IT IS FINALLY HERE! ... Blogdate 0412.08

It's finally here... yay! We're now streaming live video 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year!
What does that mean for you? Well, that means you and everyone across the world can now watch all of our live newscasts via the world wide web. When we're not showing the local newscast, enjoy our 24/7 weather channel via the live stream. Our 24 hour weather channel is already available over the airwaves and you can watch the 24/7 weather channel on Charter Digital 247, or DTV 7-3.

A little bit more information about "our" weather channel vs. the "other" weather channel. Our weather channel is run locally at the NewsChannel 7 Studios with all the local forecasts being produced by one of our StormTeam 7 Meteorologists. The National forecasts are provided by the fine folks at AccuWeather. The local forecasts on "our" weather channel (24/7 weather), are available every few minutes.

The "other" weather channel that many people are familiar with, is based in Atlanta, Georgia. Most of the time, our forecasts will differ from their forecasts... for one important reason. To save money, the "other" weather channel runs a computer model and that in turn "spits" out the numbers that you see on the screen. As any meteorologist will tell you, taking a computer's forecast without human intervention can be a risky proposition.

We get a lot of calls about why are forecasts differ so much sometimes, compared to the "other" weather channel... and the simple answer is, Local Local Local. Our forecasts are done locally, while theirs is not.

Enough of that business,,, anyone care to guess/forecast the last day we'll have to worry about snow this Spring? Have a good weekend!

Respond to Chad's blog here:

I've been thinking about writing to let all of the team know that I love watching your show. I use to never watch the boring news but now with your help, Its not boring anymore! I believe your the "best morning personalities", noon and evening also. I appreciate that you're not robotic, but human! Now to Chad, If you're gonna predict snow in the Medford area this spring, stay off my T.V. lol Esther from Medford

CONGRATULATIONS ARE IN ORDER... Blogdate 0408.08

Once a year, the Wisconsin Broadcaster's Association (WBA) release their winners of various awards for both television and radio stations throughout the state of Wisconsin. While this may not seem like a big deal to the average reader, some of these awards are some of the major feats and accomplishments in a broadcaster's career. There are a few people that I would like to congratulate: our very own Chief Meteorologist Mike Breunling won "BEST WEATHERCAST" for 2007. That is awesome!
I would also like to congratulate my good friends, Lee Peak and Nikki Montgomery from 101.9 WDEZ, for "BEST MORNING PERSONALITIES". I still think they must have sent their samples in while Lee was on vacation or something. LOL Just kidding Lee!

SNOWFALL THIS TIME OF YEAR ... Blogdate 0321.08

It was only a few days ago, when I grabbed our Graphics Expert/Jack of all Trades Bill Mercer and was showing him the differences in forecasting this time of year. When the weather patterns are active, it is really difficult to say the least. I think Bill was really impressed with my weather "nerdiness"... then again, he never said a word... maybe not! LOL
Here's how much fun it was forecast this week- this past Tuesday morning, one computer model (formerly the "Eta", now called the NAM) was predicting 8" of snow for parts of our area. Another computer model (formerly the "AVN", now called the GFS) was predicting nothing for most of our area.
Well, as of yesterday afternoon, the computer models finally came to some agreement, with a heavy snowfall band from southeastern Minnesota right into southeastern Wisconsin. Madison will possibly break 100" of snow for the season with today's expected snowfall and Milwaukee may crack 90". (92" and counting for Madison and 84.5" and counting for Milwaukee). That snowfall band is about 60 miles farther south than where it looked just a few days ago.

Other factors to consider for snowfall totals this time of year are: temps are mainly in the 30's during the afternoon snow, the sun angle is higher in the sky, the ground that is bare now has been warmed a bit and a little thing called Insolation. Insolation is named for INcoming SOLar radiATION. It is the amount of energy that is coming from the sun, and because the sun's rays are striking our part of the country more and more (otherwise known as Spring), more heating can occur.

Due to all of these factors, my forecast shapes up like this:
The first number is the amount of snowfall, the second number is the amount of snowfall accumulation. The snow will compact easily and will be wet at times.
Wausau- 1/2". Little accumulation.
Marshfield- 3.0". 2.0" accumulation.
Stevens Point- 3.5". 3.5" accumulation.
Wautoma- 3.0". 2.5" accumulation.
Wisconsin Rapids- 4.0". 4.0" accumulation.
Adams-Friendship- 6.5". 6.5" accumulation.

It was last year on this day, that we had a high of 55 and that marked the last time we had an official report of snow on the ground here in Wausau. However, it did not remain that way, for we had 4" of snow fall from April 11 to April 12th of last year. It melted a few days later and that was the last of the snowfall in the Wausau area until this past fall.

hey chad, kathy jensen here from antigo. thanks for the "last year's weather at this time" reports. caught that. i heard mike do it also. way cool. i have to agree with one comment made, i too think you and alison make a cute couple. you two are very funny. too bad you only think of her as a sister you never had. you make me laugh. i prefer your charm over anyone's. lol. you make my lunch hour. lol. take care

Have you noticed that most of our "interesting" weather has fallen on a Monday? Hmmm,Laura M.

Chad, Thanks for the answer concerning "Cane". I am very disappointed. Bonnie ashby

If you're really good at writing letters, start writing them now to CBS. Jericho was cancelled again too and we'll see if a letter writing campaign can save either of these shows again.

SNOWY WINTER ... WHAT'S NEXT FOR SUMMER? MY TAKE ON FAVRE'S RETIREMENT ... Blogdate 0307.08

This year, we're in a La Nina type weather pattern, where water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean are slightly cooler than normal. In the winter of 1990/1991, the water temps were slightly ABOVE normal, but it was NOT considered an El Nino. In the winter of 1995/1996, the water temps were slightly cooler than normal, but it was NOT considered a La Nina. For the current year, temps have been cool enough that it is considered a weak La Nina.
What's the point of all of this.... well, notice how 3 of the top 10 snowfalls in a season were considered a La Nina, 2 more were considered slightly cooler than normal, and one of them was slightly warmer, but yet, not an El Nino. The other 3 of the top 10 are left as blank, do to a lack of data, record keeping and theory at that time.

The current forecast for the summer is what the Climate Prediction Center calls.. EC. Equal Chances. That means there's just a good of a chance for a warmer, cooler or seasonal summer ahead. We shall soon see...

Now, on to Mr. Favre...
Here's a personal and quick note about Brett Favre's retirement... I played football for 14 years and ended up "retiring" from college football when my eligibility was up, although I did have one scare when I shattered my fibula my Junior year of college. A doctor I went to told me I would have a metal rod inserted into my leg and there would be no more football,,, I remember that very well and felt like I had been "cheated" out of the rest of my career (one year). Thankfully, I returned for my Senior season and even played in a game against NFL great Adam Vinatieri, and one time Packer Offensive Lineman, Adam Timmerman.
I was heartbroken the year after my eligibility ended and when I was no longer in the game to continue on the journey with my friends... my teammates... my extended family. I can't even imagine the emotions that #4 is going through right now... 30+ years of playing organized football is now at and end for Brett.
Imagine doing one activity for about 80% of your life... 2 or 3 a day practices in the fall, training all year round and mini camps in the Spring and Summer. The game consumes you, but as much as it does, it's nearly impossible to walk away from it because it is so much fun!
#4 will go down as one of the greatest in the game- and unlike a lot of past QB's who try to extend their career one more year without success, Brett knew when it was time to call it quits... it's a decision only Favre can make, for Brett knows what is best for Brett and no one else can decide that for him.
Best of luck #4, we will miss you and your sportsmanship in the NFL.

