Ministry and Meteorology?: Recent Episodes
None
I am a meteorologist and a former youth leader at church...I have a lot to say on both subjects...and then some
A lot has happened over the last few weeks. I won’t bore you with the details, but our family trips have merged into one long road trip. In the midst of that, I ran across a new weather app and website (Weather Front), as well as my friend Cory has really added some killer features […]
Active weather in the center of the country as the blocking pattern breaks down, and the zonal flow (jet stream west to east) pushes rounds of rain every couple of days. The tropical threat for the following week has quieted down over the last few days. Most of the members of the ECMWF show something […]
Got my time down to about 25 minutes. I had to stop recording because of issues with my tablet. After straightening that out, I got rolling again. Weather-wise, last day along the South Carolina Beaches where the chance for rain is less than 10 percent. Chances go up to about 30-40% over the next week, […]
Even though I tried to keep it short, I still ran a bit long. I’ll work on some ideas for next week to keep the forecasts a bit shorter. I used Everything Weather today, for part of the forecast today. Cory as some great tools to visualize things that are all from the NWS. Forecast-wise, […]
I went a little wordy as I explained the Omega block and how the pattern may change through the next 2 weeks, and how that will affect the weather for the Eastern US, and specifically the Myrtle Beach area. The basic forecast is that it will be dry through the weekend, with temperatures in the […]
I finally have the video settings on Camo Studio done properly. So I was able to record and do the minor editing quickly today. I would like to use my Apple Pencil to mark up things on the fly, but the Apple way is to create a PDF and mark it up, then go back […]
Still remembering how I used to do this. I messed with the layers in the screen recording app, and recorded only the background and no maps. So I re-recorded, but forgot that I had it on a 4:3 aspect ratio (my iPad is 4:3 and not 16:9) so a lot of the maps are cut […]
It’s been awhile. 5 months to be exact. With Mary and I on the Great American Loop, I couldn’t make the time to do the weather and continue to cruise. I thought about doing it in the evenings, but I was usually too tired after traveling all day, then anchoring, tying up to a mooring […]
I’m still doing some testing and making sure things work. Today was a new graphic and rebranding. We’re now calling it “Coffee & Weather with Jeff.” My wife did the art and suggested the renaming. I don’t do live analysis as much anymore. I’ve been focused more on just what the weather is doing and […]
Happy New Year! I’m still getting the bugs out of my software and Mac. However, I’m starting to get into the flow of doing this. I’m hoping to start doing this earlier in the morning, so people can use it to plan. if you want anything different, then let me know in the comments on […]
First and foremost, Let me take this time to wish my wife Happy Birthday! With the electricity issues and watching the little grandkids, I’ve been out for the past week. I was trying to record, and fell short of time, so now that I’m back from birthday brunch for my wife, I’ll put a post […]
Hi All! We are having some electrical issues fixed on the boat today, so I decided to type a post. I’m also thinking about redesigning my website so that you can get most of the information that I use for the briefings. Anyway, here’s what is going on this afternoon… On the 500 mb chart, […]
Sorry for disappearing. We have run into an electrical problem with the boat. So between finding marine electricians, and taking the boat out with family (go to our Lutz Getaway page ), celebrating a 5 year old’s birthday, and other things, we have been busy. However, we now have our car for the week or […]
Yesterday, I started a new way to do this. I split the forecast into South Texas and Lower Michigan versions. They are both about half the time as the full one, with all of the same information, but fine tuned to the region that they are for. I am also using Google Slides to help […]
This morning I was doing a hand analysis for Lower Michigan and one for South Texas. After doing the Michigan map, I decided to turn on the screen capture, and show the analysis as it happened, for South Texas. This is where the title to the videos come from for “Coffee and a Weather Map […]
High pressure leads to pleasant weather in Lower Michigan for the weekend. South Texas starts out dry, but rain begins to move into the region by Sunday/Monday. 0:00 – Intro0:47 – Upper Air2:18 – Radar3:56 – Surface map5:53 – Tropics9:00 – SPC/WPC14:45 – Lower Michigan Forecast18:59 – South Texas Forecast24:50 – Outro Websites used: Weather.gov […]
Things are a little slow starting this morning, but quiet so far. The weather is quiet as well. Over South Texas and Lower Michigan, rain is still possible in both places (there’s a little more to it than just that saying), and it is definitely cooler in Lower Michigan. So let’s get into it… Over […]
Colder air that moves through Lower Michigan will cool temperatures into the 60s Sunday and Monday (upper 50s?). South Texas has chances of rain through the week. 0:00 – Intro0:23 – Analysis4:29 – Tropical6:43 – Radar7:22 – SPC/WPC Outlooks11:42 – South Texas Forecast12:49 – Lower Michigan Forecast15:49 – Outro Websites used: Weather.gov (WPC/SPC/Local offices),https://Tropicaltidbits.com,https://weather.cod.edu (College […]
It’s been an interesting ride, this life of mine. I’ve been obsessed with the weather since about the 2nd grade. I may have thought about other possible paths along the way, but weather has been my main thing. So much so, that I became a meteorologist. However, I think back on what drove me here. […]
The post The Extremes are What Got Me Here…01/14/2023 first appeared on Ministry and Meteorology?.
