The Grotonweather.com Name...

I believe a bit of an administrative post is in order to follow up on the poll I had on my website over the weekend about the future name of Grotonweather.com.

First off, I would like to thank everyone who took time to take the survey. The information you gave me was a HUGE help in deciding my future course of action! I had a very good turnout on this survey, and there were some surprising results.

The overwhelming majority of you, it seems, really like the name 'grotonweather.com' and did NOT want to see it changed. This is not the results I expected and, in all honesty, I was not sure what to do for a bit. However, it is with great pleasure that I announce to you now that the grotonweather.com name will NOT be changing!

Now, the whole reason for wanting to change names in the first place was to, over the course of the next few years, grow this operation into something even larger. That is by all means still in the works, and I made a couple purchases just before making this post as the first steps in this plan. Details likely will not be coming out on this until the fall...or later...but I wanted to assure you all once more that there are no plans to get rid of the current site or current name.

Thank you all once again for your support and feedback! It is very much appreciated!

No Alert Mode this time...

A potentially significant severe weather outbreak across much of the northeast, including our area is beginning. However, Grotonweather.com will NOT be going into alert mode for this event. As I mentioned in the Alert Mode blog, I take the issuing of Alert Mode very seriously. I only issue them when it seems like widespread, life threatening weather is likely.

Today's event is very close to that criteria, and I cannot say for sure that I will not issue Alert Mode status later in the day. At this point though, I do not think the storms will organize quite fast enough to bring the high risks necessary for an Alert Mode. If this site was for Chenango, Monroe and Otsego counties, I very likely would be going into Alert Mode. The worst of this event, in terms of spatial coverage and intensity, will likely be just to our east.

That being said, storms are already starting to develop in our area and just to the west. These storms will not take long to become severe, and our threats for wind damage and hail remain at a 'MODERATE' level. Winds up to 80mph and two inch hail are not totally out of the question. Stay tuned for updates!

Severe Weather Awareness Week

This week is Severe Weather Awareness Week. In light of the recent severe and tornadic thunderstorms, I think its very important that we realize that dangerous and deadly weather can and does occur in our area. The first step to keeping yourself safe is education. I will be updating this blog each day with links to the National Weather Service pages for each day of Severe Weather Awareness Week.

Monday- Overview
Tuesday- Severe Thunderstorms
Wednesday- Severe Weather Preparedness
Thursday- Tornado Watches & Warnings
Friday- Flood Preparedness
Saturday- Communication of Hazardous Weather Information