Return of the 875th

If you were not lined up along the roads, you missed a great moment of patriotism in Region 8! Our soldiers came home!

I had the honor to welcome home the guys LIVE in Paragould early this morning and then I helped escort the 2nd and 3rd round of guys in the Wood Ford StormTRACKER from Bay to the Jonesboro Armory, along with the Triple FM Radio Group. It was awesome!!!

Click here to watch some of the video. If you took pictures, please email them to me at rvaughan@kait8.com I'd love to see them!

Take care!

Great Game!!!!

I've been a slacker this week. I've been trying to catcch up on some work, but I have not had much luck. I'm running at around 85% instead of 100%. Hopefully you will see the final product of some things we're working on in a week or so... stay tuned.

Anywho, did you go the game tonight!?!?!?!? It might have been the best 2nd half I have ever seen in NCAA football. ASU was down 31-6 to Memphis at halftime. I was about to leave and ASU scored. I then sat around on the sideline a little longer... another TD.... then another TD.... then another. Eventually, ASU was winning! It was amazing! If you weren't there, you missed an awesome second half.

I wonder if any of the coaches read the blog? If so, I wonder if I could interview Coach Roberts for the blog. I want to to know what he said to the guys at halftime. Whatever it was, it worked.

Well, I better go to sleep. Good Night.
Ryan

Back From TN and TX...

Thank you for all of the kind comments, emails, prayers, etc. It has been a long week, but I am now back in Arkansas.

Last Monday, I was fortunate enough to make it to Nashville before my step mom passed away. It had been a rough weekend for her. My cousin (who is a doctor) told us on Friday night that her health was going to be going down quickly. Despite the warning, It still did not "feel" like the time was that soon.

I'm glad I was at the hospital. It was hard to see her uncomfortable, but I was glad to hug my dad when God took her home. God has really taken care of him over the past few days.

We had a great memorial service for her in Nashville and then we travelled to Bowie, TX for the funeral and burial. It had been several years since I had visited my family down there. Despite the circumstances, it was nice to hang out with my cousins, grandmother, uncles, etc from that side of the family.

If you have never been to that part of the country, I took a few pictures for you... (below) It is a gorgeous part of the world. If you love nature, you would love Bellevue/Bowie, TX.

Once again, thank you for your prayers. We have felt the strength. Dad is hanging out in Region for a couple of days and I'll be back to work on Tuesday. My coworkers have been very flexible this week and I really appreciate them. If you are reading, guys (and gal)... you're awesome.

Take care,

Ryan

Sunrise From My (step) Grandmother's House

Old Windmill At Her House

Old Rock Barn Built In 1911. Also, lots of birds... Ginnys?

Driving Around Bellevue, TX Near Dark

Hopewell Road. This hillside looked MUCH better in person!

Donna Blackburn-Vaughan, 1950-2007

This picture was taken on my dad and step mom's wedding day over 20 years ago. My step mom passed away last night following a tough battle with cancer. We thank all of you that have prayed for her and our family over the past 6 months.

Ryan
http://www.melanoma.org/donate.aspx

Previous Posts:
March, 2007
April, 2007

Forecast Was Right On!

Well, the forecast panned out! It was dry across Region 8! I emailed our weather watcher, Heidi Farrar in Franklin, AR to makes sure it was not raining. The radar was trying to show some moisture in that direction, but it was just some clouds. The moisture was not reaching the ground. The echoes on radar had more bark than bite!

Here are some pictures that she took of the moisture being gobbled up by the dry air that is in place. As always, these were some great pictures!

Didn't it feel GREAT today! Don't get use to it... We're going to be close to 90 by mid-week.

Take care,
Ryan

Please Stay Dry!!!

There is an MCS to our Northwest that was not suppose to be as strong as it is right now. If you watched last night, I mentioned that the clouds would increase, but we would remain dry. I REALLY hope I got the forecast right! We have a home game at A-State tonight AND I promised dry weather!

