Is It Going To Blow?

I think everyone is ready for a break from Winter Storm '09. So lets go the opposite direction from a winter/ice storm to an erupting volcano.

Mt. Redoubt is beginning to wake-up in Alaska. According to the Alaska Volcano Observatory the current Volcano Alert Level is "Watch" and the Aviation Color Code is "Orange".

According to their Friday afternoon update, "Unrest at Redoubt Volcano continues, though no eruption has yet occurred. Seismicity levels have increased since yesterday evening and have also risen markedly over the last hour."

You can take a look at Mt. Redoubt on two webcams setup by the AVO.

• Webcam located 7.5 miles from the summit crater
• Webcam located 45 miles away

Mt. Redoubt is located 110 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska.

According to Wikipedia, Mt. Redoubt erupted in 1902, 1966, and 1989. The eruption in 1989 threw volcanic ash to a height of 45,000 feet. (The attached pictures are from the 1989 eruption.)

If the volcano erupts, it will send volcanic ash high in the sky threatening airliners, but it will also send volcanic ash hundreds of miles (if not thousands) downwind.

3:30pm Winter Storm Update

People from around the area are in search of information. Right now, with communications lines down, it makes it very difficult. Because of this, I have setup a bulletin board web page for people looking for information (or people who have information).

You can access it by going to www.kfvsonline.com/forums. The board will be available 24/7.

11am Winter Storm Update

Sorry for no update from me yesterday. After working roughly 19 hour days (7am till noon from home. 1pm till 2am at work.) I finally had a day off yesterday. So I took the day for myself. I had a few errands that needed to be run, including mailing a package to my brother who is stationed in Iraq. I also tried to catch up on some sleep.

Hundreds of thousands of people are still without power across this region this morning. People are still in search of information as to when the power will be back. Unfortunately, it is hard for us to get answers because we are having a hard time getting a hold of people. The best thing for everyone is to have patience.

In some spots it could be the middle/end of next week until the power is restored at the earliest. I have a feeling that some people will be without power for weeks.

It is also affecting areas outside of the Heartland (southeast Missouri, southern Illinois, western Kentucky). I got a call from my cousin who is on the bank board of a bank located in northern Illinois. It turns out that their bank has a data line that goes through Paducah, KY. So he was interested to know when data lines might be back up in Western Kentucky because it is affecting business at the bank. Unfortunately, there is no answer.

What I do know is that the Kentucky Governor was in Paducah yesterday and announced that the National Guard would be bringing in 5 of the communications trucks to try and establish some way of communication in the area.

Want Some Peanut Butter To Go With The Jelly?

14,560 square miles. That is the area of widespread power outages across KFVS's viewing area. This just shows how widespread the damage is from the storm.

How do I know this? I just sat down and figured it up. 182 miles west to east. 80 miles north to south across the viewing area.

On that not, I'm fried. Physically I'm exhausted. Mentally, my brain is turning to jelly. I'm glad to be done with the storm. As I told the "newsies" in the newsroom today, I can wash my hands of the storm. It is their "baby".

As a meteorologist I really enjoy the lead up to the storm. The forecasting from days out... The number of hours looking at computer model data... Staying up all night waiting for the next round of data to come out. Then sitting at a desk, with a map and markers in hand, trying to determine where and how much.

Then there is the moment where as a forecaster you realize there is nothing more you can do. Sure, you could look at new data, but often times at that point it is information overload. I tell myself, "Quit trying to fine tune the forecast. Just let it fly the course."

I have been known to make forecasts for big snows when noone else does. I then get nervous before the storm forms/arrives. I will start to pace back and forth through the newsroom or I will pace back and forth in front of my window and my tv. I think... "It better start to develop." "Come on snow, get here all ready!"

Then when it starts to fall and pile up, I'm on cloud 9.

People often ask me why I get excited when I am talking about storms (whether it be spring severe storms or winter storms). I admit, I do get excited. How can you not get excited when something you have worked at for hours and days pay off?

