Heavy bursts of snow will move through the area this morning and be out of here this afternoon. While we will have some wind gusts close to 20 mph, the snow is a heavy wet snow which should cut down on blowing and drifting snow. But I still would not be surprised for some areas to have snow drifts in the 12 to 18 inch range, especially those areas that ended up closer to 8 inches of snow.
What is really disturbing to me this morning is NOT a few of those complaints on the blog....nobody will take away all of our fun on the weather blog. I am upset about reports of the many slide-offs around the area. It is a reminder that the 5 to 8 inches snow that most of us received can cause huge problems on area roadways. I am relieved the schools are closed keeping all the kids out of harm's way. I was going to go try to work-out but I cannot get out of my neighborhood at this time. I will have to run around with the kids outside and may have to do a live-shot from my house tonight!
We have just over 6 inches of snow here on the southside of Lafayette with all the kids enjoying their snow day. WLFI in West Lafayette is closing in on 7 inches. There have been problems reported on even the main interstates because you go from very little snow to our southeast in Boone and Clinton County to an icy and snowy winter wonderland as you move just to the north and east of Frankfort. So please warn folks coming from the Indianapolis to slow it down as they drive northward because conditions deteriorate in a hurry. You can see what is causing the trouble with these preliminary weather watcher snowfall totals as of Noon today.
Independence 8"
Earl Park 8"
Boswell 8"
Monon 8.2"
Kentland 7"
Fowler 7"
WLFI 7.1"
Lafayette 6.1"
Remington 6"
Otterbein 6"
Covington 6"
Kokomo 4.5"
Galveston 4"
Crawfordsville 5"
Logansport 5"
Tipton 2.5"
Frankfort 2"
You can see what a difference in a storm track can make. Instead of the storm going to Cincinnati, the center of the storm went right up to Terre Haute. The storm did not take the turn until about 3 a.m. so there was very little I could do but be at the mercy of nature. This in turn brought a surprise snowstorm to areas like Aurora just west of Chicago that had 12" of snow! A good portion of central Illinois is literally shut down with travel not advised today. This is the area that had widespread 10 inch plus snows. But you still did not have to travel that far to see double digit snowfall. Here was the final snowfall map and believe it or not Watseka and Rankin just across the Indiana-lllinois border reported 10 and 11 inches repectively.
This storm is a reminder that forecasting is a science and things do change. This is more reason to get on the blog and report the weather and tune into Live Doppler 18 since it is your only live scan of the atmosphere from where you live. The new computer system will have all new basemaps so you can see our wild weather up close. Nobody is harder on me than myself and even though we did not get the expected 10 to 14 inches, I do feel better because I kept folks out of harm's way and gave 100%. Everybody was prepared for this storm and knew it was coming which did make a huge difference. I have come a long way and no longer lock myself in my room with the shades down for a couple of days when I miss a forecast. I am sorry I was wrong this time and expected a whole lot more snow but I learned a lot from this storm, ate my humble pie, and look forward to forecasting the next storm!
Today, I can assure you I will be as optimistic as ever and be more determined to give you the most accurate local forecast available. The new computer will help with this and I will prove it to you over the next few weeks. Lafayette is a special place to live and forecast weather that is for sure. I appreciate all your reports and those who called and e-mailed me through the night. I did not even need coffee because you were so terrific and kept me going. It was quite a sight having our whole weather team together as Kelly went on the air at 5 a.m.
I was very proud of not only our weather team but our news staff that worked so hard through the night. We believe in serving you and unlike the bigger stations we do not send you to a so-called fancy automated system to get the job done with all the closings. Our station is one of a kind and I believe full of the best people in the entire country. We are WLFI. I also know that we have the best and most loyal viewers around. I cannot thank you enough for sticking by us. We take great pride in being your one and only station.
I better go do some shoveling. Thanks again and make sure to send in as many pictures as you can so I can post them here and on the air. Now I have to try to figure out how to get back to work. :)
34 comments:
It's still snowing pretty good in Independence. I shoveled the snow off the porch and within 5 minutes, it was completely covered again.
Looks like the storm has just been slower getting to us...
Thanks for keeping us up-to-date, Mike! I enjoy reading your blog and the enthusiasm that you have about the weather.
Have fun with the kids at home!
You're wonderful Mike. Keep up the good work. You definitely do a better job at predicting the weather than I could ever do! :)
Thanks for being wrong all the time, Mike.
Great job Mike and the rest of the weather team. Ignore the ignorant comments, those unintelligent people have no idea how hard it is to predict the weather and ONE move in the track either direction can change the impact. If you were the only forcaster predicting this storm I could see some folks being angry but on every station including the weather channel the predictions were there. Matter of fact, the Weather Channel said 2 - 4 in and we have 6 here, so guess they were off too. Why don't some of you that are complaining complain to them and get off the backs of our local weather team!!!!!!
