The Breeze

"Snow-mageddon, NWS Birthday, Bobby's State of the Year

2010-02-09T13:19:00Z

Good morning all,
   What a past week and current week of weather. I know many of you did not have a booyah drive in today. This pattern is literally unbelievable. In my time working as a meteorologist I have never seen so much of the country get hit with snow, and heavy snow at that. Two systems, one coming from central Canada and the other from the eastern Pacific off of California are phasing into one today across southern Illinois. This system will bomb out tonight through tomorrow night, further hammering the Ohio River Valley and the ever populous, and confrontacious, northeast. Another foot plus for DC, while Maryland will likely see 15 to 20 inches on their 15 to 40 they got last week! That is mind-boggling. Philly, New Jersey, NYC, and Bahston all in for a licking. And to top this, even another storm may be brewing for the end of the week with eyes on Little Rock, AR to Atlanta, GA.

- Minnesota snowfall amounts
- Northern Illinois snowfall forecast

   Also, the current snow depth up here in Minneapolis is almost to 20 inches, and may be by the end of today. The most I have ever seen was just after the January 2-3, 1999 snowstorm in Mendota when we got 21 inches. The depth was right around 20 inches. We may just surpass that.   We cannot get rid of this snow, nor can Iowa, which plays a significant role into why the flooding potential is so high this year for those areas. In fact, Des Moines broke their all time record for consecutive days of 4+" on the ground. It had been 54 days. They are now at 62 and likely to go quite a while yet. Big trouble brewing.

   By the way, on the Super Bowl note, when I was driving home this morning through the snow, I was listening to a little sports radio. And as my drive was winding down, I was thinking to myself how the trustful 'Stang has had many ridicules in this northern climate, but yet it has plowed through fine the past few days and four years. So I started yelling "WHO DAT? WHO DAT? WHO DAT SAY DEY GONNA STOP THAT 'STANG?!" Not you Mother Nature.

   On this crazy weather day, the NWS celebrates 140 years from when President Ulysses S. Grant declared that weather observations be taken by the Signal Service Corps. Back then, this new group of weather observers were named the Division of Telegrams and Reports for the Benefit of Commerce. Even back then, the government did not believe in concise names! Thank goodness the 20th Century acronyms came along.

   Last Friday afternoon I was off work and what was supposed to be an afternoon reading a book authored by one of you Breezers (the Truck), actually turned into reading dozens of e-mails by many of you Breezers. In nearly a record showing, but a definite record occasion, the NIU and Michigan, and Mendota and Friends corporate e-mails got together in cyberspace, including a notable extra Scruffiness. E-mails were flying every which way with a total of 140 sent in three hours. The main topic stemmed from this being "The Year of....". But far from the upcoming Chinese New Year, this dealt with either Bobby or Sparky, two goofs that have never met and I fear the end of civilization the day they do. Anyway, here is an excerpt from Bobby's State of the Year Address for 2010 issued that day:

--------------------------

Now I know that an administration of this scale and complexity is a serious undertaking in itself. But we are in the preliminary phase of one of the greatest battles in history (Bobby vs Sparky). We are in action at many other points-in Schaumburg, Chicago, and Lake County and we have to be prepared to storm into Mendota to finish off the Sparky. The email battle has ensued, and many preparations have to be made here to ensure a victory.

I say to the Parliament and haters out there as I said to the principal ministers who have joined this government, I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, booze, a sweet jump shot, hate for usc, and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many months of struggle (especially finding a female a month to ask out) and suffering to prove this point.

You ask, what is our policy? I say it is to wage war by land, sea, air, phone, texting, email, and direct mail. War with all my might and with all the strength Tim Tebow has given me, and to wage war against a monstrous tyranny of bs (MTF) never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalog of human crime. That is our policy.

You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory. Victory at all costs - Victory in spite of all terrors - Victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival for the ‘Year Of Bobby.’

Let that be realized. No survival for the Year Of Sparky or MTF, no survival for all that the Year Of Sparky has stood for, no survival for the urge, the impulse of the ages, that mankind shall move forward toward my goal, ‘The Year Of Bobby.’

I take up my task in getting laid and drunk a ton and hope. I feel sure that my cause will not be suffered to fail among the men who have put their faith in me. I feel entitled at this juncture, at this time, to claim the aid of all and to say, "Come then, let us go forward together with our united strength for the ‘Year Of Bobby!’’

I will speak to you again on April 1, 2010

Bobby Mengler – February 5, 2010

-----------------------

Now that is the definition of ridiculous. Somewhere within an office at Bay Valley Foods, this call for war has been accepted...over a cold one.

Otherwise, I know little. The next two weeks will feel like college finals.

From the 'SNOWTA to the 'DOTA...
MTF

"I'll slick walk ur head thru a wall"

2010-01-22T11:24:00Z

Breezers,
So has anyone ever had pasta primavera for breakfast? Somehow, I just did. Don't ask.

On more sane notes, after a day of freezing rain and drizzle from the 'Sota to the 'Dota, a more potent winter storm is taking shape for the Upper Midwest, namely the Dakotas and the 'Sota. We may come away pretty easy here in the Cities, but still a lot of uncertainty. Looks like we could get some more ice which is somewhat rare up here, especially in January. The "bread 'n' butter" for ice storms is southern Iowa, Missouri, northern and central IL and IN and northern OH. That doesn't mean ice storms can't happen north, or even south of there. One of the biggest ice storms of this past decade, if not the biggest, hammered Paducah, KY one year ago. It took out the beautiful dogwood blossoms on the drive to the riverfront. That was a "baddy", as we call 'em in Minneapolis.

This current winter storm looks to give North Dakota and northwest Minnesota a double digit amount of snow. That is bad news. This snow will have a lot of water with it and the snow cover on the ground is already loaded with water. Plus, the frozen ground contains an additional surplus of water due to a wet autumn. This is a recipe for disaster in the springtime when one of the most volatile rivers in North America almost annually floods, the Red River. You may remember last March and April watching the news center on Fargo, North Dakota when the Red River threatened to overtop the levee and flood the entire town, similar to 1997 but even worse. Thankfully, the levees held but not after a lot of makeshift reinforcement. The NWS River Forecast Center is predicting a high likelihood of similar flooding this year. Not good for Fargo or Grand Forks. And yes, people DO live in North Dakota.

As for Ilinois, the River Forecast Center looks to be staffed 24-7 into early next week for the threat of ice jams and river floods along the Illinois, Fox, Kankakee, and Rock Rivers. A project I've been working on over the past year to simulate snow melt based on our hourly forecast indicates most of the snow cover should disappear in central IL, if not some of northern IL as well due to warmth and rain. Much of this will go to runoff creating big problems.

Non-weather notes...I have received some hilarious text messages the past few days. While I am not a fan of texting for most pertinent stuff, the off-the-walls material is classic. Take for instance..

MTF: "Going to be a slick walk over to the Moose buddy. Heads up"
Sparky: "Ill slick walk ur head thru a wall"

Miles: "We are going to be stapled jamokes in Vegas. And let's ditch o'brien just for fun! I am so excited to completely ignore him!

MTF: "Should be real icy by later tonight and tom morning"
Heather: "Okay. That sucks"

Heather: "I fell today. niu workers were putting salt out and were like 'whoa! Looks like we arent doing our job!' jerks"

Mengler: "I wish dickie v announced my life...'he's going to work, r u serious!!!!...he ate a piece of pizza, up up and away!'"

Mengler: "Nadal is an injury waitin to happen...either roids or a has been?"

Hahaha, classics. And on that last one, RAFA NADAL is currently winning in the third round. Andy Roddick came back and won yesterday after loosing the first set. Looks like week 2 is going to have the big guns left. As long as Roddick, Federer, or RAFA win I'm happy. RAFA SHORTS.

Haven't received any texts from Novak Djokovic's biggest fan, this guy below, in a while? What gives?

From the 'Sota to the 'Dota to LOWELL,
MTF

Freezing Fog...whaaa?

2010-01-20T14:10:00Z

Breezers,
   I hope everyone is enjoying the week and got out and about a bit on MLK weekend. JAMIE, I hope Cancun was a blast. Talk about an MLK excursion!

   I've received a few questions about freezing fog. The last week has been riddled with fog across a large portion of the country. Basically the entire central U.S. has seen fog. There has been little west to east flow across the mid-section of the country, with the jet stream being confined to the far south and well north in central Canada, typical of an El Niño pattern. The milder temperatures have led to gradual snow melt and sublimation, which has increased the air moisture. This combination has led to fog. It has been so persistent including during the days because of a temperature inversion aloft. This is where the temperature warms with height. This is due to primarily the snow cover on the ground, acting to keep the near surface air chilled. Thus it is more dense, underneath warmer air that is less dense. Little vertical moition ensues because of this stable pattern. So the fog and particulates stick around. Hence for you runners (not me thus far in 2010), you may notice the air not being so clean when out for the jog. More about temperature inversions can be read on this link below, which is from one week ago today and here in Minneapolis where the temperature was 58° at 4,600 ft, yet we were only 27° at the surface!

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=mpx&storyid=46523&source=2

   So back to the freezing fog. Freezingfog is a dense fog that generally has just a little movement in it, that is the air is not completely still like most dense fogs, over a groundthat is cooler than freezing. This causes riming, which is iced epositing on surfaces, often making roads slick. This has been the case off and on during this dense fog stretch.

Annual number of dense fog days: http://www.sweetcornforecast.com/climate/images/DenseFog.jpg

When will this foggy and "non-clean air" pattern break? There is so significant Canadian or arctic air push the next week which will do it. However, precipitation is likely as the week ensues, including a mixed bag of freezing rain, sleet, and even snow up here in Minnesota (go figure, for late January?!) Precipitation can "scour out" the atmosphere of a lot of the particulates, so that may help somewhat. It will really take a strong cold front though to truly scour it out. This has been a serious pain in the butt for aviation forecasting, so I cannot wait either!

   On another note, my next weekend off in late February has been hashed out over the past month to take a little excursion. I am about to book tickets to join Luke, Miles, Cozzy, and 'Vis in Las Vegas for two days. Big mistake? Possibly, especially if you hear what happened to Luke this past weekend! But, I had one night in Vegas with Luke and Cozzy two years ago that I am still recovering from because it was a blast. Might I add, on the tail of a huge OC venture in Cali with B-Mengler and Foul-Mouthed James. So I am fortunate enough to be heading out west once again. Hopefully we survive.

Watch the Aussie Open Breezers...ESPN at nights.

From the 'Sota to the 'Dota...
MTF

2010! Year of the SPARKY

2010-01-08T20:36:00Z

Happy New Year BREEZERS!
   Ooooooooooooooh man! A new year is upon us, and I appreciate the "friendly" e-mails, texts, and verbal messages about wanting more Breeze this year. Skip the cowbell, we all need more Breeze. Well I will do my best to be your weather word, your 'Sota supplement, and your 'Dota dose. A hot topic as of late has been the aggressive winter thus far, as we near the half way point of meteorological winter (Dec 1-Feb 28). It has been colder and much snowier than normal in most of the eastern two-thirds of the country. Supposedly 56% of the U.S. has snow cover which has to be much higher than normal (though I'm not sure what normal is for January). And for the fourth consecutive mid to late winter (January or February), home has caught up/surpassed Minneapolis in snowfall.

Grand Rapids, MI: 41.0 inches
Madison: 33.6 inches
Rockford: 30.8 inches
Minneapolis: 25.8 inches
Chicago (O'Hare): 24.9 inches
Peoria: 20.4 inches

   Snow totals from yesterday's event in northern Illinois can be found here. The Christmas-time snow event was a huge one, in particular the day after Christmas for IL. That was a "surprise" to the forecasters including myself. If you'd like to read why it was a surprise, more can be found here. The southeast continues to be extremely frigid by their standards, with orange crop and wildlife hit hard in Florida.

    But the grandest news today is far from Mother Nature. The man, the myth, the legend...turns 28 today. Last year at this time, Miles declared it was "a marvel of modern science" the fact that this individual turned 27. Well we have added one to that, and we're gonna add a lot more as he keeps making history. Yes indeed, it is a birthday to one of the greats today. This guy is known to everyone and it is because he is a true friend to all he meets. You cannot forget him and I guarantee he won't forget you, no matter how many he's had. He is as genuine as they come. He's been there through thick and thin with MTF. He is my wedding date into this new decade. He is the man, simply put. Sparky, happy mmmbooyah birthday good buddy!

From the 'Sota to the 'Dota, TWENTY TEN, YEAR OF THE SPARKY!
MTF

Thankful

2009-11-25T15:39:00Z

Hello Breezers,
   If hitting the roads later today, most of you can expect it wet. It will likely be snowing by afternoon here in much of MN, with rain only in IL. Some changeover to snow is possible tonight in IL, with likely some snow during the morning hours on Thanksgiving. Accumulations will be very minor considering how warm it has been. Possibly 1-3 inches in-between the 'Sota and the 'Dota (i.e. SW WI). November has been incredibly warm, and while cooler weather will be in store the next week, the month is likely to finish in the top ten warmest Novembers for many. Actually here in MN, and I suspect in IL, our November has been warmer than our October! That is phenomenal considering how the average plummet this time of year. If we finish that way in Minneapolis, it will be only the second time since 1881.

   And a happy birthday shoutout one day after to Johns! It was GREAT talking to you at 2:30 am this morning! That was awesome!

   MTF won't be heading home this Turkey Day, but have a good one in store tomorrow. And doesn't matter where anyone is, nor actually the time of year, they can always give thanks!

I am thankful for many, many things.

I am thankful for my parents, all that they bought for me, all of my teachers, and all that they taught to me.

I am thankful for my job, and my coworkers' brilliance, thankful for all my family, and their lasting resilience.

I am thankful for side dishes, such as cream corn and broccoli spears, and thankful for teenie boppers, such as Taylor Swift and Britney Spears.

I am thankful for Lamberts in Missouri, for the Lions Tap in Minnesota, for "the Bob" in Michigan, and for Ziggies in Mendota.

I am thankful for drums, that I always must bang, thankful for snow plowers, that clear for the Mustang.

I am thankful for Jimmy Nesbitt, genius in E-town, thankful for the D-Man, a great friend and absolute clown!

I am thankful for Facebook, YouTube, and AWIPS, I am thankful for kleenex, soap, and q-tips.

I am thankful for the Mauch boys, the Schroeder boys, the Fox boys, and the Backstreet Boys.

I am thankful to doctors and nurses, who everyday save lives, am thankful for Mark Mutton, and even his lip high fives.

I am thankful for all that know econ, all that can comprehend chem, I am thankful so much for women, and the little I understand of them!

I am thankful for the Zapfs, and Beth's great blog, I am thankful it is one month til Christmas, and one month til eggnog!

