It came as no real surprise that Anheuser-Busch has decided not to sponsor the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill. But to finally hear that professional golf is not coming back to Williamsburg next year was rather odd. We’ve come to expect great golf each year on the James. But not any more. Aloha, sayonara, hasta la vista baby!

What a sham. The long history of great professional golf tournaments at Kingsmill comes to an end after 29 years. Here are just a few things that I will miss now that the LPGA is no longer coming to Kingsmill:

Natalie Gulbis

Beer baths at the 18th hole

Boats out on the James

The party at the 17th hole

Free golf on media day

Natalie Gulbis

All the volunteers

Pro-Am day

Kids seeking autographs

Introductions at the first tee by the gentleman wearing knickers

All those smooth backswings

The action around the putting green

The latest golf fashion

Paula Creamers pink ball

Cristina Kim’s big smile

That big winners check

Difference making birdies at number 15

Great food in the press room

The list of things I will miss about the LPGA at Kingsmill is long, but the list of things I will  not miss is short and that’s getting through the tunnel to make my deadline.

The weather should be pretty quiet today.  The winds will be up though this afternoon.  Winds will be NNE 10-20mph.  Clouds will clear up later this afternoon.  Highs will be in the 70s.  High pressure will build down into the region tonight.  Skies will clear, winds will drop, and lows will be cool.  Mid-upper 50s inland with lower 60s near the shore.  Tomorrow the high sits over us.  So fair and mild for Sunday.  Highs will be in the upper 70s. 

The Atlantic has a few areas of interest.  There’s one cluster of storms in the Central Atlantic that may develop into something over the next couple of days, but there are no organized systems for now. 

It will be a little cool for the beaches today for most.  If you do go, then there is a moderate threat for rip currents.  So use caution.

So the business comes from a lot of events today.  There is the NSU versus William and Mary game.  The Wine Festival is going on in the City Center of Oyster Point, Newport News.  The Umoja festival is happening near the N’tellos pavillion in Portsmouth.  Plus the lumberjack competition is going on at Mount Trashmore.  Some fun events for everyone.  Enjoy and be safe.

Meteorologist: Jeremy Wheeler

I occasionally mention Global Warming on these blogs.  I try keep it balanced by offering opposing comments or data.  Recently, I’ve even mentioned that parts of the United States (Midwest, Northeast especially) has had a significant cooling over the last couple of years.  It hasn’t been the coldest on record, but it has been statistically significant.  Some meteorologists quickly point to the drop in sunspots as the culprit.  However, there has also been a lot of record heat in the West and Southwest this Summer.  What prompted me to write this blog though was a somewhat shocking article from NOAA.  It states that this August had the warmest global ocean temperatures on record.  Here’s the link: Ocean Temps The records date back to 1880. 

To provide some of the balance that I mentioned, here’s another NOAA article that talks about the cooling in the United States over the Summer: Cool Summer

Both are interesting, but the debate goes on.  I have piles of books, tons of websites, and folders of articles on the subject.  The only problem is that with two kids, a steady job, and a million chores it’s hard to find the time to read everything that’s out there.  Let alone sort it all out. 

My take on “Unnatural Global Warming” hasn’t changed.  I still think that the manmade component of global warming is acting like a piggy back ride on top of some long term natural warming.  When you hit the peaks in the temperature cycle, then you go a little over. When you hit the valleys, then temperatures aren’t as cold as they should be.  I could go on and on.  But the main thing I wanted to point out was…don’t count out Global Warming just yet. 

Meteorologist: Jeremy Wheeler

It was ten years ago when Floyd moved through the region and flooded Franklin and other cities in Virginia.  Parts of Hampton Roads received 17″ of rain.  It’s estimated that more fell in the Franklin area.  Reporter Jason Marks did a story on the storm.  Here’s the link: Floyd 

  I’m sure many people have some interesting stories to tell from that event.  Here’s another site that explains the overall impacts.  It’s neat because it also has a list of historical Virginia Hurricanes.  Some that go back as far as the 1500’s.  Here’s the link for that: Floyd Impacts and historical storms

Locally, we have some scattered showers and storms this evening.  A few spotty showers are possible tomorrow and Friday.  The weekend looks good, but rain will be close to the area and the forecast is on the edge of having a few showers.  So stay tuned. 

Meteorologist: Jeremy Wheeler

We’re just a few days away from the official start of Fall.
Over the weekend, I got the chance to emcee the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival at Town Point Park.

