Have you seen the 7-day?!?! Snow on the way???

 

It has been so nice to get outside with the kids recently.  The snow is finally melting, but we have been trying to keep the kids entertained.  The Skittles experiment was a fun one.  You put Skittles on to a plate then pour warm water on the plate.  We arranged the Skittles in a couple different arrangements to make different designed.  Great way to use Halloween candy that we still have around.

We also went to the zoo with the milder temps.  Lots of sun and lots of other parents there.  I am sure everyone has had cabin fever and excited to get back outside.

My weekend run was solo and I ran 23 miles at Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park.  And boy was it an interesting run.

My goal was to run every single trail at the park, but one of the final trails was closed for cross-country skiing.  I was a little bummed to have to cut the run shorter than planned. Honestly, the snow was melting and I highly doubt anyone was going to try skiing on the slush, but knew better than to go against the posted signs and didn't want any issued with the rangers.  I have a big race coming up at the end of March and was happy to log the 23 miles that I did.

Check out this little guy I found on the trails!  I actually spotted another one as well and the Metro Parks commented back to a post thanking me for documenting it because they are monitoring the salamanders for their spring migration.

The gravel was super soft and was almost like sand because it was so set from the overnight rain. Which made for a nice and soft surface to run on.  I was very happy to have the soft surface because I had run 60 miles last week and a lot of that on the pavement.  I specifically wanted to run at this park because about 10 miles of the run would be on the gravel... As for the other parts of the trail:

The wetlands were indeed wet.

And the wooded trails still had several inches of snow on the ground. So quiet a variety of conditions.  Just what I wanted. 

And how about this forecast!!! Are you kidding me?! We will continue our sunny streak today and looking at a completely dry 7-day forecast with no accumulating snow or rain on the way! Quite a change compared to February. Today will be sunny with morning temps in the lower 20s and highs in the lower 40s. So frost likely this morning and also for the coming mornings as we dip below freezing. Tomorrow we start with sun and more clouds later in the day with highs in the mid 50s. It will be our warmest day for the workweek with a light breeze out of the west tomorrow as well. A few clouds early Thursday with a cold front moving through and more sun in the afternoon with highs back in the mid 40s. Mostly sunny Friday with highs in the lower 40s. Then we start warming more for the weekend with mid 40s on Saturday and then 50 on Sunday. Partly cloudy Saturday and then mostly sunny on Sunday. We warm more on Monday with highs in the upper 50s and mostly sunny skies. Our next decent chance of rain returns next Tuesday. So by the end of the week our grass will likely start greening up a little.

So there is no snow on the way in the near-term, but that may be changing by later this month. There are indications of colder air to move in later this month.  And statistically-speaking, we will see snow, based on our past winters.  We have never had a March with zero snow, since records were kept, going back to 1885.  The least snow was at least a trace of snow, which happened 11 different years.  The most snow for the month was 25.3" in 1906, but you very well may remember the biggest snow event we had in March of 2008.  We picked up 20.5" of snow over a 2 day period.  The rest of that month, March 2008, only brought 1.3" of snow for a total of 21.8".  That event was also the biggest snowfall event for any time period for Columbus.  So... no snow on the horizon for now, but it may be hiding just over the horizon. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Winter Running

It has been a cold and snowy February.  I have had my fair share of frosty eye lashes and snow-covered trails.  It has made running challenging at times, but it will only make running in warmer temperatures so much more enjoyable.  

This is a shot of the lake at Tar Hollow State Park from this past weekend. 

This is from Shawnee State Forest a couple weeks earlier.  We have some beautiful spots in Ohio.  I particularly love these two areas because of how challenging they are for running. 

Been having a lot of fun with the kids as well making a snowman and sledding recently as well.  So we are really taking advantage of the winter weather. 

We are about ready to start doing a remodel, or update, in one of our bathrooms.  I recently put in backsplash at a friend's house.  Turned out really well.  There was dark ceramic stickers on there before and the white really brightened up the kitchen.  

Good Tuesday morning! We have been slowly melting the last 36 hours and more melting today! We have a few flurries and sprinkles showing up on the radar, to the north, this morning. This will pass and then a mix of sun & clouds for the afternoon with highs in the lower 40s. We will also have a brisk breeze out of the west and winds pick up a little more tomorrow out of the southwest and we warm up to the upper 40s tomorrow. We will see more afternoon clouds tomorrow and a slight chance for a few isolated showers in the afternoon and evening. Our overnight low temps will be near or below freezing so be mindful for some spotty refreeze. A mix of sun & clouds on Thursday and Friday with highs in the lower 40s. This weekend we will have a few disturbances passing by around the region, so some scattered rain possible from time to time. We will also warm up more this weekend with highs near 50. So warmer for the weekend, but also a chance to be wet occasionally. Right now the rain looks light for Central Ohio, which is what we would prefer with all the snow still on the ground. Heavy rain could lead to some flooding concerns and we would prefer a slow warm-up with no heavy rain. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Evan and I recorded a podcast (kinda)

Well... Kinda... It was barely more than a minute long...

