Weekend Forecast/Groundhog Day Celebration and Contest/New Poll

WEATHER
Winter Storm Warnings and Advisories are in effect this evening for much of the southeast. On Saturday, the warm spot will be southern Florida with highs in the 70s and 80s. In contrast, highs will be in the teens for the northern plains and much of northern New England. There will be lots of 20s for the northern plains and central plains into the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, Great Lakes and eastern seaboard. Look for some thunderstorms extreme southeast US and some rain and snow showers out west as new storm system pushes eastward. There will also be some snow along the eastern seaboard/mid-Atlantic.

Houston had a nice soaking rain early today. According to the rain gauge network operated by the Harris County Office of Emergency Management, there were 2 inch totals around The Woodland and extreme northeastern Harris County. Near downtown and down around Friendswood, totals average 1.5 inches and around Sugar Land the amount was about 1 inch.

For Houston, there will be some sunshine this weekend but still very chilly with lows in the 30s and highs in the 40s Saturday and 50s on Sunday. A slight warmup early in the week and then the next cold front arrives mid-week with rain mainly late Wednesday into early Thursday.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Let's do celebration or celebración, pronounced se-leh-brah-see-OWN. This is a week of celebración for weather people. Find out why in the AND MORE section.

Today I had a first on a customer order. They wanted one of each of our videos...so volumes one and two of DVDs, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco, and Volume 1 of our ESL version (for Spanish speakers wanting to learn English)--she was buying this last one for a friend who wants to learn to speak English. You can order Volumes 1 or 2 at http://www.frankandpaco.com
, http://www.amazon.com, http://www.bn.com, http://www.bestbuy.com, or http://www.ebay.com/. Our ESL (English as a Second Language) version can be found at http://www.frankypaco.com.

AND MORE
My poll on most important aesthetic home feature for buyers is closed. 44% picked wood floors as most important (interestingly, a realtor friend of mine told me this is the most important thing). 33% picked granite countertops. 11% picked stainless steel appliances. 11% picked tile floors. 0% picked laminate floors, modern light fixtures or modern faucets. Thanks to all who participated.

In light of the fact that this is the most cherished week of the year for all meteorologists, I thought I would do a poll on how you primarily get your weather information. Thanks in advance for participating.

Yes, indeed...this is a big week for weather people. First of all, Tuesday is Groundhog Day. What?! You have no special plans?! Well first of all, you need to check out The John C. Freeman Weather Museum web site because they are having a contest to determine what native Texas creature should become the official groundhog critter for Texas. There are 6 available choices...just click on the one you like most. And, if you tell them the name of the #1 Groundhog is (pssssttt....it's Punxsutawney Phil), then you can get free admission to the museum every Saturday in February. So, put in your vote today:
http://www.wxresearch.com/ghogday.html

And, on Tuesday morning at the museum, there will be a special Groudhog Day celebration emcee'd by Channel 13's Casey Curry!!! So, head on over and join the fun!

And then on February 5th, there is the weather person's Christmas equivalent...it is National Weatherman's Day. February 5th was selected because that is the birthday of John Jeffries--one of the first weather observers in the US. Just don't forget to get gifts for all those special weather people in your world. To learn more, check out this link:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lsx/?n=wxmanday

Have a great weekend everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman