Jeff and Lauren Get Married

This was the payoff of the trip – to get an watch two friends get married. It’s always a little chancy when you go to a wedding. There are weddings and there are WEDDINGS. This was the latter.

The wedding and reception were held at a restaurant/caterer located within a very nice office park – Villa Christina.

Jeff and Lauren got married under cover, though outside. The guests sat in chairs on the lawn. It was breezy and chilly, but it was raining where Jeff grew up and snowing where Lauren grew up. Breezy and chilly was good.

The first good sign was when I overheard the usher tell another guest there was no side for the bride or groom – anyone could sit anywhere. I found a seat in the back, but on the aisle. I wanted to take pictures.

It was a very informal ceremony, performed by a very folksy reverend. A few times, when appropriate, Jeff made comments to the crowd. There was lots of crying… good crying.

I was very impressed when Lauren’s grandmother came up to the mike and recited a very sweet poem, from memory. It was a nice touch, as was Lauren’s sister’s singing.

If I’ve ever been to a wedding with more good looking women, I don’t remember it. Yet I still desperately missed Helaine. I think I would have had even more fun sharing this time with her. It really was contagious.

After the ceremony there were appetizers and an open bar. I managed to get some food on my suit. Maybe it was better Helaine wasn’t here after all.

Dinner was in the ballroom upstairs. The food was very good and the ambiance continued to be great. I was assigned Table 5 and ended up with a bunch of people from The Weather Channel, including Jim Cantore, their best known on-camera meteorologist.

Before I wrap this up, I have to relate one story which goes to the general mood of the evening. There were two still photographers at the affair, one shooting Nikon and the other Canon. Both had nice pro level cameras and lenses.

I tried to be out of the way as they shot. After all, they were there to document this for Jeff and Lauren and though I’d be shooting away, they take precedence. A few times during the evening we chatted, and they were friendly.

All was fine, until my battery went. I had taken over 120 shots at the time, and though I was surprised it went, I shouldn’t have been… and should have brought a second battery with me.

The Canon photog, seeing my plight, offered me a spare battery! These are special batteries made just for these cameras.

I told him I didn’t want to have him take a risk, but he insisted as he knew I’d want to shoot the bride and groom as they made their entrance.

I took my shots and then, guilt ridden, brought the battery back to him with thanks. A few minutes later he was back, with his charger. A half hour later, I was all set with a charged battery.

This guy was great. This was a selfless move by someone who cared enough to see I was having a good time.

Why Is This Man Smiling?

That’s Jeff Mielcarz on the left. He is the reason I’m in Atlanta this weekend. Tonight at 6:00 PM he’ll be marrying Lauren.

I had told him I wanted to visit The Weather Channel, where he works. He said, “Yes.”

I said, “Jeff, you’re getting married in a few hours. Wouldn’t you rather have someone else take me? Maybe there’s something you need to do?”

He was having none of that.

I met him at The Weather Channel at 1:00 PM. The Weather Channel is located in a nondescript modern office building in the Atlanta suburbs. There is a small sign at the entrance to the parking lot, but no signage on the building itself that I could see.

I snapped a few pictures of their satellite dishes before a guard came out to ask me to stop. He was pleasant, and I understood. I stopped.

Inside, the building is modern and nicely appointed. I’ve always felt you can judge a company solely by its lobby – and their lobby is nice with photos and awards, plus a split screen of some of their programming.

The studio itself is in a working newsroom, very much as it looks on the air. I was a little surprised by how connected it is to the working guts of the newsroom, where people were walking around and staying busy. The forecast area, in the back, is behind glass.

I saw a few people I recognized from TV, including Bob Stokes, Mark Mancuso and Stephanie Abrams. I think Mancuso was there when they went on the air! I also ran into Dr. Greg Forbes, their severe weather specialist.

The facility is very nice, don’t get me wrong. And, Jeff showed me where they’re geting ready to build a bigger studio. But, last night I was at CNN and this just doesn’t compare.

Heading South

Today, I started getting ready for a quick trip to Atlanta. My friend Jeff, who used to work here but is now at The Weather Channel, is marrying Lauren. I’m looking forward to this because I like them both.

Jeff is the first of my friends to have met his wife-to-be online. If Lauren represents potential spouses on the Internet, a lot of people are going to be running to find their mate on the net. She’s a knockout.

