Skiing & Storm Re-Cap

What an amazing forecast. Hey, I'm the first one to admit when we're wrong. But right now I want to let you all know that I'm doing a happy dance about our forecast because Wednesday's storm was exactly what we expected.

On another note, I tried Cross Country Skiing today. Trust me, that's a really brave thing for me to do considering how awful I am at downhill skiing. But I LOVED IT! There were a few hills, and yes I fell down each of them. There was also a lot of level terrain. I went to Winding Trails in Farmington.

It's basically like hiking in the snow. You really feel a sense of peace on the trails. It's almost spiritual once you start getting your stride right and your groove on. Since I went today after the last storm, there was a lot of ice on the trees so I took a few pictures. Enjoy!

Photoshoot With Sarah French

We still don't know why they wanted us to do a photoshoot together. They even made us do Charlie's Angel pics! Too funny! Sarah is the weekend anchor with me on FOX61. A great addition to the team. There's only one problem....everyone always gets us mixed up!

LIVE Wednesday Morning Storm Forecast

Sorry! This video has been deleted by the internet guru at FOX. I didn't want to delete the post because I loved the comments.

Tired!

Joe Fury, the head morning meteorologist (and a good friend)called in sick today. So this was my day.

2:00 AM Wake Up, shower, makeup, feed the cats
3:10 AM Out the Door
3:30 AM Arrive at FOX61, forecast, make graphics
4:30 AM On-air through 9: 30 AM EVERY 6 MINUTES!

You start to feel like a broken record after a while. But it's great to get out of work so early in the day. It's 10 AM and I don't have much left to do!

Snow Totals: Since I can't respond to everyone's request for snow totals, just click here!

NWS Website 1
NWS Website 2
ConnDOT

6th Graders Perform Virtual Open Heart Surgery

When I was recording my stand-up, there was one student laughing at me every time I messed up. It was a little distracting, but SO funny! There's a new policy at work. Everyone has to write a newspaper style piece for every story to increase web hits. In fact, there's a $100 gift card being proposed to the story with the most news hits. What do you think of this idea? Would you be more likely to watch a video online? OR would you prefer reading a story in news form like this:

Web-Text Version

Let me know! Post a comment below.

Like A Broken Record...ANOTHER Snowstorm

Here we go again! What a winter this has been so far. I am personally excited for the storm because I just bought an anemometer, and I can't wait to use it on my live shots Wednesday morning. I usually go live from the roof right outside the studio which is good because that means I will not have to stand on the side of the road where cars are slipping and sliding around. It's also convenient to be on the roof because I can run inside after the live shot to warm my bones. All the hits are 100% unscripted meaning they are pretty stressful because you really have to think on your toes.

Anyway, you're probably not checking this blog to read about live shots...you want to know about the forecast! What do I look like, a Meteorologist? (That's my new favorite joke, sorry) Right now it looks like the storm will arrive in Connecticut just after midnight Tuesday with a blast of snow. The snow can come down heavy at times making the morning commute slick and slow. Then there will be a changeover to sleet and/or freezing rain. I expect a line to bisect Connecticut from southwest to northeast. Locations along the shoreline will see around 2-4" of snow and then some ice on top of that. Inland, the changeover will take a little longer so I'm expecting more snow around 3-7". If this storm track shifts more to the south, that would put us in the cold sector of the storm, causing more snow and less sleet/freezing rain. So this storm will need to be CLOSELY monitored. Of course, as always, I'll keep you posted--literally! Also be sure to catch my live shots on the FOX61 Morning news starting at 4:30 AM! Have a great night! Thanks for reading!

Blue Sky Animation Studio Makes New Home in Connecticut

Look below for the inside scoop on Blue Sky...



This story was a backbreaker, and for no good reason. Blue Sky is the same animation studio that made 'Horton Hears a Who', 'Robots', and 'Ice Age'. I am still a kid at heart so I was THRILLED to get the opportunity to go to this ribbon cutting ceremony. I wanted to see up close and personal how these animation wizards do such amazing work! Im also a geek so I wanted to know the science behind the cartoons.

BUT this was one of the HARDEST stories to shoot. After the ceremony the Public Relations person for Blue Sky says to me "We can take you on a tour of the studio but your cameras can't come". I had to politely tell her that we are NOT a newspaper and for this story to work we need some sort of video. Here's the funny thing. We are there to give them FREE PRESS, and they're fighting us? That doesn't make any sense to me! Anyway, we finally got an inside look. I just wanted to let you know it took some hard work. Good thing I'm a tough New York girl at heart! Enjoy the tour :)

VOTE ME BEST WEATHERMAN!!

WeatherMAN??? Yeah, that's not sexist or anything...

Let's show them women can forecast too!! VOTE FOR ME PLEASE! More votes mean more viewers, more viewers makes me a happy girl! Here's the only issue, you need to vote in 20 categories in order to submit. Just a warning, you can't just vote for me and then exit. They're smart I guess. Oh well, I'll take what I can get. I'm in the "Seen Or Be Seen" category.

VOTE HERE

Thanks!!

Injured Owl Rescued...For Now

How can you resist this face???

Gambing in Atlantis...With the Weather!!

So my best friend got married last weekend in Atlantis, YAY! Of course when you go to the Bahamas you picture crystal clear blue skies and temps in the 80s. Well...think again! I warned my mom and sister there was a BIG TIME trough over North America and sure enough it was cold and yucky (very complicated meteorological term). OK, OK....it wasn't single digits like it was here in Hartford but upper 60s with overcast, drizzle, and gusts to 30 is not so pleasant when you're in a bikini!!

Kim wanted to have the wedding and reception outside, but opted to move the reception indoors at the last moment. Turns out it was a great move. You can see how windy it was by looking at her veil!!! (Good thing I secured it with bobby pins taken directly from my own hair...I'm a good bridesmaid, what can I say) Anyway, even with the wind, it was still a gorgeous wedding and we had a blast.

Now it's back to the grind! Back to the REAL cold. Don't you just love temps in the 20s? Take me back to the Bahamas, please?!?

Forecasts

Sorry everyone...the webmaster from fox informs me that all posted forecasts will be deleted once 3 days old to make space for new stories and weather. But I will continue to post them as long as possible. Keep checking back! :)

Making Hydropower at Collinsville Dams

Live Shot Snow--I'm After Garett's Weather--You can fast forward to get to me!

Snowstorm ON THE WAY!

One of the most frustrating things about being a meteorologist is that people always assume you know what the weather is going to be. I don't blame them or anything...but now that I'm reporting 3 days a week, I don't always have time to generate my own forecast. Figuring out the weather over the next 7 days takes hours of work looking at current observations, computer models, sattelite and radar...It's not something that happens in a matter of minutes. I don't just wake up and automatically know the forecast, otherwise life would be so easy and I would never get the forecast wrong! I hope this doesn't sound like one big rant. I don't mind when someone asks about the forecast, and if I know it I am delighted to share. Just don't be surprised if I don't have an answer for you. I will never give someone else's forecast...it's just not my style.

A snowstorm is on the way tonight. This one looks like it will be straight SNOW...no ice mixed in. That's good news for all the people that were affected by last Wednesday's storm with down trees and powerlines across the state. I'll take snow over freezing rain anyday!

Going to my best friend's wedding in a week! So excited!! Temperatures in the 70s at the Bahamas...and everyone will be looking to the "weather girl" to make sure the weather cooperates. I hope I can work my magic ;)

Rachel

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