I am thankful for my sister, even when she is snoring, am thankful for Caroline, both Csnernus and my girl Doran!

I am thankful for my cousin Megan, her fiancé Matt too, thankful for my cousin Kris, and Chief Illiniwek his boo.

I am thankful for NIU, alma mater to many, I am thankful for insurance, saving me many a penny!

I am thankful for Minnesota, the friendliest state in the nation, I am thankful for Joe Mauer, the Twinkies MVP sensation!

I am thankful for country music, thankful for movies that make me laugh, am thankful for President Barack Obama, and his Joint Chiefs of Staff.

I am thankful for the MEPs, the Guiders including Becky G, am thankful for Jaaaames McQuirter, and yes ... Tony Z.

I am thankful for the double J, who just turned 28, thankful for Miles and Sparky, always a wedding date!

I am thankful for Tuffie the cat, and Pudge the kitty, and thankful to be from, the World's Greatest Little City!

I am thankful for Apple and Microsoft, eternal battle of Holzner and Scott, I am thankful for all my crazy friends, and everything that I got!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone...from the 'Sota to the 'Dota!

MTF

Indian Summer No More, a Fly By, and a Perennial Wedding Date

2009-10-23T06:02:00Z

Breezers,
Quick update here. One of the coolest and wettest Octobers on record continues in the Midwest. More rain/snow today for Minnesota and rain in Illinois. The harvest is terribly delayed from ND to AR, including MN and IL. The wet pattern will continue through the end of October, with precipitation-making weather systems every 48-60 hours it appears. Unbelievable pattern for this long in October. In Minneapolis, we will likely be in the ten wettest by the end of today. We presently rank the 7th coolest October, with nothing but cold weather through the end of the month. The average temperature has been 43 degrees. This comes after a September which had an average near 67 degrees! Amazing!

News...well, not sure if any of you saw this, but an NWA-Delta flight from San Diego to Minneapolis on Wednesday evening overshot Minneapolis by nearly 150 miles! WTF MTF?! Supposedly it was due to an argument in the cockpit that amazingly prevented them from hearing air traffic control or the ILS instruments! I am not so sure about that. Thankfully they began chatting with air traffic control soon enough to prevent fighters from scrambling to escort the unresponsive aircraft. Needless to say, the pilot and co-pilot are suspended. Read more here: www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/10/22/airliner.fly.by/index.html

That's about all from me. Oh, and if you think you are Sparky's wedding date for the next wedding...you best think again:

That looks like a Luke or Miles desktop background. Maybe Bobby since you're such a fan of Sparky and have yet to meet the Moose man!

Oh and new season of StormChasers on Discovery Channel. Anyone watch this, besides Roop?

See you on that wedding dance floor, from the 'SOTA to the 'DOTA...a Sparky style mmmbooyah!
MTF

Buffalo Chicken Tenders, El Niño, OktoberFest, and One Huge Year for the Scruffs!

2009-10-16T12:42:00Z

Breezers,
The title of this entry probably makes no sense. It only does to me at this hour having been up all night. I sort of like doing Breeze updates when I am a zombie like this. Weather first...a peek of sun this morning at sunrise, but otherwise broken clouds for one more day here. Cannot wait to see the sun tomorrow! Possibly a few snowflakes again tonight, but that will be it for snow for a while.

So I have this amazing story and it actually is from a week and a half ago but I had sort of forgotten about it with all that's going on. One night I was definitely was whipping up some mean buffalo chicken tenders, courtesy of Tyson Foods. And look at this tender that came out of the oven...uncut or untouched by me:

Is that not the Land of Lincoln?! Some people see Jesus's face in food and other things...I see Illinois. Is that telling me something? Hilarious though, I text it to Heather right away. She responds that she can't believe I didn't put a little toothpick and flag saying World's Greatest Little City in the north central part of that tender. That's my sis! It was ashamed I had to eat it.

El Niño...it means...The Niño! A classic Chris Farley clip from way back in the day. It was thought that El Niño was big then, but it has never been bigger. It's a pop term in the media, with few explaining actually what it is, at least in my opinion. And it's not like I am an expert, as El Niño is a long term Pacific ocean phenomena and I deal with day to day weather in Minnesota and Wisconsin. And I screw that up enough as it is! But here are some numbers one of my colleagues put together describing El Niño and it's impact on MN weather. This should speak for much of the Great Lakes area with regard to temperatures.
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=mpx&storyid=34275&source=0

Mengler making news in the Breeze once again. This time though just a shoutout to his and Ryan's (Deg) OktoberFest party tomorrow...all afternoon and night. I was on the bubble for this for quite a while and reluctantly had to back out. But, if you are in the Chicagoland area, particularly Schaumburg (Slim, Vis, Luke), you should stop by in my place as. God knows him and Guider will be ripping on me as it is, so might as well join in the parlay. Derek you too. I know you are reading the Breeze. Mengler demands your presence. This party will be quite raucous, with good food, NIU and Notre Dame football, and of course a little bit of booze. Will you guys be able to cook tenders quite as awesome as mine above? I think not. I have received daily calls from Mengler everyday this week and I expect one later today and quite the loud one tomorrow on Gameday. Guider you can expect to hear from me soon after I get off work at 6 am. May want to turn off the phone. And happy 14 months Dan and Kim!

On the note of anniversaries, Scruff and wife Jamie will mark one year of marriage on Sunday! Congratulations to them! They will be doing some camping this weekend to celebrate. What a wedding weekend that was last year! Cannot believe it was one year ago!

Oh wait, wrong couple from that night. Look at that short-sleeve maniac! Haha, love the Spark! Alright, let's try that again...

There we go! Have a great weekend Mammens! And everyone else too! Go easy in Schaumburg.

From the 'Sota to the 'Dota...MTF out!

MTF

Snow, MEPs, WTF, and Sparky Misses Todd

2009-10-15T13:06:00Z

Breezers,
   Another non-sleep entry, so excuse the typos andramblings. Outside it is primarily raining, but some small snowgranules mixed in. This would be the first falling snow I have seenthis autumn, although it snowed here this past weekend (I just wasn'there to see it!). I remember the first snows of my years here in MNand this one, I must admit, was the most dismal! Partly because itcame early (earliest I have seen snow in at least ten years), partlybecause it has been a stretch of very cold for October, partly because it is raining too, and lastly because it happens as I am gettingoff an all nighter. That just leads to a crabby attitude. The precipshould mainly stay rain here in the Cities and any snow will be fairlylight.

   Anywho, cannot believe it's Thursday. I have not beenanywhere as productive as I have wanted to be since I have returned. Nothing really to blame it on. It's easy to say the shifts, or theheels on a trip home, but I just am in a funk the past few days. Notfunk as in "Funk 'n' Junk", the Marching Huskies 2001-2002 album. Prettyawesome mix for those who don't have it. Okay, that was a sidetrack. But yeah, I need to get up by early afternoon and get some things done!

  Mengler said wisely that I needed to give a shoutout to the Huskies forthis weekend they take a trip to Toledo, somewhere Mengler and myselfhave been to twice. Best marching band performance ever was there -9/29/01. Big D Man, if you're reading this, you'll agree with that! And for those of you who don't know, Bobby Mengler predicts all the college football games on Tuesday of every week. He is the man at this and getting better every week. It's his fourth year of doing it. His biggest fans include Slim and Vujea.

Here is a pic from Sunday Night of my sis and me in front of her andher roomie's Huskie wall:

    Back to weather for a second...like I said rambling....I read that Grand Rapids, MI ... home of the Guiders and also where Jen went to a wedding last weekend (no Bob fellas)...has not seen 70° in Oct yet. If they don't reach 70° in October, it would be the first time on record that has happened. Impressive cool first half of the month for much of the Midwest. While a warm-up is in store this weekend and next week, it wouldn't seem enough to push 70° up to the lower peninsula.

    When turning on my phone this morning I had not one, not two, but three texts about Taylor Swift on Oprah Winfrey?! Have I really shown that I am that much of a fan of the 19 year old phenom?? I guess so. Unless people just think I like Oprah. Not so much, sorry.

    Otherwise, hitting the hay. Will try to do an update tomorrow morning again to make it a complete WTF...as in Wednesday Thursday Friday. What were you thinking?!

From the 'Sota to the 'Dota...sleep well,
MTF

P.S. Sparky text Wednesday evening..."D*mn it...I miss the T O Double D"

Sota Early Snow and a Dota Wedding Show

2009-10-14T03:21:00Z

Hey everyone,
I hope YOU have your long sleeves out. LOTS to cover (get it...long sleeves and in this blog? Ugh, bad joke), and doing it after being up all night should make it all quite magical.

Yes, the September warmth is a distant memory as October has been significantly cooler and wetter than normal thus far. Precipitation was snow in Minnesota on Saturday, and again late Sunday night and Monday. Over four inches fell at St. Paul, with two and a half at Minneapolis. This was the earliest 2" snowfall event in the Twin Cities since 1977. A lot of people have been asking...a sign of things to come? Well a quick glance at October snows in the Twin Cities such as this offer little correlation to the winter. What is remarkable is how quickly things have changed though. A long string of 80s ... to snow in Minneapolis ... in two weeks. Wow. Below are some pictures of the snow in Minnesota from early Tuesday morning.

Temperatures have been significantly below normal from the northern Rockies to the Great Lakes in October. A handful of records have been set, but one in particular that is mind-blowing. Cheyenne, WY on Saturday had a high of only 17° and a low of a frigid 10°. The record low for that day had been 19°! In other words, they didn't even reach the value that had been he coldest for that day for approximately 140 years! That boggles the meteorological and statistical mind. Never have I heard of a record like that anywhere.

Well this past weekend was a quick trip, not "renegade" however, home to northern Illinois. It was a jam-packed three and a half days. This was supposed to be the "quick" and "not overly huge" trip home of '09, with no Chicagoland ventures. And compared to some other trips this year, this was really supposed to be very minor. On the contrary, and as always, Mendota does not disappoint. This trip home was one of the more eye-opening, surprising, and fun ones I have had.

I was lucky to be at NIU twice, both times of which were much great. Campus looked beautiful and it was comforting as always to be back. Went to the concert/symphony band's show on Sunday night which was booyah. Heath rocked and pretty sure she is going to consider the Marching Huskies 2010.

The other main event was Saturday...Mendotan Kate marrying Kevin. While Kate's family was not happy with the temperatures, they were satisfied it was dry. The wedding was beautiful and the reception in Princeton was really a lot of fun. Congratulations to Kate and Kevin, who are now celebrating in Costa Rica. Perfect timing for that trip!

A wedding such as that sounds nice and peaceful on paper. Well, when it's a day filled with Sparky (my date) and Miles, it is never that. Here are some highlights from Saturday, which was a big day...

Despite Sparky and I being the masters of weddings together, we managed to sit on the wrong side in the church. It gave Kate's side quite the chuckle.
This was one of the more fun times I have had between wedding and reception. Sparky and I made a quick stop at CVS and inside was Scruff's Mom! Hilarious meeting with me and my date both styling in suits! Then my sis walks in and it's just complete chaos.
Drive to Princeton with Sparky was classic. Got a little friendly near the town of Dover.
Reception was fabulous. Here are some pictures:

From the dining to the speeches to the video collage to the dancing, it was fun for the couple and all else. Even with Miles constantly trying to dance with Sue and Tess, Kate's Mom and sister, all had a blast. The dinner was top notch, and loudly talking about the Sweet Corn Festival while in line with the Atherons and Miles made it quite lively. I managed to catch my 4th garter at a wedding, just edging out a disinterested Sparky and a disillusioned Miles. For some reason I had the poor forecast that this dance floor may not be that lively. Ooooh it was. The DJ was from Bloomington and was solid after a slow start. He played some DMB for Miles so he could dance with Tess and Sparky. Yes, I have a 10 second video of it. Not pretty. Late in the game, Miles would sit on and break one of the tables. Its top had been basically cork. In other comical times, Miles and Sparky would have frequent smoke breaks, and it would seem like more people would join them with each one. Hilarious conversations out there, which included Miles asking Sparky and I which one of us were driving home? Hahaha...three minutes of laughter ensued. The ride back to Mendota with Alison and Sparky in the Stang was a nice ending to that reception. Jamming to Belinda Carlisle and Pat Benatar most of the way, that's how we roll!

Oh yeah, and Moose brunch Sunday morning was exactly what I needed that morning. Thanks Spark.

And finally, one more picture for the Breeze reader to try to understand. What is wrong with the following picture???

Yeah...that is a real child and that really is Miles. As Alison would later ask me "Who let Miles hold a child?!" I don't know, but my gosh, he smiled during it! He may have said a few angry things, but a genuine smile did crack! Daddy Truck! This picture is nominated for the "Most Interesting" in 2009.

Didn't make it to Chicagoland or Peoria, but this is a shoutout to all you folks. I am sorry Bobby and Guider that I am not making OktoberFest this weekend. I am sure it will be crazy judinging by Bobby's two early morning voicemails this week. I would not be surprised Slim stops by. Slim, you going???

Thank you again Mendota...

From the 'Sota to the 'Dota...mmmbooyah,
MTF

Bobby Birthday!

2009-10-01T19:44:00Z

All,
I know I have been behind on the Breeze, but as the winds of Autumn come in, the Breeze will appropriately pick up as well. While today's entry will be very brief, it will be important. A happy birthday to Bobby Mengler...FROM...Northern Illinois University...originally FROM...Schaumburg!

Weatherwise, we are up and down for the coming ten days. So bear with Mother Nature as she transitions. It is 50 degrees in constant light rain here today, after a beautiful day yesterday. While the last few cool days brought our average temperature down, Minnesota either finished with the warmest or second warmest September on record. Much of the U.S. was warmer than normal. This balances out a very cool summer.

Otherwise, all those headed to MHS or NIU Homecoming, have a great time this weekend! Weather will be shaky during both, with cool conditions and showers around. But hey, plenty of warmth, especially at that NIU Homecoming! Becky Guider's Broncos are going down!

And Guider, top ten will be coming out soon! There is at least two new folks in the top ten. Will Wuj retain his crown? Will the contenders of Mammens, Guiders, and Slim break his #1 streak? Will Sparky and Luke pick themselves up off the floor? Which corporate e-mail group visits more? Questions like that and more will be answered soon. So relax Guider!

From the 'Sota to the 'Dota...mmmmmmmmmmmHappy Booyah Birthday Mengler!
MTF

Naders

2009-08-20T10:01:00Z

Breezers,
This is real quick as I have to hit the hay, but a busy weather day for most of you yesterday. For those 'Sotan's, we got rocked in sort of surprise fashion with low topped, quick-moving, non-thunderstorm tornadoes. Damage surveys will be done today. Down in IL, several tornadoes confirmed south of Peoria...west of Lincoln. That's all for now. For more info...