Chad, I know you are the weatherman but you seem to know some about the entertainment area, so can you find out when or if the series "Cane" with Jimmy Smits will be coming back on? It was aired on Tuesday nights at 9pm before the writers strike. Thanks for any help you can give.
Bonnie Ashby Gleason, WI

Good Morning Bonnie,

Well, I wish I had some better news for you this morning... I made a request to our Operations Manager (Patti) to contact CBS concerning the series "Cane". The response was probably not what you want to hear... (paraphrasing here...) the show has not yet been picked up for the Fall and there are no new episodes to air this Spring.
I can tell you that most shows would have been renewed by now. There is still hope, but not much. You can send letters to CBS about getting the show renewed, and for CBS, it has worked in the past... please see my blog titled
WELCOME TO THE RATINGS PERIOD IN TELEVISION Blogdate 1102.07

from last November's ratings period. Jericho, Cagney and Lacey and Touched by an Angel (all CBS) were brought back by letter writing campaigns... One of the more famous shows in television history, something called "Star Trek", was brought back by a letter writing campaign too. (originally on a different network than CBS)

HI CHAD, KATHY JENSEN HERE, FROM ANTIGO. JUST AN IDEA. INSTEAD OF TELLING US WHAT WEATHER AND TEMPS WERE LIKE FROM YEARS PAST, HOW ABOUT WHAT THEY WERE LIKE: " AT THIS TIME LAST YEAR" ? THANKS. PEOPLE TEND TO FORGET.

Hi Kathy!
Thanks for blogging. I will make it a point to bring up last year's weather information more often and as necessary.

Chad, I just wanted to write you quick and let you know you and Allison are so cute together on the afternoon show. You guys seem to hit it off REALLY WELL! You two would make a CUTE couple!

Alison is like the little sister I never had... minus the fighting. LOL
We click really well because we enjoy the Noon show so much. For me, it's normally the end of my day and I'm ready to go home so I'm usually in a super good mood. :)
We're also in that "gray" area when it comes to the different newscasts... lemme explain a bit.
The morning newscasts are usually very laid back and relaxed, unless there is some kind of "hard or breaking" news. Your standard night time newscasts are usually a little more "serious" ... meaning you are delivering the "newest news" to your audience and they are looking for the news with a side of personality for the day.
The Noon show is a different critter all on its own... we're serious when we need to be, but normally we're touching on stories that you will see more in depth during the night-time newscasts. Therefore, we have time to show more of our personalities during that mid-day newscast than may be available during our other newscasts.
That's my take on the whole thing... oh and back to your original point ... Alison and I are good friends and we have a great time working together and we are just friends. After all, I think of her as my younger sister I never had!

It's not knocking on any of our other newscasts, but the Noon show is a lot different than the other newscasts we have on NewsChannel 7... whether it's the DayBreak show, the 5pm, 6pm, 10pm or any of our weekend newscasts.. the Noon show is just a bit different.

Hey Chad,

My question to you today is: do you tend to believe the groundhog who is in Pennsylvania (I believe that is where he lives) or the groundhog in Wisconsin? I tend to go with the one in our state, since it is weather for our state he is trying to predict. In all honesty, in the pastI have gone with the groundhog who has predicted an early spring since I really hate winter and spring is my favorite season (could that have anything to do with my birthday being on the first day of spring? hmmmmmm? ).
Have a great day! Y

Hello!
In all honesty, I don't trust a single one of them critters! LOL It's basically all luck of the draw in my honest opinion. For instance, most of the national prognosticators/ground hogs predicted an early Spring, including Jimmy in Sun Prairie. Punxsutawney Phil (in Pennsylvania), predicted 6 more weeks of winter. Therefore, the non-local critter got it right.
I think it's just one of those things that have been around for a long time (tradition) and it could go either way from year to year.

Another prognosticating tool that people use is the Farmer's Almanac. The forecast for this winter was for below normal snowfall... and we know that isn't the case. As of this writing, Wausau has seen 66.0", with a seasonal average of 58.6".

In addition, the National Weather Service has a branch called the Climate Prediction Center that specializes is long-term forecasting (outlooks). In all honesty, we have a tough enough time forecasting out to 7 days in advance... much less several months.

Bottom line, Mother Nature is very difficult to predict... but we continue to work at it and do the best we can to forecast the weather!

say good morning chad just reading your blog on the top 10 record snow. do you really think we should ponder on this anymore. spring is just around the corner march 20,tell old man winter to give up there are some people who have spring toys that need to be used like my motorcycles it has been a long time since it has been used. i put my away just before deer hunting last year. enjoy thanks donald

It's been really interesting the past few weeks.. after a very snowy start to February, it really ended on a very cool and relatively dry note. That's how we're starting March too, so who knows if we'll crack the top 10 at this point. Early next week (around Monday/Tuesday March 17/18), there is a more "interesting" storm system slated to hit the upper Midwest. At this point, it may be too warm for a heavy snowfall... so stay tuned.
I'm really excited to be riding the bike soon, so we'll see how quickly Mother Nature can clean up about 20 inches of snow! Have a good one!

Chad ... I hope you are the kind of guy who can graciously and humbly accept accolades; we have some outstanding talent at your station, but for some reason (with all due respect to your colleagues!) I really find myself enjoying your presentation of weather. There's a "real person" element you possess that is extraordinarily welcome in my house ... its something I see in Jeff Thelen a lot too. Perhaps its a little revealing about your personal interests (in your case, cycling, etc.; in Jeff's it was "grandma Thelen's popcorn balls" during the holidays). It is the genuine personality coming through and the job still getting done in a professional manner. I like all you folks a great deal, but I get the strong impression that it'd be a real kick to share a cold one with you and Thelen. A couple of guys comfortable in their own skin, getting a hard job done, and keeping a "real"ness to their presence in our homes. Keep up the good stuff; we enjoy it all!

I am very humbled by your comments and I thank you very much for them. We all try our best here at NewsChannel 7 and we all seem to offer a little bit of everything for the viewers at home.

NEW WEATHER FEATURES ONLINE ... Blogdate 0227.08

You may have seen a few of our promotions floating around in the last week, touting our new and improved wsaw.com webchannel. There's one where our web producer, super guru, Bill Martens; is holding a lit stick of dynamite and drops it in front of Alison, who is doing the news. It is funny! There's also another one of us in weather, talking about how our weather page has more than just My Local Titan (MLT). Basically, it pokes fun at me a bit, since I'm such a huge MLT fan, and the rest of the weather team is trying to convince me there is more than just MLT! Good stuff.... by the way, MLT's first birthday is coming up in MAY!

Okay, back to the task at hand... new weather features... as our promotion mentions, there's a things like a Severe Weather Planning Guide, our Detailed Forecast, and a list of current watches and/or warnings in our area.
We have also added some more weather maps to click through, including the state temps and wind chill. They can be found on a tab, right above the big 7 Day forecast in the middle of the screen. Look for more features to be added very soon!

Hope you enjoy the new look of wsaw.com. Questions or comments, feel free to post them below!

Chad
When you shoot a piece from the newsroom all I can look at is the stuff
in the background including people walking by. Can't you put up a screen?

That's a good question. To be honest with you, there is a reason why they show that stuff in the background... it's to show the busy newsroom and people working hard. If you are ever in another television market watching tv, I will bet more times than not, that those stations will have something similar to it.

how in the heck can the average snowfall for wausau be 58 inches when we havent had snow in years IM very confused about this? how do you calculate averages?

The average is a 30 year climatological average.. the last period of record is 1971-2000. The average is 58.6" and is calculated by the National Weather Service and the State Climatologist's Office.

Nice dive,Mr.Spitz,lol.Great jump on Saturday,you and Alison looked great.Laura

Thanks... I'm one week removed from my early morning jump... and I still feel cold and no feeling in my pinkie finger tip. LOL
We had a great time out there and I'm "sure" Alison would love to do it again next year! :)

POLAR PLUNGE ... Blogdate 0222.08

Well, I did it this morning... jumped into an ice covered lake to show that anyone can do the Polar Plunge to help raise money for Special Olympics. It's still not too late, registration starts at 10am at Man Made Lake... the site of this year's jump.

Here's me diving in.. which you are NOT supposed to do. Notice the great Superman resemblance I have!

Chad Franzen Takes the Polar Plunge in Wausau

A big thank you to Steve Woller for bringing out the hot air balloon to share in our coverage of jumping in an ice cold lake. In addition, a big thank you to Dave Kalloway and Stacy Cole from 95.5 WIFC for taking my updates... before and after the plunge. They will be out at Mad Made Saturday and I am going to see if I can talk one of them into jumping with Alison Struve and me! A HUGETASTIC thank you to Theresa Pries and her crew from Special Olympics for getting the hole prepared this morning.
See y'all out there this weekend!

