This is from . 460,413 customers without power in LA - another 118,026 in Texas. These numbers are climbing. Peak wind 132 mph at Lake Charles LA before the weather instruments failed to report. Peak winds now below 100 mph as the storm moves north.
Well, I've made another lap around the track. It was 45 years ago today that I made my first weathercast in Grand Rapids. Back then we had the state map and national map, covered with plexiglass. We entered a 2-day forecast in the vidifont. I made $175 a week - 6 day weeks.
Happy Mother's Day to my mother, Louise. She will be 100 years old on July 12. She sang for the USO during WWII. She's older than UCLA and the Green Bay Packers. When she was born, Woodrow Wilson was President and Babe Ruth still played for the Boston Red Sox.
Remembering my mother, Louise, on what would have been her 102nd birthday. She passed away in Dec. 2019 at the age of 100 1/2. In her 90s, she adopted this wonderful stray cat who got hit by a car and lost its tail. "Rosie" now lives with my youngest daughter in Traverse City.
This is me, my sister Ann and my brother Dave. We are together this weekend in Illinois to celebrate the life of my mother, who passed away in Dec. 2019 at the age of 100.
Wow! Look at the size of this ship that came down the Grand Haven (Michigan) Channel this afternoon! This is the Algoma Intrepid, one of the newest ships on the Great Lakes. At 650 feet long, it's more than twice the length of a football field!
#miwx
Gayle and I had Thanksgiving today (Fri.). I don't think I've ever posted pics. of food, but this was such an awesome meal, I just had to share. The plate the turkey is on belonged to Gayle's grandmother and is more than 120 years old. (can you find the cat in the 1st picture?)
#GreatLakes
#ice
has just surpassed the annual average high ice extent...now at 55.5% - average is 55.0%. This is the 3rd time in the last 5 winters that Great Lakes ice cover has exceeded the average.
#miwx
#ilwx
#wiwx
#ohwx
Now that I'm mostly retired, I'm trying some new experiences. Today, I'm attempting to cook a turkey. So far, so good - the Butterball and some potatoes are in the oven and I haven't burned myself (yet).
Sad news...my black and white
#cat
passed on Friday PM. He had intestinal
#cancer
and couldn't process food anymore. He was 14 years old. My two cats got famous during
#COVID
, with one video of them getting 1.3 million hits on YouTube. More here:
The New York Times used cell phone data to assess which area of the country stayed home last week. The Greater Lakes states crushed it!
#FlattenTheCuve
My mother (Louise Steffen) is turning 100 on July 12. She loves getting cards. So, my sister has set up a post office box. If you or your group would like to send a card to her, send it to: Ann Martin, P.O. Box 5293, Oak Ridge TN 37831. Thank you so much.
#birthday
Sipping my coffee by the pool...it's a beautiful sunrise over the Gulf of Mexico this AM at Pensacola Beach, Florida. Current temp. is 67 - heading into the 70s.
My daughter
#1
and I demonstrate the proper way to give a social-distancing hug. We even took into account the prevailing wind (left to right) to give maximum protection to the person in the older age demographic.
Just got home from my Alaska vacation. Lots to share with you this week. It was awesome! The weather Sunday was warmer in Alaska than in Grand Rapids. G.R. had a high temperature of 65° on Sunday, a record coolest high for the date (Aug. 6). In Alaska, Eagle reached 85°,
Honestly, I hadn't remembered this until I saw a facebook notification early this AM. My first TV weathercast in G.R. was Nov. 5, 1974. The pic. shows how we did weather in those days...large maps covered with plexiglass. We'd write with markers on the glass.
Moving my 99-year old mother into a retirement home, my sister found this letter - from my dad to mom. They were married on July 8, 1950 and had 54 years together before dad passed away in 2004 at the age of 90. Dad was in the Army Air Corps, then an engineer for Bell & Howell.
Today is the anniversary of the famous Blizzard of '78. Grand Rapids had its biggest single-day snowfall ever. Take a few minutes and read about this amazing storm on my blog:
#Blizzard
#uswx
#Michigan
#miwx
#inwx
#ohwx
Check out the snow in Marquette MI. They had 2" of snow today, a daily record 8.3" yesterday. They've had 21.6" this month and that's a new October monthly record. They have 10" of snow on the ground and they've now had 3 days without getting above freezing!
