Weather whirlwind

I lied.

If you read my last entry about being a looong, tiring week, I lied.

Today has been a fast-paced, exciting day, with energy to spare.

We all knew the snow was coming....Betsy, AJ, Hollie, and Bruce are keeping their eyes on the radar, maps, snow totals and all the high-tech equipment they have to give you the most recent and accurate forecasts.

So, it's a given that we'd have a reporter on weather patrol --Dave Summers and his videographer Randy White were the lucky winners! They ventured out at the beginning of their shift, gave a live update for our 7pm show. As of this writing, they will have a complete report coming up for you at 11pm!

Producer Dan actually included me in his Facebook Promo tonight. All Facebook fanatics, hop on the wkyc page and take a glance at Tuesday's 11pm Promo! It zips along, as swiftly as this night as been hopping along....

The newsroom has been abuzz with a 'flurry' of activity. Eric Mansfield held a web chat on his blog. We are still in the midst of a live wx web chat with Betsy, Frank, and lots of other folks, towering upwards of 100+ chatters.

We've even been talking to our Facebook friends about weather conditions...getting updates from our Facebook friends in other parts of Ohio AND the United States!

I, being on the desk, have been trying to not only keep the producer and web folks informed on accidents, city alerts, snow emergency parking bans, road conditions, airport status, iAlert school closings, and anything else associated with this latest storm, BUT, have also been giving the most pertinent of that information on our live web chat! Everyone in the newsroom, besides doing their normal myriad of tasks, kicked it up a notch (BAM!) to participate in all of our extra social media exercises that sets us apart from the rest! The juggling surely paid off!

Whatever you do, stay tuned to Channel 3 News throughout the day and night for the latest weather updates, up-to-date school closings, and traffic conditions. Hop on wkyc.com and Facebook for the most complete coverage from Channel 3 News and Weather!!!

Hit or Miss business

Our weather folks did a wonderful job mapping out where the warnings and watches were, who 'should' be getting the heaviest snowfall totals, and sharing all the necessary details our customers needed to know about this new year snow storm.

Kudos to AJ, Betsy, Hollie, and Bruce!

It's hard to do.

From my end of it, I was lucky.

As an assignment editor (and a traveler), I skated by pretty easily with this latest storm.

Friday was like any other day, for the most part.

We had snow. My two reporters were on 'snow patrol' but, at least during my shift, there was nothing 'out of the ordinary.'

No horrendous accidents, no road closings, no airport shutdowns, no planes sliding off runways, no weather-related medical calls.

And considering we have our new and improved I-Alert school closing system, we really had minimal calls from administrators asking for help. They seem to understand the upgraded system. On our end, it is a dream. When I did get school folks calling in, I was able to assist them within seconds! We still need to work out a few bugs, but so far, so good!

The scanners were slow and quiet most of the night.

I even stayed late. We had a 'scheduling snafu.' There was no one scheduled to relieve me. Though I was not required to stay, I wound up staying about 3 extra hours (no charge!) past the end of my shift 'just in case' something happened with the weather (being the dedicated employee I am!!). Nothing!

After hearing there could be 'gloom and doom,' I was a bit anxious at how the roads would be once I did leave the newsroom.

It took me only 10-15 minutes extra to get home. What a dream. At times, the roads were a bit slick, but I was not 'white knuckling' it at all. Getting up a few hills I encounter were fine. And when I got home, I was able to maneuver around my neighborhood, which is usually impossible during big snow storms.

The worst of it: my driveway! Our plow guys never came until Sunday!

Stay warm, stay safe this winter season! And tune into Channel 3 News and wkyc.com for the most accurate weather coverage from all of our forecasters!!!!!