Jason and I made it safely to Oklahoma for the Severe Weather Workshop. Should be some interesting topics. Pat Spoden is going to talk about the ice storm - he is from the Paducah, NWS Office.
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My nephew Dylan graduated white I was away last week 
Congratulations Dylan! Very proud of you.
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Was a lot of fun - never been to the capital - so that was cool in itself. Lot of people are involved with handling severe weather in our region - I do a lot of work covering the weather invents in our region - but really there are a ton of other people that deserve to be thanked - from the NWS to our local WPSD, WSIL, and KFVS stations - our weather spotters (which put in a lot of work on helping keep track of weather that hits our counties) - to Jason and Jess Darnall (keeping things running up here) - and a lot of other people who put a ton of volunteer hours into weather. So - this presentation is really for everyone who is involved with keeping our counties safe during not only winter storms but severe weather, as well.
Me in the Governors Office
A RESOLUTION adjourning the House of Representatives in honor and recognition of Meteorologist Beau Dodson.
WHEREAS, Beau Dodson began studying the weather at eight years old and was chasing storms by the time he was a teenager. He continued to follow his passion for the weather to Mississippi State University, where he earned a degree in Meteorology; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Dodson uses his life-long study and interest in the weather to provide timely and accurate severe weather forecasts to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet free of charge. He also serves as a severe weather technician and meteorologist for the Paducah Emergency Management Team. In addition, Mr. Dodson is a prolific writer and lecturer on severe weather forecasting, as well as a trainer for effective storm spotting; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Dodson has received numerous awards across the nation for his skill preparing the general public for severe weather, and for his promotion of the NOAA All Hazards Radio System. In 2004, the National Weather Service honored Mr. Dodson with the Mark Trail Award for his efforts following the 2003 tornado outbreaks that struck the Ohio Valley. In 2009, he received the Kentucky Office of Highway Safety Award for Excellence and was honored as a Kentucky Colonel for providing state highway officials with critical information about the coming ice storm several days before it hit; and
WHEREAS, Beau Dodson’s contribution and commitment to public safety has helped save the lives of many Kentuckians by adequately preparing the Commonwealth for the dangers of severe weather;
NOW, THEREFORE,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:
âSection 1. The members of the House of Representatives, both individually and collectively, honor and recognize Meteorologist Beau Dodson for his contribution and commitment to public safety in Kentucky.
âSection 2. When the House of Representatives adjourns this day, it does so in honor and recognition of Meteorologist Beau Dodson.
âSection 3. The Clerk of the House of Representatives is directed to transmit one copy of this Resolution to Beau Dodson, 295 Charlotte Ann Drive, Paducah, Kentucky 42001.
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We had more snow. Looks like 4-8 inches across most of the area. I had 3 or 4 inches up here. :) Looks like a cold few weeks ahead. Probably going to be some more snow. Winter!
The drums are beating…
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Well, never underestimate Denise and her little helpers.
Mother, Julie, Joey and myself went eat out this evening at Jasmines. We also met one of Julies friends there. After we finished eating we went to see a movie - downtown Paducah.
I was supposed to buy three extra tickets and give them to Denise after the movie. They were going to a late show.
Once the movie was over we headed to the lobby and Denise was sitting on the bench holding a great big sign that said "HAPPY WEATHERMAN’S DAY" on it. Along with some other things. I don’t think I have turned that red in a long long time. I also don’t think I have laughed that hard in awhile. lol It was a FABULOUS sign - I have to say that when Denise says she is going to do something she goes ALL out.
I am sure Deena and Denise’s daughter must have helped.
Denise - you are CRAZY! But - I LOVE CRAZY. So that scores BIG points in my book. 
Now - I just have to figure out how to convince Julie that you are not nearly as crazy as she probably thinks. I will work on that!
This is the sign that Denise made for me :) Everyone coming out of the movie theater was able to see it
because she was holding it up high above her head. lol
THANKS DENISE! And helpers.