*** Update Sunday***
I'm still not quite thawed out... since a few of my finger tips have no feeling... but again, they call it "freezin' for a reason" .... :)

I did you one better! Posted the video on my blog...

Your Noon Cohort/Coanchor

Tom from the blog below, please click over to Alison's blog to see her and I jump in the freezing water from Saturday.
See what happens when you put a co-worker on the spot on live tv, she was almost "forced" to post the video from this past weekend.

Great dive - however where is the proof that Alison jumped on Saturday? Tom

I believe Alison will be posting a picture of our jump on her blog. If not, I will post one later this week. She jumped... and she was cold!

Congrats and thank you. It's such a great cause!

Now then, what's the new air quality scare all about. It's a beautiful clear winter day but the air quality is poor?
I'm confused. Thanks.

Alison and I had such a great time out there Saturday... we're looking forward to doing it again next year!

The air quality has been poor for a lot of different reasons, but I'll throw some of the main ones out there. One, do you remember the last time we had a decent wind? It's been a few days, so the weather has been rather stagnant from this weekend into Monday.
Other things that can contribute to poor air quality include: emissions from cars, power plants and other vehicles (such as snowmobiles). This has been one of the best seasons for snowmobilers in the past 10 years and there has been a lot of sleds being run over the past several weeks!

Now that we're seeing a pretty strong storm system move through the Great Lakes, the winds for today and tomorrow should help clear things up.

Hey Chad. I can't believe you dove in head first. lol. I've always wanted to do the jump myself, but once I see the frigid open water, I cannot bring myself to suffer the extreme cold and the possibility of getting sick afterword. Any words of encouragement?

Clay.

Hi Clay,
If you ever jump, do NOT dive! I only did that cuz I have my Private Tornado (Superman) cape on! LOL
In all honesty, after that first 15 seconds of being in, it wasn't really that bad on Saturday. It was sunny and 25 degrees. Friday morning when it was -7 ... it was a much different story!

Words of encouragement... the reason for jumping is to raise money for the Special Olympics... it's such a wonderful organization and once you meet the athletes, you'll be ready to jump in year after year.

hey there its nice you jumped well actually dove into that frigid lake.. see you Saturday Im jumping too!
Jaymi

Thanks Jaymi! It was great to be out there... over 300 Polar Plungers... AWESOMETASTIC PEOPLE! Great job!

Chad,
The wife and I enjoy watching your antics in the morning and this last snowstorm you called the storm track even a little more accurately than the NWS models did.

K.F. Reinke, Adams

LOL
That has me smiling ear to ear...
I have what someone once referred to as a "Honda Davidson". LOL I ride a 1985 Honda V65 Sabre... at that time, it was the fastest production bike available, and a pre-cursor to the "crotch rocket" that raised controversy last summer on Jeff Thelen's Blog. It is a street rider with 131 hp.
It was my first motorcycle that I purchased from a gentleman in Marathon City about 5 years ago. Kudos to Tom Z. (a photographer down the road at another station on Grand Ave.) for taking the test ride back then and telling me it would be a good starter's motorcycle for me!
I'll be riding soon... I'll see y'all out there!

STORM FOLLOW-UP ... Blogdate 0215.08

Here's some totals as of yesterday courtesy of the National Weather Service. Some of these may not be the official "final" totals....
Wausau- 3.7"
Phillips- 3.1"
Rhinelander- 3.2"
Antigo- 3.0"
Merrill- 3.2"
Stevens Point- 3.2" ... older report
Wisconsin Rapids- 3.0" ... older report
Arkdale- 6.2"
Wild Rose- 5.6"
Friendship- 10.5"

So, as we dig out from yesterday's snowfall, the next storm system quickly approaches for Sunday. Heavy snow looks likely for northeastern Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin for Sunday.
A few days ago, it looked like this storm system would miss Wisconsin altogether.. but over the past few days, it has trended farther and farther north ... no only into Wisconsin, but into the far southeastern part of our area. Stay tuned to updated forecasts throughout the weekend!

Also today, one of our DayBreak staffers/jack of all trades is leaving us... our morning sports reporter/camera operator/tape operator/sports guru Eric Rajala is moving on. Eric is a student at UW-SP majoring in Communications and will be graduating soon. This "kid" has done some great work for us since last May and we wish him the best as he continues his career. He's a good friend and a lot of fun to chat with during the shows... I'm sure we'll be seeing this kid again on television in the future.. probably ESPN sometime down the line. Thanks for your hard work and dedication to waking up and making that drive every morning (minus yesterday when you called in! LOL).

By the way, his ugly sweater today looks like my couch cushions after they get sick. Thought you'd like the pic Eric! LOL

Love the new web page design.

Courtesy of Mr. Bill Martens. He does such great work, doesn't he? Not just saying that because Bill has to read this stuff everyday... well, kind of... :)

You have a great sense of humor Chad!How about the Clapper for snow,clap on,clap off,no snow,lol.Wish it was that simple,huh? I bought some plastic yellow flowers yesterday,just to get in the Spring mode.The bright colors are a nice reminder that spring is on the way.Laura M.

In my job Laura, I have to have a sense of humor! LOL
I have a feeling a lot of people would love to have a device where you clap your hands and it starts/stops snowing!

Please, don't forecast anymore snow!!!!/
LOL!!!!!!!--- Unless you are coming over to my house to shovel ; )

Okay, where do you live. I'll send Mike Breunling, Katie O'Brien, or Jeremy Tabin over with the station's snowblower. Just Kidding! At least it will be rather quiet over the next few days for snowfall.

Good Luck to Eric! His sweater,tho,I think I took that trip in the '70's.LOL,kidding Laura M.

LOL. Maybe he got it from the set of That 70's Show?

can you make the snow stop? Please?

No, but I can tell you we should be relatively snow-free until Monday. Only one little, itty bitty system late Thursday night and into early Friday.

hey there buddy what happened to the 1-2" of snow...theres more like 4-5" out there! i think it can all go away now...im ready for the summer time! youre still my hero although you lied about the weather lolz
~kasi

If you're referring to Monday's forecast, it called for 1" to 3" of snow. We were closer to the higher end in Wausau, picking up 2.9". If you received more than 3", consider yourself "lucky".

I've fallen in a snow drift and can't get up.Help! LOL,Laura M.

Nice spin on that commercial. How about Snow On, apply directly to the snowbank? Okay, my attempt at humor was horrendous.

What is the total amount of snow that has fallen so far this winter?

51.4" so far. The average season of snowfall in Wausau is 58.6".

That's mean! i think he looks cute!

LOL. If you know Eric, I am sure he is NOT offended by my random musings about his sweater.

IMPENDING STORM #2 ... Blogdate 0214.08

First of, Happy Valentine's Day!

Next, here's an update on where we stand with our storm as of 7 am this morning.
Friendship: 2.7"
Neillsville: 4.0"
Owen: 4.0"
Antigo: 3.0"
Wild Rose: 2.8"
Wausau: 3.7"
Rhinelander: 3.2"

I still don't have the totals from all the cities listed below, but by using the ones above that are relatively close in proximity... you get the general overall totals of 3" to 5" for most areas.

Here's the forecast from yesterday:
Wausau- 6"
Phillips- 6"
Rhinelander- 6"
Antigo- 6.5"
Merrill- 6.5"
Stevens Point- 6"
Wisconsin Rapids- 5.5"

Current situation... while 80% of the area is currently snow-free, there will be another shot at some fairly light snow showers throughout the day. The other 20% of the area (Juneau, Adams, Waupaca, Waushara, southern Wood and southern Portage Counties) is where we'll see an additional 2" to 5" throughout the day.

The heavy snow band that happened from last night, ended up being 50 miles farther south. In addition to that, the available moisture was limited and the strength of the storm system was overestimated.

Wausau is now more in line for about 4.5" or so, with only 4.0" in Rhinelander and Stevens Point and Wisconsin Rapids look both end up around 5" or 6".

IMPENDING STORM ... Blogdate 0213.08

This next storm system for Wednesday night and Thursday still looks "interesting" at this time, with heavy snow likely for most areas through Thursday afternoon.