Mike, you are the best! You are so fun to watch, everyone out here feels like they know you personally! I go around quoting what "Mike Prangley says..." all of the time. Why care if the forecast was alittle off? We were warned that conditions were going to be bad. Six, eight, ten inches, it doesn't really matter. Keep up the good work.
After reading many of the comments I wanted to say I am a bit embarrassed by what appears to be a growing population in Greater Lafayette of individuals that are self serving, disrespectful and plain mean. I also agree with the thought of others about "what has happened to Hoosier Hospitality?"
I've met Mike in real life, my daughter played basketball in one of the leagues as his daughter. He was kind, gentle and encouraging to all the girls that where on the team HE COACHED! He's a tremendous asset to our community and TV 18.
As for not being totally correct about the snow totals, yeah, I'm disappointed. But only because I love snow almost as much as Mike.
But, at least we were WARNED there was bad weather coming.
I was a young child in elementary school in the 60's. One day I wore a dress to school with bobby socks & saddle shoes.
School let out before noon as a bad storm came in no one was expecting. My mother didn't have a clue I was on my way home. When I got off the bus, I had a huge hill to climb to get home. The snow was already up to my knees. (no boots remember) I was only in 1st grade and I was so scared. I cried all the way up the hill cuz I was so afraid I wouldn't get to the top where I lived cuz it was slick and I kept falling. I'll never forget that day. It makes me truly grateful for Mike and our weather team and the most current technology. Mike gives up lots of his time to keep us up to date and he gives regulary to the community in various ways.
Perhaps the self serving population in Lafayette could take a step back and do as Mike does. Think of others and follow his amazing example as a fine citizen and as a professional.
Mike & TVi8 Weather Team, please, keep up the good work. We need you!
Thanks for the forecast Mike. I am glad the kids are home safe today. You do a great job! Keep us informed on the storms expected early next week, I am not looking forward to more rain now!
Dear Mike, You do a wonderful job! I have been watching tv 18 for many years, yes there have great weather teams in the past, however I believe you and your team are best. I listen to you, read your blog, as a result you have kept me, my family and friends safe, like I stated we listen and trust you.If it was not for your forcast my 80 year mother would have been in trouble, with getting out for meds ect. we got all taken care of before the snow hit.
Thank you again to all!
The sun is out now, however the snow is blowing a bit.I am glad as well that our kids are at home and safe. People were worried about the kids being out in this weather complaining about the schools not closing, did they ever stop and think of the school bus drivers, they are under the mercy of the school corps, they give it their all to make certian our kids are safe, but when forced to drive a bus in this kind of weather anything could happen, due to road conditions.Our School Bus Drivers are due to a BIG THANK YOU FROM PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS! not an easy job at all!
Thank you Mike for all of your hard work. I GUARANTEE you that very few of the people who left those comments before would have stayed up all night to report to us. And to me if someone really has the time to put another mans work down it shows that they have way too much time on their hands! They should go shovel the snow they did get! By the way...we have 8 inches on our snowboard here in Attica. Wasn't the average prediction 8 inches for most of the time? We got it. And I love it! Thanks!
We received a nice amount of snow in Logansport. My kids love to log onto WLFI.com and see what Mike has to say. We appreciate all of the hardwork the weather team does! Keep up the good work!
In response to school bus drivers, they are out there during rain, hail, sleet and snow, just as our mail couriers. We gripe if our mail is late, we send our kids to school in horriable weather, if no delay or cancellation is in effect, and we choose not to send our kids to school for there own safty, its our kids that suffer because they are considered absent with no excues! Thank you for your forcast, for I would not have sent my children to school today with or without the closing. Glad the schools listened to you!
Thank you to the TV 18 team for all you continue to do!!!
If the snow is tapering off, why are businesses still continuing to close? I have seen many listed as closing at 12 or 1pm.
Thanks for all of the hard work from everyone at WLFI!! I love to have local news and people from the community who care. I LOVE snow and I am so fascinated by the weather. That is why I am happy we have fun and energetic meteorolgists!!! I am sure a few poor comments can't come close to bringing you down. It is obvious from the blog that 99.9% of the community supports our weather team. Don't worry, if there is a tornado warning or extreme weather, I trust the naysayers will not turn to the weather channel....they will turn to WLFI. Thanks for all of your hard work!!
Mike, we appreciate your blog more than we can tell you!! Your blog is what keeps us up to date on what's going on with the weather more than anything else. Thanks for taking such good care of us! We appreciate your knowledge, your on-air enthusiasm, your passion for what you do, but most of all your generous spirit and caring for others. We are blessed to have you!
