Saturday, February 28, 2009

Duration storm poses potential trouble

Mark

Hi everyone, here’s what’s On My Radar today…I’m trying REALLY hard to bite my tongue and NOT say “March looks like it’s coming in like a lion” you know, the whole cliche thing gets so tired but it really looks like that will be the case. We’re looking at a potentially significant winter storm…a duration event…Sunday and Monday. The set up looks like this: Strong, cold Canadian high pressure builds over Quebec over the next 24 hours. A vigorous “shortwave” of low pressure is digging south toward the Gulf Coast. Two areas of low pressure are forming…the “lead” wave (first storm) will shoot out to the northeast tonight and bring some relatively “light” precipitation to the area Sunday. Looks like a snow/sleet mix for the area Sunday with some small accumulation. The precipitation will shut off in the afternoon and we should “dry” out for a few hours.

The main low pressure will then swing northward early Monday…and again that strong, cold Canadian High is sitting in a prime spot off to our northwest, feeding colder, drier air into southern New England. As always, the track of this system is CRITICAL…if the storm becomes too powerful too quickly then it means a more westward track, resulting in less snow, more mix for the area. If the intensity is tempered a bit while it passes to our southeast then less “ocean influence” is likely and we stay colder, resulting in more snow. The potential is there for a good deal of snow for our area, depending on the factors listed above. Looks like NW RI up through Worcester County is the target zone but I will certainly NOT rule out big totals around Providence either!

The wind potential is high too…northeast gales over 30-40mph along the coast especially…a pretty strong storm! Lots to iron out in this one but one thing for certain, that taste of Spring we got Friday with a high of 60° was a tease…it’s still Winter and odds are it will look a lot like it over the next couple of days…stay tuned! Thanks for reading

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

I’m going to miss you John Ghiorse

Mark

Hi everyone, here’s what’s On My Radar today…by now you’ve probably heard that John Ghiorse is retiring at the end of the week. I feel really fortunate to have worked with John, not only here at NBC10 but we also spent some time together at channel 6 in the 90s. I interned with John during college when I returned home on Summer break. The first time I met him was over the Summer of 1992 and I was amazed at how down to earth and nice he was…even to a Summer Intern!

I had the opportunity to work professionally alongside John from 1994 to 1998 at channel 6 and, of course, more recently from last June until now here at NBC10. John hasn’t changed, he is just as nice and just as funny as he was then. For those of us who grew up watching John it’s hard not to fell a little nostalgic about his retirement, he’s been on T.V. giving the forecast my entire life!

In typical John fashion he doesn’t want a lot of hoopla around his retirement, but that’s going to be hard. He’s just too well like and admired by his co-workers and by the thousands upon thousands of loyal NBC10 viewers, many of whom have watched him for more than 40 years! I will enjoy seeing John on the air for the next few days and I certainly wish him and his family nothing but “sunny skies” for his retirement but I still can’t help feeling a little sad…I’m gonna miss you John, thanks for everything   Thanks for reading

Friday, February 20, 2009

Where will this blog go?

Mark

Hi everyone, here’s what’s On My Radar today…this is one of those times when I really don’t know what direction the blog is going in. I have lots on my mind tonight…maybe you read about the proposed furlough days being put forth by our parent company, there was an article in the business section of the ProJo this morning. So of course THAT is on my mind…but I don’t really want to go there.

The weather this week has been fairly quiet and I must say, it has worked out to be just about as it was forecast on Monday morning. It was a real BLUSTERY day, wasn’t it. At one point I was walking across a parking lot and a gust nearly swept me off my feet! There was quite a bit of cold air in the upper part of the atmosphere and conditions were IDEAL for that cold air to “mix” down to the ground, creating the gusty wind. The wind will drop off a bit overnight but there will still be a few gusts close to 30 mph early tonight.

The Sunday storm is still a bit a concern although all of the computer guidance now suggests that the storm will be mostly rain. There MAY be some snow toward the tail end of the system late Sunday afternoon and Sunday night but at this point I do not expect significant accumulations. What we will be watching for is where the secondary low pressure develops. It appears as though it will form inland, over central Connecticut. This would be a milder scenario…again, keeping the storm mostly rain. However, if the low forms a bit farther south, say south of Long Island then the possibility of more snow enters the forecast.

So, we’ll watch the progression of the storm closely this weekend. It’s hard to believe that next week is the last one of February. Don’t forget, we turn the clocks ahead early this year, March 8th. That’s 3 weeks from this weekend!! So enjoy the weekend…let’s keep hoping for brighter economic news AND brighter skies in the forecast too! Thanks for reading Mark

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

When is it EVER a good time for the oil burner to break?

Mark

Sorry I haven’t posted in a few days but here’s what’s On My Radar today…feeling a little grumpy but I’ll try to not let it show So my oil burner apparently needs replacing. Great news I said to myself when I got the news (sarcastically of course) I can’t really think of a great time to get the news that you have to spend an unexpected $5000-7000.00. I honestly don’t know the exact figure but my oil company said “roughly”...I don’t like “roughly” I like “exactly”, you know what I mean?

Anyhow, so my wife have been discussing this hideous news and we are seriously considering the change to natural gas. I mean, if we have spend big $$$ why NOT make the change? From the preliminary quotes I’ve gotten it seems like a transition over the gas may actually be cheaper in both the short AND long term. Anybody got any thoughts on this, I would appreciate the feedback. Perhaps you went through this recently…send me a note with some pointers.

That’s it for now, I’ll keep poking around about oil vs. gas and hopefully the results will bring a smile regardless, I promise to be more “upbeat” tomorrow…thanks for reading!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Valentine’s Day…not a fan

Mark

Hi everyone, here’s what’s On My Radar today…since I know my wife doesn’t read my blogI feel confident in saying that I’ll be safe when I say “I can’t stand Valentine’s Day”! O.K.? There. I said it…well, truth is I say this EVERY year. Come on guys…I know MANY of you feel the same way…we talk about it every year about this time yet all we can do is complain because our wives, girlfriends, significant others, etc expect…errr…demand active participation on our parts for this god forsaken day!

It’s not that I don’t love my wife…quite the contrary, I love her more than ever. And it’s not that I don’t like to show my appreciation for her…I just don’t need a greeting card company to tell me when I should do it!! And I certainly don’t need to pay 3 times the regular price for flowers or candy or some ridiculous stuffed animal…do I sound bitter?? But wait…what’s the alternative if I boycott V-day? Don’t bother emailing me, I already know the answer, how does it go, oh yeah “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”. I’m smart enough to know what happens if I forget or refuse to “play along” so what will I do? Yeah, your right, I’ll play along…

So now the dilemma, what to get. I’ve heard the ads “This year, break away from the same old same old and get her something she really wants…“ pajamas in a box, a teddy bear from northern New England, how about buy one get one free roses at a local supermarket? Honestly, I’m not sure what I’ll be getting but I promise you (and Nicole) that she doesn’t want any of those things. I hope she wants what I want…a nice quiet dinner together, some uninterrupted conversation (2 kids at home so that NEVER happens!) and a fun night out. Sure, I’ll probably do a little shopping too…I’ve known Nicole long enough to know that she doesn’t want any extravagance on February 14th but she would like SOMETHING…just to know that I was thinking about her and about us so I will do my best. Sometimes I do well, other times…not so much.

So guys, good luck, I’ll be with you in spirit as you venture out on your last minute shopping trip. Hey, who knows, we may meet in line at the check out register. If so be sure to say “hi”! Thanks for reading Mark

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

A taste of Spring!

Mark

Wow…I hope you had a chance to take a few minutes and just enjoy the sunshine and mild air earlier Wednesday afternoon. I was stuck in the weather center upgrading some of our graphic computers but I made sure to jump outside and take some deep breaths! A little vitamin D…boy did that feel good!

We just missed tying the record high by 4° but even still, it really felt warm, especially since the winter has been running so cold. Temperatures will return to near normal by Thursday night and it looks quiet through the weekend. I continue to watch a weak, fast moving system over the weekend closely. It looks like it will swing to our south Saturday night and keep a little light snow with it but the way things have gone this winter, I continue to be a little skeptical…stay tuned!

