing at 1 AM, so I took off the bandage. Luckily the pressure from the bandage cut off the bleeding, but apparently I didn't only cut my skin, but I had pushed so much, it sliced my finger nail.... not just grazed it, but cut clear through it and sliced the right third of my finger nail. Needless to say, it hurts, A LOT!! No pills or pain medicine, not really a big fan of medications. There really isn't anything to sew up, so I just make sure I keep it clean and got to wait and see if the nail will heal itself or just have to wait until it grows all the way out.... Oh, and yes, I took the razor out of the bag...

On a lighter note, great weather today!! Most of us seeing nice dry, all be it, cloudy weather. But at least it was still in the low 60's. We will only be topping out in the mid 50's at best next week, with rain as well, so I hope you got out and enjoyed it while you could!!

Have a good one!! 40 days left!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Men like flowers too...
11/14/09

Especially if they are roses and you are in any way associated with the Ohio State Buckeyes. We knew we didn't have a shot at making it into the National Championship after losing to USC and Purdue, so next best thing..... Rose Bowl. I didnt get to watch much of the game, only a little bit of the end when I got into the weather center, but good game from what I saw.

It looks like we will be seeing a big change in weather coming up... It has been unseasonably warm the last few weeks and sunny for the most part. It looks like there will be a system to our west for the next week. We will be seeing a lot of clouds the upcoming week. The system looks to be brushing up against our western counties as of right now, but the models keep trending it farther eastward... If it keeps with that trend we could see a better chance of rain, but as of right now, only about a 20% chance, at best, for the next few days straight. Western counties should be seeing the best chances of rain.

Time to get ready for the ABC News at 11, or as soon as the ND/PITT football game is over...

Have a good one! 41 days left!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Chirp, Chirp, Chirp....
11/12/09

Good early morning!! I am all alone this morning, Buckeye is at the groomer this morning. He was a little nervous but the kind groomer gave him a little better treatment since he can't see anything. That gave me a free morning to go for a good run. Dawn called and said that fog was super thick north of Sidney on her way to Lima, but here in Sidney it was sunny, and very frosty. It took me about fifteen minutes to get all the frost of the windows when I was taking Buckeye downtown. I cant remember ever seeing frost that thick, ever. Anyways, she said she even saw a few flurries getting squeezed out on her frosty, foggy commute.

Anyone catch me at the Sugarcreek Bird Farm? The birds did not like the camera. Paula, the owner said they saw it as some sort of danger and boy did the birds start getting loud when I entered the room with the camera! They would act very sly and slowly move as far away from the camera as their cages allowed, and then started getting pretty loud. It was pretty fun though, and the birds were actually a lot friendlier than what I thought going in because by the time I was leaving they were walking up to me on the ground to check out my shoes.

Anyways, I just got done with my morning run and now cooling off and getting ready to jump in the shower, but thought I would jump on here and check in. Well I hope you have a great day!!

43 day left!!

Best,

Andrew Buck Michael

Ever went spelunking?
11/10/09

So it seems like its been a while since I have been on here. I haven't been around a computer in a long time, or so it feels. I was pretty busy last week doing some extra work and such. Friday was a fun day with it being the first week of high school playoff football. I went to the Trotwood game and watched Trotwood really lay it on. Then Saturday,I watched some NCAA football before heading down to do the weather. We have had such GREAT weather the last few days it was hard to stay inside. So then Sunday, I was assigned to get highlights of the Bengals game and also get post game with the players. It was a very unique experience to be right there with all of these world class athletes, Rey Maualuga even came up and gave me a high five.

So then Monday finally came, which is my Saturday. Dawn and I normally don't have the same day off, but luckily we did this week, so we went to Ohio Caverns and went spelunking through the caves which was a fun little 2 hour excursion. Then we came back and ate lunch at The Spot. The onion rings and Big Buy are a perfect combo!! Then we went and played basketball at the park right across the street from where we live. We were horrible,especially with the wind. We tied in two games of HORSE. Then we went back and watched V for Vendetta. If you haven't seen this movie, I highly recommend it. We finished off the night by going to Wal-Mart because it is the cheapest place to get Buckeyes food. We also got a timer for the Christmas lights, and two snow shovels for what I hope is a snow-free winter, haha. No, I'm kidding, I love snow!

Today, I didn't do a whole lot because I forgot to tell you, I threw my back out sometime I think it might be the Bengals game because we had to carry about 75 pounds of gear about a mile to and from the stadium. Anyways, today I got out of bed and could hardly walk. Every time I would put one foot in front of the other it would shoot a shot of pain up my back. So I took a few Motrin to try to help it and decided that exercise would help. Having that said, Buckeye and I just got back in from going to the park. I let him off the leash and ran around after him for about fifteen minutes. Then I punted the ball up into the air for about thirty minutes. Jon Scott, my old friend would make fun of me for that. He always said he didn't understand how I would play tennis against a wall by myself of practice on my soccer skills alone, but trust me, if you can catch a horrible punt that goes about sixty feet into air wobbling every which way, it will help you down the line. Haha, anyways, time to clean up a little bit and get ready for work tomorrow. Have a good one!!

Oh yea, real fast, Luke Marshall, my friend went with the Colts. I figured this would happen because his wife is a Colts fan. He tried to throw me off by putting on a Browns coat at first, then his wife stormed off, and he came back a few minutes later wearing all Colts apparel. Mocking my team was not appreciated, LUKE!!

45 days away!!!

Best,

Andrew Buck Michael

Playoffs are here...
11/06/09

And so the playoffs begin, at least for high school football. I will be going to the Trotwood game tonight and am very excited that the weather will be decent,with warmer temperatures and the best part: DRY!! It has rained the majority of the seasons games, and thankfully, that wont be the case tonight. Also covering playoff girls soccer tomorrow afternoon with Wayne playing against Centerville. I covered the games on Wednesday night, and I really think it will be a close came. It seemed like Centerville was more of a persistent team with many shots on the goal more often. Wayne however was very high paced, and when they broke free and started heading towards the goal then it was light speed ahead and hard for the defense to keep up. With all of that said, I will be shooting highlights the whole game and am very excited to see who wins, and who moves on to state.

So I mentioned my friend, Luke, is deciding who his new favorite team will be today. I along with some friends think we know who he is going to choose. He has narrowed it down to three teams: Bengals, Colts, and Browns. He used to be a Bengals fan, and then stopped a few years ago. Now he is married and his wife is a big Colts fan. The reason he said he needs to decide is because right now he doesn't have an official favorite team and he needs to settle on a team put his full heart behind for the rest of his life.I will be sure to update you on his choice and his reasons. While I wouldn't be surprised with any of his decisions, I am interested in seeing who his long-term choice will be

It is crunch time for my fantasy team. This week I am playing Nathan Baker's team and he has been on a roll. My team last week was barely beat out, thanks to Aaron Rogers putting up a few last minute touchdowns against my team. The majority of the league is all tied in the middle with records, so we all are fighting to make it to the playoffs in the coming weeks. The toughest choice I have had the last few weeks is starting either Favre or Romo. It seems that when Romo should do good, he doesn't and the same with Favre. Luckily I got a solid ground game, but my WRs are pretty weak with the exception to Reggie Wayne. Anyways, good game this week, I will keep you updated on that as well.

I hope you got to see the story I did on Paranormal Activity. The movie has been given so much hype lately for being made for such a low price. A lot of people are saying that it is the scariest movie they have ever seen, however a few disagreed. I guess it depends on your scare trigger. Anyways, if you missed the story on-air last night, check it out. Hope you enjoy it.

OH!!! By the way,so my neighbor here in Sidney started putting up his Christmas lights and as much as I like Christmas, he completely out did me so far. He even put up the decorations for his neighbors place at his duplex. I talked to Dawn, and this was her idea of what we should do instead. While I thought it was funny, I didn't laugh So I got to try to plan out what to do, I mean I still have extra lights in the garage, and I cant be outdone.. Dawn would disagree and tell me to just do her idea, but I love Christmas too much to mock someone during the most spirited season of the year.

49 days left!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

All systems are go!
11/04/09

So as I mentioned in my last blog, I had to mow the grass on Monday, in November. Not a problem, just kind of a letdown that it isn't cold enough yet for the grass to stop growing. But it wasn't a big deal and actually it was kinda fun because I raked all the leaves to the back yard, and then proceeded to shred them to pieces in the mower so that way it would help fertilized the grass for next season. Now when you look at the back yard, you can't even tell that ALL of the leaves from the tree are still there They filled all the cracks in between the grass and such, and hopefully they appreciated the gesture for next seasons growth Who are we kidding? Its grass!

