WeatherFest!!

This morning, as Mini-Dew and I left the house to head to the bus stop (since the cold spell, I've been parking there with her), I noted the frost on the grass and rooftops. When Mini-Dew heard this, she growled, "UGH! What's with all this cold!? I thought we were done with that!!! Wasn't all that cold enough?! ERG! Now, I am not going to want to go outside." Spoken like a daughter of mine, eh?

Waters appear to be receding down at this section of the Withlacoochee River, which is good news. I assume that enough time has been allowed for the trickle down from the weekend's rain to impact us, if it were meant to. Fortunately, we didn't get the gusher that was forecasted. Our grounds are super-saturated, and it would have certainly put us under. Thank you, Lord.

Right now, I am looking at blue cirrus strewn skies. Although, temps started in the 30's for me. We are looking to hit 61°, then quickly rebound to some 70's weather. A monstrous system is traipsing its way across the country with a blast of cold air and moisture. Not a great mixture, but it'll miss us, so I am not too concerned.

I will be missing the WeatherFest event in Tallahassee on Saturday. I attended this event last year and had a truly T-rific time! I blasted everyone out of the water with my tropical intellect in Bob's weather challenge. I will actually be in Tally on Friday for a show, but not Saturday... argh! The show will be great, but oh what a tease. If you plan to be in the area and you are at all a weather geek (not even necessarily to my degree -- I know you're thinking... is that even possible???), I highly recommend it! I sure would love to check it out. I guess we'll see. They even do special weather balloon launches for the event!For more info about WeatherFest 2010, check out this link.

Have a great day!
~Dewdrop

Our trip to WeatherFest

(I did not take the above pic.) It was such a pleasure to have the opportunity to visit the first (of many, I'm sure) WeatherFest event, hosted by the National Weather Service in Tallahassee. Due to my other commitment, my wonderful gtb and I were only able to come for the last hour and a half of the event, but during that time we were able to see that Kelly Godsey and Mark Wool (two of the Tally mets) did a fantastic job coordinating this event. Upon arrival, I met up with Tim Barry (another Tally guy) to find out where my Cuckoo for CoCoRaHS friend, Melissa Griffin was having balloons thrown at her... yes, in freezing temps... got the cuckoo part right... I had never met her in person, but she recognized me immediately after having seen me on dewdropweather.com so much. We only spoke briefly because we were just in time for the last weather balloon launch of the event, so we wanted to race up to the roof for a first hand glance at (yet another) launch. Walking through the Weather Service office, my wonderful gtb noticed this sign... ... which we both chuckled at. We popped into the forecasting area and said hello to Kelly, who was under a certain level of stress, dealing with situations that arise when you host about 600-700 people in a place that usually only has about 4 or 5 people working at a time. He did marvelously. Check him out announcing the details of the upcoming launch.I can't imagine they have ever seen that many folks on the roof of the Weather Service. Of course, gtb was cracking geek jokes left and right and psyching them out by saying "Oh, there it is!" ...when of course, it wasn't. lol. Look how jam packed the roof was! What a turn out! Actually, at the 1pm launch, there were so many spectators that they actually sent a second balloon up without a radiosonde (they cost about $300 each). I captured the launch in typical Dew fashion.Then we raced down to participate in the NWS WEATHER CHALLENGE GAME, with our host, Bob Goree! My wonderful gtb and I teamed up in this Jeopardy-styled game about weather. Of course, we stomped our competition, big time. I think it's important to note that only Tornadoes separate Dewdrop's team from the "Dooms Day X-press". Yikes. We had great fun answering great questions relating to tropical weather. I think I would have done better at a severe weather version, but I think we did well... thank goodness Jeff wasn't there. lol In the end though, like I said, we stomped them.Was there any doubt???

After the game, Yolanda Amadeo, a WALB on-air meteorologist, walked into the room, and gtb and I got Bob to snap a shot of us with her. She was very nice, even though I don't call my storm reports into her. I only call the weather service, so far. After our celebrity shot, we met back up with Melissa and my wonderful gtb helped by loading up her car, while we chatted. She had a successful afternoon, recruiting many folks to CoCoRaHS. If you haven't already, follow the link in my sidebar. In celebration, we all went to eat at Olive Garden. Yum!

Anyways, that was our great experience at WeatherFest! We had a terrific time, and I am hopeful that next year, I will be able to participate more! I want to get up close to their mobile weather unit, a Doppler on Wheels.

Have a great Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!
~Dewdrop

We had a blast at WeatherFest!!!

I only have a few seconds, but I will give you a preview shot. My wonderful gtb and I had a terrific time at WeatherFest yesterday. I'll give a complete report when I have more time.

Got a note from my dear Winder friend last night, reporting that it was s#@wing. Apparently, north Georgia got it. Better them than us...

Have a great day!
~Dewdrop

I'm going to WeatherFest!!!!

I posted my official Sky Watch Friday post below, but I wanted to share a few things today, including sky shots, so I am sure that people might stop here anyhow... oh well, enjoy. Yesterday, as I was walking out to the parking lot, I was struck by this view.This unbearably cold weather may be torturous, but the skies have been astoundingly awesome! This sunset got better, but I could not get to a better position in time to shoot it more pleasingly... Then, on my way to work this morning, I came across a swirly pattern in the sky... it was really cool, like a barber pole on its side.
I am excited because tomorrow, the National Weather Service in Tally is hosting WeatherFest, and guess who gets to go??? You guessed it. It just happened to work out that I was going to be on the FSU campus for another thing tomorrow, and wouldn't you know it, same day as a whole entire expo dedicated to all things weather. I don't know how much I will be able to enjoy given the other I have going on, but I certainly plan on visiting my dear Cuckoo for CoCoRaHS friend, and of course, the Tally guys. I want to try to see one of the special weather balloon launches (1 and 4PM). I hope to come back with some great pics. We'll see.

I wanted to share this photo that I stumbled on while visiting one of the SWF folks, Ida... who captured a series of dew shots with the sky reflected in them. Awesomeness!! Great work, Ida. Thanks for letting me share!

I want to share one more thing... from the book I am reading, The Shack... here's a link:

"If anything matters, then everything matters. Because you are important, everything you do is important; every time you forgive, the universe changes; every time you reach out and touch a heart or a life, the world changes; with every kindness and service, seen or unseen, [His] purposes are accomplished, and nothing will ever be the same again."

A beautiful statement about the importance of you and me. I felt compelled to share. I still very much encourage reading the book!

Have a wonderful weekend, y'all! Try to stay warm!!!
~Dewdrop