Thanks for reading Mark

Monday, February 09, 2009

Morning news brings strange habits

Mark

Hi everyone, here’s what’s On My Radar today…due to vacation, our schedules have shifted a bit this week & next so I find myself pulling a familiar shift and waking up in the wee hours of the morning. Ahhh yes, I worked this shift for nearly 4 years at “the other TV station in town” I worked at for 13 years. For me, morning news brings the the best & worst of the job..the format of the show is looser, there’s more time for weather and this allows for a variety of elements, many of which there’s never time for during the evening shows. The problem is the time of day we need to get in here :( Alarm goes off at 2:25AM, I have my “breakfast” packed from the night before so it’s a fast shower, make the coffee and out the door…into work before 3:30AM to prep everything for the start of the Sunrise show at 5:00AM.

You really find yourself eating weird stuff when you work these hours…breakfast is done by 4:30AM…I snack throughout the shows so by the time we are done with the live cut-ins (9:30AM) I’m ready for lunch! Today it was a turkey & cheese grinder from Delizioso Deli in Cranston at 10:00AM!(ever been there? You have to try it, great, fresh food made daily and the people there are very friendly!) I’ve seen some of my co-workers making pasta and ramen noodles in the kitchen at 7:30AM…warming up leftover dinner from the night before in the microwave (how’s a pork chop and mashed potatoes at 8:00AM sound?) I find my caffeine consumption goes up exponentially on this shift too…not surprisingly since most who work this shift regularly average about 5-6 hours of sleep a night…usually from 9:00PM-2:30AM…it’s tough! The co-worker I used to work with about 10 years ago on this shift I think had stock in Diet Coke…seemed like she’d burn through a 6-pack a day!! (you know who you are… )

But it’s nice to be done at 12:30PM in the afternoon and still have your day ahead of you…for me, it’s off to the gym now. I’m training for the Boston Marathon so the treadmill beckons. After that it’s back home to eat an early (second) dinner and pack that breakfast for tomorrow so I can get to bed when my kids do…I’m shooting for 8:00PM tonight, but we’ll see Thanks for reading!

Friday, February 06, 2009

Wear Red Tonight…This Weekend

Mark

Hi everyone…here’s what’s On My Radar tonight…are you wearing red today? No not for Valentine’s Day…that’s still over a week away. I’m wearing a red tie…so is Gary Ley and Dan Jaehnig, Joe Kayata too. Why??? Did you know today is National Wear Red Day? Wearing red today says “I support the American Heart Association and the fight against heart disease – the number one killer of men and women in the United States. To learn how to prevent heart disease, please visit http://www.americanheart.org.” More than 500 companies in Southern New England will encourage their employees to wear red and support this cause. I hope you can participate too! It’s the most important day to raise awareness to heart disease all year…if you forgot your red today maybe you can wear it over the weekend and tell someone about the cause. It’s a simple gesture but for a worthy cause…give it a try! Thanks for reading! Mark

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Storm doing what we expected

Mark

Hi everyone…here’s what’s On My Radar today…the storm is acting just about as we had forecast yesterday…not much accumulation during the daytime due to the temperatures being close to freezing and the fact that the sun angle is a little higher now that we are in early February. The bulk of the accumulation will come during the late afternoon & early evening hours then the snow will taper off before midnight. Watch out for slippery roads…the wind will blow the powdery snow over areas of slush & ice and may it hard for you see those patches. Accurate measurements will be hard to come by due to the melting on contact from earlier today and the blowing and drifting this evening but most of us will get 3-5” as a storm total…the bulk of that on top of the snow that’s already been on the ground.

Most of us will have to move a couple of inches off the driveways and sidewalks tonight…and make sure you do since temperatures will be cold for a few days (just when I finally got my driveway clear it’s all crusty again!!) Looking down the road the pattern will shift into a benign & milder than average pattern through the weekend and into early next week. Looks like a GREAT weekend for a little skiing…we are planning to take the kids to Wachusett, probably gonna need some sunblock!

So after some more cold, dry weather the next few days we will get more of the “early Spring” weather we had a brief taste the past couple of days…enjoy & thanks for reading