Merry Christmas from the Webb Family

The trees are up (that's right, we have two), the stockings are hung (even the dog has one), and the Christmas cards have been addressed and stamped (but not sent yet). It's Christmas time at the Webbs! My wife has done an excellent job decorating and keeping the house smelling like fresh cookies this year. Today she bought two 5-foot pre-lit Christmas trees to upgrade from our old 4-foot trees which greet guests at our front door. Maybe I'll get around to rigging them up this weekend. Happy Holidays from the Webbs. Here's to a great 2009! --Jay, Sarah, Parker and Niles

Ready For Some Action!

Don't get me wrong. I really enjoy snow. Notice I didn't say I "love" it. The problem is, in my business you rarely get to enjoy snow. A snow storm can mean a solid 24, 36 or 48 hours at work. But this year - I'm ready! We're overdue for a big one. Forget these little "skiffs" of snow we've had the last few years. Forget the ice. I'm talking about SNOW! In one shot, I want at least six to eight inches of snow; if not more.

The last "big one" in my book goes back to early January 1996. I was a student at Emory & Henry College then. Emory prided itself for never cancelling classes. That happened with this storm. I remember walking across the snow-covered campus the night the snow started. It was beautiful. I remember how quiet it was, until the old trees on campus started to fall under the weight of the snow. You could hear people scream as huge branches nearly struck them. Minus that - it was an awesome snow!

All-time snowfall records were achieved from Virginia, to New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Roanoke reported around two-feet of snow! The storm was classic. Low pressure over the Gulf of Mexico rode up the Atlantic seaboard, while high pressure to the north channeled in cold air. The eastern U.S. was paralyzed by the storm. Interstates were closed. Air travel was haulted.

I bring all this up because it's November. Folks are already asking when the first snow is coming. Will it be a snowy winter? Will we have one 'big one' or several small ones? These are all questions that will be answered in the coming months; but just know that if you're a snow lover - here's at least one meteorologist who's cheering for snow - even if it means working long hours with my weather buddies here at the station!

Trick or Treat

Going "Home"

Do you ever have one of those weekends that's over in the blink of an eye? Since I work weekends, that rarely happens for me; however, next weekend my wife and I are going to our Alma mater, Emory & Henry College for Homecoming. It's hard to believe it's been nine years since we graduated! If you've never been there, Emory is a beautiful campus. This time of the year is especially nice with the autumn color and crisp fall air. It was truly a wonderful school. I received a solid education there, and met some great friends. While next weekend will probably be over in the blink of an eye, I'm going to enjoy it... thoroughly! Have a great week! --Jay

Mountain Lake Dries Up

Several months ago, I blogged about Mountain Lake in Giles County. Perhaps you remember the slide show I placed on this blog showing the last little bit of water in the lake. Our interest in the resort was sparked even more the weekend before last when the newsroom phone rang and a viewer told us skeletal remains were found on the dried out lake bed. The following day, NEWS7 photojournalists traveled up Route 700 just outside of Newport to report on the story. They brought back unbelievable video of the lake bed. I was shocked, and saddened, by what I saw. As a Giles County native, and former Mountain Lake Hotel employee, it's hard to imagine the lake completely gone. My dad and I drove up last week to see it for ourselves. I couldn't believe my eyes. Completely gone!

Today, the weather department received an email from a viewer. Her name was Brenda from Blacksburg. She copied a link to us from photographer Richard Cobb. Mr. Cobb has done an *amazing* job matching up "bank full" photos of Mountain Lake to the now empty basin. These pictures really help you grasp the magnitude of the situation. Just click on the link below and make sure javascript is enabled on your computer. Simply drag your mouse on and off of the pictures to see the before/after shots. Thanks again Brenda for passing this along. And special thanks to Richard Cobb.

http://www.sivtac.org/mtlake/beforeafter.php

Take a hike, Ike!

The upper Texas coast is bracing for Hurricane Ike. He should come ashore late Friday night/early Saturday near Galveston. Ike will present major storm surge issues, and flooding rains of at least 5-10" in coastal regions of Texas and southwest Louisiana. Galveston is home of the deadliest hurricane in U.S. history. On September 18, 1900, the "Great Galveston Hurricane" hit. It was a category 4 storm. Between 8,000 and 12,000 people died - mostly because of storm surge. You can bet Texans are watching Ike closely. The picture above shows Ike making landfall earlier this week in Cuba. The Cuban Meteorological Institute reported waves five storeys high. This picture proves it.

I've Got "Class" (Not really)

I think one of the most rewarding aspects of my job is going to local schools and talking to youngsters about weather and science. They always seem to enjoy seeing the "weatherman" and I always enjoy their questions, comments and eagerness to learn!