A lot of times when Wisconsin gets these real "humdingers" of a snow storm, there is usually a lot of moisture streaming northward from the Gulf of Mexico. Well, the unusual aspect of this storm is, the Gulf of Mexico is pretty much shut down with a high pressure system located over Texas. So, what does that mean? It means we're going to have a very strong storm system with really good forcing rates to get a heavy snowfall... and that's exactly what it looks like will happen.

As of the afternoon model run, which now looks slightly heavier in central Wisconsin:
My expectations:
Wausau- 6"
Phillips- 6"
Rhinelander- 6"
Antigo- 6.5"
Merrill- 6.5"
Stevens Point- 6"
Wisconsin Rapids- 5.5"

It still looks like a few "lucky" locations will end up with 8 or 9 inches of snow... especially in Taylor, Clark and western Marathon Counties.
Regardless of how much falls.. please be CAREFUL on the roads tomorrow. At this time, I would anticipate a few schools closing tomorrow morning or maybe with early dismissals... depending on how it goes tonight with the snow.

Happpy Vanentine's Day! Hope your enjoying the day. What's this you don't like chocolate? Love the dancing you and Bao did on Daybreak this morning and the singing card for Alison. It makes my day to see you all having fun while doing your job.

Happy Valentine's Day to you. It's not a secret, I've never been a big chocolate fan.
In alll honesty, I enjoy my job quite a bit... sometimes probably too much. Hope you have a great day!

Just wondering if there is a romance brewing with miss Srtuve? She seemed very touched by your singing Valentine. I think you two would make a great couple. You seem to have so much fun together.
Sherry

Hi Sherry,
No no no.. we're just good friends. The singing Valentine was to "get her back" for putting my birthday on air last week at this time. The noon show is a totally different critter from the other shows.. it's just one weather person and one news anchor... which makes it easy for the 2 people to become good friends. That is all we are and we have a ton of fun on the noon show.

Hi Chad,
Just wanted to say your weather pridicting has been pretty much right on this winter. Yesterday you, made the comment to the snowplowers that they would have to be ready for poor road conditions. Why is it that you hardly see a snowplow in Wausau till after 9am.
I guess I was wondering if anyone else has noticed the poor snow plowing or lack of snow plowing in Wausau. When going south on Grand Ave, you sure can tell when you are in Schofield the roads are clear.
Like I said earlier, the weather predicting has been great, keep up the good work.

Scott

Hi Scott,
Every city and county has different ways of attacking a snow storm. Some cities contract with professional weather forecasting companies to know exactly when the snow will start and when it will end.
Isn't that interesting/funny when you can drive between communities and notice a huge change in the roads?

and PLEASE people...turn on your headlights if you want to be seen instead of hit!

Also, please make sure all of your lights work before driving on the snowing highway..

Great Advice!

Your pretty hot! Thanks for the predictions on the weather!!

You're pretty hot too.. thanks for watching!

Chad
Just wondering why your forecast for Adams and Juneau Counties says 2-3 inches of snow for this storm and noaa and Channel 3000 is saying 4-8 in.
Why such a difference? Stephanie

Hi Stephanie,
I'm guessing that the other media outlets (NOAA and 3000) are referring to storm totals that are expected from start to finish. During the morning, I had those areas expecting another 3 to 5 inches of snow, and during the noon show, an additional 2" to 3" on top of what has already fallen. The very southern part of Juneau and Adams counties will have totals up to 10" by the time it winds down.

So, bottom line.. they were referring to totals.. I was talking about additional snowfall on top of what was already on the ground. Hope that clarifies a little bit?

I'm missing football,but spring training is almost here.Where will we put all the new snow? Happy Valentine's
Day a little early.You rock!!!! Laura M.

You Rock Too Laura!
The Pitchers and Catchers for the Brewers report Saturday... Spring Training is almost here. On a side note, my Rockies report the same day... :) Go Brew Crew and Go Rox.

Maybe we can send this snow to Arizona so the Brewers can feel like they're back at home? LOL

NFL PRO BOWL ... Blogdate 0211.08

After watching the NFL Pro Bowl this past weekend, I was left wondering if Roger Goodell's new proposals may have some merit in the future. The NFL Commish has proposed two different things recently at an Owner's Meeting concerning the Pro-Bowl.
1) The owners discussed moving the Pro Bowl to another site after this season's game is played in Hawaii.
2) They're also considering the possibility of playing the Pro Bowl the weekend before the Super Bowl at the Super Bowl site.

While I think moving it to the weekend before the Super Bowl would be great (that week off from the NFL is BORING), I'm not sure about moving it from Hawaii. It's always great this time of year, to see the sunny weather and 80 degrees as we are usually in the middle of the coldest stretch of weather here in Wisconsin.

What do you think?

HAPPY BELATED B-DAY CHAD!

Thank you!

Do you think as many of the pro bowlers would participate? The players involved in the Super Bowl the following weekend would be afraid of injury, I would think.
It IS nice to see them playing in beautiful Hawaii!
B - Wausau

That was addressed as well... with the reasoning that a lot of Super Bowl players don't end up playing in the Pro-Bowl game, unless they are in contract years. Tom Brady dropped out this year as did Randy Moss. Since the Pro-Bowl voting is completed well before the playoffs, the NFL would give that player that couldn't play, the check as if they did play in the game. For instance, Tom Brady still got his $20,000 bonus this year, although he did not play.
It's an interesting proposal.. that's for sure.

First of all...late Happy Weather Forecasters' Day. And now...late Happy B'day! I've never tuned into noon news. But my 89 year old father still does in Wisconsin Rapids. And I got hooked on you and your coworkers. It is a very informative, yet entertaining, coverage and I enjoy it every day. Thank you. Stay warm and know that the public appreciates you.
B.

Thanks for the well wishes!
We all try to do our best... even when we're not feeling the best!
Thank you again!

NATIONAL WEATHER PERSON'S DAY ... Blogdate 0205.08

The big day is here... National Weather Person's Day... so here's a bit about the very special day:

Yes we get our own day every February 5th. National Weather Person’s Day honors weathermen, and woman who work hard to predict the often fickle weather. Despite major technological advances and supercomputers, forecasting the weather is still a tricky, and ever changing business.
According to the Air Force News, Weatherperson’s Day “commemorates the birth of John Jeffries, one of America’s first weathermen”. Jeffries was born on Feb 5, 1744. He kept weather records from 1774 to 1816.

Have a great National Weather Person's Day!

Hi Chad
another b-day..
probobly old enuf to drink now.
see you at the last shot in arpin for
beer/pool
cliff/arpin

Thanks Cliff. I'm just barely of age now to go to the adult establishments. LOL Have a good week!

SALADS AND WHERE ARE ALL OUR NEW SHOWS FOR FEBRUARY RATINGS? ... Blogdate 0131.08

Alison and I, during the noon show Tuesday, were discussing various things to put on our generic salads to make them really yummy! This week, I added almonds to my daily salads and found them to add so much more flavor to my salads. Alison brought up putting peas on a salad, and I think that they are very under-rated in the salad community! My question to you at home, anything weird, normal, exotic that you put on your salads to get them to be something other than Romaine lettuce and that's it?

Today, the television broadcast industry started our ratings period for the month. To find out more about the television ratings (sweeps) period, hit ctrl-f on your web browser and search for 1102.07 . That was the last in depth blog entry concerning ratings.
Here's where it gets a bit interesting... you may have read on my blog, or have heard us talking about it during various NewsChannel 7 shows, that the Writer's Guild of America (WGA), is still on strike. In the last week, a few movie studios have signed interim contracts with the WGA, but the television networks do not have contracts at this time. As I have also mentioned in the past, with the strike continuing, new tv programming in the sweeps/ratings periods, is going to be sporadic. Instead of all new shows for the 4 weeks of sweeps, including some of the most popular shows (CSI:Miami, NCIS, Cold Case, Shark, Numbe3rs)... mid season replacements, newly released shows (finished pre-strike), and reality shows will fill the primetime tv landscape. (Since reality shows do not need writers, hence the word reality, you'll get a lot of reality shows until this strike ends and new scripts return).

Here are some of the predicted changes that are coming in February....
CSI:Miami, NCIS, Criminal Minds, Cold Case, Shark and Numbe3rs all have only ONE new show left to air.