- Wednesday's tornadoes in/near Minneapolis

- Storm reports in northern IL, including winds in LaSalle and Streator and flooding in Mendota

- Many central IL tornadoes

- Nationwide

That is all...from the 'Sota to the 'Dota,
MTF

P.S. I blame Brett Favre for all of this.

Summer Fun

2009-08-17T18:48:00Z

Breezers!
This is going to be a quick update, but an update is very warranted. First off, the Mammen visit a few weeks ago....awesome. I'd like to say that I was responsible for this rooftop dinner view of the city we had, but I cannot take credit...

Here is a pic of Jamie going crazy too....(sorry Jamie!)

Then we had the visit by Lucas to MinneSOta. Oooooh man. The bed time was a little bit later than the Mammen visit. We went to a Twins game and out at the University of Minnesota a couple nights with some of his colleagues. Chaos.

Let's just say, you don't want to know how he acquired this bow...

Then of course, it was time for the grand weekend. Sweet Corn Festival 2009, Making History in the Cornfields, lived up to it's slogan. UNBELIEVABLE. Thank you to my buddy Jimmy, mentioned in the blog entry below, for making the huge trip northward. Also a huge shoutout to Mom and Alison who gave us another great Festival, and were never afraid of that rain. As Scruff said, there has never been a Festival with so much "looooove", and he was right. Within two minutes of being in the beer garden, I had planted one on Miles and Mark had planted multiple smooches on me. While this may sound grotesque, it was the spirit of the 2009 SCF and it could not be stopped! And a thank you beyond size to everyone else, Mendota and further who made the Sweet Corn Festival what it was and what it is...the Greatest Show on Earth. You all seriously are amazing.

I simply could post hundreds of pictures on here, but cannot. However, no tears as they are uploaded. Check them out, along with a video collage, here.

Also a shoutout to Dan and Kim, who celebrated one year yesterday! Ridiculous how fast a year goes. That was one of thee craziest wedding weekends I have ever been or will be a part of. Fantastic. I will get back to Michigan before this year ends....

College football is but a couple weeks away. Get ready for the Mengler Expert Picks, which will be coming to sweetcornforecast.com. Also, kickoff of NIU football at Wisconsin will be graced with everyone from my sister to Mengler to Guider to "Wisconsin Rob" and possibly even my Mom. Yikes.

It's that time again to post sweetcornforecast web stat numbers. That will be for the next entry. There's a couple new folks in the top ten, which means a couple departures. We've had no marriages in the past six months, so no mergers (don't worry Mengler).

That's all I got for now. Mengler...call me. Vujea...call me. Guider...don't you call me, I'll call you.

From the summer 'Sota to the World's Greatest 'Dota,
MTF

End of an Era: Nesbitt

2009-07-09T08:05:00Z

Breezers,
Hope everyone is well. Yesterday brought some interesting weather to the Midwest, including two brief tornado touchdowns not far from Peoria in IL and some big naders in western North Dakotas. These storms would eventually evolve and move into Minnesota early today. Though they were pretty subdued by that point. Some more storms today in MN, and Friday and Friday night in IA and northern IL. Some of those on Friday night could be severe, so head's up Dotans and suburbians.
As mentioned in my previous post, my good friend Jimmy is "retiring" from journalism. Below is some info about him that I sent out to Ohio Valley folk that I then thought I should post in the Breeze too, to give a little insight on and appreciate to this madman. This guy is a genius yet nothing shy of a nut, and he's going to hopefully make his presence known in the WGLC at SCF '09...

All,
This week will bring "the end of an era" to not only the Evansville C&P, and not only to the lower Ohio Valley, but to expert journalism across this great country. At the end of this week we say adieu to our favorite writer, the modest one who at times has referred to himself as "The Award Winning J", the ever-talented, never outspoken ... Jimmy Nesbitt. He will leave the journalism world after captivating the hearts of millions across the Heartland for over six years. The face of excellence:

After surviving childhood in eastern Kentucky, where life expectancy is 17, Jimmy Nesbitt headed to the University of Kentucky to explore journalism. This came after denial of entrance to prestigious Northern Illinois University, where Jimmy had longed to be a Huskie. Instead settling for Wildcats (or is it pussycats?), Jimmy achieved his UK degree in journalism and marketing, with a minor in drinking.

He then headed west to see the Paducah SUN set, and to head up the "Paducah Police Beat". Now such a task may sound simple and comical (very comical actually), but oh no, the young Mr. Nesbitt discovered corruption and was not afraid to bring it to the attention of illiterate western Kentucky readers. It was at the Sun where he met one of his mentors, the also illustrious and excellent author, an all too proud graduate of Southern Illinois ... a one Brian Peach. Mr. Nesbitt and Mr. Peach never took off their writing caps and worked undercover at such established places as "Jeremiah's", the "Moss Rose", "Ernie's", and "KC's", the last of which was a bar you could have no more than two teeth to enter. They defined the term "scrilla" and weren't afraid to get in a fight with said "scrillas" over a pool game to defend their journalism honor.

In Jimmy's free time in Paducah he would frequent the basketball and tennis courts at Bob Noble Park, which was more like a south side of Chicago park. It was there that I met Mr. Jimmy Nesbitt. Now an odd thing about this meeting, and something I learned right away about Jimmy, was that despite his prestige of a front-page author, Jimmy was not shy of sporting very little clothing in public. For the first time I saw Jimmy on the tennis court, he was wearing the shortest shorts you will have ever seen on a male. Oh and there was no shirt either. Still to this day, horrid visions of that hot June 2004 day run through my head. The picture below is the most clothes I ever saw him wear on a summer day.

For the remainder of 2004, Jimmy began covering more weather topics, as he uncovered a new appreciation for the science of meteorology. I showed Jimmy that it was more than a throwing dart science, and in the process beat him many times in darts...and pool...and basketball....and tennis. I also taught him a few things about how to dress ... namely how to WEAR CLOTHES. As 2005 began though, Paducah said a teary-eyed good bye to Jimmy as he floated up the Ohio River (literally) to Evansville. I would continue to use his log-in to read the full Paducah Sun on-line for two years plus afterwards! Haha!
The move to Evansville brought Jimmy to even higher levels...literally. Early in his tenure there he would have the honor of flying with the Blue Angels. The front page of the C&P site would showcase him ... with vomit on himself ... and a green-colored face:

Brian and I would still see Jimmy plenty. In fact, late in 2005, Jimmy also gave us a 2 am tour of the worst part of Evansville and yelled drunken obscenities to show he was not afraid. We also went to a UK and Indiana football game. No offense Gavin, but this was like a junior tackle game. Mind you Indiana won big. Jimmy got a hotel room for us...and of course it had only one bed, to Jimmy's liking. He made us strike these poses below...it was sick journalism. Just sick...

As my time in the lower Ohio Valley ended, Jimmy arranged a trip to Nashville for one last hurrah. Below shows Jimmy on that trip, once again at 2 am, and this time attempting to do the simple function of pick up the hotel key off the floor. This would be useless anyway because Jimmy somehow chained the door from the outside before we left. Classic Nesbitt.

