I must admit, I'm really starting to get into this "Twitter" thing.

For the longest time, I resisted. In fact, at one time I think I might have even called it a "crock of hooey." Today, I'm becoming what some might call a "regular Tweeter" and in my short lifespan as a "regular Tweeter" I've learned that you don't really grasp what Twitter is all about until you get sucked in.

OK, enough already... I'll get to my point. My main purpose of this blog was to share some great links and tools that make Tweeting even easier:

Tweet Deck www.tweetdeck.com: Tweet Deck helps you manage your Tweets and will also post your tweets to Facebook and MySpces (does anyone even use MySpace anymore?) It's software and must be installed on your computer. Depending on your computer, it may slow things down a bit. There is a Tweet Deck app available for iPhone... Not that it matters to anyone around here. (For those reading this that don't live, here... yes, AT&T hasn't made it this far yet.)

Hoot Suite www.hootsuite.com; Hoot Suite is a great web based app. that lets you manage your Twitter account from anywhere you can access the web. Simply log in and go crazy. This is good for those that work someplace where they won't let you install software on your computer. (Of course, if they do that, there's a pretty good chance they block sites with their firewall so enjoy while you can.)

Über Twitter www.ubertwitter.com; If you have a BlackBerry, Search for the Über Twitter application. It's a great mobile ap that lets you manage multiple twitter accounts, upload pictures and video via TwitPic or some other photo server, and do a ton of other things. I was using Twitter Berry, but Über Twitter is much, much better.

With my wife and I expecting our new baby girl in the next few weeks, I'm thinking about using Twitter to make the initial announcement. Kind of like Hollywood celebrities use Twitter to announce they're going into rehab or sports stars use it to announce they're coming out of retirement for the third or fourth time. So, for daily weather updates, baby updates, and any other minutia my mind might be able to spit out, follow me - @shawncable.

We all know that meteorology isn’t an exact science. We’ve made great strides in the technology we use and forecast accuracy has improved significantly over the years. We only really blow a forecast about once or twice a year (give or take a couple here and there – or more – hey, it’s not an exact science) and when it happens, I’m usually pretty disappointed in myself. Today, however, I could care less.

This morning, my forecast was for a mostly cloudy day with some clearing by late afternoon. By some miracle that could only have been performed by the Lord above… or maybe Oprah… the sun came out early and stayed most of the day.

After a two-week long spell of clouds, drizzle, and temperatures 15-20 degrees below average, I think today is just what we all needed. I can tell by the Facebook posts and Twitter messages that if I had to be wrong, this was the way to do it. Of course, had things gone the other way and it was cloudy, rainy, 38 degrees, with flurries, I’d probably be calling in sick tomorrow.

Hi.  It's been a while.  Yes, I'm a little embarassed. 

By now, I think we all probably know that as much as I try, I'm not going to update my blog as often as many would like.  I'm no Brian Allen. That guy is a blogging champion! If you haven't yet, you should check out his blog... It's a must read.  Then, help him kick cancer in the butt.  Here's a link: Brian Allen's Blog .

I'm much more of a twitter/short blog type.  So, I'm adding my twitter feed below.  I'm much better at "tweeting" because I can do it on the go.  Feel free to leave a message in the comments section of this post.  I'll Tweet back at you or take care of it in another blog.  Enjoy! 

Shawn's Twitter Blog

We lucked out this week.  If temperatures would have been in the 20s or low 30s, we could have had a foot or more of snow across a good chunk of South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska. Fortunately, it was warm and we had rain instead of snow... most places did, anyhow.  

100 years ago today, however, it was a different story.  A big system moved across the central plains and cold air was much more abundant.  21 inches of snow fell in Sioux Falls with  strong northwest wind gusts to 50 mph creating blizzard conditions. 

The technology we have today makes forecasting a storm like this much easier.  I'll admit, the forecasts aren't always perfect, but if you think we're wrong a lot now, imagine what the forecast accuracy was like one hundred years ago.  There was no radar, no satellite, no weather balloons for upper-air measurement, no hourly observation network, no computer forecast models, etc. Weather observations were taken once daily (even less frequently in many rural areas) and sent to the US Weather Bureau in Washington, DC via telegraph. . 