It was a celebration welcoming a bountiful autumn harvest.

What a wonderful event that just wrapped up its fourth year! We had great weather, hundreds of visitors, and a spot inside the newly renovated Town Point Park

The Jow Ga Kung Fu Chinese Association of Virginia Beach brought in some good luck with a Chinese lion dance.

The ladies of the Tidewater Chinese School Performing Arts Club entertained us with a lovely ribbon dance.

And I got the chance to stand next to the Moon Goddess.

Until next year–
Hope your year is a lucky one!

Typically the peak of hurricane season is during mid-September.  However, after “Fred” fizzled out over the weekend, we are left without any named storms in the Atlantic Basin (which is completely fine with me).  Activity typically starts to wind down late September through October, but don’t let your guard down yet.  If we get another named storm, the next one on the list is “Grace.”

The National Hurricane Center currently has the remnants of Fred highlighted but does not expect re-generation into a tropical system.

Atlantic Basin Satellite Image

Meteorologist Cheryl Nelson

If  you have children move all of your medicine way up high or better yet lock it up.   We just put child resistant medicine bottles to the test with a kindergarten class at  Christ The King School in Norfolk and boy was it an eye opener.

Of the 24 students in our experiment 8 were able to open the bottles.  That’s 1/3 of  the class.    Our bottles were empty, but we used the same bottles pharmacists use for narcotics and anitbiotics.  We also used over the counter bottles used for aspirin, ibuprofen and vitamins.

It took the 8 students on average less than a minute to get the bottle open.  How many times have you walked out of the room for a minute and left an aspirin bottle on the table?  From now on  I’m definetly going to be more careful.

Round and round they went Saturday night at the Action Track in Richmond. Problem was, the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 seemed more like a parade than a race. There was very little side by side racing that die hard fans are used to at the RIR. The drivers on the bubble to make the chase were so freaked out that they drove as conservative as self declared conservative leader Ronald Reagan.

Late in the race on a restart, Jeff Gordon was trying to get past leader Denny Hamlin. On a restart, Gordon got clipped from behind and sent back 5 positions. Gordon never could get back to the front and Hamlin went on to an easy win at his home track. It looked too easy. Hamlin dominated the race leading 298 of the 400 laps. What’s fun about that! Yes I was rooting for the home boy to get his first win at his home track. But like all race fans, I was hoping to see some drama and action in the process.

I guess the Car Of Tomorrow is to blame. Since it was introduced to NASCAR, the COT has led to plenty of follow-the-leader racing. The biggest problem of the car is it’s size. It’s bigger than cars in the past and that seems to make it harder for the drivers to pull along side and race. It should come as no surprise to NASCAR why the sport is losing popularity. Attendance is dwindling and television ratings are down. More boring races like the the one in Richmond will not help the cause.

Yesterday was really nice out.  Today should be nice as well.  A weak area of low pressure will continue to move away from Hampton Roads.  Last night it brought a few sprinkles to the coastal area, but that was all.  High pressure will build back in this afternoon.  Winds will be a little breezy out of the north.  This northerly breeze will keep it  cool near the shore. Highs will be in the mid 70s right at the shoreline, but we’ll see some lower 80s inland.  Either way it will be very nice.  Clear and cool tonight with lows in the 60s.  A few 50s inland.  A cold front will bring us a chance for showers on Wednesday. 

Meteorologist: Jeremy Wheeler

I’ll try and not sound like a broken record…record…re.. It’s been wet lately.  Too wet.  My yard has gone from severely parched to just right to drowning over the past couple of years.  A lot of farmers are probably dealing with the same conditions.  So I’m writing to slap a few numbers on just how wet it has been.  It has rained about 38 days in the last 2 1/2 months at Norfolk International Airport.  It has probably rained a lot more days in adjacent cities. The current August-September period is the 2nd wettest on record with 19.51″ so far in that time frame.  The wettest Aug/Sept. was in 1964″ with 22.84″.  So we will probably break that record at the current rate that we’re going. 

Good news!   The weekend forecast is looking dry.  The low that was offshore now lies to our north.  This weekend the low should start to drift northeast and move away from us.  Before it does, it may send a few sprinkles our way late Saturday into early Sunday.  However, nothing significant is expected.  I’m looking forward to a nice weekend.  Should see good weather for the NASCAR race at Richmond Saturday evening. 

Meteorologist: Jeremy Wheeler