AmyFreeze's Blog

The coolest thing ever... I was part of an answer on the most watched quiz show in America.  The amazing Alex Trobec said my name on Jeporady. 

 Click here to see it!

Bart Yasso at Fleet Feet Pipers Alley on Wells Sunday Morning 8am to Noon

Run with Bart and get him to sign a copy of his book "My Life on the Run"

Maybe you've driven from madison to chicago.  but thousands of people ran the distance.  I was the captiain of the first ever media relay team for the mc 200.    I invited tv and radio broadcasters, and magazine writers...  somehow convincing a group of people -- who are used to short headlines and quick soundbites --- that a long distance 200 mile relay  would be fun... we took our competitive streaks and aimed for a common goal -- making it to the finish together!    

our team.... dina and tom from wgn    john from abc  and weatherman phil from ABC   christine from fleet feet  and gail from comcast sports  liz from time out chicago and Kate from windy city   greg from nbc  and ray from us 99  

each person ran 3 times --- right through the middle of the night!!!

 BART   the media are pretty fit here!

and our ringer...  i invited the king of road racing bart yasso..he's run races on all 7 continents...  chicago is one of his favorite places to come and he's watched  our town  grow into a runner's world.

BART  Chicago is a huge running town now!

bart welcomed runners to the finish line of the mc200---  teams who has passed the baton the past 24 hours.... waited for their last runner and then ran across the finish line together...   200 miles, very little sleep and even some heavy rain...

BART    why would you frun 200 mile --- who in the world wouldn't  do this     so much fun   take it back to being a kid --- unique!   that's what i like about the relays

our team had some memorable moments and at the end of the race... we'd done more than just run---- 

BART runners run and make ourselves feel better challenge ourselves have a goal but in the end we're out here raising money for chrity so that's pretty special

OUR TEAM'S EFFORT BENEFITED THE SPECIAL OLYMPICS... BY THE WAY. YOU CAN MEET RUNNER'S WORLD CHIEF RUNNING OFFICER BART YASSO RIGHT HERE IN CHICAGO --- TOMORROW MORNING AT FLEET FEET SPORTS, HE'LL BE THERE 8 AM TO NOON. DON'T MISS IT! THE FIRST 200 RUNNERS GET A FREE COPY OF HIS BOOK "MY LIFE ON THE RUN"

The summer solstice happens Thursday just before 7 p.m.  I'll be celebrating it pretty much the same way I've done for the last 9 years... in Denver, Colorado in City Park....

Every year, at sundown on the summer solstice about a thousand runners gather to run 3 miles.  It's a race to raise awareness about Melanoma.   My friend Bruce Fierst lost his fiance Kristen Michelle O'Conner to melanoma.  She was very young and full of life when the cruel disease struck....  Melanoma is the #1 cancer in women ages 25 to 29 in the U.S.   It's a startling statistics in a country where sun-worshiping is all too familar! 

This year the race has a different meaning as the disease has hit close to home.  My friend Dina Bair at WGN continues her battle with Melanoma.  And recently, my father in law has been diagnosed with melanoma and he is about to have surgery to remove cancerous skin.   

When Bruce asked me to join his cause, we were living in Denver... where the sun in closer and shines more often!   (Bruce is from Chicago but has lived his adult life in Denver... now here I am in his hometown! )   I'll admit there was hesititation at first when he asked me to join his cause... while it makes sense to have a meteorologist talk about the danger of sun, etc...... you see... that first year of the race... and several since, the race has landed on my birthday!!   But I have found over the years, there's no better way to party than being with friends and being fit!  (plus he always gets a cake and the whole crowd sings!!!)  

I've also learned how to look for skin problems...  it's a quick and easy reminder of what to watch out for on your skin:

Early signs of melanoma include ABCDEs: asymmetry of lesion; border irregularity, bleeding, or crusting; color change; diameter over 6 mm or growing lesion; elevated area in a previously flat area. melanomafoundation.org

Make sure to ask your dermatologist about melanoma prevention and the best ways to protect yourself from harmful rays from the sun.

 To find out more I suggest the Miles for Melanoma fundriasers like Bruce's race and Kristen's foundation... you can mail donations to KMO Foundation at 205 North Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60302  of Curt Shilling's foundation which can be found here!

I'll have some pictures of the race --- when I get back! 

The tornadic stretch of weather finally came to a hault yesterday.  After 23 consecutive days of tornadoes reported in the USA, we were tornado free today.  The Storm Prediction Center posts daily reports on their website of storm reports from across the country.  

Looking at the twister reports since May 22nd, there are many  storms that were not far from Chicago.  We live in an area where we have to be ready for severe weather.

Photo by Fox WEATHERWATCHER Lisa Alexander  Taken in Naperville on Sunday June 15, 2008 

While the pattern of stormy weather shifts, this is the time to prepare!  Make sure you are getting weather alerts, forecasts, and have a NOAA Weather Radio in your home. 

For more interesting climate facts on tornadoes, read this 1998 NOAA report !

we've been getting dozens of emails about why the weather has been so wacky --- so stormy --- so severe--- so wild...   the answer isn't that glamorous --- there's no proof that climate change affects micro events like a thunderstorm... so we stick to the sciene and the current weather pattern to explain the forecast and make a prediction.  here's my report.

today's headline: the worst flooding for the Midwest in 15 years with 10 states underwater.... but not just wet. wild. with deadly tornadoes. and it's left many wondering, what's going on?

eight twisters south of chicago on saturday...

75 tornado reports across the midwest in the last 24 hours...

here in illinois we're already double the average and more than triple the number of tornadoes that our state had last year. an unusually active pattern for the entire country--- it's been the deadliest tornado season in a decade... with 118 deaths...

some are quick to dismiss increased tornado reports due to population increase...others suspect the record flooding to be the fury of climate change.

here's the science behind what's happening with our wild weather:

the wet spring is a carry over of the wet winter cause by la nina... which is finally weakening to neutral...

Click here to read about La Nina!

and right now the jet stream which steers the storms... has been guiding violent weather right into the Midwest.

Cool sea surface temperatures are about to turn the tide of our turbulent weather.

Twister will be less likely as a trough sets up over the west coast and a ridge takes over the midwest keeping storms away...

Late June, July and august will be warmer and drier --- August is expected to have above average heat and I predict more than five 90 degree or warmer days.

keep the weather statistics you hear in perspective... it's been unusal but not unpredented... the record number of tornadoes in one season for illinois is 124 -- and it wasn't that long ago in 2006.

During the Spring Weather Special "Surviving Severe Weather" I interviewed National Weather Service Warning Coordinator Jim Allsopp about the possibility of a significant tornado in the Chicago area and he warned about how people might be caught off guard.  His advice, get ready!   There was no time to procastinate.  Two months later, an outbreak south of Chicago. 

   Mike Friedrich of Shorewood, Il took this photo June 7th at 4:45 p.m. travelling North on I 47 5 miles south of Dwight.

A total of eight tornado touchdowns were confirmed for the June 7th Severe Weather Outbreak.   Photos of the twisters and all the damage are still coming in to Fox Chicago WEATHERWATCH.

The last time a multiple outbreak of this magnitude happened in Cook County was June 1966.

On Saturday June 7th, we were under a Moderate Risk from the Storm Prediction Center for severe storms.  From early in the day, Live Power Doppler had the storms moving out of IOWA in range as they moved eastward.  We had the first storm reports and were the first to report the tornado warnings live on TV.   Fox Chicago Meteorologists Mark Strehl and Steve Baron tracked the storms live on the air as the barrelled through the southwestern counties and eventually through southern Cook County.  Meteorologist Tammie Souza chased the storms as they touched down and was among the first to see the damage.  

Storm spotters and weatherwatchers joined our coverage online with up to three thousand people in live chat at once!   A special thanks to everyone who gave eyewitness account and sent in reports and photos and video!    We are very thankful no one was seriously injured in these storms. 

We know a serious storm can happen anywhere, anytime and here at Fox Chicago WEATHERWATCH we will be ready. 

Amy Freeze

Chief Meteorologist

MEDIA TEAM

The Madison to Chicago 200 Mile Media Team in rotational order:

Dina Bair WGN TV, Bart Yasso Runners World Magazine, Amy Freeze FOX TV, Phil Schwartz WLS TV, Ray Stevens US 99.5 RADIO, Tom Negovan WGN TV, Christine Garcia PlanItPR, Liz Plosser Time Out Chicago, Kate Bongiovanni Windy City Sports, Gail Fisher Comcast Sports Net TV, Greg Sanchez WMAQ TV, John Garcia WLS TV

THE FIRST EVER MEDIA TEAM

Truth be known, I should have been running with the team "Not Now Honey, I'm Running" who asked me to be on their team in March. I declined thinking I was too busy to meet for weekend runs and such. Then I met Tom Hepperle one of the MC200 race organizers... and I got the "relay bug."  I agreed to do the race and be the captain for the first ever Media Team. Chicago's "Running News Guy" John Garcia was the first runner to jump on board... he brought along his PlanItPR Wife Christine and one by one Media Runners committed. Nike and Fleet Feet Sports were the first to step up and support the team.