In addition, The New Adventures of Old Christine (starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Wanda Sykes) will start Monday Feb. 4th. Jerico (a fan favorite {Read my previous 1102.07 blog to find out how it was rescued from cancellation} returns. Other shows in February, Survivor: Micronesia-Fans vs. Favorites, Raquel Welch's Welcome to the Captain, the 50th Annual Grammy Awards (Feb 10th) and primetime The Price is Right will return as well. CBS has also ordered 3 new reality series for immediate production and is bringing a show from a Cable Movie Channel (Dexter from ShowTime) into its programming lineup.
Until the WGA Strike is over, expect your favorite shows to remain on hiatus until the writer's strike is over and Hollywood can start cranking out some new shows. The next ratings/sweeps period where most shows would be new, is the month of May... programming could even get more interesting for May if the strike doesn't end soon!

ONE LAST IMPORTANT THING:
Tuesday, February 5th, is National Weatherperson's Day! Don't forget to wish your local weatherpeople a happy holiday!

Hi Chad,
I watch every morning. You do a great job. I have a question about the snowmobile trail thing. If 2/3 of the deaths are related to drinking, and well over 2/3 of the people out there are drinking than statically wouldn't that mean that you are more likely to die if you don't drink? Very few people die by getting hit by a drunk on a snowmobile like is the case with cars. With snowmobiles people hit trees and rocks and fall off going too fast. That being the case, if you're relaxed your chances of surviving are much better. If 2/3 of the people who don't die on snowmobiles have also been drinking than clearly that number means absolutely nothing. Why is it that when one person uses poor judgment people are ready to take away freedom from everyone else?

Interesting take on the snowmobile story/issue. If Wisconsin would make the penalty for riding while intoxicated like Minnesota and Michigan... some people may think twice. However, that is NOT a solution to the problem... people choosing to drink too much is. Thanks for your input.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHAD your work should be done for the day and now it's time to go and celebrate. Enjoy yourself. Today should be a NATIONAL PAID HOLIDAY for you and NO WORKING

I agree! I was trying to convince my bosses that I should have the day off, or the day after off.. but as mentioned in my previous blog, we're in our ratings period for television... usually getting time off is next to impossible.

Happy Birthday Chad,you have a wonderful day and keep smiling! Sincerely Bev

Thanks Bev... have a great weekend and stay warm!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHAD
HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR DAY!!
DEB IN DANCY

Thanks Deb! It's been good so far... Alison brought me balloons and a really funny card!

hey there lol heres a big shout to the ota s every one in norman ok got a laugh at that lets hope chad gets it right today

Those guys down in Norman, OK (at the Storm Prediction Center) should have a holiday everyday for the hard work they do.

HAPPY NATIONAL WEATHER DAY CHAD I LOOK FORWARD TO WATCHING YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY THE MORE STUFF YOU CAN PUT ON A SALAD THE BETTER FROM NUTS TO RASINS ENJOY YOUR DAY
DEB IN DANCY (TOWN OF BERGEN)

Thank you very much Deb.. great tips!

Chad Happy National Weatherman's Day to our favorite forecaster. I would have Allison take you out to eat for your special day. Enjoy your day and keep on smiling it makes our day to.

I actually think Alison owes me our next lunch.. I'll let her know. LOL

Chad,
Happy weather person's day to my favorite weather person!! I was getting ready for work @ 1pm Monday afternoon watching the snow fall and wondering how the roads would be when it started to thunder and lightning. (In the Dubay area) wow crazy weather! By the way I love pumpkin seeds on my salads it adds a little crunch to them... enjoy your salads and your day!
Kelli

Yay.. I'm your favorite.. thank you! :) I am glad you got to experience the rarity of thunder and snow! It makes weather a bit more interesting, doesn't it?
Pumpkin seeds.. Hmmm, that is very intriguing!

HI CHAD,
JUST WANT TO WISH YOU AND THE REST OF THE GROUP A HAPPY NATIONAL WEATHERDAY HOLIDAY.I REALLY ENJOY WATCHING YOU ALL.:0)

Thank you.. have a great week!

Chad,
Good call on the almonds, I love them on salads! My favorite salad is cold grilled chicken, strawberries and/or mandarin oranges, almonds, and red onion on a bed of romaine lettuce and some kind of sweet, tangy vinaigrette dressing like raspberry. Or, oriental ginger/sesame dressing works too. If you're in a hurry, Wendy's and McDonalds have oriental versions of this salad that are pretty good.
Enjoy! -Stacy

I forgot how much I like vinaigrette dressing.. good stuff! Thanks for the advice... we all get in a hurry at some time and need that healthy alternative don't we! Thanks for the advice!

no storm updates Chad? lol

I would have been doing them daily, but I actually was off this weekend and spent most of the time sleeping. I apologize for the weekend updates.. but that's why Jeremy and Katie do such a good job and I don't have to worry about it.

I saw a bunch of robins in my back yard yesterday and thought Spring was here. Isn't it to early for them to return to WI?? Has anyone else seen any?

I've heard of some robins being back in the area... had a viewer send a picture in to the newsroom last week with robins on it. There always seems to be a few renegade robins around the area that don't disappear for the winter.

Happy WeatherPerson's Day to all at Channel 7.You all Rock.Thanks for all your hard work throughout the year!!!! A Loyal Viewer.

Thanks a Loyal Viewer! I'll post the reason for National Weather Person's Day tomorrow.

Happy National Weather Persons' Day!
I and my husband saw you out on Friday Night at Mularkeys and we were shocked to not see you working. We're also shocked to no longer see the beard ... don't tell my hubby, but I thought it made you look very cute!
Are you going to grow it again or anytime soon?

Thanks for the well wishes.
Amy Pflugshaupt and I stopped by Mularkey's Friday night to check out the band... they did a great job.
I dunno if I'll grow it back again... people seem to be split 50/50 on if they hated it or liked it.

I enjoy lima beans in my salad,or any crunchy green vegie.The crunch seems to make ya feel like your eating more. Good decision on the beard.

Never thought of Lima beans before on a salad.. sounds like something new to try. I'm surprised I haven't heard anyone mention sprouts yet!

Eating a handful of almonds before or during a meal makes you feel full faster and lose weight.

Almonds are good.. I will take that into consideration on my evergoing quest to lose weight!

What happen to the beard? I was just getting used to it. But I must say you look much better with out it! =:)

I thought I had better "clean up" my act before our ratings period.

Why are you the only one that update's there blog all the time? I do like that you write about other things then just weather and I like even more that you dont' have you're beard anymore! You are much cuter without it!
Keep up the great work, I wish you would do more nite shows becuse I cant' get up early all the time to watch you.

I love blogging and as much as I can. I just randomly blog about things sometimes.
As far as cuter or the later shows... that is not likely to happen!

So glad the beard is off, We like your fresh shaven face much better.

Thanks.. about 80% of the audience is happier that my beard is gone...

SATELLITES ARE COOL ... Blogdate 0125.08

Hi-Res satellites are leaps and bounds above the first satellites from the very first weather satellites of 1960, TIROS 1 was the first weather satellite to become operational. TIROS 1, had the first image beamed back from outerspace using 2 different television cameras on April 1, 1960. I have purposely left the images between the two, stacked on top of each other, to not compromise how great the resolution of today's satellites really are. Notice what 47 years of technology has done for satellites! In addition, the satellites of today no longer use cameras, they use Imagers and Sounders. Imagers, are instruments that measure and detect energy (radiant and reflected) from the Earth's surface and atmosphere. A Sounder, is a device that detects the vertical aspect of the atmosphere, including temperatures of the surface and cloud tops, and different distributions in the ozone.

Here is the view from TIROS 1 on April 1, 1960. BTW- TIROS stands for Television Infrared (abbreviated IR) Observational Satellite.

and now here is the view from GOES 12 with a 1 km view of Wisconsin. GOES stands for Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite.

As a weather nerd (meteorologist!), I find it absolutely amazing how far technology has come just in the weather world! The high resolution satellite still shows the path from the June tornadoes from the lack of vegetation that area had the rest of the summer. In addition, you can see that the Bay of Green Bay is frozen over and is rather solid. Don't even get me started on how far along computer modeling has come along just in the past 30 years!

