Tim Simpson's Blog

Whitewater

Ok, I ran across this picture of our whitewater adventure back in July.  The water was cold then, I can't imagine taking the trip today. 

October...I Feel It!

I don't know about you, but I stepped outside Monday morning and just felt it!  Yep, I could actually feel October about to make it's arrival.

There's no time of the year I like better than the month of October.  The crisp fall air, the multi colored leaves, and the moaning of the old cotton gin.  Well, I don't hear the cotton gin these days, but as I kid our family lived close enough to Shelly's cotton gin that you hear it in the background of everything that occurred outside.  I haven't even mentioned football yet. 

The arrival of October is an anticipated event in our home.  It signals the end to yet another hot and humid Memphis summer.  However, we have nothing to complain about the summer of 2009.  It featured only one 100 degree day.  As far as summers go, it was one of the mildest summers of record. 

October is also my birthday month which is another reason that I always looked forward to its arrival.  However these days, I'm not quite as eager as I used to be about birthdays.  I'm getting to the point where I've had quite a few.  That's the nice way of saying that I'm getting older. 

Jim Jaggers doesn't seem to be aging!  He's got a couple of years on me and he's biking all across the Mid South like he was 16.  I wonder what he soaks his feet in each night?  Another thing I'm wondering about Jim:  If I had a nice big RV following me around, I'd be tempted to let some air out of those bike tires.  But since he is biking the 333 miles, you certainly couldn't ask for nicer weather. 

I know it'll only be here for a while, but I'm going to enjoy my October.  There's nothing like sitting outside on the back patio early in the morning sipping that fresh cup of coffee.  Oh, I forgot.  We have five kids.  That time of quiet, coffee and meditation on the patio is always very short lived.

Cut Off Low

When you watch our weathercasts this week, one thing should stick out to you:  The counter clockwise rotation of rain and clouds across the lower Mississippi river.  There is an area of low pressure that we term a "cut off low", that is centered in northern Louisiana.  This low is cut off from the jet stream, the upper level wind stream which usually pushes weather systems across the United States.  Because there is nothing to send this weather system on its way, it will continue to "hang out" across the southeastern United States.

The National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood Watch across the entire News Channel 3 viewing area until Wednesday evening.  While rain chances will continue into the weekend, don't expect steady periods of rain.  Instead, this low pressure system will send wave after wave of showers and even thunderstorms.  The severe weather risk isn't high, but I wouldn't rule out an isolated severe storm or two.  Rain is culprit here, and plenty of it.  Some areas of eastern Arkansas have already seen over threee inches of rain and that total will only climb over the next few days.

Here's the upside on all the rain--cool temperatures.  Enjoy!

2009 MDA Telethon

Another Labor Day has come and gone and the 2009 Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon is history.  As usual, folks all across the Mid South stepped up to help Jerry's kids.  We raised over $456,000 locall which will benefit MDA patients all across the Mid South. 

Donations go to fund research, flu shots, wheelchairs, a week at camp, and clinic sessions just to name a few.  The fight against Muscular Dystrophy is a fierce battle which can be won with our help.  Children and adults alike depend on your generous donations.

The telethon was broadcast from the WREG-TV studios this year.  In the past, we've broadcast from the Peabody Hotel and the former Libertyland.  The Peabody was nice and gave us plenty of operating space.  However, broadcasting from our station gave us some technological advantages that we've not had in the past.  The studio here was smaller than a grand ballroom at the Peabody Hotel, but I found myself doing much less walking during the telethon.  I reall enjoyed the new location--our broadcast home!

I want to thank all of the volunteers, MDA and WREG-TV staff members for their support.  But most of all thanks to our viewers who made this year's telethon such a success.  It is an honor to work with such a great group of people. 

15 Years at News Channel 3

From 1987 through 1994 I worked at our sister station, WHNT-TV in Huntsville, AL.  It was my first full time weather job and I was having a blast.  Six months before I joined the station, construction had just been completede on a new broadcast facility in downtown Huntsville.  Call me spoiled!  I have many fond memories of those days.

I was a regular customer at Aunt Eunice's Country Kitchen, a local coffee and biscuit hangout in Huntsville.  I discovered Big Bob Gibson's Bar-B-Que in Decatur, AL, before they won their Memphis In May Grand Championship a few years back.  My wife and I enjoyed regular access to the Space & Rocket Center.  And since most of our years in Alabama were before the Simpson kids came along, I was a daily regular at the Huntsville Municipal Golf Course, back when I had a good golf game. 

I played a small part in launching the television career of news talker Sean Hannity.  Sean and liberal partner David Person, hosted a Sunday night tv talk show that I pitched to our station management and got approval to air.  I was the executive producer of that show which was number one in the ratings during my time in Huntsville.

The tornado of November 15, 1989, was an F4 monster that slammed south Huntsville, killing 22 people.  The storm knocked us off the air that afternoon.  I was also working Palm Sunday 1994 when a tornado hit the Goshen United Methodist Church in Piedmont, AL.  I cut my teeth on severe weather coverage during my years in Alabama.  It was a great experience for me.

In April of 1994, I had an offer to join a television station in Detroit, MI.  It was a big move to a big market.  However our company at that time, The New York Times Broadcast Group, made an offer that would bring me to Memphis, which is my home area.  I couldn't resist.  My wife and I did some house hunting with our infant son, Tim Jr., during the summer of 1994.  I started work here at WREG-TV on September 1, 1994. 

Since that time I've been involved in countless severe weather situations, school and civic events, four more children, singing groups, a ride with the USAF Thunderbirds, even a ride in a rocket powered 1957 pickup truck.  There have been telethons, weather conferences, even a few awards since coming here in 1994. 

On this evening's 4:30 newscast, Alex Coleman and April Thompson helped me mark 15 years at News Channel 3.  We teased about a cake to mark the occasion.  During a commercial break however, I remembered that cakes are usually reserved for those who retire or move on to other jobs.  So if you don't mind, just hold the cake for now.  There's more work to do. 

August Is Coming To An End

Those of us with weather interests are keeping an eye on what is now Tropical Storm Danny.  The storm is a little over 500 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, NC.  It's moving a little erratically today, but currently on a northwest track.  The storm is expected to curve more northward, then northeastward over the next couple of days following a similar track to that of Tropical Stom Bill last weekend.  Danny however, could briefly make landfall around Boston, MA over the weekend. 

I met a couple at church this past Sunday who have just moved to the Memphis area from southern California.  I told them that Mid South summers are hard to take because of the heat and humidity.  The woman responded that it hasn't really been that bad since they've been here.  She is correct, the summer of 2009 will go down as one of the cooler summers on record here locally.  But just wait until next summer.  You can bet it'll heat up once again.

We had some overnight lows in the 50s this past week which makes me long for the Fall season.  I thought I was back in Wyoming! 

I took advantage of the nice weather last weekend by taking one of my neighbors and my 9 year old son, Josh, flying.  My favorite time to fly is late evening so I can watch the sunset.  My neighbor, Rick, got to fly for a little while, then Josh took his turn at the wheel.  Josh has his sights set on being a pilot someday, just like Daddy.  You can bet that I'll encourage that interest along the way.  Of our five kids, he enjoys it the most.  The only time my other kids are interested in flying with me is when it can cut a ten hour drive down to a two and a half hour flight.  I believe that is called CONVENIENCE.   

Thoughts On A Wednesday

We've had some slow moving thunderstorms over the past couple of nights that have produced some very impressive rainfall amounts.  Flash Flood Warnings were issued across parts of northeastern Arkansas, west Tennessee and north Mississippi last night.  Some rainfall estimates of 3-4 inches occurred in Mississippi from Coahoma county into Quitman and Tunica counties.  