It’s been a while. I have pretty much given up on my Northern Michigan Recreational Weather Blog, and started to blog from here again. A lot of that has to do with WordPress.com charging to embed YouTube videos. Since this is a self-funded blog site, under my wife’s business, I started to do my Coffee […]
The post What’s Been Going On? And a Weather Comment…12/17/2022 first appeared on Ministry and Meteorology?.
A lot has happened in the last several months. Mary and I decided to sell our house on the east side of Gaylord back in March. We began to investigate places to live. Turns out that’s when the country was coming to grips with the lack of housing issues. However, we decided to do something […]
The post Just Getting Things Caught Up…09/06/2022 first appeared on Ministry and Meteorology?.
I muted myself during the first half of the live stream. Blah. This is the edited version with audio.
The post Coffee and a Weather Map with Jeff 05/16/2022 first appeared on Ministry and Meteorology?.
The weekend warm up and a weather map, all over a cup of coffee…
The post Coffee and a Weather Map with Jeff 04/22/2022 first appeared on Ministry and Meteorology?.
Windy today with snow mixing in the next few days. Cool stretch into next week…
The post Coffee and a Weather Map with Jeff 04/14/2022 first appeared on Ministry and Meteorology?.
I have a Friday off! So Let’s talk about the weather!
The post Coffee and a Weather Map with Jeff 04/08/2022 first appeared on Ministry and Meteorology?.
I forgot to post this the other day.
The post Coffee and a Weather Map with Jeff 04/01/2022 first appeared on Ministry and Meteorology?.
I talk about the upcoming freezing rain event, and then analyze a map…
The post Coffee and a Weather Map with Jeff 03/28/2022 first appeared on Ministry and Meteorology?.
I haven’t done much with this site, since I’m not a youth director/teacher at church anymore. I’ve continued with my meteorology website over the years. However, I see now that the wordpress site that I use for my meteorology posts, won’t let me embed video without paying a fee now. So I’ll bring the weather […]
The post Something New first appeared on Ministry and Meteorology?.
I’ve always had an interest for shooting video and pictures. In the past, I didn’t always have the resources to complete it. Whether that was a video or film camera, or an editor, I just didn’t have a way to do it well. Then DSLRs began to get better, and there were ways to edit on your computer. So about 4-5 years ago, I began this slow journey of learning.
How to mix sound and get good sound was one of the first things I learned. It came by accident. I learned about mixing live sound for our church, which I continue to do. Then I learned that sound, in video and film, was probably the most important part of the process. If people can’t hear you or the sound is poor, then people won’t want to see your video. So I began to acquire low end, but decent recording devices to supplement the point and shoot that I began shooting with.
I seemed to be advancing rapidly, until recently. I began to notice that my advancement was slowing down as I tried to shoot things. It wasn’t the physical impediments of resources. I learned you can shoot with anything, as long as you had a story to tell.
The impediment was me.
I’ve always had some sort of anxiety. A general angst that would worry me about my relationships with people. I’m not sure when it started. I’m not sure there was an instigating incident that kicked it off. However, somewhere during my early life, I began to not feel safe, unless I was with people that I knew accepted me. Even then, it seemed, that I would still regress in conversation, not sure what I would ask or talk about next. I was afraid of the awkward silence.
That fear began to expand into my film and video life. I’m always not wanting to seem to intrude on people. Yet, I want to record moment for people that are important. It causes me to hold back. Not that there aren’t times that inappropriate to take pictures or video, but to remain safe, I hold back more than I probably should. Especially, if you need to take lots of video and pictures to get the great moments to create your story.
What brought this realization? A family celebration of life for my cousin. I was often torn between take video and pictures, and talking. Not wanting people to feel ill at ease. Of course, my anxiety of who to talk to, not to be too obtrusive, began as well. I started to get my mind into a knot. I would sit down somewhere, not in the way, but on the fringes. Eventually, someone would sit, and talk to me, or I would force myself into someplace that was a part of a circle, and begin to talk, or just listen…
(pause to take a shower and begin cleaning my office(about an hour))
Now that I have that out, I think my answer is in the last sentence. Just keep forcing myself to get into it. So besides cleaning the junk out of my office, I need to finish a few projects.
As Luke Cage says,”Always forward…”
And just like that, one of my favorite YouTubers, and probably the one I’ve learned the most from, puts this video out…
The post Impediments to my Video Life…11/07/2018 first appeared on Ministry and Meteorology?.
It was a long time coming. When I got my D5500 (Nikon) camera, I had all sorts of format options for shooting. Unsure of what to do, I went with the hi-res JPEG option that you find in a lot of websites.
However, as time went on, I realized that with the raw files(usually very large) you can edit the photos. I don’t mean like Photoshop, where you can add things that are there, but like Lightroom (also an Adobe product) which to me, hearkens back to my black and white film days, when Dad taught me how to shoot and develop my own pictures. Now with the modern advances, I can take the raw files and tweak them to look their best.So first, I shot dual, JPEG and .NEF (Nikon’s raw format) but after figuring out that I was editing my photos and then sending them and posting them, and not using the JPEGs, I decide to shoot only the raw files.
One of the other things that helped this decision was when I got my GNARBOX, it allowed me to edit the photos (and videos) from the camera with my iPad or iPhone. So I can do a bit of quick turn around with my pictures and video. Also, I found that the iOS version of Lightroom is free and allows me to for with them on my iPhone. So, now, I shoot raw.
The post I’ve Started Shooting Raw Photos on my “Big” Camera…04/26/2018 first appeared on Ministry and Meteorology?.
It’s been a while since I last wrote anything. So while I’m sitting looking through YouTube, on a dreary day before my first of a string of night shifts, I thought I would catch everyone up on where I am. Since starting this quest a couple of years ago, I have learned a few things.
First, that the story you tell is more important than the way it looks. It’s easy for a tech person, like me to look at the cameras and think, “Ooo, I want that one so I can make pretty pictures.” Well, that is important, but no one wants to watch a boring story, no matter what the picture looks like.
Second, sound is even more important. Somehow, when I learned of this, I thought, “Well that’s cool. Good thing I learned how to mix live sound at church.” Not that I’m great at that, but I’m competent enough to keep learning new things, and it’s spilled into my filmmaking.
The third is related to the first. I may not have the best gear in the world, and that’s okay. I’m figuring out how to do things right with what I have. Maybe in the future, I’ll get some of the new gear, but right now, with my D5500, iPhone X, the old Canon point & shoot that I started with, and my GoPro Hero (early 2000s not the new one), I’ve been able to put together some okay videos for my experience level.
I realize that my composition for video is coming along, and that my photos are better composed than my videos. I also note that I need to be more patient and sometime learn to to do everything manually on my “big camera”(D5500) instead of some things manual and other things auto.
I’m also at a point where I need to write things, instead of the edit with what I have. That’s okay for some things, but it isn’t very challenging.