Amy, Christine, Dina

 

Honestly, I had met WGN's Dina Bair and and WLS's Phil Swartz only briefly at charity events. The rest of the team, I met in person the morning we departed for Madison. How did I recruit them? Just told them it would be a cool experience. Ray wasn't even a runner (but he's Superman Fit) and Dina admitted to not running much over 5 miles. (My Secret Revelation: you never know how people respond to the relay experience.... I hoped all these people would still be speaking to me by the time we reached Milwaukee.)

When we met up early Friday... there was a small glitch--- a runner was missing... Tom Negovan--- he's been sent on assignment to Washington DC. But he did not BAIL on us! He flew into Wisconsin and met up with us. Hero!

Ray Hands off to Tom

  Here's how it works: The team is made up of 12 people....you put 6 runners in two vans. One runner begins running at the start... the first van drives to the next transition area and the runners continue until everyone in the first van has run... Then the second van takes over and repeats the process. Each runner runs 3 times over a 36 hour period, their total mileage between 10 and 26 miles. No stopping...just brief naps. It's close quarters and you get to know each other quickly.

The Media works in a world of short headlines and quick sound bites.... but this event is about going the distance. Enduring not just your own run, but the pace of the entire team. We began running at 10 am Friday Morning. We ran, we traveled. We cheered on other runners "GO LINDSEY!" We aimed to pass other teams "Don't be alarmed by our (lack of) Speed!" We ate at Noodles. We showered in the sinks, high schools, and churches along the way. We ate pasta for $1.50 somewhere in Wisconsin in the middle of the night. Six of us slept in a 12 passenger van in a Church parking lot.

 I ran leg three... first run was a hot one (85degrees in full sun!) through the hilly Moraines outside of Madison, WI. My next run was in the evening about 8 miles on a Bike Trail outside of Racine where I swallowed at least 100 nats.... nasty! Then a long haul run Friday morning... almost 7 miles on a Kenosha Bike Trail where I saw a bright red Cardinal and two Red-Winged Blackbirds (and I wished that I too had wings at that point!!) We ran through the night. We did have a weather delay... but we finished in a respectable 32 hours on Montrose Harbor. The city skyline never looked so good. Crossing the finish line as a team was exhilarating! We made it. We may not work together everyday but we know how to work it when we're together! 200 miles.

READ MORE NOW!

John Garcia: Running News Guy!

Liz Plosser: TIME OUT CHICAGO!

The race benefits the Special Olympics.

Climate Data is used to see what's happened in the past and analyzed to consider what might happen in the future.  Climate Facts are also an historical record.   Comparing our recent tornado outbreak to the record books is pretty impressive... and a reminder that a tornado can happen anytime and anywhere.

Here's a story about the chances for Urban Tornados.

Click here to watch Urban Tornado!  

From the Climate Office at the National Weather Service:

THE TORNADOES THAT TOUCHED DOWN IN SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF THE COOK  
COUNTY SATURDAY JUNE 7TH WERE CERTAINLY NOTEWORTHY. THE TORNADO  
THAT CROSSED FROM WILL COUNTY INTO SOUTHERN COOK COUNTY...HITTING  
THE COMMUNITY OF RICHTON PARK PRODUCED EF-2 DAMAGE. THAT WAS THE  
FIRST STRONG OR VIOLENT (EF-2 OR GREATER) TORNADO TO HIT COOK  
COUNTY SINCE MARCH 27TH 1991 WHEN AN EF-3 TORNADO OCCURED IN  
LEMONT. DATING BACK TO 1950...SATURDAYS EF-2 TORNADO IN COOK  
COUNTY WAS THE 17TH STRONG/VIOLENT TORNADO TO HIT COOK COUNTY.  
INTERESTINGLY...THERE WERE 3 CONFIRMED TORNADOES IN COOK COUNTY ON  
SATURDAY...MAKING IT ONLY THE 2ND TIME SINCE 1950 THAT 3 TORNADOES  
OCCURED IN COOK COUNTY FROM A SINGLE OUTBREAK. THE ONLY OTHER TIME  
THIS OCCURED WAS BACK ON JUNE 9TH 1966 WHEN 2 F-2 AND 1 F-0  
TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN IN NORTHERN COOK COUNTY.

Saturday's tornado outbreak now has an official number-- EIGHT touchdowns according to the National Weather Service Survey Team. 

Click here to see the paths of all of the storms

School's OUT...  but WEATHERWATCH 101 is still in session... download a free copy of the "Fox Chicago Weather Activity Book" for your kids to enjoy this summer! Click here to download an WEATHERWATCH Activity Book!