Where is the harm with being enjoying your job? I am lucky to be in a job that doesn't feel like a job.

Wow! I must really be tired if I am having these thoughts... And it is only 8pm...

12pm Winter Storm Update

I am hearing some heavy dripping outside of my place. Sounds like some of the ice is melting off the trees. Temperatures are near 30°. I don't think we'll melt too much of it.

By the way, Heartland News will be airing a special two hour news report regarding Winter Storm '09. The special will start at 5pm CT. You can watch it online at www.KFVS12.com.

I've got to get ready and head in to work. (I'm not looking forward to going out and cleaning off my car again.)

How much snow did you get overnight?

7:30am Winter Storm Update: The Smell of Burning Rubber

It looks like this storm is starting to wind down (west to east) around the Heartland. Its about time! We've only been dealing with it now for approximately 38 hours!

Power outages are wide spread. Areas from Ellsinore, Missouri to Calvert City, Kentucky (and everything in between) are without power. This is such a large scale disaster!

We just got word that Kennett, Missouri is 85%-90% without power. At last check the entire town of Sikeston, Missouri is without power. There a many, many towns without power at this time. There are most likely over 100,000 people without power.

Main roads last night weren't bad, but they weren't good either. You hear us say it over and over on the TV, "Don't go out unless you have to." As I said last night on the news, "Even if you do have to go out, reconsider it." It is just safer to stay home.

Here was my experience from last night. I got home from work around 2am this morning. When trying to enter my parking lot, all the ice/sleet had created a nice crust. I had to get a head of speed up to try to get up over the curb. Unfortunately, it didn't work. My front tires got caught and I didn't make. After a few worried minutes of trying to get the car out, I could start to smell burning rubber. Hmm... guess my tires were getting a little hot while spinning on the ice when I was trying to rock my car out. The good news... I eventually did get to my parking space. :)

I just looked outside and noticed that we do have some fresh snow on the ground. Our first measurable snow of the year!

How much additional snow did you get overnight?

10:30pm Winter Storm Update

This storm is amazing! I was just chatting with the forecasters at the NWS office in Paducah via instant messenger.

They are down and out right now. They aren't able to send out data or products. The NWS has back-up plans for situtations like this. The NWS office in Springfield, Missouri is taking care of sending out their products.

They told me that they have 2" of ice accumulation. Let me repeat 2" OF ICE ACCUMULATION! That is incredible!!!

Unfortunately, this storm isn't over. We probably have another 8-9 hours to go.

Some of the final ice accumulation numbers will be through the roof. I think some places could have 2.5"+ of ice. I was this close to calling this a catastrophic storm on the air at 10pm.

If you thought the February '08 ice storm in Southeast Missouri was bad, just wait until we have a chance to see the damage from this one. It is much more widespread! I have a feeling this could take at least a week to get everyone back up with power.

We just took a power hit at the station.

We will continue the online and on-air cutins starting at 11:00 pm CT.

• Online on the hour.
• On-air :30 past the hour.

6pm Winter Storm Update

Just wanted to update everyone that I will be doing live online cut-ins starting at 7pm CT on KFVS12.com. They will happen hourly until 10pm CT.

I will be doing live on-air cut-ins on KFVS12 at :30 past the hour every hour starting at 7:30pm CT.

3pm Winter Storm Update

Just got out of our 2pm news meeting. We were figuring out what we were going to have in our newscasts at 5, 6, and 10pm.

I am going to begin online and on-air cutins at 3:30pm CT and every half hour through 5pm CT. They won't last long (maybe 2-3 minutes) since we are cutting in to programming.

We will be having the online updates again this evening. Time to be announced.

Now, back to the weather computer/maps. I've got 30 minutes to get a lot done...

11am Winter Storm Update

17 hours in to the storm... Another 20 hours to go.

