Hey folks...happy Thursday everyone and it's good to be back in the saddle after a few days over Louisville at the National Weather Association annual meeting and conference. A big thanks to Chris Bailey for the stellar effort as always filling in for me the last few days so I could present a couple of talks and take part in the conference. It know it was good to see him back on the air for a number of you out there and we sure miss him around here.

Just for kicks I thought I'd drag a cold front along with me as I returned from Louisville on Wednesday (truth be known I drove back and forth from Lexington to Louisville daily...trust me when I say that got old REAL quick) so the summer air is gone and it's finally going to feel like October for a few days. Let's talk weather first, and then I'll tell you a bit about the conference.

It's funny since I didn't get the true "feel" of the summer air early this week as I spent the majority of the day inside at this conference with really the only "fresh air" coming during the lunch break. I will say on Monday night we took a dinner cruise out on the Ohio River after dark and to say it was delightful would be an understatement. It was really the best of both worlds Thursday with cooler temperatures and some beneficial rain scattered across most of the area. While it wasn't much, it's still rain and it fell at a moderate pace for much of the late morning here in the bluegrass with lighter showers to the south and east. Overall I think we mainly picked up about a .10" in most spots but no complaints on my end. A cloudy and somewhat soggy day is pretty good when things are so dry.

Looking ahead to Friday and the weekend, the cool air will rule the roost with highs struggling to reach the 60 degree mark both Friday and Saturday. An upper level trough will swing through the region, so despite high pressure at the surface to our north we should see some scattered cloudiness both Friday and Saturday and that will hold temperatures in check. Early Sunday morning is our best opportunity for any scattered frost as lows dip down into the mid and upper 30s. It doesn't appear to be widespread but a few of the usual cool spots could see some frost.

It will be up and down...the proverbial "roller coaster" into early next week with a cool down one day, a rebound the next, the another cool shot with rain by next Thursday. You gotta love October...things can change in an instant.

Before I hit the conference highlights, I managed to pull mu usual 1-4 with college picks and 3-2 with the NFL...man I stink at that lately and lucky for me it is for entertainment purposes only!!!

I've been to a number of conferences through the years, and this was by far the best. It was well attended, well organized, and the presentations were very informative and interesting. John Gordon (the Meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service in Louisville) was the conference chairman and he did an amazing job putting it all together. There were plenty of broadcast mets (TV weather people) both from local markets and national networks, along with NWS folks, those from universities and the private sector, along with students. Tom Skilling from WGN in Chicago gave the keynote Monday (super nice guy off stage) to get things going and it just got better as time went along.

Some of my personal favorites: a look back at weather conditions when the Edmund Fitzgerald sank on Lake Superior in 1975, a review of Hurrican Iniki in Hawaii in 1992, a meteorologist from Mt. Washington in New Hampshire talked about the highest recorded wind speed ever there in 1934, a look back at the Labor Day hurricane of 1935 that hit the Florida Keys, Dr. Greg Forbes from TWC reviewed the 1974 Super Outbreak (Forbes was a graduate student under Dr. Ted Fujita at the University of Chicago), and a really interesting talk on how technology has changed since Delta Flight 191 crashed in Dallas back in 1985, the result of the plane flying through a microburst on final approach that it was unaware of....and these are just a few of many that were outstanding.

My talk on the severe weather policies and large outdoor venues here in Kentucky was well received from what I could gather (both Sunday and Monday) and there was some really good dialogue during the roundtable discussion afterwards. Sam Champion from GMA moderated my session and he was really a nice guy (former intern here at WKYT years ago) so overall it was a great deal...minus the hour and 10 minute commute each way daily. Here are a few pictures before I close it out.

T.G. moderating a "poster session" Monday

A shot from the "icebreaker" cruise on the "Belle of Louisville"

On that note I'll wrap it up and I'll talk to you on Friday. Have a good end to your week and enjoy the cooler air.

That's all for now!

T.G.