I finally got my hands on the official Bill Steffen council shoulder patch! I'm WOOD TV Chief Meteorologist Emeritus and also a BSA Eagle Scout and a National Outstanding Eagle Scout.
The patches are not for sale yet at the Scout store in Walker, but they will be soon.
I'm really bummed to hear of the passing of longtime WZZM news anchor Lee Van Ameyde. We worked together for 24 years. Here's a picture of the wrap up of the Jerry Lewis MDA telethon in 1980.
Remembering my mother, Louise on Mother's Day - born July 12, 1919, died Dec. 10, 2019. My daughter, Michelle took her cat (Rosie) when she passed away. When mom was born, Woodrow Wilson was President. She lived to see 18 Presidents.
Great Lakes ice cover is now up to 35.5%. This is the most ice on the Great Lakes since April 11, 2015 and the most on any Jan. 16 since 2009. Last year we had a 13.2% on Jan. 16 and in 2016 it was only 6.4%. Pic, today from the Muskegon MI Channel (from NOAA Coastwatch).
May 30-31 is the anniversary of the famous Derecho of 1998. This was one of the worst lines of thunderstorms in world history. Read more about it here:
#derecho
#uswx
#wiwx
#miwx
#sdwx
#severe
I was on vacation last week. Because of my age and a couple other factors, I'm a bit more at risk of a rougher ride from the coronavirus. So, I'm staying home for now. I did get out Sat. to get this pic. of a decent-sized snow pile still left at the World Mission on Four Mile.
Well, so far this morning, I've done a load of dishes, cleaned up (a lot) of cat puke and watched a pretty sunrise. Which one do you think I enjoyed the most?
Marquette, Michigan (airport) has just a trace of snow on the ground this AM....ending a string of 165 consecutive days (back to Nov. 10) with 3" or more of snow on the ground...that's 45.2% of the year. They have had 221.7" of snow this winter, 21.6" above average.
During the coldest day last week (high of +2 in G.R.), 49% of the electricity in Michigan came from coal, 30% from natural gas, 14% from nuclear, 4% from the +900 wind turbines in the grid and solar was negligible.
Often on Memorial Day, I show this picture. My dad is in the lower right. He saw that we were going to be at war with Hitler, so he enlisted in 1940, before Pearl Harbor. He was a machine gun instructor, then moved from the Army to the Army Air Corps. He gave up +5 years of
Here's some happy skiers and boarders this evening at Bittersweet Ski Area in SW Michigan. The current temperature (28) is four times higher than the number of points the Detroit Lions scored today.
#miwx
The first picture is me doing my first television weathercast - age 15, closed circuit TV from the Scout Show in the auditorium of New Trier East High School. That was in 1967. The second picture is that same weather map today in my basement.
My first weather broadcast in
Quick note - Tomorrow (Thu.) I'm doing a free presentation on my career and West Michigan weather at the (Byker) Hudsonville Library at 1 pm (hopefully, it won't be canceled because of the snow). Here's me in 1975 and recently.
This current pic. is the Mackinac Bridge. You're looking south at a lot of vehicles that looks to be about 3 miles long waiting to pay the toll and get into Upper Michigan. Called "trolls" because they live (on a map) "under the bridge", they are a big part of the U.P. economy.
I found out one of my fraternity brothers, my pledge father, has died from COVID-19. He was 70 years old, a prominent lawyer in Wisconsin. Two nephews who work in hospitals also have tested positive for the virus, though both at the moment are asymptomatic. Stay safe, everyone
At long last, here's my timelapse of the stunning Ada, OK supercell on 09-23-2023. This was the most beautiful storm I have ever witnessed in my years of chasing. The storm had it all: structure spinning like a top, lightning barrages, starry skies, sprites, etc. A total dream.🥹
Friday, I visited Quake Lake in Western Montana. The lake was created when an earthquake caused a landslide that blocked the river on the night of August 17, 1959. The quake was a magnitude 7.2 and is the strongest and deadliest earthquake ever in Montana. The quake occurred
I'm off on another adventure! We're taking advantage of Daughter
#3
's free flying perk as an employee of American Airlines. We went from Gr. Rapids to Dallas, then on to Seattle I got this pic. of snow covered Mt. Rainier.
The pandemic has created some eerie scenes. The first pic. is the International border crossing at S. Ste. Marie - not only no vehicles, but no tracks in the snow. The other picture is the Mackinac Bridge. I checked 4 cameras - no vehicles on the bridge.
#miwx