Update on long range weather- It still looks like the Arctic Air will be bottled up in Canada over the next few weeks, with the bitter cold just on the other side of the border in extreme southern Canada. Because it is so close to Wisconsin, I would expect that there will be wild swings in the extended temperature forecast during the next few weeks. At this time, it still looks a bit cool for the last few days of January, but not nearly as cold as what we've had the past few weeks.

why did you grow a beard
Tory from Antigo,WI

Originally I came back from vacation with it and was going to keep it as the Packers moved through the playoffs into the Super Bowl. Well, unfortunately, they didn't make it... and neither will my beard past Wednesday Night. I am shaving it for personal reasons... I think that's the best way to put it. :)

NO SUPER BOWL FOR THE PACKERS :( ... Blogdate 0121.08

My fellow colleagues are still in shock after the loss from Sunday, so I will write a few words on this last game of the season for the Packers. First, what an emotional rollercoaster ride this game was... the lead changes, missed field goals and even winning the toss to get the ball first in overtime... it left me tired at the end of the game. (of course, my bed time is usually a few hours before 10pm, since I get up at 2am). In addition, I played football for 14 years and coached for a year after my eligibility ended in college... and this game left me buzzin' mad from a former football player's standpoint.
They always say hindsight is 20/20... and during/after the game I was left with 4 things that really bothered me.
1) The Packers reverted to earlier this year with their running game.. i.e. they didn't have one. Grant had 13 carries for 29 yards and only 6 of those carries were in the second half. The offensive line was facing a very strong defensive front from the Giants, but they needed to find a way to make the ground game work. The offensive line delivers the punch during running plays... the defensive line delivers the punch on passing plays because the offensive lineman will give up some ground and takes the blow from the defenders. I loved running plays in college, better to hit than be hit, especially with the trapping offense I played in.... while on passing plays, you're continually getting lit up by defensive linemen.
2) Al Harris' interview right before kickoff when he stated "I'm going to do what Al Harris always does" was probably NOT a good sign. (I've never been a fan of an athlete that refers to themselves in the 3rd person!) I know he's in the Pro-Bowl, but I still believe Woodson is the better CB, and Plaxico Burress made Harris look silly on plays. (not that Woodson getting run over at the beginning of the game was a good play for him either, but he made the tackle) Mind you, Plax still has a really bad ankle and still had over 150 yards receiving.
3) I'm not sure why there were so many screen passes called, but very few of them netted positive yardage. They tried screens to the RB's and WR's and still didn't get much out of it. Then a dangerous shovel pass play was called with lots of defensive traffic in the area towards the end of the game. I just didn't understand the play calling at the end.
4) If it's 3rd and 10, you don't run a quick 3 yard route and through the ball to the receiver... chances are he's never gonna make the 1st down. If it's a check down, then you are going to have to take those 3 yard passes. However, some of those short passes didn't seem to be check downs, but rather, quick throws to see if the receiver could get some yards after the catch (YAC). When I was coaching, if we needed 9 yards, we called 10 yard routes... get that 9 and 1 more just to be sure.

Again, hindsight is 20/20 and this is all after the fact. Hey, at least they made it... my Steelers got beat by Jacksonville in the first round this year.
Now, hopefully Favre comes back next year and 2 of the most storied franchises in the NFL (Packers/Steelers) can hopefully meet in Super Bowl XLIII in February 2009.

Plaxico Burress... sounds like a disease or something.

He was (a disease) against Packer's Defense last Sunday. Mr. Bill Martens and I (die-hard Steelers fans) debated whether Plaxico would have been as good as he is now, should he had re-signed with the Steelers a few years back. I said no, he says yes.. he wins this debate.
Bill, can I borrow the Steelers road to the Super Bowl DVD again... I tear up everytime I watch that on their way to Super XL a few years ago.

MISCELLANEOUS RAMBLINGS ... Blogdate 0116.08

For those of you loyal readers of my blog (my parents! LOL) I apologize for not updating my blog during my vacation. The week off that I had, was the longest vacation I have had since I was at Graduate School.. and honestly, it felt really good to be away from work for a week. I've also paid the price for being off that long too.. I've been a bit rusty over the past week, so I apologize for that!

First rambling today, is about an airline that I will not name .... but I will give you the situation. I had problems with numerous delays on my way out of the Central Wisconsin Airport when I left and then had a huge delay on my way back to Wisconsin. I made it back to one of the airport hubs (again, not naming the city, because then it would be easy to pick out the airline), and arrived around 1pm. During my flight into that hub, this airline canceled all flights to CWA for the rest of the day, which was my flight that afternoon and then a flight that was scheduled for the evening was canceled as well. The reason given- the weather. I've had that happen before on airlines, and I usually call my colleagues to find out if weather is really a factor, so I did just that. There was some fog around CWA, but visibilites were over 4 miles and I found that to be odd that the airlines were canceling flights with a 4 mile visibility. I know that airlines have lots of input from other sources before flights are canceled, so I checked with another airline (that I wasn't flying) and they were still flying in to CWA. So, knowing that, I went up to the customer service counter and asked again why are flights were canceled and again I was told "weather". I was then handed a sheet and a voucher for a "discounted" hotel room. The one sheet explained how weather related cancelations are not their fault and that out of the "goodness of their heart", they were handing out discounted hotel room vouchers even though they did not have to.

Here's my beef.... once I read the sheet that stated they weren't responsible because of weather, I knew I was going to have to get a hotel room and have to pay for it myself. Yet, a different airline flying into CWA had all their flights that day and no one was inconvenienced with a flight cancelation and having to stay overnight. Once it becomes "weather" as an excuse, you're expected to pay for your hotel room for the night. Here's the other fun thing, I, along with 40+ others on that canceled flight, were NOT allowed access to our bags... the airline refused to let us have access to them overnight. I've always been told to take a change of clothes with me in my carry-on, but never have had to.. until this time. As you can tell, I was very frustrated and sent a rather nice letter to the airline last week, with my issues and have yet to hear back from them. I doubt I will.

Rambling number 2, this next storm system coming in tonight has a little more moisture to work with, so now instead of a few inches of snow tomorrow... we may end up with more of the 3 to 6 inch snowfall. Here's a look at what I'm expecting across the area:
Wausau - 4
Phillips - 2.5
Stevens Point - 5.5
Wisconsin Rapids - 4.5
Antigo - 5.5
Rhinelander - 3.5
Shawano - 6

as you can see, the heaviest amounts will fall from Juneau county northeastward into Langlade County. Parts of Shawano and Waupaca counties could see over 6 inches... so we'll be watching this storm carefully throughout the day and will have updates under the weather section on our webchannel.

Rambling number 3, I had the pleasure of attending Saturday's Packer game in Green Bay during all the snow. I was as amazed with the Packers win as I was with the snow. I kept cheering for more snow too... you should have seen the looks I was getting from the fans around me! LOL

Rambling number 4, I spent Friday night in a hotel (again un-named) in Green Bay so I could go to the Pep Rally at Lambeau that night and not have to drive back for the game on Saturday. It was one of those rooms where there was a bottle of wine in there and if you chose to drink it, they would automatically bill your room for you. There was also a few bottles of water and a corkscrew in the room that you could take/use and they would charge you for that too. I did NOT drink the wine and hardly spent any time in the room because of all the festivities for the short time I was there. Well, I got a bill in the mail yesterday charging me the 11.95 for the bottle of wine that I never drank and had left in that room. The hotel manager has not returned my calls at this time and I will be calling my credit card company to dispute the charge if I do not hear back from them this week. Even more upsetting, is the fact the maid was there to clean my room right as I was leaving it, so you would think there should be no question on it.
Here's what I take from this situation, when you stay at a hotel that has those things in the room for you, take a picture of the room as you leave it. I hate to say that, but I may be learning it the "hard" way... costing me $11.95 in the process.
**UPDATE: the hotel called. Turns out my room was supposed to have 2 bottles and not just the one I saw. Problem solved!

Rambling number 5, Chastity says "hi" to everyone here in Wisconsin!

Hope you all are having a great January so far... with Thursday's snowfall, hopefully the snowmobile trails can get re-opened soon!

Hi Chad. I know you and Chastity are good friends. Where did she go? If it was announced I missed it and apologize.