Did you hear all the sleet coming down last night? It almost made it hard to sleep!

Power outages are being reported all across Southeast Missouri and Western Kentucky this morning.

Just checked some of the morning computer model data... Yuck! It looks like the sleet will continue for the next couple of hours. Eventually around 2pm or 3pm we should see a change over from sleet to freezing rain. Then we stay freezing rain through 11pm. Then a change over from freezing rain to snow around midnight. With perhaps 4"-6" of snow overnight.That is all for the "Cape Girardeau-ish Area".

After 6 hours of sleep, I am ready to go at it again...

2:00am Winter Storm Update

Some of the affects of Winter Storm '09 are starting to be felt across the area...

I was on the phone with the National Weather Service a couple of minutes ago and they were telling me that power outages are starting to pop-up across parts of Western Kentucky. Outages seem to be reported from Calloway County up through Marshall County to Livingston County.

From what they tell me, it has been raining hard for several hours in parts of Western Kentucky. With temperatures hovering around 30° it is all freezing rain. I saw one report of 0.4" of ice accumulation already being reported. Unfortunately, it looks like my estimate of 1.25"+ could work out.

Someone posted a comment on my previous blog post about Sikeston being without power since 12:30am.

I glanced at AmerenUE's website and there are currently over 1,000 customers without power in New Madrid County and Pemiscot County.

I have a feeling that these numbers will only continue to rise by the time we wake-up in the morning and again Wednesday morning.

By the way, here at my place in Cape Girardeau, I have .9" of sleet with some kind of ice/sleet mix underneath. I'm not sure how deep of a layer it is under the .9" of sleet.

(Ok, now I really am going to sleep!)

12:45am Winter Storm Update:

I am heading home for the night. I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted!

So far we haven't gotten many reports in, however it is the middle of the night. People are sleeping.

Cape Girardeau airport manager Bruce Loy sent me an email letting me know that the airport has 3/4" to 1" of sleet/ice accumulations on all surfaces. Thanks Bruce!

I have also seen some reports of 3.25" of sleet/snow reports coming in from just northwest of Farmington, Missouri.

I have a feeling we will be dealing with a lot of sleet overnight through early Tuesday morning. Forecast models started to hint tonight at a mid-level low developing and moving through Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois by late morning/early afternoon. If this is the case, our lull might be Tuesday morning and things could pick-up again by late morning/early afternoon.

I am still expecting another push of moisture/energy by late afternoon/evening Tuesday.

Stay tuned....

In the mean time, feel free to leave reports of what you are seeing at your place!

11:25pm Winter Storm Update

I just gave a call over to the National Weather Service office in Paducah to see if they have gotten any reports of snow, especially in Southern Illinois. They said that they had recently received a report of 0.7" of snow in Mt. Vernon, IL.

The reason I asked is that several of the airport observation sites (all automated) have been reporting snow, but I hadn't heard of many reports of snow.

Hmm... Guess there is. :)

I don't know about you, but I am getting tired. I've been "playing" with this storm since 6am!!! Usually, I'm all gung-ho to stay up all night with the storm, but I don't know if I'll be able to this time.

10:55pm Winter Storm Update

I will be continuing the live online weather updates on the hour at 11:00pm CT. We'll do one more at midnight and then the production crew will be taking off.

8:40pm Winter Storm Update:

I am starting to get reports of sleet across the area. We had some HEAVY sleet move through downtown Cape Girardeau. It sounded like a hail storm on top of the studio.

Looking at our lightning data shows that we had some lightning and thunder overhead. That was somewhat expected and not surprising. You have heard of thundersnow? The same thing can happen with sleet. When you get some thunder and lightning it means the cell overhead has become convective and can produce a much higher rate of precipitation.

7pm Winter Storm Update

I just went outside to move my car to the KFVS12 garage. Yikes! Everything in the parking lot has a glaze of ice. Wind shields have frozen drops of water. Ugh, I remember this from last February.

