Beach Bound!

WOW... the weather pattern sure has been active the last week. Severe thunderstorm warnings, rotating storms, gusty winds, vivid lightning, flash flood warnings... I need a vacation!

We're packing up and heading out early Monday morning for the beach... I can't wait! This time last year I skipped our annual family vacation, to train here at NEWS7. My wife and I did break away in the fall for a few days to go to the coast, but an "extended" trip is in order now. We're most excited about bringing our son, Parker, to the beach. He loves sand and water, and I keep telling him the beach offers much more water than his little swimming pool, and much more sand than his sand box. Digital cameras are charging, and video cameras are ready to roll. I'll post some pictures of Parker's first trip to the beach when we return. Have a great week! --Jay

WDBJ7 (Old School!)

I've always thought WDBJ has the most creative folks behind the scenes building our graphics which make up our "on air look". In house folks like Joel Sink, Tim Wright and Mike Morgan work hard to give us a sharp on-air presence. Not only has WDBJ been a news leader for over 50 years, but our technology is top-notch (i.e. TITAN 3-D Radar!). While it may look rough by today's standards, enjoy this vintage clip of "Your Hometown Station" I found on YouTube. The clip is of the "Show Open" - it's the first thing you see as the newscast starts. Again, rough by today's graphics, but ahead of its time in 1996.

New Pics

My wife and I are discovering that our son Parker loves trains! Good thing we live in Roanoke! We recently took him to the Mill Mountain Zoo and rode the ZooChoo. He loved it! I have to admit, I enjoyed it too. I haven't riden on the ZooChoo since I was in kindergarden.



The fields around my parents' house in Narrows were being mowed a few weeks ago when we dropped by for a quick visit. Parker also enjoyed climbing aboard the tractor which was parked in the yard, as the dashboard was loaded with buttons, knobs and lights. Enjoy this picture of three generations of Webbs! From left to right: me, Parker, and dad.

How 'bout this heat!? Temperatures have soared into the 90s since late last week, and athough I personally didn't think the humidity was bad this weekend, Monday certainly was a different story! The weather maps are pointing to a pattern change late in the week as a cold front approaches, but until then, we're in this together!

Hopefully our old pal Robert Palmer can at least add some enjoyment to the current heat wave. I always liked him. Great 80s music, and... he dressed like a weatherman! Some like it hot... some don't! STAY COOL FRIENDS! --Jay

A New Look!

My mom has already emailed, informing me she likes the new "look" of my blog, however, she misses the pictures that used to be on here.

Don't worry mom, and other faithful blog readers, pictures will be coming! Also, this thing will likely be filled with YouTube video soon enough.

Just wanted to send out a quick update. My blog should start coming to life over the next few weeks; but not next week - it's VACATION TIME!

Wrong Number!

You can reach me at: jwebb@wdbj7.com


"SkyTracker7 Weather Department, this is Jay, how may I help you?" This is the normal greeting you'll get from us if you call the weather set. Recently, we've been playing the role of meteorologist and police dispatcher, thanks to a misprint in some of the 2007 Roanoke phone books. First off, the correct Roanoke County non-emergency police line is 562-3265; however, the new phone books have the first three digit local exchange number incorrect. The book lists a very similar number as the non-emergency line - that's actually the weather set line!
This past weekend I must have answered 10 or 12 calls that were meant for the police. I know one thing, I'm glad I'm not a dispatcher. Some of these calls are nuts! For example, the other day the phone rang (at 4:00am) and I answered it with the greeting above. The (very intoxicated) caller said, "Yeah, one of your dogs bit me four years ago and I want to talk to an investigator about it now!" I told him that he'd dialed NEWS7, and not the police department. Mistake. He said, "This is NEWS7? We'll, since I have you on the phone I need you to send a reporter out here now and get this on the news!" I tried to laugh it off, as you could hear what sounded like beer bottles clanking around in the background. I told the caller I was actually in the weather department, at which point he started using profanity; so I just hung up.
On the other hand, some of these callers are sincerely mad, concerned, or even scared. One woman was crying. One caller was a realtor checking on the security of a neighborhood for a client. Most are reporting suspicious activity. I thought drunks ran from police, but apparently a lot actually call them! I imagine we're only getting a very small percentage of the calls police recieve, but this phone book flaw certainly makes you respect the job of dispatchers.
Hope you're having a great week! Summer begins Thursday! --Jay
***NOTE*** After posting this blog, I noticed Chief Meteorologist Robin Reed made a very similar entry. He actually emailed one of his contacts at the Roanoke Times. He's included his email to that reporter for you to read if you'd like. Robin's blog entry titled "Get the number right" from Monday, June 11.