Windy for sure today as a front moves east with showers and thunderstorms.  Look for this stuff through Thursday, then clearing and colder for the weekend.

Our friends in the Midwest are not so lucky with a huge ice and snow storm causing all sorts of trouble.  We’ll keep you posted on it on LIVE 5 NEWS.

Busy today getting a hair cut and ran into some fine folks who really liked the brief snow fall we had last week.  It’s funny how people who live here in the South always ask for snow and people who live up north, always ask for sunshine and warm weather.  For those snow lovers, we’ll keep an eye on a system into the beginning of next week.  Some of the models are hinting at a coastal storm developing, but the timing of the cold air coming behind it is still up in the air.  Stay tuned!

Well, we hope you join us for tonight’s evening broadcasts and tune in for a live update before you go to bed at 11.

Bill

Well….looks like some thick fog on the way overnight!  Lows should stay in the 40′s.  We’ll see a bit of a warm up towards Wednesday with highs near 70 before the next cold front rolls through to cool us by the end of the week.

Had a nice weekend and attended the boat show.  Always nice to look at what’s new in the marine industry and dream a little!  That 40 foot Sea Ray looked nice.  Maybe after I take over the Letterman show!! 

Really, I’m thrilled with our little boat and the fun we have on the water each spring, summer and fall.  Looking forward to that warmer weather returning here in the Lowcountry.

Pretty quiet week this week except a trip up to Washington for meetings with the Air Force Reserve over the weekend and part of next week.  If I bump into our new President, I will let you know and send the best from all of us here in along the South Carolina coast!  (Don’t hold your breath…he has more important things to do!!)

Well, time to get ready for tonight’s broadcast.  I hope you can join us for the evening shows and back before you go to bed for a new update with fresh information at 11 and always in High Definition!

 Bill

What a day to start the week. There is a lot going on in our forecast for the next few days. Here is our public forecast on the main weather page this morning:

“What a morning to start the week as there is a lot of weather ahead in the next 36 hours. First, we have lots of fog acorss the region this morning. Temps early are in the low 40s along the coast to near freezing inland. The fog and clouds will burn away by late morning as we go partly cloudy this afternoon. Highs will climb back to the mid 50s.

As cold air is pulled in behind a developing low off the coast, moisture will mix in as well and increase the chances of light rain mixed with sleet and snow after midnight. As temps continue to fall through the early morning hours, wintry weather becomes more of a possibility. The current forecast guidance points to a band of accumulating snowfall possible roughly from Williamsburg, Western Berkeley, Dorchester and Colleton counties through the midlands. A Winter Weather Advisory is already posted for Orangeburg and Clarendon counties starting at 3am thru 3pm Tuesday. As the morning progresses and temps fall, ice and snow could begin to stick on bridges and overpasses. This could lead to travel problems during the morning drive on Tuesday morning. There could be some significant travel issues on roads in the western Lowcountry through the Midlands. Along the coastal counties, look for no accumulation but bridges and overpasses could be slick from areas of balck ice. Only a mix of rain, sleet and snow is expected in the Charleston metro area.

We will continue to update the forecast here as things change so check back often for the latest. Also check our Weather Blog below for more updates as new data arrives.”

This really just about sums it up pretty good for now. I am waiting for a few more model runs to come in this morning before we refine the forecast for the noon package. I do think that the overall guidance is all pretty much in line with our inland counties seeing the best chance of any accumulation. The coastal counties will see a mix of sleet, snow and rain but I don’t think that any areas will see it stick as temps will be a bit milder. Bridges and overpasses may become slick if temps can fall more than expected.

I do look for some more significant travel issues in I-26 and I-95 once you get inland away from the coastal counties. There is already a Winter Weather Advisory in effect from 3am to 3pm for the Midlands including Orangeburg, Clarendon and Bamberg counties.  This may be upgraded to a Winter Storm Watch later today or tonight if the models forecast better snow chances. Right now, I don’t expect any watches or warnings for the metro but we are in constant contact with the National Weather Service and will keep a close eye on this trend.

More to come this morning as we refine the forecast…Stay Tuned!

Chad Watson
Live 5 Meteorolgist

Clouds last night aided in keeping temperatures from falling to record levels.  It was still a very cold start to the weekend, but thankfully not as cold as first expected.  The low at the Charleston International Airport dropped to 20 degrees while several areas inland dropped into the teens.  The record low of 17 will remain unbroken for at least another year.

The arctic air will continue to relax its grip on the area.  While it will be a cold start to our Sunday, temperatures will rebound into the 50s by afternoon.  However, skies will become mostly cloudy throughout the day and showers will most likely develop by Sunday evening.  Another cold front will move off the coast Sunday night keeping our temperatures below normal for at least the first half of the work week.  Highs on Monday and Tuesday will be in the upper 40s and overnight lows near freezing.  Have a great Sunday !!

Brad

Okay….so we’re all cold and it’s going to get colder.  More weather on the weather page.

So we now have a LIVE 5 NEWS Facebook page.  With that, I have now a Facebook page as well.  I have been getting emails from viewers asking why I’m not on the page; so I have signed up and moved into the hip movement of communicating 2009 style.