I will be giving live weather updates on KFVS12 (TV) every hour starting at 7:30pm CT. I will also be giving live weather updates online at KFVS12.com ever hour starting at 8:00pm CT. If you have any questions or comments, I will read some of them during the online update. Email your questions or comments to jdissauer@kfvs12.com.

6pm Winter Storm Update:

Heartland News reporter Holly Brantley has been reporting live from Sikeston, Missouri. She tells me that a light rain/drizzle is coming down. It is beginning to freeze on her microphone.

I have also gotten reports of light rain/drizzle from Malden, Missouri, Van Buren, Missouri, and Ellsinore, Missouri. Here at the station (downtown Cape Girardeau, Missouri) we are getting a heavy drizzle.

I'm in the middle of the 6pm newscast, so I need to get back to work. I'll try to update the blog through the night.

Winter Storm Update

Just got off a conference call with the National Weather Service in Paducah. Rick Shanklin, Paducah NWS Warning Coordinator, said that they are "really concerned" and that this storm could be the "winter storm event of the decade". Rick is a very level headed individual. Hearing these comments from him should add extra importance to the warnings.

The NWS in Paducah will be holding a press conference at 2:00pm CT. This is the first time they will have held a press conference before a winter weather storm. We will be streaming the press conference live on KFVS12.com.

I just ironed a couple of shirts so I am ready for the next couple of days in case I lose power.

One Word: "Mess!"

By now you should be aware of the winter storm headed for the Ohio River Valley of the United States. There is only one way to describe how this is going to turn out. This is going to be a mess!

The National Weather Service offices in Memphis, Paducah, and St. Louis have upgraded our Winter Storm Watches to Winter Storm Warnings and Ice Storm Warnings. Further east, Winter Storm Watches are being upgraded as the system gets closer.

Around the Heartland (Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois, Western Kentucky, and Northwest Tennessee) it looks as though we are going to see a mix of heavy snow, heavy sleet, and heavy icing in the form of freezing rain. It appears that this will start to move in from the west starting around 7:00pm - 8:00pm give or take a couple of hours.

Over the last couple of days, all but one of the models had been indicating copious amounts of moisture in the atmosphere to work with. Late last night the one lone model came in line with all the others. The models are suggesting there could be 1" to 2.5" of moisture to work with. That is a LOT of moisture for a winter storm!

If you look at my blog post from yesterday, we had some questions that had to be answered before we could figure out how bad this storm will be. We needed to figure out how much moisture there would be. We needed to determine what the temperatures going up in the atmosphere would be. We then could start to figure out what kind of precipitation we would be getting.

Lets take a look at the temperatures going up. Here is one of the forecast models cross section over Cape Girardeau.

Remember that the time reads from right to left. Notice the large area of 0°+ temps sitting around 5,000 feet off the ground. To me, this is hinting more at sleet than snow or freezing rain. What we see falling out of the sky will depend on how thick that layer of warmer air is. If it remains similar to this, we will see sleet. If it thickens, or drops closer to the surface, we will see freezing rain as the frozen precip falls in to the warm layer and melts. Then once it gets near the surface it refreezes as ice.

I have had a feeling that this biggest problem with this storm would be ice and my feeling is still the same. Some folks will get some heavy snow, but the ice is flat out crippling as many remember from last February.

Here is a look at one of the forecast views from Farmington, Missouri.

Notice that it is mainly all snow. (Blue = snow) With the amount of moisture in the atmosphere and it all falls as snow, it isn't out of the question to see a 7"-10" of snow.

Further south here is the view of Paducah, Kentucky.

Notice all the freezing rain. (Red=freezing rain) For people in Western Kentucky, Northwest Tennessee, and southern sections of Southeast Missouri (Benton, Mo and south) this could be a HUGE ice storm. With all the moisture the computer models are spitting out, it is possible we could be talking over 1" of ice.

