WELL-DEFINED Happy I’m Home

It’s snowing out and it’s forecast to keep piling up! Not just inches, feet! This storm was picked up by the long-range computer weather models last week and as the days counted down, all the models came into agreement; a substantial winter storm was to impact the northeast, hammering our area with not just feet of snow but also high winds, bringing blizzard conditions. We are under a Blizzard Warning!

You probably can imagine that for meteorologists, in any industry, whether it be private, public, government, broadcasting, students, PhD professionals as well as the social media mets; when models put out storms like this days ahead and they keep delivering, it gets every weather enthusiast excited. And it should. I get excited impressed intrigued looking at the data just as well. And nowadays, there’s A LOT of data. It seems the amount of data available is proportional to the amount of snowflakes each storm can deliver! That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but you can definitely be a victim of what is data-overload while forecasting; sooo many models and sooo much information to look at, not just for one location but many. Then you gotta keep up with what another model is putting out and keep up with the next model run and another and then the ensembles and and and… then it comes to nowcasting when the storm is on top of you, and when that time comes, the challenge is not only keeping up with mother nature and the recent data reports and what people are saying from their location but also the latest model updates and then, most importantly, continuing to do whatever else your job may entail. That would include, but not be limited to, digging through social media and emails to find 1000+ photos, then choosing one to show on-air, perhaps featuring a cute little dog playing in the snow. “This is Foofy! And Foofy LOVES the snow!!! #snowmageddon #foofball”

(That’s not Foofy playing with the kids in the snow, that’s my dog Dallas! And Dallas is fucking awesome in the snow. And with the kids and just anywhere doing anything. He’s 11 years old and dominates like he’s a three year old young pup).

At WCBS I worked many storms, including the epic Blizzard of 2006, in February. Every long duration storm, I was given a room at a local hotel, really just to sleep briefly and shower, and get back to work easily. I never slept, I was too excited. The bulk of the time I was there, it was to cover the storm and thus I’d be at the station for… 20 hours straight. I remember walking out the door after the 2006 Blizzard, unable to remember where I parked my car. I could see nothing but snowbanks lining the streets and I just stared… then it hit me. I parked right in front of the station. My car was right there. Buried in not just the nearly 27″ of snow that fell from the sky, but also piles that had been plowed up and over. I wanted to cry. I had no idea how I was going to dig it out to get home. I hadn’t been home in days. New Yorkers are awesome and after laughing when they realized I was trying to get to my car, two men helped me shovel it out.

My years at News12 and FiOS were similar. When I’d see a storm was going to develop, I had to prepare the station so they could get things in order; reserving hotel rooms, having enough staff, making sure there’s food because most places will be closed, which usually was crap pizza and it would be gone if you were to be reporting outside in the storm. I also needed to make sure my family was prepared. When it was just my husband and I, as it was when I was at WCBS and my early News12 days, it was no problem. My husband owns his own business and he has a ton of snow removal accounts, so snowstorms are a big deal for him. He is gone for days just the same, but he’s doing a lot more work that includes some serious labor intensity, plowing, fixing mechanical problems and doing it all outside in the bitter cold and wind, in the middle of epic snowstorms, dealing with other stuff I can’t even fathom. So we both would be away and it was fine.

After my son was born and then my daughter, I’d have to figure out who was going to be able to watch them, not just for hours, but for days. And I’d worry. What if they became sick? What if the power went out? And what about Dallas? And then there’s the headache of what happens AT work during a storm; it’s an absolute nightmare if you don’t want to be there. Every single place I’ve worked, the meteorologist was always the last person to know what the plan was and what the line-up was to be during a MAJOR WEATHER EVENT. In my younger years, I chalked it up to nobody caring who I was or knowing that I was the meteorologist on duty, so even when I was present in the meetings, when things were changed and I was the last to know I just brushed it off. But still, chaos in organization would still happen at my following jobs, News12 and again (badly) at FiOS. Combine that with everything I mentioned above about the data-overload and toss in the “weather-experts” on Twitter, it’s a lot of everything I don’t miss! About those Twitter “Weather Experts”, now there are true experts who are incredibly smart and the information they put out is impressive. But some… WOWWWWW!  I don’t know how they do it. By the time I absorb one model run, take a sip of coffee and turn to my computer to open twitter, already it’s BURSTING with SNOWDEATH2017: FEET UPON FEET PILING UP LIKE NEVER BEFORE!!!! And moments later there’s a producer who got wind of #SNOWDEATH2017 and the 57″ that is being forecast and is being retweeted over and over and over and they want to know EXACTLY when this event will start.

I equate some of these social media “weather experts” to that of the tabloid magazines who had declared Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie divorcing for the previous 10 years before it finally happened, eventually they get it right simply by the statistical odds.

So today I’m able to say, with complete honesty, I am so happy to be home during this storm. And I do believe it’s a transition for good, meaning both for the long haul and for the better, in my life. It’s such a great feeling and it’s liberating. I say this with respect, those who are out there freezing and possibly busting their butts on the ice, or they’re inside trying to please management with some new, clever and ingenious… thing that nobody has done before on-air, I applaud you and I hope you do enjoy what you’re doing. I know the feeling of that enjoyment, I do. But it’s gone. I realize now what does make me complete and it’s not what I was doing with meteorology. I want to look at a storm and see the snowflakes as just beautiful and fun and still fascinating! I associate my feelings with the older soon to retire agent at the beginning of Men In Black, Agent Dee I think was his name, when he talks to Agent Kay:

Agent Dee “They’re beautiful, aren’t they?”

Agent Kay “What?”

Agent Dee “The stars. We never just look anymore.”

Agent Kay “No.”

Agent Dee “I’ll tell you, Kay… I will miss the chase. I will miss the chase.”

Agent Kay “No, Dee… you won’t.”

I can still watch and track the storms, but Agent Kay is right, I won’t miss the chase that was my career for so many years. Knowing this is a very defining moment that I love! So wonderfully well-defined for me!

This storm is fun! Kali and I stocked up on the groceries we would need, we made muffins and homemade pizza and some gooooood chili! And we all went out to brave the blizzard and enjoy the snow!

My husband was sure to stock up the firewood for the fireplace to help warm us up and he set the generator on the deck just outside the door in case the power does go out. We have our deer park water in the garage if needed because our house has well water (which is so good, everyone tells us how good our water tastes. It does.) and if the power goes out the well can’t pump. So we’re comfortable and safe! We played outside, I have a nice fire going and everything is perfect! And I haven’t watched one bit of local or national coverage of the storm. Only Mickey Mouse and Scooby-Doo!