Being so new at this, I did not know how many “friends” I actually have until people started to “add” me to their “friends” list.  Even my wife Janet (mornings on 96.9 THE WOLF…shameless plug) added me to her list.  I thought we were more than just friends though.  She noted that I did not list “married” in my profile.  Hoping to not have to sleep on the very cold back porch, I quickly added the status to the profile as more “friends” join in.

Seconds later my little brother (actually 24 now) sends a pop-up message telling me he’s coming home for the weekend from the tundra of New York City.  It took so long to figure out how to send him a reply, that he went to bed probably thinking I was ignoring him or maybe out of the room.  Finally I found out how to reply and now can “IM” with the best of them.

So, now that I’m part of the “Generation Y” (y meaning ‘why me!’) I can better communicate with all my “friends” and hope to keep in touch across the cyberspace we all share everyday.

See you on the web….or Facebook….or perhaps Myspace….or on the broadcast tonight!

Bill

If you have been paying attention to the forecast for the past several days you already know we are on our way to a big time Arctic Blast for Friday and Saturday. Looking at the forecast numbers this morning, I don’t see any big changes. With lows expected to fall into the lower to mid teens…make sure you protect the pipes and the pets and those folks who live alone and may need some extra heat.

We will have more on the cold blast today on Live 5 News at Noon.

Chad Watson
Live 5 Meteorologist

Well, we’ve got some real cold air on the way for Thursday night, Friday and the weekend.  Look for highs by Friday on in the 40′s with overnight lows touching the teens back inland!  Arctic air is on the way and reminds us that it’s still winter here in the Lowcountry.

Hope you had a great weekend.  Busy weekend for me with the Air Force Reserve.  Later this month I will travel to Washington and keep you updated with what’s going on up in our nations capitol as I attend some seminars and conferences.  I did have the opportunity to fly a mission to Honduras over the last couple of weeks and will share some of that with you on Tuesday or Wednesday’s broadcast.

Finally took down the Christmas decorations at the Walsh household thanks to Janet.  You really never know how much stuff you have out until you have to put it back into the attic.  She decided to empty the attic of old boxes and other such things to make more room.  For some reason, things seem to multiply up there year to year!  We’ll look forward to next December when we break out the holiday stuff again and see just how tangled those tree lights became, all by themselves.

 I hope you can join us for tonight’s broadcast during the evening and later before you go to bed at 11.

Bill

Well we’ve been doing some remodeling here in the Storm Center.  You may or may not notice on TV, but we have expanded a bit to add a couple of new work stations and better position our command center.  Chad is awesome when it comes to this kind of stuff.  It’s like watching a good surgeon.  Chad asks for a tool or plastic wrap or whatever is needed and I hand it over looking like I know what they’re actually used for!! 

We all have our strengths and weaknesses, and truly Chad is super with this sort of thing and could be a cable installer or auto mechanic in another life.  My strength is clearly not in anything that deals with tools, wires or other such articles which are foreign to me. 

I did use the electric (or as the professionals say, battery powered) super screw driver to change some coat racks behind the Storm Center.  It only took me a few hours to put the two screws into the hanging thingy and place it into the wood.  I think Chad wanted to alert the authorities.

But the good news is that our Storm Center is ready for severe weather season and our team ready to deal with any weather that might come our way. 

If you have experienced the broadcast in HD, you can really see the difference.  If you end up getting a new television during the digital switch, it’s likely that you’ll get an HD set.  I think you’ll really see the difference.  LIVE 5 is the only station in the area broadcasting local news in HD.

Well, time to do what I best, getting the forecast together and the broadcast ready for tonight.  I hope you can join us for the evening shows and then again tonight for a live update before you go to bed at 11.

Bill

Welcome back to work, school and traffic as the first full week of 2009 is underway. As the holiday season is now over you could tell by one look at our traffic cameras that the morning rush had returned to normal. Although schools are not back in session until tomorrow, lots of cars were back on the “I” this morning and folks were pushing through the clouds and fog.

The week ahead looks fairly mild as we are still way above average with our highs in the 70s! Our typical high this time of the year is only in the upper 50′s and I really don’t see us getting back into “normal” territory over the next seven days or so. There may even be a few rumbles of thunder in the forecast by Tuesday night as a cold front moves through. We are not looking at anything strong although it is a good reminder that we are not far from our start of severe weather season. We have had numerous bouts with strong storms in December and January so they can pop up about any time.

Hope you enjoy the day and the week ahead…just wanted to take the time this morning to get back to bloging more in the new year…another one of my hopeful resolutions!

Chad Watson
Live 5 Meteorologist

2009 started on the cold side with highs on New Year’s Day not getting out of the 40s.  That cold weather is a distant memory as we head into the first weekend of the new year.  Not much sun in the forecast over the next few days, but at least temperatures will be on the mild side.  A complex storm system continues to effect parts of the deep south and will keep our weather very unsettled through midweek.

A stationary front will begin to move north during the overnight and into the day on Sunday.  This will keep plenty of clouds and scattered showers in the forecast for the second half of the weekend.  Highs on Sunday will be in the mid to upper 60s.  Not much sun expected for the start of the work week as a cold front begins its trek towards the area.  There is a slight chance for showers on Monday and Tuesday, but the best chance for rain looks to be Wednesday as the front sweeps through the area.  High temperatures will remain above normal through midweek.  Have a great Sunday !!

Brad