For friends further to the east in Indiana... I think there is going to be a band of heavy snow of 6"-8" of snow that runs from Columbus, IN to Indianapolis. If you are south of Seymour (getting closer to Louisville), it is going to be more of an icing issue.

Snowfall Accumulation Map (from computer model):

Sleet Accumulation Map (from computer model):

Remember... The images I have put on here are computer models. Not reality. There is a lot more that goes in to forecasting than just taking numbers straight from the computer model. We will be fine tuning the forecast as the event nears.

So are you ready for this one?

"Snowfall, Sleet & Ice Oh My!"

It never can be an easy forecast around here. Why can't it just be all snow? It would sure make forecasting this storm much easier.

By now, you might have heard about a winter storm headed our direction. It still indeed is. The National Weather Service (NWS) in Memphis, St. Louis, and Paducah has issued a Winter Storm Watch for the entire Heartland (Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois, Western Kentucky, Northwest Tennessee). The watch is in effect Monday evening through Tuesday evening.

There are still a lot of uncertainties with the storm.

1. What will temperatures be at different heights of the atmosphere?
2. How much moisture is there to work with?
3. What type of precipitation will we have?
   

Looking at temperature profiles are interesting at times. Basically, I am talking about taking a slice of the air above the ground and looking at it from the side. Think about it this way. When you are looking at an aquarium, you can look down at the water just above the bottom. Then you can move up the glass until you see the waterline. It is just a cross section of the water in the aquarium. That is what we have to do when determining what type of precipitation we will have.

Here is an example of what one of the computer models is suggesting for Monday/Tuesday. It allows us to see the cross section over Cape Girardeau.

If you click on the graphic you can see a larger version. I want you to notice the yellow lines on the screen. At around 5k to 10k (5,000 feet to 10,000 feet) see the 0 line? That is the freezing line at different heights above the ground. Notice all around the outside of the 0° line there is colder air. Inside there is warmer air. That means that anything falling through that area of the atmosphere will warm up and probably melt to liquid.

Also notice how it then gets below 0° near the surface. That is when the moisture would refreeze. In that situation we would probably be talking about freezing rain. Freezing rain = ice = yuck!

When you look at the graphic, you see different colored vertical bars. That is how much precipitation and the precipitation type. Green=rain Red=freezing rain Orange=sleet Blue=snow. (Also, when looking at the graphic, the time runs from right to left. I know it is backwards, but I didn't write the program. haha)

This particular model is indicating mainly freezing rain. Not just a little freezing rain, but a lot! On the order of over an inch. That would definitely not be good!

When I look at one of the cross sections from this model for Farmington, Missouri it indicates mainly snow. And a lot of it! This specific model is trying to suggest 8.1" of snow.

Again, this is just a model. A suggestion. When I forecast I look at a minimum 5 computer models. For major snow storms, I might take a look at 8 models.

If you were watching Heartland News at 10pm Saturday night you might have heard me say that I had a gut feeling this could be a bigger ice storm than snow storm. My gut still feels that way. (Although, I am also hungry, so it could be telling me to eat something.) As is usually the case, we are going to see the dividing line between freezing rain, sleet, and snow over the top of us. I think some people could get some heavy snowfall out of this. I think some could get a decent amount of freezing rain.

Here is a map showing what one of the computer models is calling for with regards to freezing rain.

Here is what the forecasters at the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (or HPC) are forecasting. (This forecast was updated Sunday morning.)

Like I mentioned before, there are still a lot of uncertainties with the storm. Some of the models are trying to bring only a tiny bit of moisture through the area. If that were to be the case, then the numbers would be held down drastically.

I'll be looking over the models this afternoon while I try to put together my forecast. Hopefully, I'll feel strongly enough about a snow/sleet/freezing rain amount forecast to have it on TV tonight at 10pm.

I now need to go find my colored markers. Even though we have all kinds of computer technology to do things, I still like to take out a map (on paper) and mark it up with the colored markers while putting together the forecast.