Last year I decided to take some notes on my visits. I came up with a lot of numbers! Check this out: I visited 27 schools, talked to 1,968 students, and traveled 2,886 miles around our viewing area. The largest group I talked to was 290 students at Woodlawn School in Carroll County. The farthest trip was 228 miles to Eureka Elementary School in Charlotte County.

I enjoyed all the journeys last year and look forward to visiting many of the same schools this year. The first this year: Next Thursday when I go to Woolwine Elementary in Patrick County! Have a great school year everyone!

Someone has too much time!

Johnny Tsai has too much time on his hands. Johnny is one of many creative folks here at the station who makes the graphics you see on WDBJ everyday. Monday night was obviously a slow night for him. On "News 7 At Ten" this graphic popped up with the nightly trivia question. The question was about Batman and Star Trek. Here you can see anchor Keith Humphry starting as Captain Kirk, and me as Batman. Look at my six pack abs!

HD Weather Gets Better!

You may start noticing some of our weather maps have a blue "SkyTracker7 LIVE CONTROL" panel on the top right of your screen. This allows Robin, Brent, Leo and I to have tools available to us on the screen - just by touching them. We can zoom in on an area, show the direction a storm is moving, draw on the screen and much, much more - all live! We call this feature "hand tracking." It's actually something that we've been able to do for years - but now it's much more refined. In the old days, we had a clicker attached to a cord we had to use in order to hand track. It was more like jump roping instead of hand tracking. Now, Robin has bought us the Cadillac of all wireless remote controls from our weather vendor, WSI. It's a great piece of equipment, and I figured this past weekend I should give it a test drive. Above, you can see me doing a "box zoom" on the Charlottesville area. I was zooming in on that part of the state to show how clear the skies were, while southwestern Virginia was clouding up. Our new clicker has eight buttons on it, so our fingers are busy selecting tools from the on-screen LIVE CONTROL panel, changing sources, advancing maps and more. Not only that, but our new toy can also change our weather graphics from out on the SkyTracker7 Weather Deck. This thing has a heck of a range, and in a pinch, could be used as a paperweight. Just thought you would be interested in our newest toy. It's another thing in our weather arsenal!

Quickly, one more note.

I got a call after News 7 at Six this Sunday from a very interesting viewer. His name is Ed. Ed is a retired Trooper with the Virginia State Police. He had heard me mention last week during one of my weathercasts the 39th anniversary of Hurricane Camille making landfall in Mississippi. Ed was a young Trooper in 1969, when the remnants of Camille slammed into Nelson County. To say I've always had an interest in "Camille" is an understatement, but I've never met or talked to anyone who lived through the flooding in Nelson County or worked the scene afterwards. Ed is my new best friend! He instantly had me hooked with his stories, and he's promised to send me tons of information on the Nelson County event he's compiled. I can't wait to go through it all. If it turns out to be as good as I think, I'll post something on this blog soon.

Keep havin' a great week friends! --Jay

Could Fay be a Bust?

First things first. There's still plenty of time for Tropical Storm "Fay" to change her mind and bring us a soaking rain. But right now, at 10:45 Monday night, I have no plans to stop watering my yard.

I enjoy tropical weather! After all, it was Hurricane Hugo in 1989 that sparked my interest in the subject, and was a deciding factor for me to pursue a career in meteorology. We often say meteorology is an inexact science, and this is especially true of tropical systems.

Tropical Storm Fay has been a conundrum since forming into a tropical depression. The latest curve ball she's throw is a drastic change in her track. Sunday night, long-range models had the remnants of Fay in far southwestern Virginia by Friday. Now, it appears high pressure will steer her only as far north as Georgia by Saturday! In a nutshell, this could be bad for us in terms of getting beneficial rainfall from Fay. I've included three graphics on this blog. The top graphic showing the GFS model forecasters use. Note the regions of pink and purple. These are zones of possible precipitation Saturday evening. It shows -NO- rain around here. Next, is the forecast track from the National Hurricane Center (NHC). 24-hours ago this graphic showed Fay as a depression over southwestern Virginia on Friday - now it's showing her as a depression over Georgia. (Please note: there is a wide cone of uncertainty. Southwestern Virginia is still an outside possibility for a track by Saturday afternoon). Finally, the Hydrometeorologial Prediction Center (HPC) 5-day precipitation panel. A colorful graphic with a few bulls eyes of heavy rain, but nothing worth writing home about around here.