Here's a link to an image of the February 9, 1909 US weather map. If you want to see a higher resolution version, go to the NOAA Daily Weather Map Archive.   You can pull daily weather maps all the way back to 1871.  You'll need to download the DjVu plug in for your browser to see the maps.  Don't worry, it's a quick and safe install.  Here's the link.

Check them out and you'll see that weather forecasting has come a long way, baby! 

 

It’s a busy day in the Action Weather Center and the KSFY newsroom. Blizzard warnings are in effect for most of South Dakota with a Winter Weather Advisory in effect for the I-29 corridor.

Be careful today! This is the type of storm system that will sneak up on you. Weather conditions may seem fine now, however, later today as the snow develops and the wind increases, whiteout conditions will develop very quickly. If you’re going to be traveling, be sure to have plenty of warm clothes and a winter survival kit in your car. Have a full tank of gas and a fully charged cell phone. Most importantly, if you get stuck in the blizzard, do not leave your vehicle. The whiteout conditions will cause you to get disoriented and you’ll wander off, get lost and freeze. Stay with your car! A large number of winter weather fatalities are caused by people leaving their car in the middle of a blizzard.

Stay tuned to KSFY.com and KSFY Television. We’re making some changes and working hard to keep the website updated with the very latest weather information so that you can keep your family safe during this storm and all winter long.

BLOG UPDATE 10/21/08 @ 4:20 PM
Forecast Still On Track

The forecast is still on track with my thoughts from earlier this morning. The latest forecast model runs continue to show that heavy rain is likely through Thursday with the heaviest rain falling tomorrow and tomorrow night.

There is still the potential for some snow mixed with the rain as cold air filters in from the north late tomorrow and tomorrow night. I don't expect much accumulation; however, as I said before, temperature is everything with this system. A change in just one or two degrees at the surface or aloft could make a big difference in the amount of rain vs. snow. Sioux Falls and the rest of the KSFY viewing area will see snow, however, the best chance for accumulation is across central Nebraska and portions of south central South Dakota. A Winter Storm Watch remains in effect for much of central Nebraska through tomorrow night. Patrs of west central Nebraska that are under the Winter Storm Watch for tomorrow and tomorroe night are under severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings this afternoon. 

Here are some links you can use for the latest information on this developing fall storm system.

Rain and snowfall forecast from the Sioux Falls National Weather Service

Latest Watches and Warnings from the National Weather Service

Below is the rainfall forecast for tonight through Thursday for Sioux Falls.




Previous Blog
Heavy rain and even some snow is possible across the KSFY viewing area later today through Thursday. Rainfall amounts of 2-3 inches are possible across parts of southeast South Dakota. As temperatures drop on Wednesday, snow will mix with the rain. I don’t expect snow to accumulate in Sioux Falls, however, 2-3 inches of snow or more are possible across parts of south central South Dakota. Heavier amounts are possible in northern and central Nebraska where a Winter Storm Watch is in effect from, Wednesday morning through Thursday evening.

Stay tuned, I’ll continue to update the blog as we get new information. There is still potential for change in this forecast. With this type of fall storm, a slight one to two degree temperature change could mean the difference between rain or snow. 

 

As I was growing up, KELO TV was a very popular channel at our house. Mostly because long time anchorman, Steve Hemmingsen, is from my home town of Morgan, MN and it’s always exciting to see someone you know on the tube. Imagine my family’s delight when they learned that I, too, would be hitting the airwaves of KELOLAND.

That little bit of fun lasted about two weeks. My family was able to watch me do the weather on three newscasts before they pulled the plug. KELO was gone… off the local UHF tower, off the local cable system. There were already two CBS affiliates in that area and they didn’t see a need for a third. So, for the next thirteen years, my mom and the rest of the family were without their family weatherman. The people of my hometown were left with one memory of me on TV: The poor, nervous guy that dropped the clicker. One lady even told me that she and her husband assumed that I walked off camera and wet my pants after each show. I didn’t, but let’s face it, the first couple of years were pretty rough. I like to think that I’ve gotten at least a little better since then.