The thunderstorm complex near Springfield, MO does have me a little concerned, BUT I still think it will get gobbled up by the dry air over Region 8. I'll be tracking it through the afternoon. It's 1:45 right now and it looks to be shrinking. Let's hope so!

Ryan

Stop The Emails!!!

Our Inbox has been flooded with emails from viewers about a Hardees Commercial that is sexually explicit. The emails stem from this site.

First off, the programming department says that we are not even airing the commercials locally, BUT we continue to get the emails.

Let me begin by saying that I agree that the commercial should not air on KAIT. However, have you seen TV lately? Have you watched a soap opera? Have you seen any show that airs between the 9:00 and 10:oo PM hour? They make the Hardees commercial look conservative!

I remember my grandmother would talk about how raunchy pop music and rap music was, but would watch soap operas. If you are going to complain about the commercial, then complain about all of the junk that is on TV. Even better, don't watch it. If ratings are low, we drop the show.

Same theory goes with Hardees. If you don't eat there, they suffer. I think this publicity that the AFA is giving them may actually help their business.

Anywho, I'll stop now. I hope the emails stop soon, too. For crying out loud... I'm the weather guy!!! I don't decide what commecials air on KAIT.

Ryan

GREAT Sunset!!!

I did not have time to show this on-air tonight, but look at this picture! Heidi Farrar took this picture from Franklin, AR this evening.

Actually, I am going to try to show this at the end of the news. Stay tuned... It's 10:28 PM...

Humberto & Region 8

It appears that Tropical Storm Humberto will have more of an impact on Region 8 than previously thought. As you see in the above image, several computer models have the center of the low pressure moving just to our south. We have had to increase the rain chances from 20% to 40% on Friday. Don't worry, a cold front will clear us out on Friday night and will leave us with GREAT weather on Saturday. The A-State game looks good!

Speaking of Tropical Systems, we now have the technology to show live hurricane hunter data as it comes in from the aircraft. KAIT was the first station in the US to test this new technology when it was in it's "Alpha" mode. You may have seen me use it during Hurricane Dean a few weeks ago. Our weather technology vendor, Weather Central, is the best out there! Be on the lookout for this new technology during our weathercasts.

Have a great day!

Ryan

40s For The Weekend?

Forecasting temperatures this time of the year is always tough! As we transition from Summer to Fall, it becomes difficult to stay consistent. I've been going back-and-forth on the overnight low temperature on Saturday night. I've actually been flip-flopping on the afternoon high, too.

Last night, I had a forecast for 49 on Saturday night and now I kicked it up to 51. I got gun-shy! The National Weather Service in Little Rock is forecasting a low off 55 as of the time I typed this and Memphis is forecasting a low of 57. I'm the lowest so far....

We typically do see some upper 40s in September. It's usually around September 20th or so... That's why I'm starting to feel more confident that some folks will dip into the 40s this weekend.
Regardless, the weather at the ASU games looks GREAT!

Ryan

Eric Nyguen 1978-2007

One of the best storm chasers and photographers of storm chasing has passed away. Eric Nguyen attempted suicide several days ago and passed away yesterday in Arlington, TX after being in a coma. Many of you have likely seen some of Eric's photography work. The above image might be one of my favorite tornado pictures of all time. Eric took this picture in Mulvane, KS back in 2004. If you want to see more of Eric's pictures, you can go to his photo gallery by clicking here.

I did not know Eric well, but I think I can speak for everyone when I say that the Meteorology community has been saddened by this news. Please keep his wife, Nina, and his two boys, Chris and Sean, in your prayers. Eric was 29 years old.

Ryan

Food & Football

If you have food and football in one place, there is a chance you will find me! That's why I will be at the A-State game versus Memphis tomorrow! I'm heading home... take care.

Looks WET!

The HPC agrees with us... it looks soggy! They are estimating over 4" of rain to fall across Region 8 over the next 5 days! I think most of this rain will fall Saturday and Monday. This could mess up some plans for those of us that are going to be at tailgate parties and games on Saturday! I'm going to to look over some more data tonight and I hope to post more on this rainfall later... You folks in Alabama are going to missing a lot of the rain.... sorry.

