Salem plays host to the Diner

(NEWS7 photographer Rob Chewning standing in the bed of a pickup truck getting the perfect shot for the Weekend Diner. Kroger Chef Steve Alls and I on the "Chef's Circle" set)

If you're a regular viewer of NEWS7 Sunday Morning, you've likely seen our Weekend Diner segment. If not, you're missing out! One of the coolest things I get to do in my job is host this part of the newscast. Each Sunday, people cook for me - what could be better? Those who know me best know I love weather, but the Weekend Diner segment allows me stand away from meteorology for a few minutes every week and clear my mind!

This past Saturday, NEWS7 photographer Rob Chewning and I drove over to Salem to shoot a segment with Kroger Chef Steve Alls. We set up our camera at the Salem Farmer's Market on the "Chef's Circle" set. "Chef's Circle" is a creative idea the city came up with several months ago while demolishing some houses in a flood plain. From one of the houses that was slated to be torn down, crews ripped out an actual kitchen, put it on a trailer with hydraulics, painted it up, and now has local chef's such as Steve cook and entertain crowds every weekend. The set is complete with running water, a stove and a refrigerator.

I could tell "Chef's Circle" is a big crowd pleaser. If you have the chance, I highly recommend you bring a lawn chair and watch local chef's do their thing each Saturday now though the end of August (note: no Chef's Circle this weekend per July 4). The chef's will prepare recipes using ingredients from the farmer's market. They'll also answer your questions, plus you'll be able to taste the dish!

Thanks to Mike Stevens (former NEWS7 Sports Director now Communications Director for Salem) and Beth Carson (Salem Horticulturist and Market Director) for allowing us the opportunity to showcase Chef's Circle!

Meteorologist Turned Plumber

One of my favorite things to do is tinker around the house. My wife and I have owned two houses, and I've learned some things through the years.

First, when doing a project, come up with list of expenses. When you add up the total cost of what you plan to spend, double it. That way, you're not surprised when you go over budget.
Also, become really familiar with Murphy's Law.


Both of these were true recently when I decided to remodel our half bath. My plan was to put up a chair rail, paint, install new fixtures and some new lighting. I usually take great pride in painting. I'm a perfectionist. In this case, I tried to cheat and not paint behind the tank of the toilet. Bad idea. I had the top of the toilet tank laying in the floor while I was curled up trying to paint as much as I could. I moved my knee which slammed the porcelain top of the tank into the porcelain base of the throne. Porcelain vs. porcelain. That's never good. While I thought I had just chipped the toilet, but upon closer inspection, there was a crack all the way up to the seat.


$250 later, there's a new "chair" against the new chair rail in our bathroom. While I enjoy home improvement, I think I'll take a break for awhile. Consumer note: I highly recommend the 5-Star flushers; if you're in the market!

A Must Read Blog!

Life has been busy since my last blog post. Here is the CliffsNotes version.

Have you noticed? There's a fresh look to wdbj7.com. I can't take one ounce of credit for this, but I can tell you it's user friendly and loaded with awesome weather information. Meteorologist Brent Watts has devoted months to this puppy, and it shows! Among the new features, he researched and added a new Interactive Radar. Feedback has been very positive from what I gather. Now, you the user, and manipulate the radar just as we do in the SkyTracker7 HD Forecast Center. Awesome work, Brent!

Severe weather has been common during the late-spring. Hopes of updated my blog last week were dashed by a tornado warning for Franklin and Pittsylvania counties. Robin, Brent and I were on the air for two straight hours Thursday warning folks in the path of the storm.

22 schools, 1552 students, and 2312 miles later, I've wrapped up my 2008/2009 school visit tour. I enjoy driving around the NEWS7 viewing area teaching students about weather and climate. The longest trip this year was to Eureka Elementary School in Charlotte County. Another trip to South Boston fell just shy of that. Thanks to all the teachers who invited me into their classrooms!

NEWS7 has been honored with the Regional Emmy for Best Weekend Newscast. WDBJ notables such as Robin Reed, Hollani Davis, Joe Dashiell and News Director Amy Morris traveled to Washington D.C. this past weekend to accept the Emmy. I'm proud of our work because the newscast we entered was "weather-driven". You may remember the wind storm of February 2008. Power outages, wildfires, property damage. I've covered a lot of severe weather the last 10 years, and that ranks as one of the most prolonged events I can recall. We had five or six hours of battering gusts. Our WeatherBug station at WDBJ had a 69mph gust that day - almost hurricane force!

Finally, and most importantly, it's vacation time. That's right, it took a vacation to find the time to update my blog!

For more frequent updates, follow me on twitter at: OnAirWeather

The Day The Earth Shook

I must say, Saturday was quite an interesting day at the station. From flash flooding, to severe thunderstorms, and even an earthquake - it was busy!