Then Monday afternoon, I made a video about the Browns and their history in Cleveland. My friend, Luke, is deciding on what team he is going to go with as his new favorite team for the rest of his life. I knew many of my other friends would take a very persuasive path and try to pressure him. By being pressured into a certain decision, is that really the best way? Told him the Browns aren't your normal team and they are hard to just jump on-board with. They have a very rich and painful history. While they were the first undefeated and untied team in professional football history, only matched by the '72 Dolphins, they also have had a lot of heartache. So anyways, I made the video for him, and others, to learn a little about the Browns.

Tuesday morning was met with a lot of laundry and cleaning. For some strange reason Buckeye HATES the vacuum. Even when I take it out of the hallway closet, he can hear the sound of the plastic wheels and me taking the cord off of the side. He just starts running around in circles barking until he loses his voice. Needless to say, I try to vacuum as fast as possible to end the pain and torture, for both of us. It is so funny though, because as you know,he cant see anything, but he can smell the dust on the vacuum that it tossed up last sweeping, and he knows when it is time to start howling away for ten minutes. Maybe it has something to do with the vacuum being loud for him or whatever, I dunno, but he gets through it.

Then Tuesday afternoon was filled with lots of planning and construction. As I mentioned, Dawn bought me a weather station and we have been debating on the best way to actually mount it to get accurate readings. So we decided to try to mount the appropriate sensors, above the peak of the roof to not let any of the nearby obstacles to interfere with the rain and wind readings. The temperature and humidity sensor was then mounted lower, under the shelter of the building during peak heating hours. The entire setup is about thirty feet high or so and took a little handiness to assemble because it came with no directions because every weather station is built and designed for that environment. So I went to Lowe's to get all the proper parts and such. Only to realize one of the PVC elbows was actually threaded, so I had to return to exchange it. Silly customers don't put the pieces back in the right boxes, but then again, I guess I should have made sure it was the right piece as well. Anyways, I spent the afternoon cutting, gluing, and assembling. I had to wait until Dawn got home from work to mount it, so I had someone else to hold the tower while I screwed it up. It was a cold night up on the roof trying to do that, but finally it was collecting data!! I could have tried mounting it just to the roof, but decided to run the PVC to the ground to take the weight off the house, and only use the house as a stabilizer. I am very pleased with it, and should be streaming data online soon.

Have a good one! 51 days left!!

Best,

Andrew Buck Michael

Time to bundle up....
10/31/09

So we have had our cool spells the last few weeks, but they have been short-lived. It looks like we will be having our first official long spell of cool, fall air this week. All week long we look to remain below 60, with lows around 40 or cooler. Now I have to admit, the one HUGE plus with the cooler temps is the new addition of more blankets to the bed. For some reason, adding that extra weight to the covers makes sleeping so much better.... Maybe it is just the subconscious part of me that is like, "I am too weak to try to get out of here." Then again, it is always so chilly jumping out of the covers, so that may have something to do with it as well. Regardless of why, it is so nice under the covers, it is always gratifying to throw that extra blanket on the bed and knowing you are going to sleep that much better.

From good news to something to complain about..... I know we were supposed to have a "hard freeze", and as a matter of fact, we dropped to 24 in Sidney the night it got super cold a few weeks ago. Normally a cold freeze is 4 hours at 28 or lower. Even though we technically had a hard freeze, it didnt stick..... The flowers in my flower garden are still on full bloom, and the worst part, the grass is still growing!! I dont mind mowing the grass, but in November?!?! Come on, that should have been frozen over and done for the season, but despite what it think, I will be out there on one of my coming days off, Monday or Tuesday, mowing my lawn in November.... Maybe its global warming, hehe, just a joke, just a joke....

I am very jealous of my good friend and former co-worker from my last station, Jon Scott. Him and I have a fond friendship. He and I worked out together and he did sports at my last job in Lima, and is currently in Cleveland. We also competed at half court shots, which I might add; I shot better than 25 feet or less. But anyways, he was up at the Great Lakes Brewery yesterday and Christmas Ale is currently being sold there. Him and I both LOVE their Christmas Ale. I am very sad because as of right now, I do not know of anywhere in the area where I can find it. Anyways he told me the brewery started selling it yesterday and he was there waiting on it, and also let me know that it wont be distributed until sometime next week, even if I could find a place in Dayton area that sold it, very jealous of him.

Speaking of Christmas, 55 days left!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

The personal conflicts....
10/30/09

So last night was time for all the children of Sidney to dress up and ask for candy.... And I made one goal with myself..... eat less candy than what I gave out. It is hard because Dawn bought good candy: Snickers, Butterfingers, Crunch, Twix, and Hershey bars. It was hard not to eat a piece of candy every time a kid came to the door.... but I managed somehow. We still have like 5 pieces left, and luckily they aren't the kind I like, and Dawn doesn't like to eat sugary foods, so more than likely they will sit in the candy bowl for a few months. It occurred to me now, why people give out bad candy.... that way the person passing it out doesn't have the desire to eat it. Now I will admit I ate my fair share of candy, but had we been giving out those nasty Halloween taffy candies, I wouldn't have ate any of them.... I guess you run the risk of either being the good candy people who eat half of the candy, or the mean yucky candy people who are fit and in shape.... such a predicament..

Here is another good topic, jelly or jam? Personally, I am a huge jam fan. You can put the knife in the Smuckers jar and stir up the jam until it is a nice gooey paste, but if you try to do that will jelly, its like you are taking jello and just cutting the pieces smaller and you don't get a good creamy sandwich or piece of toast.... send me comments on your thoughts...

Here are two more tough choices.... salad dressing and hot dog condiments. With salad dressings its always nice to throw something new into the mix and actually get a new flavor, but what one can you throw into the mix and still enjoy a good salad? And hot dog condiments... there are so many variations that you can throw on a hot dog, mustard, ketchup, relish, cheese, chili, horseradish, onions, tomatoes, and the list could go on and on.... again, send me a comment, I am interested in what is the best combination. For salads, I like light ranch or Italian dressing for the most part, and if and when I eat hot dogs, I normally stick with mustard, ketchup and cheese... Well anyways, Buckeye wants to go outside, and I got to get ready for work.... Going to Trotwood and Valley View games tonight. Rain looks to be arriving by the final whistle or very shortly after, and heavy rain at that, take as much rain gear as you can carry!!

56 days left!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Slumber Party?
10/27/09

So who is up for a slumber party? I worked Saturday and Sunday nights and youmight have woke up early enough Monday to see me back on the morning show. Now keep in mind, I have to build newgraphics and make sure I a new show is ready for the mornings. So overnight, instead of driving home andwasting 45 minutes each way on the commute, I just took a sleeping bag andslept in the weather center for 2.5 hours, then woke up at 2:40 AM and gotready for work. Surprisingly I was veryinterjected for work and the morning FLEW by! Now I would have loved to have went home and taken a nap afterwards, butinstead I went to Marion Local, after a quick stop home to let Buckeye out andplay with him, and talked to the fourth graders, who had been learning aboutweather for the last eight or nine weeks. They were hands down the smartest group of students I have ever talkedwith during my school visits. They knewthat when a cold front comes through, the air pushes under a warm front andlifts the warm air. They also knew thedifference between all the cloud types and what types of weather is associatedwith them. They also had veryintellectual questions about the weather and I hope they all ace their weather test coming up this week. After that I wenthome had dinner, and needless to say slept like a baby last night.

So today is a special day for me. It is my anniversary with my girl friend, Dawn. It has been a great experience being with her and wouldn't change it for the world. We met at Ohio State and were both meteorology students. We didn't actually meet and start being friends until we were seniors, but we quickly hit it off. While we both love the Browns, we have WAY more differences than similarities. I love the Reds, she likes the Indians for some reason. I like fish, she hates it. I like rock, she likes hip-hop. I love the country, she doesn't. I love to run, she doesn't. I love the outdoors, and camping, she would NEVER be found in a tent. While this is only the bare tip, I mean like molecule of the iceberg of our differences, we do have a few similarities, such as our mutual dislike for fake banana flavor. Anything that even tastes like banana is thrown away unless it contains 100% real bananas We also both like the weather, other than that hmmm, well I would have to think about other similarities. But I still love her and wouldn't trade anything for her.

So today is our anniversary, and I got her a few dozen roses and a card and a massage. She got me a weather station. Now I know some of you are thinking WHAT?!?! Well I had mentioned getting one, but never got around to it just because I haven't had the money to get it, but she really blew me out of the water and surprised me with the greatest gift I have ever gotten. I have been planning on how and where I am going to mount it in the coming days. Very excited.

59 days left!!

Best,

Andrew Buck Michael

Ohio's Weather Never Gets Old.....
10/24/09

So earlier this week it was warm, beautiful, sunny and down-right perfect. So only about 3 days later, it is sprinkling, cloudy, dreary, cold, and down-right RAW. It is one of those days it is so cold and windy you feel your face getting wind-burnt with the temps in the 40's and winds about 15 miles per hour. And needless to say, I was out in the cold shooting highlights for Wittenberg University football. Luckily I took gloves because after about a quarter of the game, my hands were about ready to call it a day, but I wasnt able to do the same, haha. The game was really good, and Witt really laid it on them by winning 28-7.

Not only has the weather made a bitter cold return, but we even had a tornado confirmed yesterday in Clinton County. The tornado was the weakest possible on the Fujita Scale with only winds of 65 mph. It knocked over a few small trees and limbs and broke two windows in a barn, but so far no pictures of the tornado itself have came out, and as a matter of fact, the NWS didnt even have a warning for the storm while it was on-going. It is not common for tornadoes to form in the Fall like this, but in the Miami Valley tornadoes can happen at any time of the year. I know this personally because I remember the Nov. 22, 1992 F3 tornado that went through Arcanum, my hometown. I was actually in New Madison when it hit and was at church, where the electric went out as well. I will recap that on its anniversary, here on the blog, so make sure to read up on that. But just as a reminder, never let your guard down here in the Miami Valley.

Despite the bad news in the weather currently, we do have good news on the outlook. Temperatures will be warmer in the coming days and sunshine returning as well. Now dont get me wrong, I love winter and all the fun it brings, but I would take temps in the 70's over icy conditions anytime. Ever since I can remember it always seems like Miami Valley citizens love snow when it first falls, but about 6 hours later, they are ready for spring... Gotta love it!!

62 days left!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Early Morning Check-In....
10/22/09

Well top o' the mornin to ya!!

It is currently a few minutes before 5 AM, and I am awake, yup, filling in for Mike.... Haven't drank any coffee yet, but I just finished pouring it.... I have no problem drinking coffee on a normal basis, but if its between 4:30 AM and 7 AM my body hates me, come 8 AM. I get stomach pains and its not the best way to start a day. But if I would drink it any other time, no problem at all, kinda weird....

I hope you enjoyed the beautiful weather yesterday, unfortunately today will be a little cloudier, and also slightly cooler, although still mild. It was such a great day yesterday with temperatures near 70 all across the Miami Valley. Personally, I took Buckeye outside on a few extra walks and he definitely enjoyed that!! He was actually hilarious yesterday... Now for those of you who didnt know, he is a miniature schnauzer, and has had bad cataracts basically since he was born. He can see shapes and lights of things, but basically he is blind when you boil it all down... But anyways when we were out walking around the park in Sidney, he thought he found a mouse in the grass. He started pouncing around at the ground. Like I said, he cant see anything, so unless he was hearing something, I really don't think there was anything there. However, for his exercise and enjoyment, I flattered him and let him pounce around for about 10 minutes, and burying his nose in the grass and sniff around... He enjoyed himself and thought he was hot on the trail of something... Anyways it was so nice all day long, I even broke out the corn hole boards yesterday evening for a two quick games, but the sun went down pretty fast and had to come back inside.

Today looks to be slightly cooler and cloudier, but dry for the most part. Tomorrow will be a pretty soggy day, especially in the morning, so take some extra time for you Friday morning commute. The afternoon looks like the showers wont be as widespread and start scattering up a bit, but still soggy for Friday Night Football. Saturday could start out with a few showers, but for anyone heading to Columbus for the Ohio State game at noon, it looks like the last of the showers will be leaving the area, so a spotty shower possible to start the game, but drying out later. Sunday looks to be partly cloudy and cool. Browns and Bengals are home this week and the games look to be cool and dry. Have a good one!!

64 days left!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Dental Visit......
10/19/09

Let me start off by saying that I had to retype ALL of this entry because I accidently hit the backspace button and it web back a web page instead of a letter and I lost it ALL!! So I am typing this in Word and copy and pasting it over to the web window.. silly computers.

So I have been having a little problem with my back two upper chompers on my right side. I keep getting food stuck there, and when I floss, I keep slicing the floss, so I decided it was time to head to the dentist and get it checked out, and honestly I hadnt been to the dentist since I moved to the area, so I had to find a new one, so after looking online and such, I decided Shelby Family Dental Care looked like my best option in the Sidney area.

And let me first start by saying that I take EXCELLENT care of my teeth. I brush at least twice a day and I floss more than the average American. I mean, seriously, how often does the average American floss? Only when they accidentally have it fall out of the medicine cabinet and they feel guilty for not flossing, so they do it that once instance, ending up being about once every 6 months. But anyways, back to the dental visit.

So I hurried up getting ready in the morning, taking Buckeye outside and such, and got to the dental office right on time. I filled out all the necessary paperwork for the first time patients. And then they called me back into the room from the 21st century. Now the last time I went to the dentist, to be honest, was when I was at Ohio State, and I figured they had all the top of the line equipment, etc, but not even close. So back in Sidney, I sit in the chair, and had to make sure I watched my head walking into the room because of the TV that was mounted from the ceiling in the middle of the room. It turns out I got 18 x-rays, and it was all digital. So as soon the x-rays are taken, they are digitally displayed on the monitor, no more developing and all the unnecessary waiting around

So anyways, Dr. Patel came in and examined my teeth and confirmed I had a cavity in the one tooth I was wondering about, and let me explain this pesky tooth. When I was in high school my mother had a friend going to University of Cincinnati and in order to graduate from dental school, she had to put sealants on I think 5 peoples teeth. Since I had 3 other brothers, my mother volunteered us to get all our teeth sealed. Well a few years later when I was at Ohio State, they said that one of my seals had broke free and a cavity was starting to form underneath of the seal. So they had to break the seal free and put in a white filling SOOOO now, that white filling has now broken free and the old cavity is back at work. The dang tooth just wants a cavity, and is determined to borrow its way to pain.

So I went through the rest of the cleaning and such, and had a pleasant time, but I have to go back in Wednesday to get rip out the old filling and a new one to replace it. Most people will be hesitant about it, but I have no problem going to the dentist. The only thing I am terrified of is needles. I DO NOT LIKE needles at all!! I don't know what I would do if I was diagnosed with diabetes. I work out and exercise to ensure I don't have to mess with needles. Having that said, I know I will probably have to encounter a needle or two on Wednesday to get the whole tooth ordeal to be finished. (sigh..)

Have a good one!! 67 days left!!

Best,

Andrew Buck Michael

Back after much needed sleep
10/17/09

So we talked the other day about how I was working two doubles back to back on Thursday and Friday..... man did I sleep like a baby last night!!! I was super super exhausted and could hardly even think properly.... just completely drained.... for some reason, as tired as my body was, it was still kinda hard to tell my body to go to sleep, it wanted to keep up... very weird feeling. I have pulled all-nighters in college, and such, but after that was through, I would sleep the next few days away. This was soooo different. When I got home last night and was talking with Dawn, I just lost my train of thought in the middle of my sentences... it was a new weird feeling running on no gas. I am sure it wasn't any help to my immune system at all.

But after all that sleep, I came in early today to shoot a story on a new scooter shop that just moved into the area. It is in Lytle, OH and is called Scooter Source. The story will air Monday morning and will be on the web as well, once it is on the web, I will link it from here. I have mentioned it on here that I am into mopeds, which are often confused with scooters. Mopeds have petals that you can actually pedal like a bicycle to get around and start. Scooters contain no such thing, they are kick started. It is always interesting to go on craigslist and see how many people often confuse the two. But anyways, there was a moped there today, which really made my day!! It was a Honda Hobbit, which are all the new rage in the mopeding world. A lot of people are getting Hobbits and restoring them and building them into racers. Now keep in mind, a stock moped only goes about 25-30 mph, 35 if you are lucky... Racing mopeds normally go around 60 mph, and if you really know what you are doing, like some of my friends in Elkhart, Grand Rapids, and Kalamazoo, you may be able to get a little faster than that. And to get back to mopeds vs scooters, the reason I enjoy mopeds more (I used to own a scooter) boils down to three reasons: 1. No motorcycle license is needed for mopeds, but is required for scooters 2. Repairs. 3. Pedals. Scooters are much more advanced in electronics and motors, etc. Mopeds are as basic as it gets, and as long as you got spark, compression, and fuel you should get your bike running. Now I know a lot of the same things apply to scooters, but there is more panels and etc that you have to get into and work around..... Where as the old mopeds I own (1970-1980's), have no side panels, and electronics, well I have 3 wires, one to the headlight, taillight, and spark plug. Plus if I am riding and it breaks down, I always have two pedals to get me there, although not preferred.

Anyways, I do enjoy two wheeled vehicles and love the feeling of just gliding along and the feeling of freedom. The shop has a lot of scooters and the new ones offer a lot of options and are quite impressive. Another impressive part about the shop is all the awards they have won for restorations. They have a shelf jam-packed with trophies. Now you know if they can restore a bike from the 70's you can trust them with just about any problems with the bike, so if I was still into scooters, I would definitely talk to these guys... Anyways, the NASCAR race is almost over so I have to spin around and give you the forecast.... Jimmy Johnson just won for you NASCAR fans.