Mike, I for one, appreciate the effort you make in keeping us up to date. I have looked at other area TV stations, Indiananapolis and Terre Haute and they don't have anything close to keeping anyone updated on what is going on. Thank you for taking the time and going the extra mile for our area.
If everyone took their job as seriously as did our weatherman, the world would be a better place. Big props to Mike from the weather nerds like me all over the area that followed the blog to the wee hours of the morning. Someone so dedicated to doing a public service should be exalted, and should not take seriously the comments of a few knuckleheads. Let our praise drown out the voices of the miserable few.
Love the enthusiasm and extra efforts you put into the weather reporting. Your blog with updates and all the pictures are fun and entertaining to young and old alike. It is very educational as well. Keep up the excellent work. Mike, you and your weather team ROCK!!!!
Looking out my window right now I see at least 8 in. of snow. Looks like Mike was right! Please, Mike and Ch.18 crew, don't take those mean-spirited comments to heart. You guys did a SUPER FANTASTIC job...staying up all night to do it!
We are very fortunate to have you here in Lafayette. I checked you blog all through the night. I always check your blog in the morning and it sets me off with a smile. A BIG THANK YOU!
Hey Mike! Over on the south side between McCutcheon and Southwestern we have 8 inches of snow. Measured it in several places and came up with the same numbers. Thanks for keeping us posted and for all the work you and your team did last night and this morning.
I have never enjoyed weather watching as much since you began your BLOG...Keep it up...it could be -20 and we would still be warm due to your enthusiasm and caring ways...Keep it up, it may rub off on some that are not so caring and intelligent.
Mike you have to know by now being the weatherman is a thankless job. Even though we didn't get all of the snow predicted it was really awful out this morning. 9th street was awful, I went through drifts on Teal and Earl avenue was pretty slick. So I want to thank you for the heads up! I also wanted to tell you that we get a kick at your almost manic enthusiasm when the snow flies.
Mike and the Weather Team!
Keep up the great work! i really enjoy reading your blog and whenever severe storm is expected here in Lafayette...you are the first place i look!
I also really enjoy you putting stories and pictures of people in the community on your blog! It gives it a more personal feel!
Thanks again!
Jeremiah
We have 8 inches in our front yard on the east side of the city. Thanks to the Weather Team and thanks to Mike and the blog! I checked it throughout the night to see what the system was doing and was grateful for the up-to-date information. I'm glad that we have such a great team taking care of us!!!!
Thanks for working so hard on our behalf. We really appreciate the hard work and keeping us up to date during a storm.
Mike- I wish that you were payed by the hour- I know that you would be a millionaire then. You put so much time and effort into predicting the weather and making sure that the citizens are informed about what could happen. Thank you for your effort. I do appreciate it.
I for one, am glad that we didn't get the 12-14 inches that was first predicted. As for all of you who are complaining.. your probably just mad because you either went out and spent alot of money of groceries thinking you'd be holed for a couple of weeks or because you wont get a week off from work! Geez, are you going to be mad when the tornadoes and severe weather they predict are coming this way doesnt come? some people need to get a life
Mike,
A friend told me about your blog yesterday afternoon. I checked it out right away and spent most of the night up so that I could see all of your updates! I can't tell you how many times you made me laugh with your humor and enthusiasm. I've already past on the URL of your blog to several other friends. One thing I thought of last night; if you're going to tell us how good your wife's food is, you should share the recipes with us!! Thanks for the great job.
Thanks to you Mike and to the team. I always pay attention to the hometown forecast, not the Weather Channel like my friends. Like another poster, I also tell my friends, "Mike Prangley said..." and whenever we have a conflict over weather I always ask them, "Did you watch Mike Prangley?/What did Mike Prangley say?" Good job :)
We always look to WLFI for Monticello's weather forecasts. We think you do a great job. Your forecast of the bad winter blizzard back in February, 2007, helped me to keep my my husband and his elderly father (flying in from Phoenix on that eventful day)
aware of the snowy situation here back home. Just wanted to let you and your team know that your efforts are appreciated very much.
Thank you for the weather updates. I watched the storm come through too, weird how it split and missed us a lot but who knew? I check several sites for weather information and everyone had the same warnings and predictions. Don't let a few bring you down. It was the kind of storm that keeps you home with your kids and then is so beautiful you can go out and have a snow ball fight with them :)
If you were truly responsible for the weather I'd have to thank you for the perfect storm!
Have a great day!!
Mike, you do a great job and your enthusiasm and positive attitude is not lost on those of us listening, reading, and watching your weather forecasts and discussions. Just keep up the good work!!
Mike,
This sure was a bust over in Howard County but no fault of your (or other forecasters). Thanks for keeping us informed.
Jim
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