View on Vocaroo >>

He loves my microphone that I use to do my weather radio hits on WCOL and WTVN.  So I figured I would record something with him.  

Hope everyone is doing well.  I went down to Great Seal State Park and ran 20 miles in the snow and sunshine last weekend with Mike.  It was a great day on the trails.

We had a brief "warm-up" last week and I took the kids to the zoo and we had a lot of fun.  

This most recent weekend I did another 20 miles at Tar Hollow State Park with Mike again.  It was 17° when we started and it felt slightly warmer in the sun so we eagerly climbed this 400 foot hill to get to the ridge and run in the sun. That was the last of the sun we have had and we will get back into more sun tomorrow. 

Good Wednesday morning! We are back to the cold temps! We warmed up to 44 yesterday, which helped melt any residual ice from the weekend and we may see new icy spots this morning. A few flurries to start the day with winds coming off of Lake Erie, out of the north. Mostly cloudy with a high of 33 today. A quick disturbance will be swinging through Southern Illinois, Southern Indiana, and Kentucky this evening and it is expected to barely clip Southern Ohio. Snow will stay to the south with accumulations up to 1" possible in Southern Ohio. Tomorrow we will be even colder with the clouds starting to clear overnight, after the snow, and we dip to around 20 and a high of 28 tomorrow with a mix of sun & clouds. More sun Friday with a high of 32.

Our next weather maker arrives this weekend. Here is how things look right now... We will see increasing clouds on Saturday with a high of 36. Snow moves in Saturday night and we will see snow showers through Sunday morning. As we warm Sunday into the mid-upper 30s then the Southern half of Ohio will switch to rain and Northern Ohio stays light snow. As it gets colder Sunday night we transition back over to light snow heading into Monday with highs back in the lower 30s. Areas that stay all snow could see at least a few inches of snow, but rain areas will see significantly less. Stay tuned as we get closer and get a better handle on accumulation possibilities. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Enjoy the mild temps while they last!

Sunshine and temps in the 40s in January, in Ohio?!?!  Doesn't happen often!  I went out for an 8 mile run yesterday to enjoy it as much as possible.  We will be in the mid 40s again today with morning sun then more afternoon clouds. 

Then tomorrow morning rain moves in and then some spotty snow showers for the weekend with highs back in the mid 30s. 

So, we are on tap for one more mild day... enjoy it! We have some rain and snow showing up on the radar to the north this morning, but so far no reports of this reaching the ground. A few heavier returns on the radar may have some light rain/snow reaching the surface, but generally a dry morning for most of Central Ohio with clouds breaking up over the coming hours for partly cloudy skies early today and temps in the lower 30s. We will warm to around 45 this afternoon and becoming cloudy again with a brisk breeze out of the south. Cloudy tonight with overnight lows in the mid 30s. Rain will move in from the west early tomorrow morning and we will likely have scattered light rain for the early morning commute and a few colder pockets could have a rain/snow mix. This first band of rain and mix will move east through the morning and by midday and early afternoon we could see some sunshine breaking through the clouds. Clouds will fill back in during the afternoon and evening as an area of low pressure moves closer and parks over the region for the weekend. The weekend will bring flurries and light snow showers from time to time with high temps in the mid to low 30s and overnight lows in the 20s. We could see some pockets of snow showers with generally less than an inch of snow per day, but a few days of that could leave some pockets with light accumulations. This pattern sticks around into early next week as well, so be mindful for icy conditions on untreated surfaces. As we head into next week the snow looks to get lighter and lighter. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Running into 2021 with a different goal.

My final run of 2020 was a night run and pushed me up to 1,600 miles for the year.  I also got 77k feet of vertical gain in elevation. My goal for 2021 will be to reach 100k. This is a tall feat for Central Ohio where it is so flat. That means finding more hills on trails. This ultimately means less wear and tear as well from running on pavement. I didn't set a mileage goal because, as 2020 taught us, some things are out of our control and if I get an injury then it is not worth overloading other months go get to that running mileage goal. I can hike hills without running and I can still reach that climbing goal. (Running is faster though 😉)

My wife woke me up just before midnight to ring in the new year with her and instead of going back to bed for 30 minutes, before work, I ran in the new year.  One of our neighbors was still shooting off fireworks. Glad I was running toward the fireworks at first because if I was running away and heard the firework then I may have tripped. HAHA. The best part is that this run ended my running streak.  It was my fifth year doing the Runner's World Run Streak.  It goes from Thanksgiving to New Year's day and you just have to run, or walk, 1 mile a day. This was my fifth year doing it and it is so easy to throw in the towel during the holidays, but this keeps the motor going. So I did this run early on Friday then no running for Saturday. Rest day!

The rest day was also nice to rest up before my weekend long run on Sunday morning.  Foggy, chilly, and perfect running weather! I got to see some bison while running at Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park.  Metro Parks requires masks while at the park, but I only passed about 7 people for the 3 hours I was there. I did take off the mask from time to time when I was way out in the open away from anyone.  BOCO Gear had a clearance and they make some performance masks that actually are not that uncomfortable to wear while running at an easy pace.  I did need to take it off after trying to blast up some of the Strava segments. 

We are staying cloudy and chilly for most of the 7-day forecast. However, if you want to look at it positively: temps are staying near normal and roads are staying dry. Plus, we are gaining 1 minute of daylight each day! Let's dive into the details... Cloudy today with a few flurries and highs in the upper 30s. Staying cloud tonight with low temps around 30, so frost possible. Cloudy again on Thursday with maybe a few breaks in the clouds. We will be watching a system pass by to our south late Thursday into early Friday and Southern Ohio has a slight chance to see some light snow showers. Most of Ohio will be staying dry. Cloudy again on Friday and a few more breaks in the clouds with highs in the mid 30s. Partly cloudy on Saturday and mid 30s again. A few more clouds, mostly cloudy, for Sunday and Monday with temps in the mid-upper 30s. Partly cloudy on Tuesday with temps nearing 40. So yes, we stay in this quiet, chilly, cloudy, dry pattern for the next 7 days, but enjoy it! The long-term forecast models are indicating the polar jet stream shift and bring more active weather back to our region. That means some colder air later this month along with some snow returning by mid-late January. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Christmas and snow fun, saying goodbye to grandpa

I hate to start out on a sad note, but no other way around it... Before my grandma passed, 5 years ago, she stitched these ornaments for each grandkid. She said if we were ever broke then we would always have a couple dollars. I always thought they were snowmen til yesterday. They're not. They're angels. My grandpa joined her yesterday. I'm sure they are a riot in heaven right now. He never missed a school concert or soccer game. Despite the 3 hour round trip. Always there with his camera and a firm goodbye handshake. I feel blessed to get one last handshake a couple weeks ago. His health had been declining so I took the kids down to see him a couple weeks ago and so glad I got that chance. Miss you grandpa. So much.  My grandma LOVED reading my blog to get updates on what was going on with her grandkid and then great grandkid. Both are in a better place now. 

Let's lighten the mood and talk about something fun: CHRISTMAS!  The kids were very excited this year and 2 and 5 are such a fun age for Christmas.  Evan is just starting to get it and Summer is there to help along the way. It was just the kids and Dawn and me all weekend long and it was very nice to keep it simple this year. 

We did do FaceTime with the family and it was good to check in on everyone. 

It was great to get some snow for Christmas, but MAN it was cold!  We only got to 18°F for the high, so we held off a couple days to get outside to play in the snow. 

I participated in the Gingermas run hunt this year. It’s a running scavenger hunt. This was the “Griswold house” on the list. You get different points for the different tasks or found items. Like fueling on homemade cookies or bonus points spelling out “HoHoHo” and “Merry Gingermas 2020” with your GPS track. Also, bonus points for drinking egg nog before the run. I also donated shoes for two points each pair.

I didn't win anything, but it was a blast to run around in a Christmas sweater looking at holiday decorations. Didn’t find a Mrs. Claus or a dreidel on my run. Also, coffee shop was closed to get a point for hot cider. It was a 10 mile run.  Which has been my longest run for a while.  I have been dialing back the miles a little bit as I ease back into running following a back issue.

I did get out for a half marathon around the neighborhood this weekend.  Roads were still dicey around our parts and didn't think it was worth risking it to drive to a trail. Sun came out for the final mile and it was gorgeous on the fresh blanket of snow. Definitely more sore today from minor traction slips in the snow.  It was all packed snow from the cars driving over it.  The slipperiest areas are where a plow blade packs it down to a flat piece of ice. Thankfully none of that in our neighborhood. 