Up in Minneapolis I followed Jimmy's work at the C&P, occasionally sending in hate mail or violent comments directed towards him on the web site. Soon after arrival here, Jimmy also arranged to send me "Details" magazine, as he thought I needed to learn a thing or two about dressing in the city. The first copy I received had a male in his underwear on the cover. How ironic, as that was Jimmy's dress code. To return the favor, I sent Jimmy the less scandalous "Weatherwise" magazine. You will find those copies on his coffee table...or in a southern Indiana landfill, one of the two.
I have visited Jimmy three times since my move here and my liver is much worse off because of it. But those were incredible times. My most recent visit in March was one of the best trips anywhere I've had. Jimmy plans on paying a visit to my homeland in northern Illinois in August, where I will show him that he is dead wrong when he says I "grew up with sheep". A classic comment from a classic writer! The Courier and Press is losing a fantastic one. On a serious note Jimmy, a reader from 750 miles away is going to miss your writing. Please get blogging, tweeting, or whatever to put the good Nesbitt word out. You are the man. I love ya, but not in the way Dan Shaw does.

Good luck Jimmy with your new adventures at the United Way!!!

From the 'SOTA to the 'DOTA to the Lower Ohio Valley ...
MTF

One Month

2009-07-06T17:35:00Z

Breezers,
Hope all had a fabulous Independence Day weekend! That Saturday rain did not stop most firework shows in IL, but amazingly Mendota postponed until Sunday. That's alright, it made the whole weekend a bash in the WGLC for those of you home. I had a great show outside work on Saturday. We could see 5 communities launching fireworks all at once. Probably the most I've seen at one time. The darn inversion in place (or warming temperatures with height) that night, allowed the smoke to simply spread over the ground and not mix out. It basically evolved into dense fog. That was sort of unique too, and I don't think the airport cared much for it.
Well on bigger notes.....today is July 6th. My calendar...my countdown clock...my internal clock....they all say: ONE MONTH.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBaZEVo6XBQ

Are you ready?! Will you be there when "history is made" in the cornfields?! A Festival that looks like one simply nestled between bigger and better ones in '08, '10, and '11 is far, far, FAR from that. Each year they keep getting better as we proved from year to year. This year is going to be nothing shy of unbelievable. If you can sleep at night, teach me how, because my heart is racing. TICK TICK TICK....

From the 'Sota to the 'Dota...mmmmmmbooyah!
MTF

July

2009-07-02T14:14:00Z

Breezers,
   Welp into July we go. We've had reprieve in the Midwest from the mid-June heat, with temperatures since Sunday having been much cooler. Parts of Wisconsin and northern Minnesota did not reach 60 degrees on Tuesday, if you can believe it.   The only storms blowing in the Midwest were Lou Pinella yesterday and Ron Gardy Monday. The Holiday weekend looks fairly quiet with regard to weather from the 'Sota to the 'Dota, with a very weak trough passage having only small chances for isolated storms during the afternoon and evening. Most fireworks shows should go it seems. Hope everyone gets to see a few. For ironically the 5th straight year I'll be working the evening of the 4th, but in Minnesota that doesn't mean missed fireworks thanks to the extra long days. Both of the last two years I was able to see fireworks after I got off at 10. Unfortunately this year I work til midnight, but if weather is quiet Sat eve I can step outside and see parts of at least 5 shows at once with the good view, so it's all good. Nothing quite like the Mendota fairgrounds though. It's been since 2002 that I have been there! Scruff can you believe it?!
   Tomorrow, the first Friedlein cat, Tuffie, turns 13. She's still got the swagger she had when she first entered the neighborhood as "the tuffest cat around". Yeah she's slowed down in recent years, and this past year has seen her struggle a bit. But Tuffie is still Tuffie, will still bite your toes when you get out of the shower, will still bask in the sun, will still hiss at strangers yet not go run and hide, and will still let the other cat Pudge know who's boss of the house.

    Been on a long stretch of shifts, but a little break in the evenings the next two before starting a stretch of eves again on Sat. So got some work to do on the phone here. Big news is that the Mammens' trip to MN is just over 3 weeks away, and the North Star State is bracing itself. I cannot wait! As for the big count, we are down to 34 days. It's quite humorous how in the past 48 hours, with the calendar change to July, that people are starting to realize how close we are.and inquiring as to where the countdown stands. One month from Monday, so expect a public service announcement then. And only two months from Sunday is kickoff to college football, which means a little under that until the MEPs (Mengler's Expert Picks) which are going web-based this year. Look out.
    Now while the 4th is Saturday, no one should look at it as "halfway through summer". That makes zero sense. For one, most people think summer begins June 21st, just a week and a half ago?!?! To meteorologists, the start of summer is the 1st of June. Even with that, summer is not near half way done. I like to look at it as when the peak temperatures occur, which is the latter portion of July, something like the 24-26 as the mid-point of summer. So Mammens, you are the midpoint of summer for me.
   Also, my good friend Jimmy will be leaving the journalism business next week in Evansville to pursue bigger and better things at the United Way. Despite his antics I have witnessed many times firsthand, he is a fabulous writer, an "award-winning one" if he may so himself. He's come a ways from the "Police Beat" in Paduuuucah. Haha. Check out an exerpt of some of his work here. Nothing better than him calling and quoting me for info about severe weather in Indiana and Kentucky while I'm in Minnesota. Classic! And there is great potential, in part because of the timing of his job shift, that Jimmity Cricket may make it to the SCF. That would be nothing shy of ridiculous.

SCF 2009 Dream Count = 5
What's yours at?

From the 'Sota to the 'Dota .... actually .... as Lee Greenwood sings ..... "From the lakes of Minnesota, to the hills of Kentucky, across the plains of Illinois, from Chicago to the Mississippi. From DeKalb down to Paducah, and the Twin Cities to the World's Greatest Little One, there's pride in every American heart and it's time we stand and say......................................"

mmmbooyah ... Happy 4th!
MTF

A Schrady Birthday

2009-06-26T03:18:00Z

All,
   Once again, trailing on the Breeze, as has been the case much of this first half of 2009 (which is almost done!). A ton has transpired since the last post on my end of things, but do not have the time nor the "oomph" to blog all of it. And anywho, today...the 26th...is a time to give a huge 27th birthday shoutout to the man...the myth...the legend...

   Standing some 6 foot 4, able to dunk on a ten and a half foot rim, this man known once as "Jared" prior to 1997 has become a star from the tri-county area to the 'ville to the 'burg.

   His size 16 shoes coming down Sparky's basement stairs struck fear in any guy's heart, while all the ladies stopped in their tracks knowing "the great one" was about to arrive.

   He was the creator of corporate e-mail. It was not any of the other "Mendota and Friends", nor any part of rival group "NIU and Michigan".

   From the radio waves to the AIM to the corporate e-mail and to the face-to-face convos, no one is more clever with their words than this now 27 year old.

   He has been known as a football player, a basketball star, a baseball...well viewer, a janitor, a bouncer, an announcer, a mortgage specialist, and a closing specialist...but no matter the job, he is known as "the man".

   He arguably has held the "Best Non-Tennis Team Tennis Player in Mendota" trophy for a decade now, and would challenge Rafael Nadal at Stroble Avenue courts anytime.

   One day, three of the five starting basketball players on MHS's team will be sons of this man, of course according to him.

   He has said such quotes as "For a long time single dude, I'm an expert in relationships..."

   He was the first ever to predict a Sweet Corn Queen and Ms. Congeniality to be the same person, and was mentioned the next year in the Queen's speech because of his expertise.

   For over a decade he has never used the word "I", always referring to himself in third person.

   No matter how wild that Saturday night was, Slim will always be found in a church pue the next morning....saying "thanks be to Todd."

   His name has preceded him...as years before my college friends ever met him, they always referred to his name and his greatness.

   He brought "ghost knucks" to Mendota, which Sparky and I have and continue to badly abuse.