I don't have to tell you it's been dry lately, but perhaps you don't know exactly how dry. Lynchburg has only had a trace of rain all month (over 11" below average for the year), and Roanoke has had less than a tenth of an inch of August rain. Tropical systems are excellent rain producers, but will Fay produce anything for us other than a few clouds? Time will tell, but I'm thinking I'm going to have to keep watering my yard.

(IMPORTANT NOTE: The included graphics were posted on this blog Monday night. Forecasts are constantly being updated. The graphics above should be considered dated and not the latest guidance. Please consult the websites of NHC and HPC for the latest forecast tracks. Stay with SkyTracker7 Weather for the latest on Fay.)

Back From The Beach

Vacation 2008 is quickly winding down for the Webb family. We drove to Myrtle Beach and enjoyed some much needed rest and relaxation.

I've always wanted to buy my son Parker one of those "heavy duty" Tonka dump trucks. I had two growing up. I got my first one when I was his age, and another one many years later after the first one rusted to pieces.

So I did it. At 1:30am - just hours before we left for South Carolina - I went to Wal-Mart and bought the $30 monstrosity. I buried it in our car below bags, suitcases and beach towels so Parker wouldn't see his new toy until we arrived. I was going to surprise my wife with the gift from father-to-son when we got to our condo, but I was so excited about my purchase I told her before we even got to Greensboro. Once we got to the Grand Strand and unpacked, I presented Parker with his dump truck. He loved it for about 30 seconds, and then started playing with his "Thomas the Tank Engine" trains (he LOVES those things!) Eventually, however, he warmed up to his big yellow earth mover and quickly learned how to push it around. It's so big, he could sit in it and I could push him. I think he moved more sand this past week than Hurricane Hugo. Now that we're back home, he's hauling sand from his sandbox across our backyard. Any golfers are welcome to come to my house and practice their bunker shots. I've got more sand traps than Augusta National! To close, the beach trip was a blast. Parker loved his new toy, and I got to sleep and eat seafood. I'm ready to return to work - so that's got to be a sign of a good vacation! Take care! --Jay

Long time... No blog!

Wow! It's been a month since I updated my blog! It's been a busy June - let us recap.

Today (6/30) my dad officially retired. He's been a dentist in Narrows since the early 70s, and recently decided it was time to close his practice and become "Granddaddy Crank" full time. Dad and mom joined us in downtown Roanoke tonight for a family celebration. Congrats dad on a successful career. Now it's time to PARTY!

(Picture L to R: Mom, our son Parker, Dad)

In other news, we found out Mike Stevens is leaving NEWS7. Mike, or "The BIG 7" as most of us call him, is one of the reasons I've always wanted to work at WDBJ. I grew up watching him. He's an amazing broadcaster, but more importantly, an even nicer person. I know the viewers will miss him. Since making the announcement of leaving us to go work for the City of Salem, I've noticed his "fan mail" growing in our mail room. Best wishes to you, Mike.

There have been other happenings this month, but those are the most notable. I hope your summer is off to a grand start! Make it a great July!

"Natural Cycle" for Mountain Lake

There's an amazing site taking place right now in Giles County. Personally, I think it's sad, however, I'm told this is natural. I'm talking about what's taking place at Mountain Lake - yes; the site of the famed movie Dirty Dancing.

For a few years now, I've seen the lake level dropping, but recently I heard the level was severely falling. On Thursday, May 29th, my dad and I drove up to check it out for ourselves. I think the pictures on this slide show tell the story.

The lake is fed by underground springs and ground water, but since the area has been experiencing a drought the last several years, and the fact the lake naturally drains 600 gallons per minute, the level continues to fall.

If you've ever been to the lake, you know how beautiful it is. For me, it's a place of personal significance. My parents met there many moons ago when my dad worked there, and my mom's family vacationed there from Beckley, WV. We've had family reunions there; I worked there as a bellman and front desk clerk for six years; and I proposed to my wife on the gazebo on a snow and ice covered day in 2001.

My memories are filled with a full lake, and honestly, it's hard to call it much more than a pond right now. Hopefully, the lake will retain it's bank-full status one day, but that will likely take several years. We'll need lots of rain and snowfall to bring it back; and the lake will have to stop draining.

I highly recommend the short trip to Giles County to see Mountain Lake. Enjoy lunch "On Top of the World" and walk the lake bed to find some of the former sunken treasures that have been held in the lake for generations.

O Winston Link - Celebration at the Station

Your Memorial Day Outlook

The Memorial Day weekend forecast is looking fantastic! Click here to see the models: Unisys Weather: GFSx SL Pres/Prec Plot

Because it's almost midnight, I'm making this blog extremely brief, but I wanted to give you a look at the Memorial Day forecast. Right now, Saturday, Sunday and Monday all call for clear skies and warmer temperatures. Expect highs in the mid 70s Saturday, with lower 80s Sunday and Monday. Stay with SkyTracker7 Weather for updates, but right now the holiday weekend is looking strong!

Here are a few Memorial Day weather extremes. Enjoy!

WARMEST MEMORIAL DAY:
Roanoke: 94 / 1953
Lynchburg: 94 / 1918
Blacksburg: 89 / 1953
Danville: 94 / 1982

WETTEST MEMORIAL DAY:
Roanoke: 2.33" / 1990
Lynchburg: 2.38" / 1968
Blacksburg: 2.92" / 1975
Danville: 2.07" / 1968

Severe Weather vs. Entertainment

In our business, there are two kinds of storms. The kind that threatens life and property, and the kind broadcasters create when we "cut-in" over programming.

Last Thursday night as a line of severe storms pushed east across the area, cut-ins were needed. After all, the following day it was confirmed three EF1 tornadoes touched down. NEWS7 was contacted by several viewers concerning our cut-ins. Some viewers were glad we cut-in over programming, and some were not.

We respect the opinions of our viewers, but at the end of the day we're going to cut-in over Survivor, Price Is Right, paid advertising, or anything else when a tornado warning is issued. With that said, we'll return you to scheduled programming as soon as possible. Sometimes that may be a few minutes; sometimes much longer if conditions warrant.

Tornadoes can easily be a case of life or death. Broadcasters have a duty to inform the public of the imminent threat of severe weather - no matter how urban or rural an area is.

This may be a good time to write this blog. Some reports say the United States has had more confirmed tornadoes so far this year, than to this point in any of the last 50 years. Virginia has almost reached our annual average number of tornadoes - and it's only mid May.

Jeff Haby is a former professor of mine who has a great weather website. On his site, he's posted a list of the pros and cons of severe weather cut-ins. Here is the link: http://www.theweatherprediction.com/issues/4/

Have a great week, and thanks for stopping by my blog! --Jay

The Clearest Forecast Around!

High Definition weather comes to Roanoke - you've never seen your forecast so clear! The local station with the largest weather team has kicked it up a notch, now providing you with the clearest forecast around, using the latest technology available to on-air meteorologists!

The day started early, as we tore out our old standard definition (SD) weather computers and installed new high definition (HD) gear. It was a very busy day, but I managed to snap several pictures so you could see the transition to the HD world take place. First, we moved the old SD boxes behind the set so Leo could build his noon show. While he was doing that, Robin and I ran cables and installed the new HD equipment. Brent came in and put finishing touches on the graphics once the dust stopped flying.

Enjoy the slide show of the first fully equipped HD news studio in the Roanoke market. Our commitment to keeping you and your property safe is backed up with not only pretty pictures, but with the latest radar technology, 4km HD forecast modeling, and our live WeatherBug sites that dot the local landscape. Toss in four meteorologists who have been forecasting in Virginia for a combined 50 years, and you've got the clearest forecast around!

Crime stopper turned Meteorologist

It looks like Christiansburg's former police chief is enjoying retirement. Gary Brumfield sent me this picture over the weekend, thinking it could aid us with our forecasts. I bet when he headed up the police force he used to say, "If the doughnut is wet... it's raining. If the doughnut is swaying... it's windy. If the doughnut is hot... it's sunny."

Brumfield, who is my brother's father-in-law, must have too much time on his hands these days! Thanks for sending your weather "joke" anyway, chief.

This past Saturday, the National Weather Service offered a rare tour of their Blacksburg WFO (Weather Forecast Office). Meteorologists there told NEWS7 they expected around 300 people to attend their open house. If you're a real weather enthusiast, I hope you were able to go. It's a really neat place to visit, and it's amazing how much weather technology they have available... although I hear they're still working on importing their first "weather coconut" from Hawaii.

Hope you're having a GREAT week! --Jay

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Hope you were able to come out to Roanoke's annual St. Patrick's Day parade Saturday. The weather was perfect! Last year, if you recall, it was freezing! This year, sunshine and mild temperatures greeted onlookers and participants.

"Your Hometown Station" had many on-air folks walking the route. They included Jean Jadhon, Natasha Ryan, Alex Lawson and Justin McLeod. Since the weather forecast was correct, Robin Reed, Brent Watts and myself decided to press-the-flesh, too.

It was great to see so many loyal viewers. We chatted with as many as we could! While walking back to my car at the Elmwood parking garage after the parade, I heard screams from a car of a young woman say, "Jay Webb! I love you! I've got to meet you! Wait! Jay Webb!!" I looked up to see 17-year old, William Byrd High School senior, Shannon Dempsey about to defy all traffic laws by crossing two lanes of traffic - with oncoming vehicles. She promptly found a legal parking place, and her and her sister made their way across the street to meet me. Since Shannon records all my newscasts and reads my blog (which hasn't been updated in a while) I told her I'd post this picture if she'd send it to me. I received it within the hour. Nice meeting you Shannon. Thanks for being the charter member of the Jay Webb fan club. Best wishes to you, and thanks for watching in Vinton!

2008: The Year of Tornadoes

More severe weather rolled through the southeastern United States this weekend. A few weak tornadoes were reported, but thankfully nothing too severe. If you were watching WDBJ this weekend, you may have seen these strong storms showing up on SkyTracker7 Radar.

After the deadly outbreak of tornadoes earlier this month in states like Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana and Missouri, I found some staggering tornado data from the Storm Prediction Center.

So far in 2008, there have be 291 tornadoes (preliminary number). By this point in 2007, there had only been 73 tornadoes. 59 were in the book this time in 2006. 43 were recorded by this point in 2005. We're obviously running ahead of schedule!

2008 tornadoes have claimed 65 lives so far. Most of these have been in Tennessee (31). Most of the deaths occurred in mobile homes (38). The 65 deaths in just two months is hard to imagine, because that's only 16 less fatalities than the entire year of 2007, only 2 less than the entire year of 2006, and it's almost twice as many as in 2005.

With this in mind, remember, Virginia can have tornadoes. We average 7 per year. 65 people have been killed in Virginia tornadoes since 1916. Now is the time to prepare. As always, stay with SkyTracker7 weather for the most updated information.

Bring on the heat (and humidity)

It happens every year about this time. A point I want to get outdoors without having to put on a sweater, coat or even a jacket. No gloves. No hot chocolate. A point I want 70 degree overnight low temperatures. 90% humidity. Dewpoints around 70! Scattered afternoon thunderstorms. Maybe even an excessive heat warning thrown in for good measure. Baseball. Swimming. Fishing. A point I even want to (dare I say it) mow. That time of year happened today. While I'll soon get tired of mowing my yard on a diagonal cut, pulling weeds from my wife's flower beds, nightly watering of her flowers, and 70 degree overnight low temperatures; right now, I'm ready! My wife and I have already made an outdoor assessment of "to-do" jobs to our house this year. We decided the shutters must be painted, and we (I) have to stain our decks. Again, I can't wait! So I say, forget Valentine's Day - I'm officially ready for spring... even summer! Bring it on! (Pictured above: Our son, Parker, mowing with his bubble-making mover last summer. Note his concentration as I teach him how to mow on a perfectly neat diagonal line. I'll have him making a checker-board pattern within a few years!)

Forget "Super Tuesday"

Some know today as "Super Tuesday" - others know it as "National Weatherman's (Weatherperson's) Day"! It's amazing how many people really know about this day set aside to "honor" us meteorologists. I use the word "honor" loosely. While making my daily rounds about town today, I heard the age-old joke, "You guys are the only people who can be wrong 100% of the time and still keep your job!" But seriously, it was all in good fun, and I think most viewers appreciate our efforts. Here's a few lines from a loyal WDBJ viewer who took the time to email today after she learned it was National Weatherman's Day.

"...I thank you for your role on the WDBJ 7 weather team. You are the best team in Virginia!!! I admire your tenacity even as you report from less that ideal locations and conditions. As I approach my 80th birthday, I have seen many weather conditions, some stormy, some very pleasant. The writer who said that "everyone talks about the weather but no one does anything about it" surely had it right. Thanks for keeping us informed about what we can expect."

Curious, I decided to jump on-line today to learn about more of these less known holidays. There are hundreds, it seems, so let me just mention a few that popped out for the month of February.

2/5 National Weatherman's Day
2/8 Laugh and Get Rich Day
2/14 Valentines Day (Please note: Valentine's Day also shares its day with "National Condom Day"..... seriously!)

Fun In The Snow!

Thursday's snow allowed for some fun after a long day at work. For Christmas, Robin Reed and his wife gave Parker a snowman kit. There was only one stipulation - email the Reed's pictures of Parker's snowman. We didn't have to wait long for the first snow of the year. We measured 4-inches in our yard. Hope you enjoyed the snow. We we're quite pleased with the forecast in the SkyTracker 7 Forecast Center. The timing of the system was good, the snowfall amounts verified, and our coverage was solid. Could there be more wintry weather on the way this weekend... stay tuned!!!