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

Friday, January 30, 2009

I Love My Neti-Pot

Mark

Hi everyone…here’s what’s On My Radar today…it’s called a Neti-Pot, do you know what it is? Well I didn’t until about two months ago. Some people at work were talking about this thing they saw Dr. Oz (the guy on Oprah??) talking about on TV, claiming it’s the greatest thing for folks who suffer from sinus pain and frequent sinus infections. I never had a problem with my sinuses until a couple of years ago…but like many of you I started getting that searing pain between my eyes…nasty “green stuff”...you know, I’ll say no more. In fact, last winter I went on anti-biotics twice to get rid of the stuff.

O.K. enough of that…so I went out and got a Neti-Pot…it looks like a little tea pot…holds a few ounces of water (you fill it with warm, not hot water) and you put a small amount of saline mix in and stir. Now the actual process is a little gross so I won’t go into detail but let’s just call it a “nasal flush”, got it?? I ‘ve been doing twice a day since early December and I love it!! You might even say I’ve gotten addicted to the thing…if I forget to do it before bed I have a lousy night’s sleep. Knock on wood…no sinus infections yet this winter and I’ve felt great…even though the kids have been coughing and sneezing like little maniacs I’ve been as healthy as ever!

If you have sinus trouble, try it…there are a few varieties and brands…most drug stores carry them. I don’t receive royalties from any company to endorse their product, just trying to be helpful. Winter is a tough time of year to stay healthy but so far I’m feeling good and it’s all about the Neti-pot for me. Have a great weekend…thanks for reading Mark

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Only in New England???

Mark

Hi everyone…here’s what’s On My Radar today…it was another day of being amazed at how variable our weather can be across such a small area. Temperatures as of 5PM range from 30° over extreme northwest Rhode Island with freezing rain continuing…to 50° out on Martha’s Vineyard! It’s only about 65 miles as the crow flies from these areas but the weather conditions vary tremendously. It’s something we are quite used to, especially in winter but it still amazes me to watch! Aside from mountain ranges, you’d be hard pressed to find such variability in weather conditions over such a short distance in many other places around the country.

I gotta say, the storm did just about what we expected…snow started around 5-6AM, changed to rain between 10am-noon and dropped about 2-4” for most of us. The next few days look relatively quiet…a chance, perhaps, to move some of the slush leftover after the storm moves away tonight. Try to move as much of it away as possible…especially if you live across central and northern Rhode Island and interior Massachusetts. It’s these areas where it will be coldest overnight.

Have a great night…thanks for reading! Mark

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Here we go again

Mark

Hi everyone…here’s what’s On My Radar today…it’s not like we are talking about a huge storm here…we’ve seen MUCH more snow from previous storms this winter. And it’s not the expected mixture of precipitation…again, we’ve been there and done that this year too. The problem with this storm is the timing! It really couldn’t have come at a worse time…right at the start of the morning rush hour! Looks like we will have a few hours of moderate to heavy snowfall…rates at about 1”/hour for a few hours. Most of the accumulation from this storm will occur from 8AM-Noon. Looks like 3-4” will be a popular range of accumulations for the area…a little more well inland…a little less out toward the Cape & Islands.

If the storm takes the track I expect (as of late afternoon Tuesday) we have the potential of picking up about an inch of rain on top of the snow and sleet once the change over occurs!. This will cause some localized run-off flooding problems so travelling Wednesday, whether early in the snow or later in the slush and rain, will be painfull at times.

Take it slow, give yourself some extra time…here’s hoping we ALL get through this next one unscathed! Thanks for reading

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Ridin’ the roller coaster

Mark

Hi everyone, here’s what’s On My Radar today...although the storm track over the next few days will remain quiet for us in the northeast, we will have some rather significant temperature fluctuations to contend with. Here’s a recap of what the high temperatures this week have looked like so far, going back to Sunday:
SUNDAY: 30°
MONDAY: 33°
TUESDAY; 32°
WEDNESDAY: 28°
THURSDAY: 33°

all things considered, a rather consistent temperature pattern.
Now, going forward, here’s what I’m forecasting for the next five days:

FRIDAY: 39°
SATURDAY: 34° ...temps will fall into the 20s by afternoon
SUNDAY: 24°
MONDAY: 21°
TUESDAY: 29°

Friday will be the mildest day we’ve seen in two weeks and then it’s back into the deep freeze as the temperature ride takes us over the crest and crashes back down this weekend. Certainly temperature fluctuations are common in winter but so too is the January thaw. We haven’t had that thaw this year…the mildest it’s been is 41° and that happened twice. Temperatures this month are running about 4.5° colder than average! And snowfall is WELL above average, in fact we’ve already accumulated about as much as we expect during an entire season and winter still has over 8 weeks to go!

