Saturday midday -   We needed the rain!  It was quite variable.  GRR had 1.35″ and Battle Creek had 0.01″.  Holland got 0.43″, Muskegon 0.22”, Ionia had a little over an inch, Kalamazoo only 0.11″.  Now we get mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies for Sat. afternoon thru Tuesday.     We’ve had two straight days with a south wind and STILL couldn’t get the high temperature above average (81 on Friday – average is 82).     The overall pattern (the theme of the summer) is for a little cooler than average and drier (notwithstanding June 19) than average weather.  Officially in G.R. up until this morning, we’ve had only a trace of rain since 7/1 and only 0.15″ in the last 11 days.  Here’s GRR NWS radar, Great Lakes radar, latest surface observations, lightning data,  GRR NWS discussion, Visible Satellite loop (daytime), Infrared Satellite Loop (night), Lake Michigan webcam at Holland.  Enjoy the weekend and the week ahead.

The latest from Ed and Bill:  “Monday, July 6, 2009, 6:30PM: Wholesale prices have dropped significantly in the past week. With Monday’s close, I have the 0-cent margin price at a pretty $2.25. So, unless there is a dramatic reversal on NYMEX the next few days, the prediction is lower prices.

We just witnessed broadcast television history.  Our station, the first to go on the air in West Michigan, just marked another milestone.  In 1949, when we started broadcasting, it was with the analog signal.  Today, we just shut off that signal and from now on, we will broadcast in digital only.  From our end, at our transmitters, the switch went off without a hitch. 

In the photo to the left, I’m interviewing our Chief Engineer, Mike Laemers moments after the switch. See the screen by me…it’s snowy.  That’s what tv sets look like if owners did not take the steps to go digital.  The screen by Mike shows the digital signal.

Ten years ago, we became the first television station in the market to start broadcasting in High Definition.  We’ve been putting out a digital signal for a decade.  Now that is the only signal high-powered television stations in this country can broadcast in, so mandated by federal law.  The old analog channels don’t die.  They’re going to be auctioned off and will wind up being used by emergency personnel and phone/cell/internet coompanies.  The feds will glean a good deal of money from the sale, money obviously this nation can use.

I just ran up to the engineering office at WOOD-TV-8.  The phones are ringing off the wall.  As soon as staff answers questions about why viewers aren’t seeing a picture on their screen, the next call comes in.

We have a toll-free number (1-877-FYI ASK8) and viewers are leaving  messages with questions.  We have engineers retrieving those messages and calling back to problem-solve.

I overheard our Chief Engineer, Mike Laemers, talk a viewer through the transition from analog to digital.  When the viewer pulled in our signal and saw something on the screen, Laemers commented, “Isn’t that great?  Isn’t it wonderful, digital?”  The viewer responded that the channel was going to stay right on WOOD-TV- 8 through the Red Wings Game tonight and wouldn’t let anybody change it.  That game begins at 8pm, by the way.  We’ll all be watching too, and we’ll undoubtedly have a late 11pm newscast.

For the Red Wings game, our crews will be Live on the ice recording all the action.  My co-anchor Brian Sterling will be there as well as one of our sports anchors, Larry Figurski.  That will be great to see… tune in for 24-Hour News 8 at 5 and 6 and 10 and then stay with the game through the end.  At 11ish, 11:30ish, we’ll have great highlights, interviews, hoopla, reaction.  Here’s to a RED WINGS WIN.  STANLEY CUP, HERE THEY COME.  And now, everyone will be able to watch it in DIGITAL T.V.  ENJOY!

<–almost baseball-sized hail from near Dallas, TX late Wednesday afternoon.  They are getting nailed across parts of Missouri, Arkansas and NE Texas.  I see Plano, TX had a gust to 78 mph and there were a couple of measured 70-75 mph gusts.  We’re recorded a dozen tornadoes and significant flooding.  Two awesome bowing segments now…one in northern Arkansas and another in NE Texas.  A new watch is possible into central Indiana.  I think the big storms stay south of us…a few scattered showers are likely tomorrow here in southern Lower Michigan.  The afternoon GFS was more bullish on rain…giving Grand Rapids a 74% chance of rain and Sturgis a 100% chance of rain tomorrow.  The morning NAM had GRR with an 88% chance and gave Sturgis well over an inch of rain.   That looked high to me.   I think the southern storms will suck up the inflow moisture and we’ll just see some lighter scattered showers here.  I’ll write more later after the news.

We wanted to let you know about some new ways you can stay connected and interact with WOOD TV8 and 24 Hour News 8.

Download the woodtv iPhone app in iTunes

Facebook
Our staff is actively engaged on Facebook in three different locations. Become a fan to interact directly with them. Our Facebook pages: WOOD TV8 – Daybreak – Maranda Park Parties

Twitter
Many of the personalities on 24 Hour News 8 are on Twitter. Connect directly with them on Twitter or see their latest tweets aggregated here.