69 days left!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

GOOOOOOD MORNING!!!
10/15/09

I have battled my lack of sleep and currently FULL of energy, now I did have 2 cups of coffee, but didnt really need it. I have found out if I listen to upbeat dance music, it breaks thru the 4 hours of sleep and keeps you bouncing around and dancing while getting the forecast together.... Luckily I got here before the production crew, so there were no cameras on yet to record any of it, whew!!

Anyways, got a jam-packed next 48 hours.... Basically working 2 double shifts. As soon as the morning show is finished on FOX 45, I am heading to my hometown of Arcanum to talk to 4th graders about weather and doing a few pretty cool experiments. Then after that, I am working all afternoon on a sweeps story that will air, that EVERYONE can really "afford" to watch. I am pretty excited about the story and its impact it can have on you and your wallet. Tomorrow, Friday, morning I will be back in, to fill in for Mike, and it looks like we will be having quite a chilly morning tomorrow, although not as cool as Saturday and Sunday morning. After the morning show, I will head home tomorrow grab a quick nap, then as always coming back into the station to shoot high school football highlights. So basically I will be working non-stop for the next 48 hours with the exception of sleeping, although no complaining here.

This weekend will be a tough weekend for the Browns, taking on the Steelers, who always give us a tough time. It always seems like we lose to them by 3 points, hopefully we will beat them by that much, not to mention hopefully we score a touchdown, haha. Well time to head outside for the school bus forecast!! Have a good one!!

71 days left!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Traveling like Columbus
10/12/09

Well what a fun last few days. Had a TON of fun in Columbus with Dawn at the Ohio State football game. It was very tiring though. We left at about 10 AM and hung out at my brothers apartment right off of campus before the game. It was fun watching my little brother grill.... he used about 2 bags of Kingsford to light the grill, well maybe not that much, but it sure seemed like it. But had a few friends over to their place for some cornhole and food. The game was obviously a real blast, a little chilly, but pleasant. Then after Ohio State beat Wisconsin, Dawn and I went and hung out with her cousins before having dinner at the Rusty Bucket on West Lane Ave. Good food there, and even better rare drinks, I would really recommend stopping by there. After that we headed back home, and was exhausted by the time we got home. Needless to say, I slept like a baby that night. Special thanks again to Mike Terwilleger to letting me go to the homecoming game. It was so nice to go back to campus and it brought back a lot of memories and was super nice to see my old meteorology classrooms.

Then came Sunday.... and who woulda thought the Browns would have pulled that game off? Since the game wasnt on our cable, we had to go to Buffalo Wild Wings to get something to eat and watch the game.... It was a lot of fun, but I was surprised at how many fans are so loud at an establishment like that. I will cheer for my team, especially if I am at the game, but its different when I am at a restaurant.... I tend to stay pretty quiet, with the exception of a cheer here and there for a good play, which despite the Browns winning, there werent very many yesterday.

Today was my day off, and it was nice to get some errands ran around the area. I went to Piqua and got fabric with Dawn to make drapes. We also got a poster frame for our huge LOST poster. Dawn and I are HUGE HUGE HUGE LOST fans!! I will get into that another time, but it was very nice to finally get a poster frame for it. We also walked around the Piqua Mall, and then came back to Sidney. I finally got Dawn to ride a moped today, now she only rode it about 10 miles per hour, at the fastest, but I am proud she got over her fears and finally cranked the throttle back, at least a little bit... Luckily tomorrow looks to be pretty nice, and I plan on taking the moped up to Lima, and go riding with KZ, the other co-founder of the LIMA QDY's, the Lima moped club.... It will be nice to go riding around Lima, since I used to work and live there. We are planning on meeting up with Dawn for lunch, so Tuesday currently looks to be a lot of fun.

Have a good one!! 74 days left!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Time To Get Your Boots Wet
10/09/09

So as many of you may have noticed, I was LIVE yesterday in Moraine and West Carrollton talking about all the rain we were about to see, and actually still ongoing while I am typing... I talked about how people need to clean out the leaves in their storm drains to make sure the rain has somewhere to drain too, and got all dirty pulling the leaves out of a few storms sewers while doing the live shots... Most of the area has seen between 1-2 inches so far since Thursday afternoon, and it looks like more rain will be on the way for tonight. So with that said, I will be in for a soggy night of shooting high school football highlights in the rain. I will be going to the Carlisle game, then heading to the Valley View game.

That is tonight, but I am VERY excited for tomorrow!! Mike Terwilleger will be on the shows tomorrow night, so I want to thank him for covering for me because I was given tickets to the Wisconsin @ Ohio State football game tomorrow!!! Luckily it is homecoming as well, so I plan on seeing a lot of my old friends from college, as well as enjoy time with my brothers, Bryant and Clark. They still attend Ohio State and plan on having a barbecue and tailgate before the game, so I am getting excited to go back and visit with them. They also are still living in the same apartment that Bryant and I lived in while I was going to Ohio State, so it really is going to be nice to go back and soak in all the memories.

I really hope Ohio State can pull it off, but as you know, Big Ten teams always seem to give other Big Ten teams a hard time, and it's always an interesting game. Anyways look for me on ABC 22 on Saturday!!

77 days left!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

A beautiful day once the clouds went away!!
10/07/09

Now I do love storms and all the excitement that weather has to offer, but nothing beats watching the cloud deck slowly give way to deep blue skies, especially after a few days of cloudiness. I was out doing a story on a 6 year old that is going to the World Championships of Arena-cross motorbiking, and loved watching the clouds clear up on the way there. Speaking of the 6 year old, this kid was amazing. Not only is he awesome at riding a dirt bike, but he was born at 28 weeks old, great story on the 10 and 11 news tonight. If you missed it, check the website, I shot the video for it and Cara did the reporting.... GREAT STORY!!!

Anyways, it was a beautiful day, all the trees were turning... its starting to get chilly out, meaning its time to fire up the fireplaces. I just returned to the station and it was a GREAT feeling to smell the wood fireplaces burning.... I love the smell of that... It reminds me of Christmas and driving around looking at Christmas lights as a child with my family. Goodtimes!! I always loved going and looking at the Christmas lights, and actually, one year while we were out looking at the lights, Santa came while we were out and about.... that was a great feeling to come home and Santa had already been there.... Well kinda, mom and dad said we could either open them up then, and had to stay in bed until 7 am, or we could go to bed and wake up later..... and when i mean later, my sister normally is up at about 3 or 4 AM waking everyone up... After lots of debating we decided to open them up before going to bed. I still think my sister was up at 5 AM. Anyways, the smell of smoke reminded me of that, and thought I would share.

By the way, 79 days left!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Chilly Morning For A Moped Ride
10/06/09

So its been a very eventful last couple of days.

First off, Sunday had a very interesting game with the Browns and the Bengals. For once, the Browns showed up this week and actually competed. I was proud of how they played, just wish they would have won the game instead.... Hopefully they will learn from this and turn things around and keep the same momentum for the rest of the season... The first few weeks they looked so unorganized, and now we are finally showing some progress. I look forward to Buffalo next week. They were the last team we beat last season, maybe the first team this season.

Then Monday, took care of some errands around Sidney, then worked on mopeds in the afternoon... I worked on my brothers Sachs moped. That was fun, only because I finally got it to run. I had been working on it for a month or two. He rode it a few months back and caught the wires in the pedals and ripped them apart, along with carb issues and even more problems. But after all the wrenching, it felt great to finally get it running reliably. Took it on a few rides around the neighborhood, then once I trusted it, I took it around downtown, then took it out into the country for a twenty-five minute ride.

Then last night I had a few friends stop by for the Packers @ Vikings. Good game! It was good to catch up with old friends I hadn't seen in a while. Went to bed at a reasonable hour and woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep. Normally I would lay in bed and try to get back to sleep, but knew rain was on the way, so I got up and warmed up the moped. It was 39 degrees, and I shoulda put on a few layers because 45 minutes riding around was VERY VERY awakening. Now, I dont think there is a chance of me falling back to sleep this morning...

Enjoy the rain later today and tonight, have a good one!! 80 days left!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Great Saturday for Football!!
10/03/09

So did anyone else catch that Michigan State game? Great game!! They owned the first half, then Michigan gave them a run for their money in the end, but fell short. I will say this, Forcier gave 120%, especially the last 2 drives in regular time. But man the game was great, that is all I am going to say........well, no, I went to school at Ohio State, I have a few friends who despise the Buckeyes, and watching Michigan lose made me smile, that's it, I'm done! Wait, no, yea I'm done.... GO BUCKS!