The pattern suggests a colder than average next week or so then we should see it transition into a warmer than normal pattern heading into early February. Regardless of what the next month holds one thing is certain, we are in for a couple of frigid days later this weekend and early next week…enjoy a “mild Friday”! Thanks for reading

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

A great day to be an American

Mark

Here’s what’s On My Radar today…This will be short as today, for me and likely for many of you, was all about the Inauguration. Politics aside, regardless of where you stand and who you support you had to admire today’s Presidential Inauguration and it’s historic significance. The smooth, peaceful transition of power our country demonstrates is wonderful to watch and I enjoyed watching as much of it as I possibly could today with my family. The events we witnessed helped to further increase my pride of being an American!

2009 is looking like it will be an incredibly difficult year for many of us on a host of fronts. We need things to turn around and to do so in hurry. I sincerely wish President Obama all the best and hope that our state and our country will climb out of this grim economic pit effectively & expeditiously under his leadership. Thanks for reading. Mark

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Arctic Air leaves the area!

Mark

Hi everyone, hope you’re having a good weekend here’s what’s On My Radar today…no doubt about the frigid air the last few days. It was indeed as nasty as we had forecast. Temperatures will slowly climb out of the deep freeze over the next 24 hours as the wind turns into the southwest. Highs will reach the lower 20s Saturday afternoon with lower 30s likely Sunday.

The Sunday storm is a tricky little one. It doesn’t look like a major system but it very well may cause a few headaches across parts of the area. Right now it looks cold enough across interior parts of southern New England for mostly snow. The southerly wind will cause a changeover to rain or at least a significant amount of rain mixed with snow to limit accumulations. Looks to me that the rain/mix line will get close to the Providence area. Areas north & west stand the best chance of a few inches of snow…2-3”/perhaps up to 4”. Coastal areas will see any early accumulations wash away due to the change to rain.

The week ahead looks chilly, colder than average actually but NEARLY as frigid as the past several days. I don’t see any signs of significant storms (after the Sunday/Monday system) until late in the week. Even then, it looks like perhaps some rain by Friday as a storm cuts to our northwest. Enjoy the week, and the “warmer temperatures” and thanks for reading Mark

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Dry air and a fast moving storm

Mark

Hi everyone, here’s what’s On My Radar today…the snow we are expecting Thursday will be falling through an extremely dry & cold airmass. There is no concern over a rain/snow line this time…it will be plenty cold enough for all of the area. My main concern is the amount of dry air and the speed of the storm. The low center will be moving very quickly off to our south Thursday morning so the snow will only fall for a few hours…mainly from about 6-7AM until noon-2PM. Accumulations will be limited due to the speed of the storm and the fact that the dry air will “eat up” some of the snow as it falls.

Looks to me like the higher totals may be found along the south coast since there will be more available moisture to work with down there. A couple of inches seems like a decent bet…maybe only a dusting well to the north and as much as 3-4” across parts of the Cape and south coastal areas, especially the Islands. The Arctic Air will linger through the weekend with another fast moving system bringing a little light snow Sunday.

Keep an eye on your pets in this cold and dress in layers over the next few days. I’m off the rest of the week so I will chat with you again over the weekend. Stay warm and thanks for reading Mark

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Winter sports are fun but…

Mark

The “pit of winter” is a gloomy time for all of us…even if you enjoy outdoor sports this time of year. My wife & I took our girls skiing for the first time last weekend at Yawgoog Valley. What a great little hill for learning. The instructor could not have been nicer and more encouraging for the girls. They had a blast…even took the tow rope up the hill a little way.