WOOD TV8 iPhone App
Our free app is designed specifically for the iPhone, so you’ll get crisp radar images, smooth news video and easy navigation between content sections. You can even customize the menu. In the iTunes store search for “woodtv”. Learn more about the iPhone app and download it here.

Live8.com
Our longtime popular wireless site delivers a ton of free info on news, weather, traffic, and much more.
Type www.live8.com into your wireless device or learn more about Live8 here.

News Over Wireless
Another free wireless site we maintain. You can get there by going to woodtv.com on your mobile device. Preview it on your computer here.

A sad time for WOODTV, our friend and co-worker Dan Limbaugh passed away Friday

Funeral Thursday, May 21 at 11am in Holland, details here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=100778954202.

“You’re hot”… was a little joke between Dan and I that dates back to 2006 and our coverage of the Gerald Ford funeral.

Dan was in the sat truck running things from the Ford Museum site… while I sat back in ENG talking to Dan, the crews, and the different directors during our hours of coverage.  At one point, both the director and Dan were switching back and forth between cameras and I shouted “Dan, you’re hot”… later it turned into an inside joke between us about our mutual respect for each other’s work… and charming good looks… well at least my respect for Dan’s work and his charming good looks.

But my friendship with Dan dates back much earlier than that, I’ve worked with Dan directly or indirectly for the 7 years I’ve been at WOODTV.  As an experienced Producer at the station, he was a mentoring figure for me when I was the new guy… and just starting to learn how things work at WOODTV.

Dan wasn’t just a hard worker and beacon of sanity amoungst a storm of chaos at times, he was a good friend, and someone I wish I could have learned more from.

Dan passed away Friday night after a long battle with T-cell Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia and T-cell Lymphoma.  Dan was 52.

We’ll miss you Dan.   We’ll miss your laugh, your smile, and your leadership.

Click here to read Jack Doles’ story on WOODTV.com about Dan Limbaugh.

There’s also a Remembering Dan Limbaugh Facebook page.. where you can leave your comments.

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RE-POSTING FROM 3/24/09

“The Big Limbaughski” fundraiser is this Friday 3/27/09 in Grand Rapids (more…)

This is a map of current (well, a few days ago) sea surface temperatures relative to average.  Go here and you can click on this image and make it zoom in to a particular area.   You can check a map of sea surface temperatures (not relative to average) here (see if you can find the Gulf Steam off the E. Coast of the U.S., the cold currents off the W. Coast of the U.S. and Chili – places that don’t get hurricanes because of the relatively cold water)  On the map above, the blue color indicates where the water is cooler than average and the yellow indicates where the water is warmer than average. First, note that the La Nina (cooler than average water in the Equatorial Pacific) is ending and a weak El Nino (warmer than average water in the Equatorial Pacific) is beginning. “WEAK” is a very important word here. When we have a strong El Nino (1982-83) we have warmer weather and less snow in the winter. That is NOT the case with a weak El Nino. In fact, some of the coldest winters in Michigan (1976-77) occurred with a weak El Nino.  A weak El Nino usually (not always, but usually) brings slightly cooler than average temperatures in the summer to Michigan (hint here on our long range weather) – but more on that in later posts. (more…)

Heckuva stationary front just south of GRR.  81 in Marshall and 46 in Mt. Pleasant at 7 PM- and it’s snowing at Charlevoix!  Some showers and a few non-severe t-storms north of the front this PM.  Another round of showers and t-storms is likely late Monday into Monday night.  We’ll be dry Tuesday and Wednesday.  Here’s live local radar and regional radar.  Check out the satellite radar loop (tab to lightning loop), current Michigan weather observations, and the latest GRR discussion.  We have Flood Advisories up for much of West Michigan (Grand River, Thornapple, Portage, Flat, Maple, Looking Glass, Kalamazoo, Sycamore, Rabbit Rivers)…I drove past the Rogue River this morning…high but no significant flooding.  Check out storm total rainfall here.   From SPC (Storm Prediction Center) here’s the latest severe weather outlooks, storm reports (baseball-sized hail and gusts to 80 with the Plains storms) current watches, and meso-discussions. Here’s thunderstorm sounds to set the mood.   Showers and non-severe t-storms continue to move into W. Michigan this Sunday PM.  2-4″ of rain has fallen across much of Ottawa, Kent and western Ionia Counties (3.6″ at Comstock Park).  Here’s severe reports.   A swath of 50-70 mph winds did some damage from Vicksburg thru Calhoun County and east to the Ontario border Saturday PM.  Here’s storm reports from GRR, and storm reports for SE Michigan.