So all of that said, what are you hoping for out of the storm?

Slippin' & Slidin'

It looks like we might have the possibility of some "winter weather" around parts of southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois, and Western Kentucky this week. A quick glance at the computer models this morning shows the chance of either sleet or freezing rain.

I'm just coming off my weekend. (Since I work a Saturday-Wednesday work week, my Saturday/Sunday is Thursday/Friday.) Usually on Saturday mornings I get up in the morning and take a quick glance at what the computer models are hinting at for the next couple of days.

When making my forecast, I usually look at a minimum 5 computer models. For my quick glance this morning I took a look at two. This is the GFS model (I'm not always a fan of this one.)

When looking at the model, the time runs from right to left. (Sorry, I didn't make the program!) Notice how it brings in freezing rain for Tuesdsay-Wednesday. The GFS tries to drop down around 1" of the freezing rain. That would spell a mess for us. Remember last February? Yikes!

This is the NAM model. I use this one much more. Although, it hasn't handled things well this winter.

Notice this model is indicating it as more of a sleet issue. And not a very heavy sleet either. On or the order of .2".

It could come down to a a degree or two over a 1,000-2,000 foot area overhead. That is how these things work out around here. The models will flip-flop around some as we get closer to the event (which is normal).

Personally, I would rather see a nice snow storm out of this. We haven't had a measurable snow this winter. Plus, snow storms are easier to forecast than sleet/ice storms.

I should have been able to guess this earlier this month. Bob Reeves is off Monday-Wednesday and I am filling in for him. Typically, when he takes off we have some kind of weather event. Be it winter storm (think Christmas '04) or severe thunderstorms/tornadoes.

As I like to say. Stay tuned...

Chisels and Stone Tablets

That is what White House staffers have been using to send memos back and forth for the last 200 years. Ok, maybe it isn't quite as bad as that, but the technology in the White House is back in the stone ages.

The Washington Post put out an interesting article about what new White House staffers have encountered. A spokesperson for the administration said, "It is kind of like going from Xbox to an Atari."

It sounds like staffers found old computers. Found software that was 6 years out of date. Some didn't have working telephones. The list goes on and on. I can understand the phone situtation, but the software being out of date? Come on! Although, you could make an argument for the cost of keeping software and computers up to date.

I am sure we all have issues like this at work. Outdated computers/software. Companies around the world spend billions of dollars a year buying new computers and updating software. It is the cost of business and if you think about it, the White House and the US Government is the biggest business in the United States.

Now where do they come up with the money? Good question!

We are citizens in a true global community. We (especially the US government) need to be able to use all the communications technology at our disposal. That is what the internet is based on. Being able to communicate.

What are your thoughts?

Caching in on Obama

I promise not to get too political on the blog, but I am going to talk about Obama again. Yes, two Obama posts back to back. However, this isn't going to be directly about Obama. It is about how people are trying to cache (pun intended) in on the new president's popularity.

There is a rash of email going around the internet involving Barak Obama. You might have already gotten one of these already. Some of the email being passed around is trying to get you to put malware on your computer. This could be a computer virus or a trojan horse. Either way, you don't want it on your computer!

The folks at Trend Labs have been notcing the emails too and have indeed found malware. The sites are bogus news or blog sites about President Obama. When you go to the site it will usually ask your computer download something. A few of the files it might try to download are obama.exe and baraknews.exe.

The scary thing about this is that your computer might download the file without even asking you. It is an exploit with ActiveX controls. Internet Explorer is the most vulnerable with ActiveX exploits. I generally recommend that people turn off ActiveX controls in the browser. You can have the browser ask you if you want to run ActiveX from a site you are familiar with. A lot of sites require ActiveX so this can come in handy.

You can also avoid this by using a browser like FireFox. Firefox doesn't work well with ActiveX controls so it is a safer browser. It is the browser I use on my home computer.

