SAY IT AIN’T SNOW???

OK, OK.  The e-mails keep pouring in… the question, almost always the same.  It goes something like this…

“Jason,

Are we really going to get snow next week?  I’m not ready for Winter!”

For those of you who wrote, I apologize for paraphrasing.   Getting snow in October isn’t that unusual for Northern Ohio.  Obviously, we typically don’t see any significant accumulations either.  Partly because of a general lack of cold air staying here long enough for it to snow for a long enough time to accumulate.  Did that make sense?  In other words, arctic air may only be around for 12-24 hours.  Hardly enough to produce a major snowfall event.

Another consideration is how warm the ground is.  We’ve barely had our first freeze across the region, so the ground is still very warm.  Combine that with forecast highs this weekend into the 50s and the ground will take some time to cool.

So, yes, the flakes may fall, especially at night when temps cool, but it’s a good bet it will have a tough time sticking.  For those of you who welcome our season’s ‘first snow,’ we may get enough for a nice coating on some grassy areas in the morning.  As always, stay tuned to TV5 and newsnet5.com for the latest weather updates as we battle through the brilliance and sometimes the betrayal of the Fall season in Northern Ohio.

I’m Meteorologist Jason Nicholas.

FROSTY WEEKEND!

Hello all.

We had quite a weather weekend.  Typical Fall-like weather.
Chilly mornings and cool afternoons.
Saturday morning was quite chilly.  I had the chance to watch my
7 year-old nephew play some flag football in Broadview Heights.
I only wore jeans, a long sleeve T-shirt and a light, light jacket.
I couldn't believe all the people decked out in their Winter wear
complete with hats, gloves, blankets and hand warmers.  

Was it really that cold?  My thermometer in my car read 50 degrees.
But, with a cool northeasterly wind and ample cloud cover, it felt cooler.
That night and Sunday morning, many of us experienced our first hard freeze
of the season, thus ending the growing season.  

Here are a few places in our area and dates that correspond
with our first frost or freeze.  Thanks to our friends at the
Cleveland NWS for the information.

ashtabula          oct 25
chardon            oct 14
cleveland          oct 29
hiram              oct 18
painesville        oct 31   

Get ready for the cool Fall.  I'm Meteorologist Jason Nicholas.

First October Week

Happy Fall everyone.  We are now into the first full week of October.  The leaves are starting to change colors, but we’re still weeks away from anything spectacular.  Here is a good web site if you enjoy experiencing all that the Fall season has to offer:

http://consumer.discoverohio.com/consumer/support/fallcolor

The site has everything from Fall colors, to haunted happenings, to local farm markets.  Enjoy it.

Here are some interesting facts about the leaves changing.

• Leaves of some trees such as birches, tulip poplars, redbud and hickory, are always yellow in the fall, never red.
• The fall leaves of a few trees, including sugar maple, dogwood, sweet gum, black gum and sourwood, are usually red but may also be yellow.
• The most intense of fall color occurs in in areas such as New England, with almost pure stands of a few types of trees, such as maples and birches, that all turn color at the same time during the short fall season.
• The most varied fall color, as well as the longest lasting, occurs in areas such as the southern Appalachians, where a dozen or more kinds of trees may change color at slightly different times over the longer fall season.
• Leaves have just as much yellow pigment (xanthophyll) in July when they are green as they do in October when they are yellow. In July the darker green pigment (chlorophyll) masks the yellow color.

Meteorologist Jason Nicholas

Another Blog Blurb

Here is another email from someone who also has enjoyed her travels.

JASON,

I REALLY ENJOYED READING ABOUT YOUR VAIL TRIP. I TOO HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO VISIT VAIL. LUCKY ME EXPERIENCED IT IT THE SUMMER FOR A GOLF TRIP AND IN THE WINTER TO SKI. EACH TIME WAS SPECTACULAR. CANT WAIT TO GO OUT WEST AGAIN. MAYBE TO ARIZONA FOR TRIBE SPRING TRAINING NEXT YEAR.

Thanks for your email!

Jason Nicholas

A Blog Blurb

Here is an email I received from a blog reader who had some comments to share about my recent blog on my trip to Colorado.

Jason,

I enjoyed reading your blog about your recent visit to Colorado.  The backdrop you described sounds breathtaking!  I’ve been to Colorado myself and absolutely loved it.  I went white water rafting and horseback riding.  I saw the Garden of the Gods and the Royal Gorge BI enjoyed reading your blog about your recent visit to Colorado.  The backdrop you described sounds breathtaking!  I’ve been to Colorado myself and absolutely loved it.  I went white water rafting and horseback riding.  I saw the Garden of the Gods and the Royal Gorge Bridge.  I have to say, while the bridge and the view was awesome, it was my least favorite being afraid of heights!  There are many other places that I have yet to see, but I would love to see Colorado again.  Thanks for sharing your story!

Deborah

Looking like Fall in SOME places…

We’re now a week into our Fall season.  And, although it still looks like Summer around here, some are getting an early glimpse into the Fall season.  Over the weekend, I was lucky enough to take a trip to Vail, Colorado.  Vail is a ski resort town in the middle of the Rocky Mountains about 100 miles West of Denver.  While there, I attended a wedding, played some golf and took tons of pictures of Fall colors.  Vail’s elevation is about 8,500 feet.  So, they tend to have cooler days and cooler nights than we do here in Ohio.  Because of that, the trees there begin to change a little earlier.  I wondered why the wedding was held at the end of September, and I soon found out when I arrived.  The aspen trees were near peak.