East Memphis wasn't spared from the rain.  There were reports of flooding at the Jewish Community Center and several other low lying areas of the city.  While the storms were just shy of reaching severe limits, the heavy rainfall combined with slow movement produced the impressive rain totals.  The lightning show was also quite spectacular.  

I drove to Dyersburg this morning for a severe weather conference.  Area police, fire and emergency managers attended this informative conference that dealt with ways we can more effectively deal with severe weather.  I addressed the role that television stations play in alerting the public to threatening weather situations.  I shared some of my experiences and told of our commitment to inform our viewers during these dangerous events. 

What A Trip!

I had been planning the trip for months and didn't really know what to expect.  How would our five kids react to so much travel time?  Well, we decided to load up the van, head west and find out!

We left from the News Channel 3 parking lot on Friday, July 17, after I finished work.  We drove west on I-40 to Fayetteville, AR.  It was a late night arrival and we had some good accomodations.  Not every hotel has a great set up for two adults and five kids, but we found some great deals on this trip and everything worked in our favor.

Saturday morning we had breakfast and drove to the the Fayetteville town square.  It was full of exhibitors, musicians, even local farmers selling their fruits and vegetables.  It was unusually cool for July as I had the opportunity to show my wife and kids where I worked back in 1982, on the square in Fayetteville.  My first job out of college was at KEZA radio, which was owned by Arkansas state Senator Kim Hendren.  Our broadcast studio was on the 6th floor of what was then the First Federal Building, with a great view of the town square.  Within an hour we were on the road heading toward Colorado Springs.

Our 1999 Chevy Van was the perfect vehicle to take on this trip.  Even though we've had some issues through the years, we just prayed as a family each day that it would hold up and it did!  The best money I spent was before we left town, making sure that the CD player and DVD player worked.  While the kids didn't overload on the "on board media" it came in handy keeping the kids occupied when we needed it.

As we traveled to Tulsa, then to Wichita, we took in the beautiful sights along the roadway.  Once at Salina, KS we made the turn toward Colorado Springs.  We were amazed at all the gigantic wind farms we observed along I-70.  I took it all in, enjoying the sights.  Another late arrival, this time in Colorado Springs. 

Sunday afternoon we hit the Cog Railroad and took the train to the top of Pikes Peak, 14,010 feet above sea level.  Leah and I looked at each other and felt some flu like symptoms.  We felt horrible!  It was the high altitude and lack of oxygen due to the thin air.  Fortunately we didn't stay long and felt better once we descended the mountain.  We had the opportunity to see Garden of the Gods, visit Focus On the Family and the Air Force Academy.

Next stop was Frontier Days in Cheyenne, WY.  We wore our cowboy hats, went to the rodeo, saw the Indian village and enjoyed a patriotic grand parade.  This was such a "family friendly" event.  Even though temperatures were in the mid 80s, humidity was so low that I never broke a sweat!  We all enjoyed a break from the July heat and humidity.  I must say that I absolutely LOVE Wyoming.  I might not like it as much in the middle of winter, but the summer weather is great!

From Cheyenne we traveled to Jackson Hole, WY.  The weather there is wacky, that's the only way I can describe it.  We arrived to moderate rainfall and cool temperatures.  Within two hours, there wasn't a cloud in the sky.  On other days it would rain, hail, the sun would come out, then it would hail again.  Like I said, wacky!  The Grand Tetons were breath taking.  We hiked around Jenny Lake and followed the trail to the Hidden Falls.  Fortunately we didn't encounter any bears, but found some great places to take pictures.  Check out some of the pics I've posted on my blog. 

Our hotel offered a hot breakfast each morning and that helped us save money.  The tram ride at Teton Village was around $18 per person, but we found out about the FREE after 6 special.  You can imagine with seven people in our party, we decided to ride the tram after 6pm.  I had the opportunity to parasail, basically parachute off the side of a mountain.  Plus the family enjoyed a day of whitewater rafting and a chuckwagon dinner.  The whitewater and parasailing events were captured on my helmet cam.  Pretty impressive video!