Have a great night!
Ryan

FFN Page and Blog

I just got around to fully take in the new FFN page and blog. It's VERY impressive! Each conference, team, and schedule is broken down. Each game from last Friday is analyzed and Glen throws in his .02 on each game. It's amazing.

If you love high school football in Region 8, this going to be the page to bookmark! Click here to check it out for yourself. The link is also in my "Other Blogs" section now. If you live outside of Region 8, you need to ask your local TV station where their blog is located!

Also, you can get a detailed forecast for every football field in Region on the FFN page and blog, courtesy of the K8 StormTEAM.

Enjoy,

Ryan

New Guy...

I've have had a lot of people (mainly ladies) ask... "Who's the new sports guy?" Well, his name is Mark Kelley (right side.) We've spoken a little bit and we played a game of homerun derby together, but I don't know a whole lot about him. He's originally from New Hampshire, but has been living in Florida in recent years. He's a graduate of Florida State University... That's about all I know right now!

You can drop him an email at mkelley@kait8.com and welcome him to Region 8! By the way, Glen (left side) has a new FFN blog that I will be adding soon to the Blog list on the right side of the page... Stay tuned.

Have a great night,

Ryan

I'm Lovin' It!

The rain continues to fall in Jonesboro. The above image is our SkyCam that sits on top of Indian Stadium. If you have not seen any rain yet, you should get some in due time. Below is a look at radar. Pinpoint where you live.... For those of you nin other parts of the country... What's the weather doing where you live?

Take care and be careful on the wet roads. They are a litttle slick and people are sliding around everywhere! I guess people forgot how to drive in the rain!!!

Ryan

Wetter Weather This Week?

For those of you that have read the blog for awhile, you already know that the above image is from the BUFKIT program that we use. It is a program that helps us analyze computer model data. The above image is the midday (18Z) run of the Global Forecast System or GFS. You can plot all types of data in the overview window, but I chose to plot precipitation (green bars), clouds (shades of white), and temperatures (red line) for simplicity. The time goes from right to left, which I have always thought was backwards... Oh well, they did ask my opinion.

Looking at this data, we may get a good 1-2" of rain by the end of the weekend. I believe this may be underestimated AND apparently I am not alone... The HPC also thinks Arkansas will get more than 1-2". In fact, if you look at the image below, they have parts of Region 8 getting more than 3" of rain over the next 5 days! I'm excited about the rain, but even more excited to have something to talk about during my 5 minutes of airtime during the newscast!

We'll see what happens. As dry as it has been lately, it's hard to get in front of the camera and raise rain chances too much. Therefore, our rainfall forecasts may be a little conservative until it actually happens! Even though I believe it will rain, it will be really hard to raise rain chances any higher than 50%.

Tune in tomorrow night to see how confident I am about the indications of rain!

Take care,

Ryan

Humid At The Fair!

The weekend started out with low humidity and comfortable temperatures, but now it is hot and humid again! Don't complain though, the increase in moisture is going to lead to better rain chances.

We spent most of the weekend camping on the lake. Overall, it was a great time. The wasp stings and the sour stomach of one of the boys were just minor setbacks. I'll save those stories for another day.

Today, my wife and father-in-law entered THE Green Tomato Relish into the county fair. This is their first time to be involved in any culinary competition... so hopefully they score well! Wouldn't it be cool if they won a ribbon!

This was our first time to really check out the "other things" at the fair. We have always been the family that rides a few rides, grabs a funnel cake, and plays a game or two. This time, we checked out the animals, canning items, antique tractors, crafts, etc. We really had a good time until it got hot and humid.

Anywho, I'm back to work tomorrow. I'll be chatting about the "better" rain chances on the blog later tonight or tomorrow. We may ACTUALLY see some decent rainfall and cooler temperatures later this week! Stay tuned!

Happy Labor Day,

Ryan