Also did I mention Dione stubbed her toe? I was supposed to add that information in there. Tony also has some ailments but he didn’t ask me to include those. I can come back and do that later upon request.
Had a great lunch with Caesar and Geri yesterday. They brought lunch up here to the hill and made an awesome coffee cake. It was amazing. Saw Sue the day before. She is doing great down in Nashville. Getting settled into her place.
Daisy sharing in the excitment of the day - it was snowing outside
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Well, we had a very cold morning! ZERO degrees. Not the first time this winter we have been in the single digits or near zero. Probably won’t be the last.
Tony, Tyler, and Danielle came up today to ride four wheelers and build a snowman. We also made some snow cream! I had a whole bowl of that. I think the kids had a lot of fun.
Not the first snowman that has been built on this property! Defin won’t be the last.
We might get more snow later this week - depending on storm track.
Some photos from today
Tyler and Beau
Tony and Tyler
Tyler eating some snow
Danielle
Danielle making some snow cream
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Cam photo from tonight out front here
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Well, it is a Tuesday. A beautiful day outside. Temperatures were in the upper 50s and lower 60s. Pretty amazing. Feels like spring outside. I don’t think we will get used to that - not just yet.
Watching on my Canada shows tonight. Makes me miss Canada. Miss my friends in Canada. Going to have to try and get up there as soon as I can to see them. It has been way to long. Maybe soon.
Doug has been traveling a lot. That is good. Sounds like business is going good - and that is good news as well. Hopefully he has a good year.
Have not heard from my friend David lately - hopefully he is doing well and we can see him soon. Others, as well up there. Need to visit.
Life has been a journey - the last ten years have been quite incredible. It was in 2000 that we left the United States and went to Canada. That is 10 years. Amazing. Scary - how fast time passes. Life is different now than it was ten years ago. Quite different. But yet life never really changes. More like the circumstances in our life changes. The people around us change. We make different choices. We figure out who we are. We figure out how to be true to ourselves - or as true as we can be to ourselves. I am not sure we are ever really true to ourselves. Are we?
All I know is that right now life is going along pretty good - I miss some of my closest friends and hopefully we can figure that out before long, as well.
In some ways I feel home sick - from Toronto. But, I am happy down here. I guess I just miss a big portion of my life. Doug, David, and some others.
We will get there.
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WPSD did a story on the weather observatory and emergency management
From WPSD
Massac County native and McCracken Co. OEM Meteorologist Beau Dodson has always had a passion for weather and for helping others. He grew up on his family farm near Round Knob, and spent much of his free time studying and observing local weather. He even made an appearance on Sam Burrage’s "People Beat" segment in 1984 talking about his love for weather. Fast forward 25 years, and in 2009, Beau built a brand new home on that same piece of land that he grew up on….a house equipped with a state-of-the-art weather center, an observation deck that provides him with a view of incoming weather, and a network of webcams that allow weather conditions from his observatory to be displayed online. It is from this in-home weather observatory that Beau tracks developing weather and relays information to local offices of emergency management and the National Weather Service, providing forecasters and the media with valuable real-time information.
For most people, hearing those emergency management conversations is as easy as turning on your scanner, however, in McCracken County, a switch to a new radio system a few years ago has made getting information more difficult. But now, as part of Beau’s new website, he is providing streaming audio of what you would hear on scanners for Ballard, Calloway, McCracken, Marshall, & Massac County, as well as live NOAA weather radio for all of Western KY, Southern IL, and Southeast MO. Beau’s hope is that the more information that can be provided, more people will remain safe during severe weather situations.
To visit this new website and to listen to streaming scanner information, follow this link: http://weatherobservatory.com/scanner_feed.html
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Welcome to my journal. I call it a journal because I started this before "blogs" existed. Within this site you will find pages and pages and pages of my journey over the last 10 years. An incredible story of triumph, sadness, happiness, and intense battles. I run several web-sites. Most of them dealing with weather and photography - my passion. You can visit the sites through the links below. If you would like to know more about me then please visit my biography page by clicking Here.
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