I love to ski…been on them since I was 2 and I am so happy to have my kids starting to learn. It is a great time and a family ski vacation is terrific for bonding. Some of my greatest memories of my childhood center around ski trips…even if I was squished in the back of the family station wagon, the suitcases piled on top of me, the occasional ski pole hitting my head, not to mention the dog and her “gas” issues. It was fun though and I look forward to subjecting MY kids to the same!!

But still I can’t wait for warmer weather…I know, we have a LONG way to go. I am not a fan of running outdoors in the frigid air with barely any room along the shoulder of the road due to ice and snow accumulation. Not to mention that I refuse to take my road bike out when there’s even a little ice. (That crash I had 2 years ago on the black ice when I broke a couple of bones is still fresh in my mind). So I stay on the indoor bike trainer and can’t wait to get back in the pool later this week (it’s been closed since early November with an undisclosed equipment problem!).

Triathlon season is still a couple months away and I can’t wait. Once we get through these next 6-8 weeks of real Winter weather we’ll be on our way to sustained warming…just think 6-8 weeks ago it was Thanksgiving and that time flew by! If you love te cold and Winter sports, enjoy. Personally I’ll make the most of the snow & cold but I’ll be happier when the roads are clean and the air a little milder! Thanks for reading

Monday, January 12, 2009

Cold is going nowhere

Mark

Hi everyone, here’s what’s On My Radar today…first off, let’s get it out of the way. The weekend snow storm was a bit of a bust. Just under 4” of snow “officially” at TF Green airport…most of us in that 3-4” range, I know not as much as I forecast Friday. The storm cut in too close to our south coast and forced that warm wedge of air in the mid atmosphere over the entire area, not ot mention shunting the heaviest precipitation to our north as well. Too much dry air, sleet and freezing rain and not enough snow. I must admit the signs were there earlier in the week that this was a possibility, I chose to believe that the storm would track JUST far enough to the south to keep most of us mainly snow…it was close.

Anyhow, now on to the week ahead…you’ve heard about the cold air. I first mentioned it early last week in this blog. It looks nasty late Thursday night through Saturday. The coldest period will be Friday into Saturday with lows going below zero in the typically colder area and highs Friday, for some of us, struggling to reach 10°! We do, however, have a chance for a little snow accumulation Thursday as an Alberta Clipper, which will precede the arrival of the Arctic Air, swings through. Right now it looks like light snow starting early Thursday morning (7am ish) lasting into the early afternoon. A couple inches are possible but the system will be moving quickly and it’s a few days out so it’s kind of tough to say right now.

So brace for the cold later this week, in fact temperatures look below normal next week too! Again, we’re entering the Heart of Winter…if you like the cold stuff you’re gonna get a whole lot it in the upcoming days. Thanks for reading

Friday, January 09, 2009

Weekend Snow Update

Mark Searles

Hi everyone, here’s what’s On My Radar today…of course it’s all about the snow forecast for the weekend. First let me start by saying that this snow storm will NOT be a Satur"day” event…the first flakes will likely not even fall until after 5pm. Looks like the heaviest of the snow will fall Saturday night into Sunday morning from about 10pm Saturday until 4-6am Sunday. This storm’s snow potential bears some similarity to the one from New Year’s Eve day, at least in terms of final accumulations. We will not, however, have that blast of Arctic air sweeping across the area as we did last week once the snow ended!

I am a bit concerned about a few hours of “warm” air mixing in at the height of the storm…especially along the coast and across the Islands. Looks like a change to sleet and even rain for Block Island, Martha’s Vineyard & Nantucket. This will limit accumulations to around 2-4” in these spots. The snow will be heavier and wetter across Cape Cod where about 3-6” seems likely. Most of the area looks like 4-8” to me with a heavier, wetter snow along the coast and lighter, fluffier snow farther inland. Higher elevations north & west of Providence may see amount close to 10”..again, similar to what happened on New Year’s Eve day last week.

The upcoming week may feature another couple of disturbances…nothing too severe but we still may get a real Arctic blast of air later in the week…Thursday into Friday. Have a good weekend, enjoy the snow and thanks for reading! Mark