My day started around 3:30am when my alarm went off. I try to get to WDBJ around 4:00am on Saturday to get ready for the show. Knowing I would be rolling in around 4:15am, I called my producer (Jamey) just to let him know I was up and would be there soon. As soon as he answered the phone, I could hear every line in the newsroom ringing. I asked what was going on, and he told me viewers were calling the newsroom saying they had felt an earthquake. I knew it was going to be a long day. I told Jamey I'd be at the station in a few minutes. Upon arriving, I logged on the USGS website an instantly saw in fact there had been a minor earthquake. Jamey and I prepared for a live cut-in and within a few minutes, we were on the air reporting on the tremor. It must have worked, because after the cut-in, the phones stopped ringing!

After reading over 27 pages of viewer posts on wdbj7.com, I think the one thing that stands out in my mind is how many people didn't know Virginia can have earthquakes. A quick search on the internet will reveal that our state has had many earthquakes in our history. In fact, the strongest earthquake in Virginia occurred in the NEWS7 viewing area, in Giles County, in 1897 with a magnitude of 5.8. Even that quake caused little to no damage.

At least now a whole lot more people know first-hand we can have earthquakes in Virginia; and while Saturday morning's focus was on the movement of the earth, I had to quickly turn my efforts to severe storms and flooding by the afternoon! Needless to say, it was a busy day!

Get a Job!

Recently, NEWS7 sports anchor/reporter Chris Miles and I traveled to George Wythe High School to meet and greet students at their annual career fair. Many local businesses were on hand to provide information to sophomores, juniors and seniors. I've found this is a fun time of the year. Since the fall, SkyTracker7 HD meteorologists have traveled from one corner of our viewing area to the other talking about weather and climate to thousands of students. While that's fun, it's a nice change of pace to go to high schools and talk with older kids about broadcasting. Many are familiar with the "on-air" part of the job, but few have a clue about the "behind the scenes" work. They are often thrilled to know about jobs such as graphic production, audio, directing, producing and sales. Students also are usually interested in how they should continue their education beyond high school.

Thanks to GWHS for inviting Chris and I to attend. I have a few more career fairs to visit the next few weeks. I look forward to meeting more students who may eventually decide on a career in the ever-changing broadcast news industry.

Home Show Friends

Just a quick blog to express "thanks" to all the viewers who came out to The Home Show at the Salem Civic Center this past weekend. The WDBJ promotion department requested the four SkyTracker7 meteorologists meet-and-greet viewers for the three day show. My day was Friday. I was amazed - not at the volume of people coming to our booth - but at the number of folks who thanked us for providing them a forecast in High Definition! One gentleman even noted he could see a "blimish" on my forehead last weekend! (True, it was there! Makeup can't fix everything!)

WDBJ has been providing you the area's only HD forecast for a year now, and viewers are saying they can really "see" the difference! Here's a bonus for our HD weather fans; we're now beginning to rollout new HD cameras on our WeatherBug sites. Baywood Elementary near Galax has already launched, and there will be more coming - very soon!

Thanks again to everyone who came out to The Home Show - and thanks for watching, in HD!

Severe Weather Coverage

Earlier this month, WDBJ sister station KWCH in Wichita, Kansas was put in an uneasy situation for broadcasters. When a tornado threatened, KWCH meteorologists "cut-in" over programming to deliver life-saving information. While this was valuable information for some of the viewing audience, it was distracting for other viewers who were not in harm's way. KWCH covers 67 counties in the Wichita area. It goes without saying that there could easily be severe weather in one part of this enormous viewing area, while completely sunny and pleasant somewhere else. Many KWCH viewers, not affected by the storm, were upset by the weather coverage which interrupted a KU basketball game. KWCH President/General Manager Joan Barrett discussed the station's action plan in a web post. In part, Barrett wrote:

"It's clear that we have made many fans upset. For that, I apologize. As you might imagine, it is certainly never our intention to frustrate or annoy our viewers - that's not a great business plan. I can't apologize for carrying severe weather coverage, it is what we do. It is something that we take very seriously." (Click here for full response from Barrett)

I bring this up because as severe weather season approaches, we could have the same thing occur around the WDBJ viewing area. For example, at the same time an EF-0 tornado touched down in Roanoke last summer, most of the viewing area experiencing "quiet" weather. Our storm coverage meant overriding prime time programming.

At WDBJ, we cover 26 counties across southwest and central Virginia. The FCC requires us to keep you, our viewers, informed of life-threatening weather events. We can't just ignore a severe weather warning because CSI, Survivor, The Price is Right or any of your other favorite CBS shows are on. On the other hand, SkyTracker7 HD Meteorologists try our best to provide you the information in a short, concise and detailed manner, thus returning you to regularly scheduled programming as soon as possible.

Just something to keep in mind as we wait for our first round of storms this spring! Fair winds! -Jay