J.C.'s Blog - Wandtv.com, NewsCenter17, StormCenter17, Central Illinois News-
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20130515
As I sit here at work watching storms tonight I got thinking about baby stuff. I know that is not what you want to hear from your meteorologist on a night with storms, but nothing is severe at the moment. My wife Ashley writes a great blog and I wish I could write like her. Here is a link to her blog if you a moment give it a read. http://passportthroughtheworld.blogspot.com/#!/2013/05/your-pregnant-now-open-up-your-wallet.html
Her latest post was about how expensive it is to raise a child. I am so excited about the opportunity to become a Dad as I have mention in a previous blog post. It's also overwhelming when you see how much the first year alone will cost. When Ashley put in where we live and when our baby will be born she told me the amount on our walk tonight and I almost tripped. The amount of money is staggering! I know that the baby is worth it, but you don't think about that when you are starting to plan a family. I started thinking about ways we could save money and still buy things we need for the house, baby, and putting money away for a rainy day. I keep reminding myself that things will be ok and we will make it.
I am one of those people who when I see the check book at the end of the pay period I start to think how can I make that number larger. How can we use that money we have left to the max and save. Growing up working and traveling in the summers with my Grandparents really made me think about money and how I could make more and work hard for what you get. The money I would earn in the summers working with them was the money I would have for the whole year. I had to stretch that money until the next summer when I hit the road again. That was an invaluable lesson that I still carry with me today and I am so grateful to them for teaching me so many amazing lessons. To make extra money, I work baseball and basketball games through out the year. I love those two sports and this keeps me active, plus I get paid to do something I enjoy. Its going to be hard when the baby arrives to do these games but hopefully I will still be able to do some games and bring in that extra money to help our child. I know you have to make some sacrifices in your life and I want to be able to provide the best for our child. I know your not supposed to obsess about money but I just want the best for my wife and unborn child and I will work hard to give it to them.
Tonight like every night before I come back to the office I also kiss Ashley goodbye and then kiss her stomach and tell our little one (boy or girl) that I love them. I don't leave Wrigley out either. Every once in a while the baby will kick and when I feel that I can't describe the feeling to you. Its a high that nothing in the world can bring me down from. Ashley has been amazing through this so far and will be the most amazing Mom in the world. I am so glad to call her my wife, best friend, and partner in this amazing journey we are on called parenthood!
20130501
April is in the books and it was a cool and rainy one. Here are some stats from the month.
Avg. April High: 65.3 Avg. April Low: 41.8
Recorded April High: 62.5 Recorded April Low: 41.8
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-2.8 below Normal
Avg. April Mean: 53.5
Recorded April Mean: 52.2
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-1.3 below normal
Recorded Monthly Rain: 6.29" YTD Recorded Rain: 12.39"
Average Monthly Rain: 3.67" Avg YTD Rain: 10.40"
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+2.62" above normal +1.99" above normal
171% of normal 119% of normal
April 2012: 3.05"
April 2013: 6.29"
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+3.24 more in 2013
Temperatures
April 2012: 57.2
April 2013: 52.2
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-5 degrees cooler than last year.
20130424
An exciting time in the Fultz Household!
My wife Ashley and I are very excited as we will be brining a new Cub fan into the world in September. As a Dad to be, there will be so many questions I will have. If you have any feedback please let me know.
When we found out that we were expecting I was beside myself excited! The news brought so much joy but also brought some questions. Are we ready for this? Yes! Do I think I can be a great Dad? Yes! Those were the first questions that popped into my mind.
As the weeks have gone on I find myself at times feeling helpless. I wish there was a way that I could bear some of the burden that my wife is going through growing our child inside of her. I have noticed that she runs out of breath a lot quicker when we are on a walk. She will get tired a lot quicker than she used too. I just wish I could feel some of these things, so that I would have more of a sense of what is going on with her body. The one thing I always try to do and I have been doing this since we have been together is; I always tell her how beautiful she looks! She is beautiful and I want her to feel that way.
There are some things that I need to help out with more during this pregnancy. Taking on more around the house is something that I need to make sure that I am conscious about. We usually do a good job of working together on keeping the house clean but sometime I am guilty of leaving stuff lying around. I also want to make her feel special because she is. She is the love of my life, the mother of my unborn child, and my best friend. It's hard at times to remember that she is going through so much change, because I don't feel those changes on a daily basis like she does. I just have to keep reminding myself to try and be the best husband I can be and try and make her feel special everyday.