Here are a few things I go through in the back of my head before opening up emails. Some of these tips might help you.

1. Do I recognize the name of the person sending me the email?


2. Is it the correct email address for that person?


3. Does something seem fishy about the subject line?

Be careful out there. The internet is a great place, but just like any city it can have some places you have to watch out for.

To Use or Not to Use?

We are just hours away from the swearing in of another President of the United States. Whether you are a Republic, Democrat, conservative, moderate or liberal there is one thing we can all look forward to. Will Barak Obama keep his Blackberry?

It is well known that Obama loves his Blackberry. Since his nominee for the top of the Democrat ticket, there has been speculation in the tech world as to whether or not Obama will keep his Blackberry if he were elected president.

You might wonder what is the big deal. So far, presidents have not used email while in office. If a sitting president sends or receives an email, it becomes part of the presidential archives. That is the reason presidents haven't used email. Many presidents try to keep the amount of material going in to the archive at a minimum.

Really, if you think about it, email has only been around since the mid-1990's. That means we can look back at two presidents. President Bill Clinton and President George W. Bush.

President George W. Bush used email just before being sworn in to office. Just before being sworn in he sent out an email to his friends and told him that he would no longer be using his email.

So back to the question. Should Obama keep his Blackberry? He has been advised by his camp to not use it. As of Jan. 17th, this Associated Press story says that there is still no word.

What do you think?

JAN 22 UPDATE: It appears that a Blackberry will be in the Oval Office. Or at least a version of the Blackberry. It won't be running the usual Blackberry software and the estimated cost of the phone is over $3,000. See the story from the Chicago Tribune.

Flying on the Back of a Dog

Here is a website I have recently (within the last couple of months) stumbled across.

Airfarewatchdog.com

Its a pretty cool site.

You can go in and type which airport you want to depart from. It will then search the internet for published and un-published airfare specials. It will also tell you what last minute deals there are if you are looking for a weekend trip.

For example, type in STL for St. Louis-Lambert Airport and it will show you all the deals out of Lambert Airport.

Shot? Who called for a shot?!?

It looks like a shot of cold air will be returning for the Heartland (Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois, Western Kentucky, and Northwest Tennessee) Monday.

A quick moving system will dive south out of southern Canada. High temps will be in the upper 20's to upper 30's. However, it appears that the high temperature will be reached by late morning or early afternoon. I think temperatures will slowly fall off by mid to late afternoon.

It will be cooler, but nothing as bad as it was Thursday and Friday.

Speaking of Thursday and Friday, it was cold! Take a look at the official temps from the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

• Thursday: 18/5
• Friday: 18/1

That is pretty cold! Thursday goes in to the books officially as 20 degrees below normal. Friday goes in to the books as 22 degrees below normal. Interestingly, January is still above normal. Through Jan. 16, we were 1.31 degrees above normal per day. I guess it helps when we have two days of temperatures in the 60's earlier in the month.

I'm also starting to wonder if we are going to get any snow this winter. So far, nothing measurable in Cape Girardeau...

Welcome...

Welcome to my new blog. I have been wanting to start a blog for a while, but I figure now is the time to do it.

What will be covered in this blog?

• Weather - What is going on in the wacky world of weather? It could be local. It could be global.
• Technology - I enjoy tech gadgets. Plus, what could be coming down the pipeline? I'll let you know what I have my eye on.
• Internet - Love it or hate it the internet is changing how we do things. Especially in the broadcasting/mass media biz. I will bring you my unique perspective from inside the biz.
• Travel - I love to travel. I love to find good travel deals even more. In my family, I am known as the travel agent. Relatives call me to see what kind of deals I can find. When I come across some good deals or good websites to use for finding deals, I will pass along the information.

I have been struggling with a name for the blog. I have gone with "New at Dis Hour". It is a play on my last name. :) If you have any suggestions for a better title, I am all ears.

Look for a couple of updates per week.