It was a good decision not spend much time in Yellowstone due to the road construction.  We did enjoy the park and even the log cabin we had for one night.  The kids were excited to see some bears and we enjoyed some good home made chili at the Roosevelt Lodge.  Just one day in Yellowstone and we started driving east toward Rapid City.  This is where we encountered the Big Horn Mountains with quite a few road challenges for that 10 year old van.  The brakes held up!

Next stop was Mt.Rushmore where we spent most of our time at the beautiful visitor's center looking up at those familiar presidential faces.  We stopped by a place called Bear Country, but it was much less expensive to ponder the "free" glance of bears we saw in Yellowstone. 

Driving across South Dakota, we stopped by one of the ranger's stations close to one of the former underground missle silos, built back in the 1960s during the height of the cold war.  Those underground silos are scattered across the Dakotas, Montana and Wyoming.  They were built to keep the Soviet threat minimized but now many silos have been decommissioned since the end of the Cold War.

The drive was long from Rapid City to Omaha, made even longer by so much road construction.  On our final day of travel we were fortunate enough to roll into Sikeston, MO before Lamberts restaurant closed.  It was our most expensive meal on the trip, but we made some memories and loaded up on "throwed rolls" and fried potatoes.  We arrived back in Memphis after a two week trip, 4,000 total miles and 50 hours of driving.  I think I've done my math correctly.  The crick in my neck says I drove at least 50 hours!

This trip was a once in a lifetime trip for our family.  We wanted to make some memories with our children that they'll have for the rest of their lives.  I think we accomplished our objective.  As always, it's good to be back home.

Back In the Saddle

I was 16 years old when my parents took us on a vacation to Wyoming.  We went to Cheyenne for the annual Frontier Days, then on to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone.  Over the past two weeks I was able to retrace that trip with my family.  What a trip!  What a lot of driving!

One of the highlights of that trip was in Yellowstone National Park.  Now I have to be honest, we didn't spend much time in the park because there was so much road construction.  It was also crowded.  But one morning on the way out, I was pumping gas at a small convenience store.  I noticed a group of Harley riders at the station.  Matter of fact, our seven year old, Joseph, asked Leah to lock the doors while I pumped gas.  He thought they were a little scarey looking!

As I finished fueling, one of the Harley riders walked up and said something about our Shelby county Tennessee tags.  I asked him if he was familiar with our area?  He said, "sure, that's where we're from".  Out in the middle of no where we encountered a group of Harley motorcycle riders from Memphis, TN.  What a coincidence! 

The group is named the Tennessee Rough Riders and you would have thought we came across some long lost cousins.  We swapped some stories, took some pictures and thoroughly enjoyed meeting this group of guys and gals from Memphis. 

I'll write more later on this memorable trip later, including some pictures too.  What was MOST memorable?  The low humidity!  If I could just figure out how to broadcast the weather from Wyoming during the summer months, I'd have it made. 

It's good to be back at work.  The 50 hours of driving was taking a toll on my neck.

Bonus Weekend

July is one hot month in Memphis!  As I pointed out in my last post, it was the heat wave of July 1980 that was one for the record books.  In contrast, July 2009 is like a walk in the park.  Temperatures this month have yet to reach the 100 degree mark.  As a matter of fact, the hottest temperature so far this month was 95 degrees recorded just several days ago on the 15th. 

With that in mind, prepare yourselves for the weekend.  Call it Bonus Weather, Chamber of Commerce Weather, call it what you like, it's going to be very nice this weekend.  We're expecting an incredible amount of sunshine and cool temperatures.  With the passage of the latest cold front, cool, dry air is pushing southward out of Canada. 

Temperatures in Memphis will be in the low to mid 80s this weekend.  Areas north of Memphis may see temperatures max out in the 70s on Saturday.  It'll be so cool this weekend that some morning low temperature records may fall by Sunday morning.  It's going to be that cool so enjoy the break from the heat!

I will be out of the office for the next two weeks so the blog will return during the first week of August.  Stay safe and stay cool.