Thanks,
BJA in Marshfield

Hi BJA,
She's in North Dakota now.. enjoying it, just heard from her Monday.

Hey Chad,
I have been watching you every morning just about since I mover here Jan of 07.
Every year my buddies and I celebrate Abe Lincoln's birthday by going ice fishing and drinking the weekend right around it. We have been doing this for quite a few years now. Any ways exactly one month before his birthday we all have to start growing an Abe Lincoln beard. We all look pretty goofy when we go out to the bars at night together on that weekend but it is a lot of fun. I was wondering if you had the same tradition or it was just a heck of a coincidence.

One heck of a coincidence. Abe Lincoln was over 6 foot tall, I'm not. LOL

duh...there are only 2 airlines out of CWA...50/50 on guessing the right one...were you flying out of the twin cities??

There are actually 3 airlines out of CWA that offer passenger service. Again, they will go nameless at this time while I wait for their response to my inquiry.

Hi Chad,
I hope you bought "Travel Insurance" when you went on your vacation? If you did, you can file a claim for your expenses (depending on the policy purchased).

Luree

As soon as I got my email from birthday boy Bill Martens, saying I had some blog responses to get to, I read yours first and just shook my head. I remember seeing it and thought I checked it when I made my purchase, but to no avail. I've traveled quite a bit over the years, relatively mistake free, but after this one time, I won't let that happen again. Travel insurace it is! Thanks for the tip!
Chastity is in cold North Dakota.. wait until you see how cold it's been out there, it's on its way here!
Glad to be back.. thanks for watching!

Hi Chad, I'm glad to hear that you had a good vacation and that you got to spend more time with your parents. But, you had me worried. I thought you were out looking for a new job. I really missed you the first time you left and didn't want to go through that again. Keep up the good work and I'm happy that you're back!

I wouldn't look for a new job in Seattle because my parents plan on retiring within a year or two and then are planning on going somewhere with a little more sun.
It was funny that you mention the first time I left.. I met someone in a local store the other day that was confused by which station I work for. LOL
It's good to be home again!

Hey Chad, such is life...get over it

and you have a nice day! :)

I blogged on such things so that people can learn from my mistakes and not have it cost them unnecessary amounts of money. The above blogger hit the nail on the head... buy travel insurance to at least get your money back should such unfortunate things happen. Being stranded at an airport for an adult isn't all that big of a deal. I saw a young girl, no more than 16 or 17, that was told the same thing as me. She was traveling alone. How many teenagers have credit cards to purchase a hotel room for the night?

Hi Chad, glad you had a nice vacation, despite your travel problems. And it's o.k. that you neglected your blog for a bit, we all need a break from work every now and then. I have a weather question for you: It seems like this year it has been snowing a lot in the south/east portion of the state and not much in the north portion. Is it just me, or is that the opposite of a normal weather pattern? I only ask because I love snow sports and am always wishing for a little more snow in Wausau during every storm event.

Stacy - Weston

The storm tracks for the 3 snowstorms we've had this season have all had a favorable track for the heavier snow in southeastern Wisconsin.
The far north has had some lake effect snow, but it's been kind of missing parts of our area right here in central Wisconsin. At this time, it just seems to be a luck of the draw as to where these systems are going to dump some heavy snow.

See someone reads your blog besides your parents...someone who hasn't been met for coffee in quite a while..;)lol..Anyway, as a frequent traveler for work I have ran into that problem and you can ask them to clean out the room for you if you don't wanna risk being charged...just a tip...Have a great day...

Another great tip.. especially since I was at the door opening it, when the maid was there to clean it.
When are we going to coffee?

BYE BYE ... Blogdate 1231.07

Well, it's here, the end of the year... so now what? Well, we say goodbye to 2007 on a cool note and greet 2008 the same way.

It's also that time of year where we make our New Years Resolutions and see how long we can keep them going. Mine from last year is again mine for this year... get in shape. I'll see y'all at the local gym.

On a sad note, today is also Chastity's last day working at WSAW. She is moving on to a different station and you can read more about her leaving on her blog too. I had the absolute "pleasure" of helping her pack her stuff in her moving truck this weekend and am sad to see her go. I'm gonna miss this girl... it's always tough to see a "family member" move away and in her case, it's no exception. Congrats Chas... I'll miss ya stealing coins from my change cup all the time -and then leaving me notes on how much you took. LOL

Thats sad Chasitys leaving. She was a good news reporter, and she had is so easy.
Scott Z.

I miss the girl already... altho, I don't miss packing all of her stuff (shoes!) into a rental truck in the middle of the cold and snow!

First Mrs. Walberg and now you are gone too! Why did you all leave channel7?

I'm not gone... I'm here. I was just lucky enough to have my first vacation (over 5 days off) in the past 10 years of broadcasting. I normally take a few days off after the 1st of the year to go visit my parents and spend time with them in the Pacific Northwest. By the way, I wore my Steelers jersey Saturday (before they lost... grrr) and the Seahawks fans in Washington are still bitter about Super Bowl XL. I was catching flak from a bunch of people out there. Then, when I flew back home, I wore my Packers t-shirt in the Seattle airport, and again Seahawks fans were upset and jawing at me.

I am in awe that Wood County was not added to the weather advisories. It started snowing here in Wisconsin Rapids at 9:30 this morning, and hasn't stopped!! We already have at least 4 inches on the ground. 1 to 3 inches my eye!!!

The National Weather Service originally issued Winter Storm Watches for Wood and Portage counties, then dropped them for a 24 hour period. When they issued the Snow Advisories, they left Wood County out. You can contact the National Weather Service in Green Bay if you have any further concerns or issues.

EL FINE' ... Blogdate 1223.07

As this storm system starts to wind down a bit this afternoon, I would like to take the time to thank everyone for their emails to me this past weekend. It helped me pass the ooodles amount of time this weekend while stuck indoors at work. LOL

Please be careful travelling the next day or so as the road crews get caught up from this weekend's storm!

"Stay safe" as a former colleague of mine used to always say.

Its about time We got some snow. Hopefully it sticks around for spring, so the ground can soak it up.

I agree.. more snow coming up today!

LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW ... Blogdate 1223.07

The snow really continues to fly out there for today, with the heaviest of snowfall now slowly pushing out of the area. Storm totals are all going to end up with 6" to 10". I still think we're going to get some reports of 12" to 14" of snow in some isolated areas up north. Obviously it's going to take a while for the road crews to get things treated and cleaned up for today, so be very careful if you must venture out this morning. Road crews (and all plow drivers for that matter) will be putting their hours in today, plowing, salting, then plowing again until this evening. Give them all a break and give them some extra distance (and have some patience!) while they move through the area getting things cleaned up.

Most of the snow accumulation should be done later this afternoon/early evening across most of the area. Blowing and drifting of snow will be likely all the way into Monday morning with visibilities greatly reduced until then. If you must travel today (must, being the operative word), you're probably better off waiting until the noon time to give the crews a chance to get the roads cleared and that's also when the snow should start to wind down across the area.

Once I start getting some snow totals from around the area, I'll post them up here to let y'all know.
Please be very careful if you must travel today!

Questions? email them to cfranzen@wsaw.com and I'll be answering them through the weekend. All blog questions will not get answered and posted until Monday, so please email questions about my blog to my email address.

MID-AFTERNOON UPDATE ... Blogdate 1222.07

I'm starting to get edgy/concerned with my forecast for tonight into tomorrow afternoon. The polar air has already moved into northwestern Wisconsin, and the heavy moisture has not even moved into Wisconsin at this time. Several blogs ago (from Thursday) I mentioned that temps would make or break my forecasted snow totals... well, right now it's looking like this will be an all snow event with very little rain mixed in tonight. I'm starting to think that everyone will end up with at least 6 inches with totals up to 12 inches by tomorrow afternoon. Bottom line, traveling tonight through tomorrow afternoon will not be recommended.
If you're around tonight through tomorrow morning, Jeremy and I invite you to watch our 24/7 channel for live and local cutins throughout the duration of the storm.