I also want to shout out to all of the YouTube people that have been training me from the beginning…
- Tom Antos
- Dave Dugdale
- Basic Filmmaker
- Griffin Hammond
- This Guy Edits
- Wolfcrow
- Casey Neistat
- Cinematography Database
- DSLR Video Shooter
- DSLR Guide
- Film Riot
- Filmmaker IQ
- Indy Mogul
- knoptop
- No Film School
- RocketJump Film School
- The Film Look
- The Slanted Lens
- Peter McKinnon
- Matti Haapoja
There is one more that I have learned the most from, just because of the type of videos that he puts out, and that’s D4Darious! His 30 day film school, that someone put into a Google spreadsheet is the bomb! Not to mention his tutorials. That’s not to short change any of the others, but D has broken things down in a way that helped me with my skills.
I’m hoping with the new schedule rotation at work, I can sit down and work more on this. I have a long way to go…
The post Where I am with photography/cinematography…04/12/2018 first appeared on Ministry and Meteorology?.
Santa was good to me with several “toys” that I got. The big won was the GnarBox. Short description, imagine iMovie, and a hard drive, that will down load your memory cards, with a WiFi spot to connect your phone or tablet to do the editing. I wanted it before we went to Disney, but with the bypass surgery, I was surprised I got it now! Another was a new pair of headphones, a base for my monopod, and a new camera bag/backpack.
I’ve converted my SlingBag (which is still great) into my sound and accessory bag. After paying off some bills this winter, I’ll see about buying some of the lighting gear that I’ve wanted.
With that all said, I continue to make progress in filmmaking. I’ve noticed that while my composition is good, I need to work on keeping things in focus(meaning wearing my reading glasses more to see if I am in focus) and working with the white balance on my camera. I noticed that several pictures and video that I took over Christmas were very blue, so I had to color correct them in post production. It’s better to do it in camera, than post, but I see why some people say, “we’ll fix it in post.” It would save time to keep the colors true in camera.
I’m also working on making sure that even when I have things in chronological order that I’m still telling a story. Instead of we did this, then this, then this etc… I want to keep things interesting for people who watch my stuff.
I’m also working on the 30 day Film School video that D4Darious put up a while back. It has helped me immensely to get on track. It may take me more than 30 days, but I’m working through them.
If you want to see any of the things I’ve filmed (most of it is family), check out my YouTube channel.
One last thing is an update on my heart. I’ve been in Cardiac Rehab for the past month. I asked how long I would need to be in it, and was told I’m cleared for 36 sessions, but at my current progression, I could be out after 24. I’m working on that, and what to do keep this work out habit going.
The post Christmas Goodies, Filmmaking and my Heart…01/01/2018 first appeared on Ministry and Meteorology?.
I can drive again!
I have hit the 4 week/1month point post-op. I had a meeting with my surgeon and have no issues with me driving. There is little to no pain in my chest at this point. I do have some sort of numbness along my sternum, where they cracked my chest open, but that isn’t bad. I can sleep on my stomach again!
With no pain, it means my reactions for driving are probably back to where they were. Since I can drive, I can now go to work. I was scheduled to go back this Friday, so that’s what I will be doing. The only thing at this point is Cardiac Rehab, where I go to the hospital and do monitored work outs for the next 4 weeks or so. That looks like we can schedule around it. After that, I’ll be free of the post up things and should be back to 100%.
The post Heart Updates…12/04/2017 first appeared on Ministry and Meteorology?.
I was in ICU for the night, and by the next morning I was being wheeled up to the Cardio-Vascular Unit. The next 5 days was spent getting me to walk, begin to eat (I had no hunger the following day or two.), etc. The staff in both ICU and CVU were great!
There’s not much extra to tell. After two days, I got my chest drain tubes taken out. I had to stay on oxygen through all but the last day. Each day was an adventure, as I continued to get stronger, and respond to what had happened, by getting my body back to the way it was.
They warned me in some of the literature that I would be emotional following the surgery, however, it didn’t hit me until I was being wheeled out. I had a hard time containing my tears and emotions that rushed out. However, with a 45 minute drive from Petoskey to Gaylord, I was back to normal.
This should, Lord willing, be good to keep me going for a long time. There are still a lot of things for me to work on, in this life…
The post Okay, Here’s the Story About my Heart, Pt. 5…11/24/2017 first appeared on Ministry and Meteorology?.
