Freddy the Frogcaster!

Good morning everyone!

I have happy news to announce!  No, I’m not pregnant…nor will I be appearing on Dancing with the Stars, but it’s still pretty darn exciting…

I have a Children’s Book coming out in August that I am so proud of.  It’s called Freddy the Frogcaster and  it’s a fun little story about a Frog who loves to Forecast!

Here’s the cover:

Over the years, people have asked me for suggestions on weather books for kids…and there really wasn’t a lot to choose from, so I thought what the heck – I’ll write one myself!

Russ Cox was my incredible illustrator that brought little Freddy to life.  He literally HOPS right off the page!  Regnery Kids are the wonderful publishers.

This is a dream come true – and I’m so glad I get to share it with all of you!

Here’s a link to the Amazon page (which I still have to pinch myself to believe!) http://www.amazon.com/Freddy-Frogcaster-Janice-Dean/dp/1621570843

I will let you know more details and the publishing date gets closer!

JD

Father's Day

Hi all

Tomorrow is Father’s Day.  I first to want to extend condolences to our friend Margie who lost her Dad last week.  We’re all thinking of you, especially now, and praying for you and your family during  this difficult time.

There’s been a lot of articles published about the role of the “Working Mom” these days, and how times are changing with women in the workplace.   Now more than ever, Fathers have to step in as the primary care giver to help raise healthy, well-adjusted children.   Thankfully I married a man that has no problem filling that role when I work weekends or nights.  Do I wish I was home more?  Sure.  But I see how wonderful Sean is with Matthew and Theodore, and am grateful every day that they have a hands-on Dad that they love and feel comforted by when Mom is not home. 

I was looking for a Father’s Day card yesterday and was so mad seeing all the cards that were supposed to be “Funny” about “Dear old Dad” being lazy, forgetting to mow the lawn, drinking beer or passing gas.  What an insult.   These greeting cards companies need to get with the program.   Like Moms, Dads can do it all.  And for those like my husband Sean, who sometimes has to sacrifice a few career opportunities to make sure they’re home to drive the kids to school or make lunches, change diapers, do laundry, make dinner and still have time to clean the kitchen after reading to the children and getting them to bed at night – I honor you.  Not just tomorrow, on Father’s Day, but every day.   I love you even more today than the day I became your wife.

To all the #1 Dads out there – Thank You for all that you do for us Moms and more importantly, being a role model to our children so that they may be good parents too, someday.

JD

IMPORTANT! HIGH RISK AREA FOR MIDWEST INCLUDING TORNADOES TODAY!

Hi everyone.

Wanted to make sure you are on alert that the Storm Prediction center has issued a rare”High Risk” area for parts of the Midwest tonight and overnight including the city of Chicago.  We can say with high confidence that this region will experience severe storms including widespread damaging winds and potentially large violent tornadoes.  Please be aware, and stay alert!

Andrea brings record rain, more severe storms and record heat!

Hello everyone!

Hope you’re having a great weekend so far.   It’s been a busy last few weeks in weather with the tornadoes, and now our first official tropical storm of the Hurricane Season!   We had major flooding in our area of Long Island yesterday.  Thankfully the rain has stopped, but not after setting some pretty impressive records from Florida all the way up to Maine!

The worst of Tropical Storm  Andrea’s rain has cleared the Northeast as the post-tropical system races out into the Atlantic.   The rest of the tropics look quiet through at least next week.   Phew! 

Unfortunately, strong storms will again develop today across the Central Plains from the Texas Panhandle through western Oklahoma and into portions of Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri.  Large hail and damaging winds are the primary threats, however isolated tornadoes are possible…including areas that were hit by devastating tornadoes last month.  

Flash-flooding will also be a concern across southeastern South Dakota, southwestern Minnesota and northwest Iowa.

And summer has arrived across the Southwest this weekend.  After several record highs across the Desert Southwest and central valleys of California yesterday, more records will likely be broken today. 

Excessive Heat Warnings remain posted through Sunday evening.

Have a great day everyone!  Be safe.

JD

Interview with Neil Cavuto about Storm Chasing

Historic El Reno Tornado

Hello everyone

The National Weather service has updated their survey of the El Reno tornado that killed 18 people:  An EF5 with winds of 296 mph.   Its width is the largest ever recorded.  Take a look at this monster:

It is almost unimaginable.  The powerful winds are second only to the Moore, OK tornado back in 1999.  That tornado clocked winds of 301 mph.