And when I say peak, I mean a brilliant, wonderful yellow color.  It’s why the wedding happened when it did.  The weather cooperated, too.  Sunshine and 70.  The rolling mountains combined with the bright yellow against a few evergreens provided a perfect backdrop for the ceremony.  I couldn’t helped but to be moved by the entire event.  A wedding itself is a moving and emotional experience.  Add to that the scenery of a Fall day in the middle of the Rocky Mountains.

If you’ve never been out to the Rocky Mountains, I recommend it.  However, go in the Summer for a couple reasons.  First, you won’t have to battle the skiing traffic, which, I hear, can be rough.  Also, the roads won’t be snow covered and dangerous.  Finally, the days will be warm, the nights cool.  But, if you ski, perhaps a Winter trip would be well worth it!

Get ready for cool, I’m Meteorologist Jason Nicholas.

Summer of 2008

Heading into the wonderful Fall season, it’s now a good time to look back at the Summer that was.  The Summer of 2008.

Bottom line is the Summer of 2008 wasn’t as hot as normal and was a touch drier than normal.  We had only 6 days when the high in Cleveland topped 90 degrees.  This is less than normal.  The highest temperature was only 92.  That was hit on Sept 3.  The coolest night was 2 weeks later on Sept 17.  The low that night dipped to 47.

Overall our rainfall was about an inch below normal going back to start of June.  This included a very dry August.  In August, we only received 1.43″ of rain.  That was more than 2″ below normal.  I know a lot of lawns are still showing that evidence.  Even in September, we were dry.  We had one system come in before the leftovers of Ike moved through that gave us much of the rain we’ve gotten all month.  In fact, as I write this, we’ve had 9 straight days of dry weather, with several more in the forecast.  That number may turn into 15.  Some parts of Ohio are abnormally dry.  I’ll blog about this as we head into the end of the month.

I sound like a broken record saying, “Enjoy this great stretch of weather.”  I’m Meteorologist Jason Nicholas.

FALL IS HERE!

At 11:44 this morning, Fall officially began.  Now is a good time to talk about why Fall happens and why it happens when it does.  What’s it mean?  Here we go…

In the language of science, an equinox is one of two times a year when the Sun crosses the equator, and the day and night are of approximately equal length.

At the autumnal equinox (Sept 22, 2008; 11:44:18 A.M. EDT), the Sun appears to cross the equator, from north to south; this marks the beginning of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere.

On the date of either equinox, the Sun is above the equator and night and day are of approximately equal length; the word equinox is often used to refer to either of these.  The other equinox is known as the vernal equinox.  It beings Spring.

When this occurs, the length of the day and the night are approximately equal at every place on earth. While the earth orbits around the sun, the position of the sun changes in relation to the equator. Between the March, or vernal, equinox and the September, or autumnal, equinox, the sun appears north of the equator. It appears south of the equator in the time between the September equinox and the March equinox.

Here’s to a great start to Fall.  I’m Meteorologist Jason Nicholas.

Indians, Summer Winding Down…

Fall begins in just 2 days… so that means we really only have one more full day of Summer.  Yuck, right?  Wrong, I say.  Our Fall season will begin in magnificent fashion.  Our terrific stretch of weather will roll on.  Sunshine.  Comfy days, cool nights.  Soon, the leaves will begin to change and Fall will be upon us.

That brings me to another end… the Indians home season.  The Tribe will wrap up its home campaign Sunday at Progressive Field versus the hated Detroit Tigers.  As I sat in the seats twice in the past week, I couldn’t help but feel the Summer slipping away.  The pleasant weather has made it a little easier to swallow, though.  Because, as we know, the next Indians home game might be played under cloudy skies, temps in the upper 30s with snow flurries.  Let’s hope not.  However, we can say that this season’s Tribe weather was the best in recent memory.  Not many rain outs or delays and no snow outs early in the year.  Sure, the results could have been much better, but it was still a very enjoyable year out at the park.  The next several months will be long before the ‘09 season begins anew.

Enjoy the last few hours of Summer and the first few days of Fall.  Our weather can’t get much better than this.

Sunny days and clear nights, I’m Meteorologist Jason Nicholas.

GREAT FALL-LIKE WEATHER!

As we enter the final few days of Summer, we’re also enterting a great stretch of ‘fall-like’ weather.  The next few days are sure to bring smiles to your faces.  That is, if you like sunshine and temps in the 60s and 70s.  Comfy days and cool nights ahead.  Lows will dip into the 40s for many of us.   Some models are keeping us sunny and dry for the next week, but typically, these computer weather models change their mind.  Nonetheless, it’s nice to see a stretch of fair weather, especially after the wild windy weekend we had.

Some of you have asked me about our current situation in the tropics.  Well, as of today, Sep 17, there are no organized systems in the Atlantic.  Keep in mind, this is the high time for tropical development, but it’s looking like the rest of the month, the U.S. will escape any major threats.  However, we still have several weeks of tropical weather possibilities ahead.  Keep it tuned to NewsChannel 5!

Enjoy the sun.  I’m Meteorologist Jason Nicholas