It seemed like a dream. There was some sort of Star Wars theme to it. I remember thinking to myself, I have to remember to tell Mary about this, as my consciousness began to poke up passed the drug induced stupor. I was becoming more aware, and struggled to open my eye lids. I could see a glimpse of the ICU nurses. They were talking to me. I don’t remember what they said, but I realized, that the surgery was done. Something was in my mouth, oh yeah, the breathing tubes that the anesthesiologist told me about before the surgery. I faded out, and just before I woke up again, another Star Wars themed dream. This time, Mary was there.
I reached out to her and she took my hand. I faded out again, after a few minutes and after another Star Wars themed dream I awoke. Mary and my pastor was there. I held Mary’s hand, and Pastor Steve prayed over me. I faded out again.
I awoke again, and this time there was Mary and Trisha. My eyes were always heavy through this time. However, after Trisha left, I was becoming more able through the afternoon to hold my eyes open. I had a couple of events where I couldn’t quite coordinate swallowing with the breathing tubes in. The last time, the ICU nurse pulled one of them out. Then got the okay to pull the other one. Once they were out, I could talk!
The post Okay, Here’s the Story about my Heart pt.4…11/20/2017 first appeared on Ministry and Meteorology?.
It’s been another week since my triple bypass surgery. Things are beginning to progress well since I came home. However, when I last left you, I was two days out from being operated on. Saturday and Sunday passed without incident. I did my pre-op cleansings and at 4:00 am Monday morning, Mary and I headed north to Petoskey. We arrived a little early and had to wait. A little after 5:00 am they called my name.
I changed into a hospital gown, and then proceeded to be have both of my legs shaved, and my chest. It still looks funny today as the hair hasn’t fully grown back in. After that, I had another anti-bacterial bath, and then IV’s in both of my wrists. Mary was allowed back with me eventually and we waited. The PA for the surgeon came in and described the procedure to us and checked to make sure that the things were ready. Everything checked out.
The anesthesiologist came in checked a couple of things, and then began to roll me out. Mary and I were caught off guard by his demeanor and he didn’t say anything like, “this is it.” As I saw a door ahead of me, I realized that we wouldn’t get to kiss before I went in, so I said, “I love you!” and boom! I was through the door and being whisked through the hall to the Operating Room.
They moved me onto the Operating table, and began to connect me up to the IVs, EKGs, etc. The last thing I remember was the discussion on whether the music was appropriate with the anesthesiologist and the nursing staff. Then there was nothing until…
The post Okay, Here’s the Story About my Heart PT. 3…11/16/2017 first appeared on Ministry and Meteorology?.
As the sun is shining over northern Michigan this morning, I pause to remember…
The remembrance is bittersweet, which, for a meteorologist, most are. The storms that gave us awe for the power of nature, also tends to take life. So we balance our excitement of a storm with the recollection that some people die within these storms…
There are about 5 different storms when I was a kid that kept me on track to become a meteorologist:
- The April 3-4, 1974 tornado super outbreak
- November 10, 1975
- The Winter storm of January 1977
- The Winter storm of January 1978
- The tornado outbreak of May 31, 1985
The storm was truly remarkable, with a low pressure of 978mb when the storm’s center moved to just southwest of James Bay, which allowed for the hurricane force northwest winds over Lake Superior and rest of the Upper Great Lakes.
The hurricane gusts reached into southwest lower Michigan. Those gusts stirred up the ashes in our fire place, which had a set of glass doors on them, and left what looked like ghostly imprints of dancers.
Of course, later we would learn via Harry Reasoner and ABC News (probably WZZM out of GRR as well) that the S/S Edmund Fitzgerald was missing and was eventually found in 530 ft of water north of Whitefish Point.
The post Today, We Pay Homage to One of the Storms That Made Me a Meteorologist…11/10/2017 first appeared on Ministry and Meteorology?.
As I keep telling people, I’m training myself to be a filmmaker. I was in the process of trying to video this whole procedure, but there are times, when you just can’t, or maybe it’s just my anxiety in asking if I can record the different segments. In this case, I’ve got some clips, so here’s a bit more in my video words…
Part three will be my recollections of the surgery and the 6 day stay.
The post Okay, Here’s the Story About my Heart Pt. 2…11/9/2017 first appeared on Ministry and Meteorology?.