Even though KELO was gone, KSFY stayed and very quickly became a favorite. Sometimes I think I underestimate how important our coverage is to people in southwest Minnesota and northwest Iowa. Even though my hometown and a lot of our southern and western Minnesota viewers are technically in the Minneapolis TV market, the folks there love getting their news, and especially weather, from Sioux Falls. I’ve heard many, many times that, “when watching KSFY, we know what weather is coming. If we were to wait for the Twin Cities stations, the barn would be long blown away before we heard about it on TV.”

The past thirteen years, every time I’d go home, my mother would talk about how much she loved watching Phil’s weather. Phil Schreck is a rock star at my parent’s house. Now, after thirteen years, mom is finally able to watch her son on TV again. She tells me how fun it is to be able to have her coffee with me each morning. I know she’s excited about my joining KSFY, but I’m still not sure if the bulk of her excitement comes from being able to watch me every day or from knowing that now I can get Phil to sign an 8 x 10 glossy for her to stick on her fridge.

I'll be honest. I'm not much of a blogger.  I don't write them and I don't read them. At least that's how it has been until now. When my wife started asking when I was going to get off of my duff and update my blog,  I figured it was about time. So, I'm sorry it's been so long.  I'll do my best to keep this baby updated on a weekly basis at the very least.

 For now, I'll chalk-it-up to spending most of my free time getting acclimated to my new TV home.  As with anything new, there's a bit of a learning curve. Things like being sure that I’m typing the right numbers into the right places on our weather system or knowing when I need to be on the air so that I don't get caught off guard with a day-old piece of Phil's slightly dry but still delicious strawberry anniversary cake in my mouth when I'm supposed to be doing the 7 Day Forecast have taken a bit of priority over my blogging.

 Fortunately, one of the most important parts of my job hasn’t changed at all… the meteorology.  One of the nice parts of being back on the air in Sioux Falls is that I already know how the weather works around here. I’ve had weathercaster friends move from the Midwest to the southeast coast and one of the most difficult things for them was learning to do weather in an entirely different climate.  Shifting from tornadoes and supercell thunderstorms of the Midwest to hurricanes and sea breezes is a big deal for a weather forecaster.  Already knowing the climate and meteorological subtleties of this area and, more importantly, how important the weather is to the people of this area has sure made my move to KSFY easier. 

 If you have any comments or questions, by all means, drop me an email.  My email address is scable@ksfy.com.  If you have weather to report, send an email to weather@ksfy.com.  Using the weather address will assure that your report gets to Phil, Derick, and me.

Thanks for stopping by!

Wow! I haven't even written my first blog and there are already almost forty comments posted. I'd better get moving!

First, thank you to everyone who has taken the time to comment on my blog, comment on the news stories, or drop me an email. I appreciate the kind words and even the criticism.

Me and my Deere.

The past year has been a busy one. After leaving my previous job just over a year ago, I had a contractual obligation to wait a year before going back on the air in the Sioux Falls television market (the "non-compete" is a fairly common practice in the TV biz.) Because of this, I had to decide whether I wanted to leave Sioux Falls to be a TV meteorologist in another city or wait a year to work at another TV station in town. Because my wife and I are both from here, we decided that we'd do what we could to stick around. So, for the past year, I've been a farmer, a web developer, a marketing person for a big financial company, and a fill-in TV Meteorologist in Minnesota.

It was a fun year, but it sure is nice to be back on the air in Sioux Falls. KSFY is a great place and the people here are amazing. One of the worst things about leaving KELO was not being given the opportunity to thank and say goodbye to the viewers that , over the past thirteen years, had become my friends. Now I don't have to say goodbye at all. Thank you! I look forward to many more years in this great place we all call home. It's GREAT to be back and on KSFY!

On the air at KAAL-TV in Austin, MN (December '07)