And unfortuntately, we have more strong to severe storms on the way today and tomorrow in some of the same hard hit areas:

We’re not expecting any violent tornadoes like the ones we saw last Friday night, but the storms could just add more insult to injury.

We are also watching the tropics this afternoon.  This area of low pressure could develop into a depression, or our first named storm of the season – Andrea:

Even if this storm doesn’t develop, we’re still going to see a tremendous amount of rain for parts of Florida and the southeast through the weekend:

We’ll keep watching from here and keep you aware.

Meanwhile, I did an interview with Neil Cavuto yesterday about the Storm Chasers that died in the El Reno tornado.  It’s definitely sparking a lot of discussion which I think is a good thing.   My thoughts:   there are too many untrained storm spotters/chasers causing more harm than good on the roads during tornado season.    I’ll post that video shortly.  Stay tuned.

Stay safe everyone!

JD

Another horrific night for Oklahoma

Hi everyone.

It seems like every time I sit down to blog, we’ve had another severe weather outbreak.  And as of this writing,  nine people have died in Oklahoma.  Two of them were children which just makes this all the more devastating.

After over a dozen reports of tornadoes spanning 6 states, flooding is now the big concern as 6-12 inches of rain has fallen in just a few days. 

Many rivers will continue to rise to major flood levels.  People are being urged to stay off the roads, and do not travel across high water.

Meanwhile, today’s severe threat will stretch from the Great Lakes down into Texas.  We’re not expecting violent tornadoes like yesterday, but there is the possibility for isolated tornadoes along with heavy flooding rain, winds and hail. 

Tomorrow the risk of strong to severe storms will move into the Northeast ¦not out of the question to see isolated tornadoes in some pretty populated areas. 

And finally, Hurricane season starts today.  I’m sure you’ve heard we’re expecting a very active season.  We’re already watching possible development in the Gulf of Mexico later this week.

Be safe everyone, and hug the ones you love.

JD

Severe storms again...and the tropics this weekend?

Hi everyone!

Hope you’re having a great Memorial Day.  There’s a few weather stories I want to get to first before I show off some great pictures I took at the American Airpower Museum in Farmingdale, New York yesterday…

We’re expecting more strong to severe storms to hit the Heartland this week – from the Dakotas through Texas.   The highest threat for tornadoes will be into SE Nebraska into NE Kansas and SW Iowa (the SPC has put a “MODERATE” risk on this area)

Tomorrow the risk doesn’t move much:

And unfortunately Moore, Oklahoma will be in the cross-hairs for more strong storms mid-week as they recover from that deadly EF 5 tornado:

The flooding over the weekend was incredible over Texas and the Midwest.  Close to 10 inches in just hours for both of these regions:

The threat for more rain continues this week.

We also saw record-breaking snow over the mountains of New York and Vermont.  3 feet (!) for Whiteface mountain on the “unofficial start of summer” weekend.

Unsettled weather also continues for the West Coast from Central California to Washington.  

Meanwhile, Hurricane Season starts June 1st.  NOAA has released their annual forecast, and it calls for another active year.

Some of the computer models are hinting at something “tropical” the first week of June in the Gulf of Mexico – possibly threatening Florida around the Big Bend region.  

Here’s where we typically see activity in May:

And this year’s storm names:

And finally, yesterday I got the chance to travel out to Farmingdale New York to visit the fine folks at the American Airpower Museum for the 10th annual Bethpage Airshow.  It was amazing.  I highly recommend a visit to anyone visiting the area.  Here’s a couple of pictures I took:

Have a great day everyone.  Talk to you later this week…

JD

Fox News Radio Special: The Next Disaster

Hi everyone!

I’m hosting a Fox News Radio Special called “The Next Disaster” this Memorial Day weekend.  You can hear it here first:

http://radio.foxnews.com/2013/05/23/the-next-disaster-a-fox-news-radio-special/

In light of the recent EF5 tornado in Moore Oklahoma, it’s certainly a timely and informative collection of reports.  Not only does it focus on how accurate forecasts are in predicting severe weather…but we also look at other kinds of disasters, such as earthquakes, terror attacks, and flu epidemics.

Give it a listen, and let me know what you think.  I’m very proud of it!

JD