Anyway, today is what makes fall such a GREAT season. It was chilly and kinda dreary today, and there is no better place to be on a day like today, than inside watching football. I think that is why they put football in the fall. No one would want to watch in the spring or summer when it is so beautiful outside. In the fall, people start coming inside more and what better way to spend a cloudy, chilly fall afternoon than watching the pigskin get passed around. The only thing that would make it better is if the Browns could start winning, but I will still root for them even if they don't... but it still would be nice.

Looks like the cool weather will stick around for tomorrow. Another great day to watch football. Monday looks to be pretty nice, temps a little warmer, close to 70. Rain will move in on Tuesday, although still stay near 70. Then we will be back into the mid to lower 60's for later next week.

Enjoy the rest of the cool weekend. 83 days left!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael.

Anyone see the morning show?
10/02/09

So Pete, Kylie, and Mike had some fun this morning. I only found out about it on the back side of the morning news that they had video of me putting up my Christmas tree and really came down on my for having it up already. Well since you are obviously reading this, you very well know from previous blogs the reasons why I have the tree up already. I am just getting ready for the holiday season because its like BAM BAM BAM, Halloween Thanksgiving Christmas.... if you miss it, you miss it. People often get stressed out about how much they have to do before Christmas, so why not stretch it out and enjoy it instead???? Thats just me!

So a pretty wet morning today, Buckeye needed to be let out, but I told him to wait about 5-10 minutes until the rain stopped and it did, and I am sure he was happy once he stayed much drier....until he walked right through a semi-deep puddle. I dont know if i mentioned this, but he has cataracts very bad and he is basically blind due to that. He can only make out shades of objects and occasionally see things out of the corner of his eye. The surgery to get it removed would cost a few thousand dollars and he has had it basically since birth, so he has gotten used to it. I do have to award him on how well he knows where everything is.very well where we live and only runs into things when I get him all excited and he starts running around crazily.

Friday Night Football takes me to Troy and Tipp City tonight. Look excited for the games, but it will be a bit of a quick trip because I have to be here to answer the phone for Phone Booth tonight for Fox 45. I have covered a few northern games before, and I really like covering the north, since that is where I live now, and that is where I grew up as a child, I just know the teams a little better up there and think the football, in my opinion, seems to be a little more competitive, maybe that's because I just remember all the rivalries from growing up. Anyways look for my highlights tonight, part of the Bakers Dozen!!

84 days left!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Frost Advisory going hand in hand with the Holiday Season Kickoff
10/01/09

So as you have been following, it is currently October 1st and the time is 1:50 AM, so you know what has been going on. All of my Christmas decorations are out of the boxes and currently put up.

I went and tackled the outdoor lights first, since we have a frost advisory, thought I better get the outside done first, then came inside to do the tree and such, which was a lot of fun. Here is a little added bonus.

Anyways, glad the blustery conditions have left, but these cold temperatures are a refreshing reality that winter is around the corner. It has been a cool summer, actually one of the tenth coolest summers on record, but still, stepping outside when the wind chill is below freezing, and last week it was near 80 degrees..... only one word can describe that OHIO.... gotta love it, I honestly wouldnt want to forecast anywhere else.... Such a flux of temperatures and weather patterns, I dont know how Booth could stand being in Hawaii that long, haha!! I love the sunshine, storms, rain, hail, heat, ice, droughts, and snow way to much to want to move anywhere else than Ohio, and thats the honest truth!!

Anyways, 85 days and closing!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

I couldn't help myself....
09/29/09

So it has been so cold and blustery the last few days, which was my "weekend," I just couldnt hold myself back and had to do something to being the Christmas cheer.... I have thought of an excuse, if my neighbors complain, I will remind them I went to Ohio State, haha.

To be honest, I already miss the summer. Since I am a photog and shoot video for the station a few days a week, I am not looking forward to getting out in the blustery conditions.... at least I got some great winter gear to keep me cold.... hiking a mile and a half to campus at Ohio State a few years back really got me prepared, and luckily I still fit into those clothes, haha!!

Anyways, it looks like Thursday morning will be the coldest morning in about 5 months, and ironically it will be the morning I will be awake at night putting up lights outside, but the majority of them will be inside, so I hope to get up the lights before it gets too cold.... Dont worry, I will link up pictures of them on here so you can enjoy, and maybe even a little more than just pictures.... ;)

Hope you all are getting as excited as I am. The next 87 days brings out a whole new Blissful Buck!! HEHE, or should I say HOHO!!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

1:30 AM & Still Tracking The Storms
09/28/09

Well for some of you who are sleeping, this may be a complete surprise, for now at least....

Storms moving toward the Miami Valley currently, shortly after 1 AM, 09/28/09, and I am in the weather center keep an eye on things. Right now everything is still at least half an hour outside of the viewing area and the strongest storms are north of Muncie, IN, which is the only storm that is semi-close with a T-storm Warning. It appears to have the best organization, the others that are draping down towards Indy are weaker and not as highly organized.

The energy in the atmosphere is limited currently due to the night time and also the cool conditions we have seen the last 24 hours and lack of moist air. This being said, the cold front pushing through is moving so fast and bringing in such a change of air, that is why we are seeing the showers fire up into a few storms.

Basically the showers need lift to bubble up into storms. Think of the summer puffy clouds, the small ones that dont grow into the sky, they are harmless, but if they get "lifted" and can grow up, then you get cumulonimbus, or thunderstorm clouds. What the cold front is doing is lifting the air and causing them to rise up. Imagine you are in a pool and you hold your arm out about 4 inches below the surface of the water, rotate your body and arm rapidly around you. You should get a wave to form. That is what the cold front is doing, we all know cool air sinks and warm air rises. The cooler air with the cold front is plowing below the warmer air and lifting the warmer air just like the wave.... get enough lifting and you get showers, and with even more lifting, you get thunderstorms.

Well back to the radar, the strong cell north of Muncie is getting closer and only has one county (Jay, IN) before it reaches Mercer County... Sleep tight, I will keep an eye on things from the weather center!!!

88 Days left!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Fall is in the Air
09/27/09

And so is a victory of the Bengals over the Steelers?!?!?! Who saw that coming? I sure didnt, and yet another week of my Browns getting ran over and looking completely unrespectable on the football field. If things continue to go the way they are, I doubt Mangini will be with us through the end of the year.... and so the endless cycle of being a Browns fan will continue. I dont know why I put myself through the misery every year, but I do.

So windy and cold conditions for the next few days. It is funny to think about how our bodies get used to the temperatures. Since we have been used to temps near 80, the highs in the 60's will feel so chilly for us, especially the mornings in the 40's. Now rewind about 6 months ago during the end of March when we are used to temps in the 30's and 40's. A day in the 60's would feel like summer, people would be filling up their pools, turning on the A/C, or enjoy the outdoors. Either way it will feel much cooler than what we have been used to the last few months and the wind isnt going to help anything. Wind speeds look to be in the 20-30 mph range on Monday, and gusts over 40-45 mph at times. As if the cool temperatures wasnt enough, the winds will make it feel pretty chilly, especially with lows in the mid 40's feeling like the mid and upper 30's.

Keep warm, dont blow away, and have a good one!!

89 days left!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Busy Saturday...
09/26/09

So I was out and about all day today. Even with NCAA football on-air in place of the 6 o'clock news, that didnt mean I had the afternoon off, by any means. In fact, I didnt get to watch any of the Ohio State game. :-( Sad faces all around, but at least we won!

I went to the Kabuki restaurant, in Centerville, this afternoon to get video and interview customers because Kabuki will be in the station on Monday morning during the cooking segment, and the morning crew are in for a REAL treat!! So real that it wont have time to be cooked!! They made a few samplings of sushi for me while I was there today, and hands down, the best sushi I have had, and I love trying different sushi.

I brought back the video from that, then turned around and went down to West Carrollton Jr. High to shoot highlights of the Dayton Christian and Jefferson football game. It was a shame I couldn't stay the whole game, it was very energy packed while I was there....

Anyways, came back to the station, and put together the forecast, and currently doing the 10 o'clock news on FOX 45. We are watching a few showers move into the area currently, and this will be the beginning of the real changing weather arriving next week. I called it about two weeks ago here in the blog, just scroll down and check it out; next week looks to be very very chilly, hence the reason I un-boxed my winter clothes last week. If you haven't done so yet, you might want to, hint-hint. Have a good one, see ya tomorrow!!

90 days left!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Wet and Wild for Friday Football
09/25/09

Tonight's agenda for myself, shooting highlights for high school games at Wayne and at Northridge. Should be some pretty good games, with one exception.... Rain. The upper level low that has been sitting in the plains all week long has been pulling the moisture up from the Gulf of Mexico, and it looks like it will be the same case for the next 24 hours.

Normally I wouldnt mind to be out in the rain, but carrying a camera that weighs about 25 pounds and making sure it stays dry isnt exactly as much fun as a barrel full of monkeys. The only good side to it, is that I hope it will make for interesting games with slippery and muddy conditions. I can look forward to that tonight, but it looks like for the Buckeye game, it will be wet as well tomorrow, but they now have the all weather field, so no mud there....

I am also wearing an outfit that you may get a chuckle out of, jean pants, jean jacket, and Chuck Taylors. It isnt so much the converse; its the jean apparel. I enjoy wearing jean clothing, it fits my style, and actually it was one of the first reasons my girlfriend, Dawn, recognized me. She told me later that she made fun of me, but I didnt care, its what the cool kids are doing. I was born in the 80's so why not represent? Well it looks like I better get ready to take my jean apparel out into the elements for the high school games!! Have a good one!!

3 months to the day!! 91 days!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

The True American Way..... Grilling out--Charcoal style
09/24/09

Due to the fact that I do the weather on the weekends, my "weekend" is during the middle of the week, and this week it was Tuesday and Wednesday. Now luckily it was pretty dry for my days off and it allowed me to get outside and have fun with Buckeye, but best of all, it allowed me to fire up the grill both days.

I am a huge fan of grilling out. I made hamburgers and hot dogs(for Buckeye) on Tuesday, and yesterday I soaked a few chicken breasts in BBQ sauce before throwing them on the grill. Needless to say, the best way to grill out is with charcoal. When it is a gas grill, it doesnt have that same smokey flavor, and although it still counts as grilling out, I will never bring myself to buying a gas grill, just love the smokey flavor. As a matter of fact, I already plan on stocking up for winter by buying a few big bags of Kingsford. I do plan on grilling out, even if its snowing, that way when I get cold out there shoveling the snow, I can come up to the grill to warm up!!

The only problem I have with grilling with charcoals is wasting them. By the time the food is done, there is PLENTY of time to keep cooking on them, but my food is done, and I let the coals do their thing until its cool enough to bring back into the garage. I even offered my neighbor the grill once I was finished. He was out doing some fall flower bed work to get it ready for the spring, and get it all cleaned up. I was out firing up the grill, we exchanged pleasantries, and he asked how I was; I said "Not to bad, yourself?" He replied, "Well could be better, I could be grilling out." I just laughed, then once I was finished grilling, he was finished doing yard work and sitting on a lawn chair in his garage relaxing, so I told him, "Its still hot, if you want to do some grilling." I woulda had no problem with him using it, but I guess we arent there yet, haha! It is always just a shame to let it go and cool down and waste the rest of the charcoals. Maybe I will start cooking more meat on there, and save it for my lunch the following days.... Anyways, I hope this inspired you go get out the grill and bring me some freshly grilled food!! Lol! Have a good one!

92 days left!!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Hot sticky day to mark the start of fall.....
09/22/09

So I had the day off, and I shoulda chose a cooler, less humid day. I went through all of my old winter clothes and brought them out of their boxes and also looked for my power inverter. I went through every single box, which is about 20 or 30.... and for the life of me, I could not find the power inverter.... just a small box about the size of a small puzzle box and bright red, but nothing........

Anyways, got pretty hot getting all the boxes out and hanging up all the winter coats and hoodies... and it occured to me, why do we all keep so much "stuff" Maybe it is just me, but there are so many things that i forgot about that I uncovered by going through the boxes. I am also an audio fanatic, and I uncovered so many microphones, headphones, wires, amplifiers, and anything else that has wires coming from or going to it. As a matter of fact, three of the boxes alone contain all of the wires, etc. Now to be honest, I havent used about 90% of them in the last year, but you never know when you might need one of them.....

I then thought about other people I know, and thought about how each of us has a certain underlying hobby we have. Apart from my obvious, weather, mine would be audio tech.... even though I have never thought about using it for a job or career(just love the weather too much). I started to think about other peoples hobbies, such as collecting Longaberger baskets, salt and pepper shakers, movies, puzzles, etc. The funny part of it is, if someone would ask me about myself, and had to describe myself in one sentence, I would never incorporate that in the sentence. Just thought it was interesting....

So the cool blast looks to still be on its way for next week, another reason I unpacked the winter clothes. I always keep an eye on the long term models a little more than usual in the fall months because you get those cold snaps of air, that bring down such a change of temperatures and normally will help induce some severe weather, which I love.... Honestly I cant tell you how many funnels I have seen, too many to count on my fingers, but still no tornado to touch down.... waiting for the day. If only I wasnt at church the night of Nov 22, 1992 I could have seen the Arcanum tornado. It passed a very short distance from my house in the middle of southern Darke County, but we were putting up the Christmas decorations at church. The electricity still went out in New Madison and I got a week off from school, but still havent seen one with my own two eyes.... trust me, when I do, I will def let you know!!

94 days left for the best part of the year!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

I will let you in on a little secret.....CHRISTMAS!!!!!
09/21/09

So there is one thing about me that sets me apart from many people. Some people think its awesome, some people dislike my love for it. Christmas. (94 days away) I love it so much. I love a lot of the parts that other people overlook. I enjoy getting presents, dont get me wrong, and I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, but in my opinion the best part of Christmas starts Oct. 1.

Yes, that is correct, I believe that the Christmas season begins on Oct. 1st, and I plan on explaining. When October arrives, you got Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas-BAM, BAM, BAM. If you blink, you missed the best part of Christmas. I have never celebrated Halloween really, so I kinda blow past that holiday without too much pain. I do love Thanksgiving, it reminds me of dinner at my grandmothers house, in Arcanum, and eating the best food in the world while watching football with my dad's side of the family. I do give the few days before Thanksgiving its due, but man the next 95 days are the best days out of the year.

First off, my favorite part of the Holiday Season is the spirit of giving. Nothing beats watching people running to their cars while snow is falling and seeing them with big smiles. It doesnt matter how much you spend or where you got your gift for someone, all that matters is that thought went into it, and you know that whoever you got it for, will gasp with delight and thrill. People sometimes start shopping in the middle of the summer for gifts, which has good intentions, but its not the same buying Christmas gifts in shorts and a t-shirt. Half of the fun is bundling up, battling the weather, and searching for that one gift that will make that special someone's eyes glow with excitement.

Christmas lights, love them! To be honest, I moved to Sidney a few months ago, and already have my Christmas light mounting pieces already put up... All I have to do is take the boxed up lights off the garage work-bench and put them up, it would take me 5-10 minutes, tops. It always brings out the kid in me when I drive around and look at Christmas lights, especially with a light snow falling or on the ground.

It also is a good feeling to hear the Salvation Army's bells ringing as you walk into stores. Not only for its good intentions and tradition, but just to hear the bell ringing, subconsciously, reminds me of the bells on Santa's sleigh. I do respect the people ringing the bells--a lot. I did it last year and your ears start ringing from the bell, and if you are outside, it gets cold being there for the an extended amount of time. Christmas wouldnt be the same without that part of it.

Music, nothing beats snow falling, holiday cheer and Nat King Cole singing The Christmas Song. I have never roasted chestnuts on an open fire, but I have been bitten by Jack Frost on my nose. Personally, my favorite Christmas talent is Johnny Mathis. I still remember riding in the family van listening to a cassette tape of Hallelujah Chorus. Good times. That is probably my second favorite Christmas song, the first being Carol of the Bells. Every and all versions of the song are great, there are none that I would turn away from.

Now my Christmas ritual is pretty strict. Even though it is strict it is pretty easy. My Christmas tree will be put up on Oct 1st. No stopping me, Oct 1st marks the beginning of the Holiday Season, and if you arent prepared, you will miss all of it. With the tree up, I have that extra time before Christmas to enjoy the other parts that I have come to love. My girlfriend, Dawn, has petitioned the date of the outside lights, but so far, she only has her signature. (I am still trying to convince Buckeye to take my side, but he is riding the fence currently) I wouldnt mind putting them up Oct 1st, and I believe I will, but I do hold off on actually lighting them up on a DAILY basis. No set date on when I light them up on a daily basis, probably should come up with a set date. I also am excited because my new place has a pillar out front that I intend to wrap in red ribbon to make it look like a candy cane.

Speaking of candy canes, I am impartial to them. If I have them, I put them on the tree, but I dont find them necessary. One year when I took the tree down, somehow candy canes found their way into the ordainment box, and wasnt very pretty 9 months later after sitting in the heat of the garage. I think that is why I am not so fond of them.... but they are slowly making a come-back.

Now when I tell people this, they are like "I bet you are one of those people who leave up the tree until April." Wrong, it is normally down by New Years. However, my new place is larger, and I intend on getting a real tree, obviously close to Christmas, so I may keep that one up for a little while longer (I love the pine smell). Now you may think, well if your artificial tree is up Oct 1st, are you just going to put that one away? No, absolutely not! I have a tree for every single room in the house. Now the other trees are much smaller, less than a foot high, but no matter what room you are in, you will know that Christmas is right around the corner.

A few final thoughts on Christmas. I always have spent Christmas Eve at my grandmothers house, in Arcanum, since the day I was born. My dad's side of the family comes over, we eat around noon (again best food in the world, along with her home-made holiday punch), and once all the dishes are washed, we are allowed to open the presents, and let me tell you, Santa leaves a lot at her house!! That is just customary, and I hope it always stays that way. Another note, my Christmas tree is decorated in Scarlet and Grey, along with a Santa wearing Buckeye apparel and an OSU cheerleader sitting on his lap. Brutus also makes an appearance somewhere deep within the bright red and grey ordainment. I think that is enough for now about Christmas....Feel free to email me, amichael@daytonsnewssource.com, your thoughts and feelings, and let me know if there is anyone else out there with as much love for the holiday!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Its Just Another Soggy Sunday
09/20/09

Well most of us didnt see a LOT of rain today, but what we did see was sprinkles here and there and clouds that kept things dreary. (I say that now, but stronger showers are arriving now, so it will be a rainy night) Which was alright because it was fitting for the sad day, as the Browns lost again. The defense looks very solid especially during the first half. Offense doesnt seem to show up at all... They look all over the place, cant run routes, block, run, catch, or throw. And then once again, we hold our own for the first half, then the second half looks horrible. I guess it comes with the teams I root for, like the Reds. I love the Reds, but they do decent the first half of the season, then the All-Star break hits, and things just go downhill from there.

Getting back to the topic of weather, I mentioned it awhile ago here in the blog.... things still look to be pretty chilly in about a week from now.... I will keep the details coming in the upcoming days.

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Finally getting a free second.....
09/19/09

It feels like I havent been on here in forever, but I guess it has only been two days. And what a jam-packed two days it has been. Thursday night I was up super late working. You may have seen our live shots of the accident scene where the Ohio State Trooper was rear-ended on Interstate 75. Well I was running the live truck and was getting that video. I stayed there until relieved and by the time I made it home it was just after 4 AM. (And dont forget, I was up til 2 AM the night before with the 7 car accident in Sidney.) Then yesterday, I woke up and hit the ground running. I was in Arcanum for their early afternoon walkathon for cancer awareness with the high school students. From there I went straight back to the station and get ready for football night friday. After a pretty fun night of high school football at Springboro and at Carlisle, I was beat from lack of sleep. I got home, let Buckeye out, and I didnt make it past the couch. I sat down on the couch, and it pulled me in.... I woke up at 7 AM and finally forced myself to go back to the bedroom. Then, had to wake up early to head down to Eaton for the Pork Festival, where our own Candice Hunter was the Grand Marshall. So now I am back home and relaxing........ finally, haha. Buckeye is excited to hang out with me, although I am pretty sure he is getting ready to take a long afternoon nap. We did manage to catch the final quater of the Ohio State game, and now i got a few hours to relax and enjoy kicking back before I head in for the evening news. Until then, just time to relax and take a look at the forecast models on the upcoming rain the next few days. Hope you enjoyed the beautiful dry weather because the next few days will be pretty soggy for most of us. Have a good one!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Early Morning Run = Late Night Energy
09/17/09

So I made a new decision today. When I go running as soon as I wake up and have an apple, I have so much more energy for the rest of the day... I know I have been told that before, and did it in college, but its just refreshing to feel so energized late in the evening. I normally would just run in the late morning or early afternoon after a full breakfast or even lunch, but NO MORE I say! If only Buckeye wasnt blinded by cataracts then he could run with me. He runs with me across the baseball diamonds by our house, only because he can hear my feet and trusts that I am not running around trees.

On another note, I started taking down my winter clothes out of the back of the closets..... its that time of year again. It was freezing this morning when I took Buckeye out at 7 AM, not to mention during my run, and I decided it was time... But I did say I took them out of the back of my closet, but the boxes still sit in the middle of the computer rooms floor.... Couldn't bring myself to putting away summer clothes.

On one final note, I went to the 7 car pile-up that was on 75 last night just south of Sidney. It was a complete mess and what made it worse was the fact it was on a bridge, so the entire hallway was bottle-necked for 2-3 miles. The good news, is that there were no life-threatening injuries. Well I am out, time to do some editting. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Good Morning From Sidney
09/16/09

Well today is my second day off, and thought I would check in from Sidney. Well as you might have read in my last blog, I thought I had some BAD problems with my alignment. My appointment was supposed to be this morning at 8 AM, and found out I was going to get charged $10 for rotating my tires, so I decided to rotate them myself beforehand, and I am lucky I did. After taking off the first three tires, the fourth had a pretty big bulge in it, and had actually split right down the middle of the tread revealing the wire webbing inside. It looked like it had dry rot on that part of the tire, so I am chalking it up to a bad tire because they are all pretty new tires. So I put on the spare, which is full size, took the truck out on the highway, and it drove straight as an arrow...... So now instead of having to pay to get an alignment, I have to pay even more to get a new tire...

Today, I want to get some things done around town. I am still looking for a coffee shop or establishment open 24 hours with free wireless internet....If anyone knows of any in Sidney, let me know!! But I need to get some grocery shopping done today, mow the grass, go for a run, then take Buckeye for a walk.

It is a long way out and it will more than likely change a little, but it looks like we are in for a cold blast of air coming the week of the 28th, in a week an a half...

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Waa, Waa, Waaaaa..........ca-BOOOOM!
09/14/09

So I was a photog today and was in Eaton with Kylie Conway doing a story on why Eaton Middle School is such a great school, not only because of its athletics, but also because it now has a state grade of Excellence. I was there for a while, then tried to get some people by the Eaton Post Office to tell me, on camera, why they love Eaton so much.... trust me, when you have a camera out, people try to avoid you at all costs......

But I was only there a short time because the Dayton Police Bomb Squad was called out to Perry Twp to detonate an explosive. I got there and set up my camera, and then the bomb squad said I had to get back in the vehicle with the windows up for safety... It was very exciting. Luckily they detonated the explosives back in the horse pasture, on the back side of a steep hill, so you couldnt see the direct blast. They sounded the three horn sirens and then ..............ca-BOOOOOM!! It was so loud that you could feel the concussions rock your chest. Luckily the residents had the bomb squad come out to dispose of some old blasting caps. They are used to clear out tree stumps and other pesky in-ground problems. They are not common anymore because of modern machinery, so the blasting caps were from a generation or two ago, which makes them even more dangerous. Luckily they were discovered and the grandparents had them properly disposed of to keep the grandchildren safe. It still was quite a site to see, well couldnt see much, so at least quite a treat to hear. I have always been intrigued with fireworks and all the chemistry that went into it. Now today wasnt bright and pretty in the sky, but it sure did provide a certain excitement waiting for the blast.

On another side note GREAT weather for the next few days. Could see a sprinkle Tuesday night, but most of us staying dry as a cold front swings through. I will be staying home all day tomorrow because my alignment couldnt get fixed until Wednesday morning at 8 AM. I dont know what is wrong with it, but the coins still jingle when I drive and if I let go of the wheel, the truck cuts hard to the right.... Very weird, cuz I take great care of my vehicles, and all of a sudden Friday I noticed it. Of course the Applefest was going on last weekend, and no one in the local area was doing any car work on Saturday or Sunday. Anyways at least with the great weather, I think I will break out my bike and become a little more domesticated and enjoy some cycling. Its just a shame that Buckeye, my dog, hates bikes, and is super afraid of the sound the chain makes. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Cribbs is the man....
09/13/09

It's just a shame the rest of the team couldn't step it up the same way. Now I am not disappointed, well yea I am, but Vikings are supposed to be an awesome team this year. I am very proud of Cribbs, who's jersey I wore during the whole game. Cribbs came out and showed that he is a stud athlete, and hands down my favorite NFL player. The team did pretty well for the first half, and then just fell apart in the second half. I did find Brady's fumble comical though, when he cocked his arm to throw then lost it behind himself.

Bengals lost too, and I am sure everyone is aware, Buckeyes lost to USC. I am not completely surprised, but I REALLY wanted to win that and prove that Big Ten could compete.... I really feel it came down to the coaches and am proud of the players effort. It was such a heartbreak to see USC march down the field at the end when both teams were exhausted, and score that final TD with hardly any time left on the clock. As an Ohio State Alumni I really wanted a win for all the "big game" losses we had when I was a student there. The victory was so close you could taste it, but as I put it on twitter, it felt like I was getting worked up and excited for Christmas morning, and then somehow woke up on December 26th.

On a bright note, at least the Browns can only get better from here, haha, have a good one!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Applefest and a Sore Throat
09/12/09

They really arent directly related unless you are Andrew Buck Michael....

First off the Applefest was a blast today. I was eliminated in the fourth round of the cornhole tournament, but up to that point Dawn and I really were playing very well... It was just amazing to see people getting so worked up over the game and get so upset if one of their bags didnt stick to the board. Some of these guys would sink all 4 bags in a row and just consider it another day at the park.... Somehow we hung in there for a while.... next year we will wear sweatbands to keep the sweat out of our eyes....364 days away.... get ready Sidney!

So the sore throat.... you may get a kick out of this. So the last week, it has been comfortable during the day with highs around 80 and lows in the mid 50's. Well when I was heading to bed Wednesday night, it was pretty warm inside still, so I put a big fan in the front living room window to pull air out of it. I even put up pillows next to it, so the air didnt wrap around the fan. I then shut all the windows in the house except the windows in the bedroom, one of which is about 18 inches from my face. So for about 8 hours, I had 60-50 degree temps rushing at me, needless to say, I woke up feeling like a pipe-cleaner was stuck in my throat.... I know I deserved it, but it hasnt gotten any better and cough drops are only a short form or relief.

On one other note, Buckeyes are looking good, 10-7 with three quarters left...... need to hold on to the ball and make no more big mistakes......

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Exciting Weekend
09/11/09

It looks like weather this weekend will be BEAUTIFUL!!! This is great news, because in my opinion, it will be the first official weekend of fall sports because we now have football on Friday with high school, Saturday with college, and Sunday with the NFL.

I will be back at the CJ and West Carrollton games tonight, so looking forward to a lot of action again like last week. Tomorrow is the big game everyone in Ohio has been looking forward to since the end of last Buckeye season, well at least until the Michigan game. USC has been talked up a lot and I am getting a little nervous about them coming to Ohio. The last game I felt the same was Texas back in 2005. This time for the "big game" I will not be in Columbus, instead I will be in the weather center watching the game on a 13 inch tv... Feel free to swing by with wings if you want!!

Then to finish off the weekend, we got the Browns. I am a little nervous about this game as well. Not for any particular reason, but I always get nervous for the Browns. I am very jealous of my girlfriend, Dawn, who will be attending the Browns game on Sunday. Once again, I will be watching that game in the weather center on a 13 inch tv....

I will be doing some non-football things this weekend, to your surprise. As I wrote earlier, I will be at the Shelby County Apple Fest in Sidney. Very excited for the cornhole tournament that takes place at 10 AM on Saturday. Maybe I will see a few of you there!!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Good (early) Morning
09/10/09

It is shortly after 6 AM and you might have seen me this morning filling in for Mike, who was an MC for a local event last night. Luckily he picked a good morning for me to fill in. Well depending on who you ask because this morning was much quieter due to the absence of dense fog. Now there was a little light patchy fog but most of it was so light and patchy that it was hard to find.

I am VERY excited I got to come in today too because we are getting a taste of the Sidney Apple Fest in the 8 AM show on FOX. I plan on being there this weekend in the cornhole tournament, so get your practice in because I hope to take home the gold, or at least a few Golden Delicious.

Other good news with the forecast, temperatures are going to remain mild heading into a dry weekend. This means perfect weather for week three of Friday Night Football, not to mention the HUGE USC vs. OSU game in Columbus this Saturday. I will be here at the station watching the game, and I hope it is different than last years game. Keeping things on the Football docket, the rumors are saying that Brady Quinn will be starting on Sunday... I am a little surprised with this, and hope that Brady can hold down the position so we dont have to go through the QB drama every week. Not to mention the hopes and dreams of winning, dont get me wrong, I just think that we will be "rebuilding" yet another year, this year.

Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Sometimes technology is a pain
09/08/09

So I was getting on to draft a fantasy football league with some guys from the station, and the online draft window kept loading and it took like 10 minutes a try, then finally died out, i tried it about three times, then finally the fourth it got me into the draft with 2 rounds left......urg!! at least the auto-draft got me decent players, my main QB is Tony Romo, which i wasnt to thrilled about... I will have to just see how things will pan out.... I do have one player from the Browns and Bengals though, gotta represent!!

And before anyone asks, no, i dont have dial-up.

Just thought I would share my pain with you.... for those of you who auto-draft, I finally understand....

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Happy Labor Day
09/07/09

Well to all of you who have the day off, I am officially jealous. You wont see me on camera today, but that is because I am a photographer and shooting video for news stories. It is one part of my multi-role here at Daytons News Source, from doing the weather, to reporting, to shooting video of news/sports/weather, to who knows what else I might be told to do..... At least it keeps it interesting!! I never know what to expect when I come into work.

Anyway we started off today pretty rainy with parts of the area seeing over 2 inches of rain, and after the last 7-8 days without rain, we could use it, despite it being Labor Day. At least the early afternoon turned out dry for parades and other community activities. I passed many people on my way into work getting out the grills trying to get a few burgers on it before the rain picks back up, good thinking, because more rain is on the way.

Back-tracking now, I had a late night last night at the MDA telethon with Candice and Pete, but it was good times. Pete joked around saying that I was dressed like Ryan Seacrest, goodtimes all around. Anyways, I was there until around midnight, so I enjoyed sleeping in a little today before I took a run around my neighborhood in Sidney.

Speaking of Sidney, I hope to see a few of you out at the Sidney Apple Fest this weekend! I just hope you all have been brushing up on your cornhole skills because my girlfriend, Dawn, and I plan on entering the tournament. Expect to find me practicing on my days off on Tuesday and Wednesday coming up.... Come join if you want! Enjoy the rest of the holiday.

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

A little dinner chat....
09/06/09

I made some oatmeal here at the station, and thought I would pop on here for a minute or two.

Buckeyes really know how to make things interesting... imagine how bad the game COULD have turned out yesterday, luckily we took the ball on the two point attempt and returned it.... The way the offense was playing in the fourth quarter wouldnt mean good things for overtime, if it came down to that. USC game is going to be very interesting, but the Bucks really need to get their head into the game if we want to compete with the PAC pace of game. I drove through Columbus today and as I went through campus, it really made me miss my days there as a Buckeye. Oh if you plan on going up for the USC game, dont forget 315 has a lot of entrance and exit ramps closed.

Man were there a ton of police out today, an Ohio State Patrol was at every median turn-around today, or so it seemed. I drove back from Cleveland today, and I had to have seen at least 30-40 police, but I guess its a good thing, making sure the highways were safe for others.

Well Labor Day is here tomorrow, meaning fall has begun, and no more wearing white (I never understood that). Weather looks to be changing a lot too, we have seen BEAUTIFUL weather the last week, and it looks like rain will be here on an off for the next week, so it looks like I need to get the grass mowed early tomorrow morning before it gets too wet. At least with the weather being so wet and dreary, it will give me time to stay inside and work on my mopeds.

I also plan on stopping by the MDA telethon tonight so keep an eye out for me! I will be on pretty late either 10:50 or 11:50.

Have a good one!
Andrew Buck Michael

Are you ready for some Football?
09/04/09

What a great day to finish off the work week and start the Labor Day weekend. Not to mention after the soggy Friday last week, things look to be much favorable for high school football tonight, weather-wise, compared to last week. I cant wait to get out there to a few high school games tonight, I believe I will be at the CJ and West Carrolton games tonight.

It is a shame I will have to miss the first Buckeyes game. I dont even know if I will be able to watch it because I will be at a wedding tomorrow in Cleveland. Oh well, I am sure the Buckeyes will do just fine without me watching it. I am always nervous about the first game of the season, just getting the initial nerves out.... I love the Buckeyes, but no more thanthe Browns, still got a week before they kickoff, and still not sure how theyare going to do this year with the new squad, not to mention the QB toss-up.

Anyways, finally glad that fall is here and football season is starting back up, its always sad without it.... Go Bucks!!

Best,

Andrew Buck Michael

And we have liftoff...
09/03/09

Well I guess first and foremost, I need to explain the Buck thing.

Many of you who see me on TV know me as Andrew Michael, well my full name is Andrew Buck Michael. My dad, a Purdue graduate, not OSU, wanted to name me Buck at birth. Yes, he grew up in Darke County on a rural farm, just like I did, but my mom, who was raised in Cincinnati, wouldn't allow Buck to be my first name, so it got bumped to my middle name. Having gone through college, at Ohio State, and now working at Dayton's News Source, I have ran into many Andrews along the way, and have adopted Buck as my second name. I still answer to many names, Andy, Andrew, Buck, Michael, AB, ABM, and the list goes on and on, with any variation of those names, and somehow I always answer to them. Anyways, I guess it is fitting since I am a Buckeye alumn and have been a "Buck" since birth.

Anyways thats a little flavor for ya, more to come in the coming days. Have a good one and enjoy this beautiful cool weather!!!

unset

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