FROM "HO HUM" TO OH OHHHH Part Tres ... Blogdate 1222.07

Here's the update for Saturday morning on the upcoming winter storm expected later tonight and especially into the first part of Sunday morning. OFLG... or in other words, Ongoing Forecast Looks Good from yesterday with some slight modifications. I thought that most of this storm would be out of here by the mid to late morning hours for Sunday, but that has since changed. This storm system will slow down a bit as it rolls over Wisconsin, so now we'll have another 3 to 6 hours of snowfall across the area, so I am adding another two inches or so, to my previous predictions from before due to the length of time that the snow will fall into tomorrow afternoon. The revised numbers are as follows:

Rhinelander- 9.5"
Phillips- 8.5"
Merrill- 7.5"
Antigo- 7.5"
Wausau- 6"
Stevens Point- 5.5"
Wisconsin Rapids- 5.5"

You'll notice that the heaviest snow is still expected to fall in the northern and western parts of Wisconsin, with lesser amounts the farther south you go in Wisconsin. In addition, a bulk of the snow that is expected to fall will fall between 12am and 9am tomorrow (Sunday) morning. Traveling to your local services tomorrow morning will be a very slow go, so if you are venturing out to your Sunday Morning Services or to do some shopping, expect sloppy road conditions for the morning. While the weather conditions will slightly improve tomorrow afternoon as the snow winds down, expect very gusty winds to cause quite a bit of blowing and drifting all the way through tomorrow (Sunday) night.

Have a happy and safe "holiday" weekend. By the way, Winter officially started at 12:08am early this morning (Saturday).

Questions? email them to cfranzen@wsaw.com and I'll be answering them through the weekend. All blog questions will not get answered and posted until Monday, so please email questions about my blog to my email address.

FROM "HO HUM" TO OH OHHHH Part Deux ... Blogdate 1221.07

As mentioned the past few days, I'm continuing to finalize the details on the upcoming winter "mess" for this weekend. It's not how much snow we're going to get that concerns me, it's the fact that we're going to have a lot of people traveling this weekend! In addition, we're still going to have some dense fog through tomorrow morning which will continue to hamper traveling for tonight and early Saturday.

For most locations, expect a rain and sleet and snow mix from tomorrow morning through the early afternoon. Areas off to the far north and west (Taylor, Vilas, Oneida, Price and Clark counties) will see the snow start to accumulate from the early afternoon all the way through tomorrow night. I'm still leaning on a rain and snow mix with minor slushy accumulations through the mid afternoon for Wausau and then east and southward from central Marathon county. If this falls as all snow, then Wausau will end up with more than the total snow I'm predicting below... so without further adieu:

Rhinelander- 6"
Phillips- 7"
Merrill- 4.5"
Antigo- 4.5"
Wausau- 3.5"
Stevens Point- 3"
Wisconsin Rapids- 3"

Of course there are a huge number of variables that will make or break this forecast, so plan on another blog entry for tomorrow morning, tomorrow night and then again for Sunday morning.

If you are traveling over the next few days, please be very careful and remember to take a winter weather safety kit and put it in your vehicle. These kits should include: blankets, candles and matches, non-clumping kitty litter, a small shovel, booster cables, non perishable food items (such as energy bars), cell phone and charger and maps to know your location should you need to call 911.

Have a happy and safe "holiday" weekend. By the way, Winter officially starts at 12:08am early Saturday... how fitting Mother Nature gives us another winter snow storm on the first day of Winter.

Questions? email them to cfranzen@wsaw.com and I'll be answering them through the weekend. All blog questions will not get answered and posted until Monday, so please email questions about my blog to my email address.

hey Chad-
Thank you for the update on Sunday morning on you're weather chanel. It was very helpful to my family and me to know if we should drive on the roads that morning. Well, we chanced it going in to church and we drive by the you're news chanel 7 to get there. I saw some man out there shovelling your drive wearing a Steeler coat. You're the only Steeler fan I know so it must have been you? Is their any thing you dont' do there? Thank you again Chad -Have a Merry Christmas.
Jeff H.
Wausau

Hey Jeff,
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and your family and everyone reading this.
I was out there shoveling... the city plows came by 2 times before our local person got back to us, so there was a nasty 3 foot by 3 foot drift in front of our driveway. I am lucky enough to have a 4 wheel drive vehicle, however, most of my co-workers are not... so to make sure they could get into work, I shoveled that drift down. My back certainly got a workout that day!
I am a total weather nerd and I just love our 247 Weather Channel, including doing 15 minute local cut-ins during the snowstorm. Glad the information helped out!

FROM "HO HUM" TO OH OHHHH ... Blogdate 1220.07

Before you read this blog, read my last one about 24 hours ago first, then come back up to this one. I will wait, so go ahead and read (re-read) the blog entry below...
no, seriously, go read the last blog entry titled "MAJOR WINTER STORM - OR IS IT?
good, now having read that.. here we go again.

While I was emailing one of my favorite reporters at the Wausau Daily Herald early this morning about the upcoming weekend forecast, I was still thinking as I did yesterday.... a 1" to 3" snow with the 3" coming up in Rhinelander. (Don't worry Jocelyn, I won't tell anyone it was you! LOL)
Okay, here's the good news... as of this afternoon, most of the 6 models I look at every day are in pretty good consensus as to what will probably happen this weekend. It seems now, that this storm system will rapidly intensify as it rolls across Wisconsin with a strong low pressure area expected to move across the Upper Peninsula Saturday Night. A few days ago, the low pressure area did NOT look as intense, and it looked like a low pressure area in the central Plains would be much stronger and then "phase" with the other low pressure farther east. However, that doesn't seem like it will happen as previously thought.
So you're saying "okay Franzen, what's gonna happen?". (go ahead, say that outloud...) Well, here's what it looks like now: (Thursday forecast at 3pm)

Rhinelander- 5"
Phillips- 4"
Merrill- 3"
Antigo- 3"
Wausau- 2.5"
Stevens Point- 2"
Wisconsin Rapids- Around 1.5"

this will be a heavy wet snow for some areas too:

Few factors that also can influence amounts expected... will it all be snow? Surface temps may be near 35 and with warm air being pulled into the system, this may be a rain and snow mix for the daylight hours, with very little accumulation. There now seems to be plenty of moisture available for this storm, so heavy snow is a threat, especially far north. The bulk of any snow will come Saturday after 6pm with terrible road conditions expected overnight into Sunday morning. Irregardless of how much snow does or does NOT fall... Saturday travelling from 6pm to Sunday morning 6am does NOT look to be recommended at this time.

As I've been saying since last Friday... it's not the snow amounts that will be bad, it's the fact it's a very VERY busy travelling weekend for many, and I'm just trying to give the heads up for Saturday night.

I will blog again Friday and I will be up and around Saturday night and again Sunday morning for more updates. Stay tuned!

MAJOR WINTER STORM - OR IS IT? ... Blogdate 1219.07

Since this past Friday (Dec. 14th), I have been watching a major storm system that has looked like it was going to crush the Midwest with sloppy and nasty winter weather (for Sat. Dec 22nd), but as of today, things have changed just a little bit. Let me explain-

The past few computer model runs (Dec. 18th afternoon, Dec. 19th morning and Dec. 19th afternoon) have started to trend this storm system a bit farther south and with less energy and moisture this far north in Wisconsin. 2 of the 6 computer models I look at are now showing a very light snow event with windy and cool conditions for Sunday. (just for the hay of it, those models are: GFS, NAM, MRF, NOGAPS). The other 2 that are different still show a relatively moisture laden system and hit for parts of Wisconsin. (those are the: DGEX and ECMWF, aka. European Model).

With the GFS and NAM having a bias in the cool system with storms coming up from the southwest, I'm not discounting the fact we could have some heavy snow, but as of this writing (Wednesday at 11am), I am leaning towards a 1" to 3" snow for Saturday afternoon and evening with another 1" or so with all the wind and cold for Sunday.

So, with all that said, stay tuned!

Hey Franny, i plow snow for many busnesses around the merrill area. We have differnt places to plow depending on how much snow we get. 1 inch is about 3 hours plowing, 2 is about 6, and 3 and up is alomost 12. So When you throw out a forecast of 1 to 3 or so, it really makes it hard for a guy like me to know when to go to bed, so that I can be up and ready without falling asleep in my front endloader. I guess what im asking is can you be m