I haven’t been to Atlanta in about a zillion years. The first time I was there was in the early 70s. I was flying to Charlotte, NC from West Palm Beach, FL. Charlotte got snowed in! Eastern Airlines paid to put me up in a motel. I met a girl from my flight and spent most of the evening with her… though less of the evening than I anticipated.

There won’t be much time to poke around, but a friend at CNN will give me the 50&#162 tour and the groom-to-be is taking me to The Weather Channel (though I still can’t figure out where he’ll find the time).

Part of the fun of this trip is the fact that I can leave and return through New Haven’s little airport. Though Atlanta’s dominant carrier, Delta, now flies to HVN, I’m going on USAir via Philadelphia. My first leg is on an 18 seat prop plane – something I don’t mind… though I know many do.

The advantage of Tweed-New Haven Airport is its tiny size. No crowds… or few crowds and easy access. The disadvantage is the number of flights and choice of non-stop destinations – two, Philadelphia and Cincinnati.

Another Storm

Every time the Connecticut Department of Transportation rolls their plows they keep an online log. So it’s easy to go back and say there have been 16 storms so far this season. Not all of them were very significant, but they were storms none the less.

Number 17 comes tomorrow.

I was very pleased with my forecasting on the last storm. I was a few hours late on the scheduled arrival, but 90% of the state got what I predicted. The corner that got more than anticipate had been forecast to get the heaviest snow already.

Very few complaints – that’s how I judge the effectiveness of a forecast. I’d like to say no complaints, but I’ve gotten tagged even when I was dead on… and even gotten complaints based on the Weather Channel’s forecast (honest – I wouldn’t make that up).

This next one is made tougher by the failure of the two most trustworthy models, the NAM and GFS, to agree. Their disparity isn’t small. It’s the difference between snow to rain or snow, period! That’s an immense difference.

Because of the timing, I get to take my last shots when the storm will still be 16 hours away. Much of what I say will be based on changes in structure that won’t have happened yet. So, my prediction will be supposition, piled on supposition, piled on supposition. They’re all interlocking predictions. Blow one and the rest tumble like a house of cards.

Don’t get me wrong. This is a great job. I love what I do. It’s just sometimes forecasting the weather is more difficult than other times, and those are always the times that are most critical.

The Humanless Weather Forecast

There’s a storm coming, beginning tonight. It’s a forecasting challenge and I’ve really sweated this one. Depending on where in the state you are, you will see radically different weather.

Normally, I don’t second guess myself by looking at the competition&#185. But, this morning when I woke up, as I was tuning around on the TV, I hit the Weather Channel in mid-forecast.

I’m sure this isn’t what they meant to put on the screen. It is what you can get if there aren’t actual humans watching what goes out on the air… and with their local forecast, there aren’t people watching at the local level.

I feel bad for their viewers who tuned in to see the forecast.

&#185 – Maybe this statement isn’t 100% true. I do read the Weather Service’s technical discussions which are often very well thought out, insightful and hint at what their actual forecasts will say. I seldom see the forecasts themselves.

More Charley

It must have been a shock for people on the West Coast of Florida to wake up this morning and find that Charley was going to hit the coast a little farther south than expected. Instead of Tampa Bay, the storm headed to Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda and Fort Myers.

As soon as I woke up this morning I switched on the computer and started to look at the radar, then surface observations, then the computer models.

I bet this kind of weather ‘spikes’ the ratings at The Weather Channel. Personally, I can’t watch. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because I like a lot more detail. This is not to take away what they’ve accomplished as far as making a name for themselves. I’m just not their target.

As was the case last night, the Weather Service NEXRADs did an fantastic job in displaying this storm. The eye was tight and circular – the sign of a strong hurricane.

As I’m typing this, I’m looking at the Tampa radar, still seeing the eye of the storm as it approaches Orlando. That it still has a discernible eye this late in the game surprises me.

Now it heads this way. Even though it won’t be a hurricane there might be enough storm left to worry about for Sunday. You know what – even if there isn’t, I’ll worry anyway. That’s what I do.

Snow in August? No.

If you’ve been looking at the current conditions on the right side of this page, you might have noticed snow and other weird occurences over the last few days. It’s not just here – The Weather Channel (without human intervention, I suppose) has posted these observations too.

I’m sure it will soon be fixed. Meanwhile, I’ll switch over to another local observation.

New London Day

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