Something exciting happened last night...I got to feel the baby kick for the first time. We were in bed the other night and she said, "The baby is kicking". I ran over to the bed and tried to feel but came away disappointed. Last night she was lying on the couch and told me to come over and see if I could feel the baby kick. Sure enough after about a minute a good strong kick hit my hand! That is a feeling that I am never going to forget. Feeling your child kick for the first time is at the top of the list of the most amazing things I have ever experienced. I am looking forward to feeling more kicks and being able to feel the baby moving. My wife is an amazing woman and I am so proud of her for being a great Mom already and I love her so much.
Stay tuned for more....
20130403
Super Tornado Outbreak 1974
On this date in 1974 one of the most violent days of tornadoes in US history occurred. We were not spared here in central Illinois. Here is a little trivia from the National Weather Service Lincoln on the outbreak.
4/3/1974
The most violent tornado outbreak in U.S. history began on this date and continued into the early morning hours of April 4. A total of 148 tornadoes were noted in 13 states in the central and eastern U.S., including Illinois. This outbreak killed 307 people and produced $600 million in damage. In central Illinois, the strongest tornado of this outbreak moved across Macon County affecting the west and north sides of Decatur in the early afternoon. This tornado killed one person and produced $3.4 million damage, destroyed 52 homes and severely damaged 110 others. Tornadoes were also reported in Logan, McLean, Champaign, Vermilion, Ford, and Edgar Counties.
The outbreak began on April 3rd and continued into the morning hours of the 4th. The map above shows all 148 tornados that occurred during the outbreak. Notice the long track tornadoes across Indiana and Alabama. The numbers show there where 6 F5 tornadoes, 23 F4 tornadoes, 35 F3 tornadoes, 30 F2 tornadoes, 31 F1 tornadoes, and 23 F0 tornadoes. The F5 torandoes impacted Xenia Ohio, Depauw Indiana, Sayler Park Ohio, Brandenburg Kentucky, Tanner Alabama and Guin Mississippi-Alabama. Here is a link to a website dedicated to this outbreak. http://www.april31974.com/index.htm
The two year anniversary of the Super Outbreak of 2011 will be coming up on April 25th. I will post about that one when we get closer.
20130403
The air mass has continues to modify today with temperatures warming into the upper 40s and low 50s! The warming trend looks to continue as high pressure slides to our east tomorrow. Another system will pass to our south tomorrow allowing for a few clouds to arrive tomorrow afternoon. A cold front will slide through tomorrow with little fanfare. The only way we will know the front passes is the wind will start out of the south tomorrow and by the afternoon switch to the north.
A storm system off the Pacific coast will push into the Rockies over the next couple days and turn our winds back out of the south. Highs on Friday will top out into the low 60s! The pressure gradient will tighten in the Midwest over the weekend which will help to drive our highs in the mid to upper 60s.
The extended forecast will become more active. A front will stall across the are in a zonal flow pattern. Pieces of energy will ride along the front bringing us a periodic shot for some showers and even rumbles of thunder from Sunday evening through Wednesday. The models don't agree on the timing of these waves or the placement of the front. Its not going to be a wash out next as of now just daily chances for showers. I will keep on eye on this as it evolves over the next couple of days. Rain amounts could be in order of 1" to 1.5" total by the middle of next week.
20130402
New wording when warnings are issued in central Illinois.
The National Weather Service Office in Lincoln will be using impact based warnings. These impact based warnings are designed to provide more information about a storm. The idea of the warnings is for you to understand how strong this storm is and what could happen as the storm arrives. Here is a link to the article from the National Weather Service with more information about the new wording in the warnings.
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/crh/?n=2013_ibw_info
20130401
March 2013 Stats
Avg. High: 52.6 Avg. Low: 31.9
Recorded High: 44.2 Recorded Low: 28.8
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-8.4 below normal -3.1 below normal
Avg. Mean: 42.3
Recorded Mean: 36.5
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-5.8 below normal for March
Avg. March Precip: 2.59" Avg. YTD Precip: 6.73"
Recorded March Precip: 1.71" Rec. YTD Precip: 6.10
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-0.88" below normal -0.63" below normal
Avg. March Snow: 1.7"
2013 March Snow: 16"
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+14.3" above normal
In Decatur the average yearly snow from January to December is 16" and as of April 1st 2013 we have received 22"! Keep in mind we saw 14" of those on the 24th of March.
March 2013 temps where -20.3 degrees cooler than March 2012. The warmest temp recorded in March 2012 was 83 while this March 62 was the warmest it got.
The outlook for the April is above normal temps and above normal precipitation. We will see how it plays out. I am going to try and keep the blog updated more often!
Email J.C. your comments.
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