   I have partied with him from Illinois to Kentucky to Missouri to Ohio to Minnesota...and we'll add Wisconsin to that list this September.

I have met celebrities with this man...and he was not afraid to tell them he would "punch 'em in the nose".

He taught me everything I know about how to talk to the ladies...and it clearly worked for him!

He has introduced us all to a newer and cooler shade of Myles...

As opposed to the only one we had known before...

Now granted, he has had some questionable friends...

While he has had some extremely classy ones...

No one has raised the roof like him...

And no one, and I mean no one, fishes like him...

And he can eat at any time in any setting....no matter how strange that setting may be...

His most famous quote from 1997 to the present couldn't be more true...."Slim is the man".

Leave him some love folks! The big fella, the Phenom of Mendota, the Conscience of the W.G.L.C., the one they call SLIM SCHRADY turns the big 27 today!

And he loves this line ...."From the 'Sota to the 'Dota"...ghost knucks Slim!

MTF ... or as Slim has coined ... "Zilla"

Northern Minnesota

2009-06-11T14:10:00Z

Breezers,
The first third of June is done already. Fairly poor weather from the 'Sota to the 'Dota the past several days. Minnesota broke several record minimum high temperatures. In other words, highs only in the lower 50s this weekend were record for this time of year. We also finally saw some rain up here. We are still in a deficit, but a couple inches helped. This past weekend, parts of western North Dakota saw a couple of inches of snow! It was the first time in 60+ years that some communities in that area saw snow in June. The outlook is for warmer weather and a more typical summer pattern for the end of the weekend into next week. Could that mean thunderstorms here finally? I'm hoping...
Otherwise, I had an insanely fun time up north over the weekend fishing. There was a bit of drinking, and some good eating, and a heck of a lot of talking about Luke. I have to admit, I have never heard a thrashing like the one his name took in the solitude of the northwoods. And days are loooooooong up there this time of year Lucas, so we fit quite a bit in. Anywho, here are some pictures...

A great time indeed! Big thanks to 'Vis for planning the whole trip and letting us use and abuse his family cabin, thanks to Shaver for his insults, and of course to the legend...the big man....SlimSchrady. We "made history".

Came back and went to Grand Old Day, a great street festivity in St. Paul on Sunday afternoon. Good time, but I was wooooorn out.

Also a somewhat frustrating yet amusing story. MTF got his first ticket on the road on the way up to fishing. While it was a basic one for speeding, the oddity of the story is that MTF was driving the transport vehicle for the booze up to the cabin. I had literally a car load of booze, all closed, but still quite the site to the cop pulling me over. Nonetheless, the first words out of this mouth as he walked up to the driver's side door ... "Nice car. Is it a graduation gift? I see those tassels there?" Ha...laugh it up folks and Grand Rapids Minnesota law enforcement. Those tassels will blow in the BREEZE proudly for many years to come!

And a shoutout to Amy and Brian L for a happy one year anniversary this weekend! Enjoy Flo'da.

We are a little over 50 days folks...

From the northwoods of the 'Sota, to the soon to be midway of the 'Dota...
MTF

Northwoods Time

2009-06-03T11:29:00Z

Breezers,
Quick update here. Cannot believe it is June, which means 1. hurricane season and 2. the most active month for Minnesota severe weather season. Unfortunately the latter is very, very quiet thus far. Frost threat will be the main weather feature in Minnesota this first week of June. Not much more I want to add about that!
Tomorrow heading to the northwoods with Big Slim, 'Vis, and others for a fishing adventure. We will have a great time, with Luke and Miles names mentioned frequently. You can take a gander (no pun intended Guider) at the pics from last year here.

That's all...time for work...from the 'Sota to the 'Dota!
MTF

Trip Recap

2009-05-22T07:51:00Z

All,
Happy Friday, and happy Memorial Day weekend! A shoutout to all troops past and present this weekend. Summer is here by most people's watch, and considering the 97 and 94 degree high temps in Minneapolis earlier this week, I will not disagree. SUMMER 2009....ooooooh man. Let's roll!
First, as promised, let's recap the Flo'da/'Dota trip, nicknamed by some as Spring Break Part II.

This would be the first trip with the new camera, retiring the old one from '02-'09, which took nearly 9,000 pics. Thanks FujiFilm for a gem!
The trip started like renegade trips of the past...chaotic. Wuj and I get to our hotel around 12:30 am and low and behold could not get in. No one is at the front desk and the entrance door is locked! We call the number given to us, but nothing. Well, five people down the way in the parking lot on this 75 degree night are all we got. All are tanked, but friendly. One lets us in with their key card and then proceeds to knock on the hotel desk door for 30 minutes straight. Unbelievable. Two other random people show up, but also are very helpful and search the hotel hallways for an employee. Finally, after 45 minutes, the hotel clerk shows up from "making the rounds" as he said. Also said his cell had died. Yeah. Finally get to sleep around 2 am the morning before the launch.
If you get the chance, you need to see a rocket launch from NASA, do it...period. At least visit the Kennedy Space Center.
Shuttle junkies were everywhere watching! We watched from about 12 miles away, which is as close as you can get without paying big bucks. It was plenty close to feel the thrill! By the way, Atlantis is scheduled to come home today.

Shuttle Atlantis went up just in time. Not 50 minutes later, there was a t-storm close enough that would have canceled the launch. Also, just to the west was a large wildfire that had been burning for weeks due to dry conditions. The smoke plume from that was a brief concern for NASA.
We went to Daytona Beach, where you can drive on the beach. One problem...an hour-long redevelopment of thunderstorms! We were basically where the sea-breeze joined the ocean and appeared to be a continuous focus for storms. Still, it would stop and got out on the beach. Last time on a beach before was April of '99, and damn had I missed it. As Wuj commented when taking the below pic ... "My name is Matt Friedlein, and I enjoy long walks on the beach..." Not exactly true, but last week it sure was. Though Wuj was my companion for the long walk??? Ha, I'll take it!

Spent an entire day at Kennedy Space Center. Amazing. The engineering, the American Pride, the SCIENCE of it all ... astounding! We got to see Shuttle Endeavour up close as it was on the launch pad in case Atlantis was struck with space junk while working on the Hubble. Below is a panoramic of the two launch pads.

After a day at Kennedy, we went to good ol' Celebration to pay a visit to my favorite FL school teachers. We got to dine with sister of Guider, the lovely Becky. And she, like her brother, just seemed to have poor judgment on my cool clothes.

Here is where I got to watch Game 6 of the Red Wings series, with one Guider. Ironically 48 hours later I would be watching Game 7 of the same series with another Guider (a far uglier one), some one thousand miles away.
We spent an entire day and evening at Epcot Center, which was a great call on our part, I have to admit. That was awesome, and a beautiful day weatherwise. We rode all by two rides, one of which was Nemo. We visited every country, dining at Japan. Watched the nighttime light show "Illuminations". Fabulous.
Also, while eating at Japan, Wuj and I would get into a 40 minute debate about probability of precipitation and whether meteorologists use fuzzy science. It was heated, yet inevitable that in three days we would tango with that.

After Epcot, we realized we were running the rental car on fumes. Desperate in the traffic leaving Disney to make a gas station, we made some U-turns (legal in FL/MN). In the process, we discovered a HUGE souvenir shop collocated with a....

Despite having living in the South, it was my first time at "The House". Very good. No Ziggies, but good.
Trip back to IL was a bit turbulent, but all good. We basically went straight to Wrigley Field and pre-partied a bit at Murphy's. Great atmosphere. Ate some Wrigley brats and slow drank a beer and power drank a soda. Problem with that?

CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN! 11-3 man-handling of the Padres. Wuj and I had a great time, much like we did at Wrigley some two decades ago. Thanks Wuj.
Wuj would then "hand me off" to Guider, this time Dan. A meeting of the minds between Wuj and Guider. Next time they will see each other? SCF or my wedding?
Then would ensue one of the craziest/best/classic Chicagoland nights I've had. And it goes without saying that Mengler and Guider were in the center of it, as usual. But we met up with a few unexpected folks too, which kept the night very entertaining!
Went to a Detroit bar in Chicago to start off? I had no idea such nonsense existed.
A lot of hoopla about my shirt choice this night. A classic 80's Hawaiian shirt that is etched in Guider's mind forever.

Rob could not get off the shuttle and weather subjects, or the perfume subject too?! His friend Ian also was there. He told the most absurd story I have ever heard and I guarantee any of you Breezers will have ever heard too. Unfortunately, it is not fit for a Breeze entry. Sickest yet funniest darn story!
Jen would meet up with us late, or according to her "early". Her friend Liz is obsessed with mustaches in pictures and in public settings. Very strange....as we saw firsthand.

The pic above may be the funniest from the trip, if not one of the best I have period. Guider and Vujea, save this one and use it for a rainy corporate e-mail day.
This night would go until the wee hours of the morning, with a stop at Ian's Pizza which Jen was raving about. It was worth it. Macaroni and Cheese pizza!

The above is one of eight failed attempts to take a pic for the Mammens. I had just as many pictures from this bar than I did at Cape Canaveral! Ha, not exactly...but close.

Big thanks to Mengler and Jen for ensuring I caught my train to Mendota the morning after. Ha, classic. And then a big ups to my sis who called me just in time to wake me up before I missed the stop at Mendota. Haha. It's like dealing with a 5 year old! Grow up MTF!
Mendota. As always, the World's Greatest Little City does not disappoint. Spent some quality time with the fam, which includes Tuffie.

Tuffie and I actually made a music video, which you may or may not see.
Ate at Caponni's in Toluca, a Friedlein family favorite. I'm 3 lbs heavier because of it. And 15 lbs heavier because of the rest of my trip.
Out in Mendota on Saturday night. Foxy and Fuller provided a heck of a time. Along with a little help from the Hards and Zig. And we relived the Foxy wedding a bit, with Cherry bombs all around.

A Florida sunset is a fitting pic for the end of what was one of my better trips, capturing relaxation, science, and fun. Thanks again to a ton of folks, even those I did not see (Mammens namely). Again, there will be a video collage I hope soon. In the meantime, if you have questions, comments, or of course insults, you know how to reply to the Breeze and reach me directly.

From the 'Sota to the 'Dota, thanks Flo'da....
MTF

Summer is Here; Amazing Trip

2009-05-20T17:24:00Z

Hi all,
Hope everyone is having a great week. I know I have committed to a blog entry about my trip, from the 'Sota to the 'Flo'da to the 'Dota (through Chicago!)...but this one will be about weather first. The said trip had hundreds upon hundreds of pics to sift through. Many pertain to the Shuttle Atlantis launch, which went perfectly and literally took your breath away (like you do to me Guider). I also have been encouraged to make a video collage of this trip as opposed to stagnant pics, so I'd like to make good on that. Just takes a bit of time though Mengler, so take it eeeeeeasy. A big thanks to Mengler for escorting me in Chi-town and being spontaneous. Even one night together for us is just chaos as this trip proved. "Oooooooooh man!" as we have said for years. WUJ, the man, a huge thank you for accompanying and helping set-up a good portion of the Flo'da trip, and of course the Cubs game. That was so awesome and crazy that we need to do it again next launch, what do you say?! Also thanks to Guider (both Dan and Becky), my favorite Jen, Foxy, Rob, Ian (sick man though) and mmmSparky. Sorry to the big Slim, Luke, Vis, Roop, Miles, and thee Irish Mammens for not seeing you all. Didn't work out this time around. I'll see some of you in a few weeks up here in MN, while the others later this summer. Oh and I hope everyone knows that it is only T-minus 77 days until....which reminds me, Mengler you have been invited by not only me but several Mendotans now. You need to be there. Make history.
Weatherwise ... ton going on! Here we go...

The wetness that has persisted now for 20 months in portions of IL has continued into May, which is bad news for the corn crop. Some portions of IL only have 10% of their corn crop planted. Read about it and the impacts and areal views of the IL river here.
On Friday May 8th, a huge wind complex of thunderstorms rolled from eastern Kansas to eastern Kentucky, plowing through southern IL. Carbondale unofficially had a 106 mph wind gust with that, which was in a structure resembling an "eye wall" of a hurricane. There were embedded tornadoes and a huge swath of wind damage. The structure of this storm was amazing and the longevity was remarkable. Read more about it here.
Yesterday was one of the craziest weather scenarios I have seen where I have been at. Just three days prior MN had frost concerns, and yesterday parts of the state soared into the 90's including 100° at Granite Falls, MN. Minneapolis hit 97, which was the EARLIEST 97° had ever been reached and broke the old May 19th record by 8 degrees. Still, that was immediately behind a warm front and to it's north 30s and 40's prevailed. At 5 pm yesterday, a 67 degree gradient existed in Minnesota. Amazing. Add to that that the warm and cold temperatures in Minnesota were some of the warmest and coldest in the entire nation at the same time! The 97° in Minneapolis was 20+ degrees warmer than Miami and nearly 20 degrees warmer than Houston!!! It was also 15 degrees warmer than Mendota. Told you the 'Sota isn't only cold. The heat arrived with strong winds, which persist today. Read more about the oddities and records of this heat here.
Hurricane season begins June 1st, however it is off to an early start, and no I'm not just talking about my and Wuj's trip to Flo'da. The National Hurricane Center is watching an area of interest over Florida right now that will retrograde over the Gulf of Mexico into tomorrow. It's possible this may develop while in the Gulf and be of interest as we head to Memorial Day weekend. There is an Atlantic basin named storm in May approximately once every decade, however they tend to be fairly weak. The rainfall being provided by this disturbance for Flo'da right now is greatly needed though. Wuj and I saw a fairly good size wildfire while down there between Orlando and Cape Canaveral, due to the prolonged dryness.
The VORTEX II tornado chase team, referenced in a previous blog, has not had very active weather in the southern and central Plains as of late to chase. They are featured nightly on the Weather Channel, as they have a meteorologist that is tagging along.
Memorial Day weekend looks potentially active here in MN with uncertainty yet in northern IL. Tis the season for severe weather. Last year on Memorial Day weekend of course was the Hugo, MN EF-3 tornado and the Parkersburg, IA EF-5 tornado. Let's not hope for that.

Some weather images...

"Meso-cane" as it has somewhat jokingly been called near Carbondale on May 8th.

Satellite view of a fire close to Santa Barbara, CA. Note some dust along with the smoke plumes.

Aw heck yeah! Courtesy of NASA, this is a view from behind launch pad 39B with Shuttle Endeavour. That is Atlantis launching in the background. Note the cirrus above. While NASA is not concerned by these high of clouds, they did hamper our vision for the last 30 seconds or so of visual flight from the ground. I don't know if I could have stood 30 more seconds though. I was about ready to burst with the first 90. THAT WAS AWESOME!!!

Back from the Flo'da, as always from the 'Sota to the 'Dota...we have liftoff!
MTF