Winding it down...

Well, another day....more wall-to-wall weather coverage. Forsyth County went under a severe thunderstorm warning just prior to 5pm, and off I went for 50 minutes of wall-to-wall coverage. Not that bad, but when you consider that I was on the air at 1:51 this afternoon and I am still sitting here waiting for the National Weather Service to cancel the severe thunderstorm watch for parts of the area, it makes for another long day. And this is day 9 in a row working for me. So, while I am thankful and happy to have the opportunity to provide you with the level of severe weather coverage that we do, I am also quite ready for some off days.

And so, I will be off Friday through Tuesday before hopping back on the air Wednesday evening. We are heading out of state during that time to my wife's high school reunion, and visits with family and friends will take place as well.

At any rate, have a great weekend, and I will be back in the saddle Wednesday evening....Independence Day! God bless....

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Well...

Active storms popped in isolated fashion around the Triad and Charlotte regions this evening. I was holding down the fort in the Triad market, and due to 3 severe thunderstorm warnings for Guilford County and 1 for Forsyth County, I did about 2 hours and 45 minutes of wall-to-wall weather coverage. I want to thank you for watching us, and thank you also to those of you who sent in storm reports.

Things have settled now, and the overnight looks quiet, warm, and muggy.

On my way in to work this afternoon, I feel as if I have just run over something. I quickly look in the mirror, but I don't see anything. Just a second later, I hear this awful dragging or scraping noise. I quickly got off to the side of the highway and got out to investigate. Now, my front bumper had been loose for a while, so I fully expected to see my front bumper half ripped off. But to my surprise, everything looked fine. I look under the car...nothing. Then I see it....the blown right rear tire. Now, I have changed a tire in my work clothes by the highway before, as I have discussed on this blog before, but this time was different. I was at the ONLY spot I could find to pull over, and it was right after the crest of a hill by the busy right lane of the highway. I simply did not feel I had room to safely change my tire without getting hit, and there was no driving the car....we are talking FLAT.

I called work, and many thanks go out to one of our videographers, Scott Griffis, for coming out to sort of wave traffic over to make sure they cleared me. Thanks Scott! Got the tire changed...let me tell you, I don't know when the last time I have sweat that much was. I mean, sweat flying off when I simply turn my head. Quite a way to begin the work day!

At any rate, all is well now. I have the tiny spare tire on and will get the tire repaired in the morning. Here's hoping for a safe trip home!

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Good Wednesday Morning

Well, it has certainly been an active last several days around here. First of all, I want to sincerely thank all of you for your kind words sent to us via the comments section on our blogs as well as via email. It is much-appreciated! And I want to thank all of you for watching and trusting us when the weather is active. That is an honor and a responsibility that we take very seriously.

Thankfully, any shower and storm activity today and tomorrow looks isolated, and whatever forms will dissipate fairly quickly after sunset. It is good to get a couple of relatively quiet days. I worked my whole Wednesday through Sunday shift last week, including my marathon day Sunday into Monday morning and doing both the Charlotte and Triad markets Saturday and Sunday. Then, Monday evening I came in for a brief little while to run the radar for Jeff in some severe weather coverage, then it was back in the saddle yesterday for a regular Triad evening shift. Triad evening shifts coming up for today and tomorrow, then it is 5 days off as we head out of town for a few days. I am happy to be able to bring you th level of weather coverage that we do, but some time to re-charge the batteries is needed.

A strong cold front will drop through Friday into Saturday, and that front really needs to be watched for severe weather potential. As always, News 14 Carolina will keep you up to date.

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Whew...

Very active and electric storms roared through the region Sunday evening. I started tracking storms during the 4pm hour, and I am still tracking them with you live at the 11pm hour. At this moment, another incredibly electic storm is moving across Gaston county with a severe thunderstorm warning in place.

Many thanks to Jeff Crum for coming in and driving the radar for me in our wall-to-wall coverage earlier in the evening. He was also crucial in the information-gathering process. Also, many thanks to Lee Ringer for greatly helping me out on the Traid side of News 14 Carolina this evening.

If time allows, I will post the storm report dats from this event. The things that stick out in my mind right now is the golf ball sized hail near the Northlake Mall and the absolutely incredible displays of lightning. I have not seen lightning like that in quite a while.

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