Enjoy the sunshine we get today because we have clouds returning soon with some rain and the chance of a wintry mix, along with some big temperatures fluctuations later this week. Today we are starting out with generally clear skies, especially for the northern half of Ohio. Our morning temps are below freezing so watch out for icy spots due to refreeze, mainly sidewalks and untreated side streets. Sun to start the day then increasing clouds and we warm into the mid 30s with very light winds today. Mostly cloudy tonight and there is a chance for a quick evening shower, mainly to the northwest. We start around 30 tomorrow morning then warm to 48 later in the day with mostly cloudy skies and rain arriving in the afternoon from the northwest. It will be a wet evening with rain showers moving in from the northwest and heading into Southern Ohio by early Thursday. The back edge of the rain could mix with a little snow, but no indications of any significant accumulation. We see the early rain and mix move into Kentucky and we are mostly cloudy and dry most of the day on Thursday with highs in the mid 30s. Then that rain lifts back north Thursday night and the leading edge could be a little wintry mix then transitions quickly to rain as temps start warming up. So Friday morning could have a few sketchy spots with the early wintry mix before it changes to rain. Temps soar into the mid-upper 50s with rain most of the day on Friday. Rain kicks out late Friday night and cooler temps move back in for the weekend. Highs in the lower 40s on Saturday and then upper 30s for Sunday. Models are split on weekend outcome, but there is a chance of some light rain/snow possible this weekend. The timing is what is up in the air because some have it on Saturday and another model has it on Sunday. It does look light and most of the weekend will be generally cloudy with chilly temps. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Busy with projects, but taking time for the holidays & kids

The tree is up and we are in the full holiday spirit at the Michael house.  The kids are super excited and this is so fun to be a parent with the kids 2 and 5 years old. 

Every free night we have, we drive around to look at Christmas lights because it is such an easy thing to do with the current pandemic.  We did get out and walked around the lights at the Columbus Commons.  Limited Santa experiences this year, so we had to change up our holiday card photo.  The kids love the lights and we have a list of other places we want to go check out. 

Lots of projects going on as well.  A friend asked for me to build her some window valances for her first floor.  Pretty happy with how they turned out.  I wanted to do a French cleat so it could be removed and decorated, but the trim around the window would get in the way and she said she probably would never remove them anyway.  

Another friend requested a bunch of balm packs for frontline workers to help their hands from drying out.  So I made a big batch of a special recipe of the Clean version that uses more shea butter for better moisturizing.  

Summer helped me pack all of the gift packs. I still have a handful of the special batch available, if you are interested: www.BalmByBuck.com. I will be doing a special 10% off for the next 10 days, starting on December 10th. 

And I have still been running.  I am doing the Runner's World Run Streak from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day.  At least one mile each day. This is my 5th year doing it and it is a great motivator to get outside each day during a time of the year where excuses are very easy to stay inside. I went out to Clifton, Ohio last weekend to run along the gorge to the yellow springs and back. 

 

It is an absolutely beautiful area and it is really cool how the Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve trails connect with John Bryan State Park that also connects to the Glen Helen Nature Preserve trails.  It is just over 5 miles from end to end if you take the lower trail along the Little Miami River.

 

This weekend's long run was around the neighborhood.  I tripped at mile 3, but kept going for another 7 miles.  Knee was just a little scraped up.  The funniest part is that I was running across Roberts Road and there was a line of cars waiting to turn and they all got quite the show when a grown man went flying through the air.  I bounced back up and kept running. Evan and I went for a neighborhood run last night to look for holiday decorations. 

We have some great news to share: warming temps and sunshine returning! Today we are starting chilly with temps in the lower 30s and cloudy skies, but a warm front will sweep across the area during the first half of the day and help boost our temps into the mid 40s for the afternoon with clearing skies during the second half of the day. Clear skies above us tonight, but patchy fog forming with lows in the lower 30s, so there is potential for some freezing fog. Mostly sunny tomorrow and warming to 50. Clouds moving in more on Friday with highs in the mid 50s. Rain moves in during the first half of the day on Saturday. Some areas may stay dry until midday or early afternoon. Highs in the lower 50s with rain likely for the second half of the day with a brisk breeze. Temps fall Saturday night and likely falling steadily during the day on Sunday. A few lingering rain showers early on Sunday then a few flurries later on. Then we look to remain dry until the end of next week with our next rain/snow system arriving around Thursday. It will be cooler next week with highs in the mid 30s/40s. So enjoy the warm-up over the next few days.  Looking at the long-term models... One model (and this may/will change) has snow the evening of Christmas Eve!  Stay tuned and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael