Mattes's Musings by KC2GIK

!!! WEATHER ALERT This Is A BergenSkywarn WEATHER ALERT !!! www.bergenskywarn.org NWUS51 KOKX 250220 LSROKX PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY 1020 PM EDT FRI JUL 24 2009 ..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON... ..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE.... ..REMARKS.. 1015 PM HAIL WOODCLIFF LAKE 41.03N 74.06W 07/24/2009 E0.75 INCH BERGEN NJ TRAINED SPOTTER Shown above is the radar shot of the hail I reported on the Bergen County Skywarn Net last night !! The radar is provided by George Sabbi,KC2GLG, Bergen County Skywar Deputy Coordinator. This is the second time my report has made the NWS this summer!

Alright I started writing this entry right after I got from Erie, but admittedly I have been dragging my feet. While I was out in Erie at the ALPCA I got to g et aNother couple of lighthouses under my belt. Actually three more lighthouse stamps are in my book, TWO out of the three I actually go t to shoot myself not bad Ok so the above photo isn't one of MY shots, but I had to prove I was there. Although you couldn't actually climb this light, I walked right up to it and grabbed the door handle/ It was the closest I could get!! Next up is the Presque Isle Light which i s actually a private residence!! There are signs surrounding the property that it's PRIVATE, but the shore infront of it is PUBLIC so you can get decent shots without risking being arrested for tresspassing. Now if I owned that lighthouse, I would be activating it everyday. Which of course would obviously get boring, yeah maybe after thirty years!! I just starred at the light for what seemed forever. So wit

Well I was very excited to get the Pascack Press this week because I had submitted my pictures of the storm damage. I opened the paper up this morning to five a page full of sh=ots, but not o ne of mine made the cut. This is really pissing me off because the "staff photographer" of the Pascack Press got some shots published which when I looked at the shots and to be honest mine weren't half bad compared to the ones that appeared in the newspaper. I also noted that the one that did make the cut were of shot was poor at best. I never liked the guy. I have studied his work and it's crap, just dumpy shots that anyone can just point and shoot. I have submitted a few of my pictures and while I don't really think my pictures were better than the pictures that appeared in the paper, I still feel a little jipped

We had some storm here in Bergen County Tuesday night and the radios were hopping with down trees and even a few water in basment calls. Above is a picture I snapped the day after. Below are excerpts from the official National Weather Service report 1114 PM HAIL HILLSDALE 41.01N 74.04W 07/07/2009 E0.75 INCH BERGEN NJ PUBLIC PENNY SIZE HAIL, TIME ADJUSTED FROM RADAR 1114 PM TSTM WND GST HILLSDALE 41.01N 74.04W 07/07/2009 M58.00 MPH BERGEN NJ TRAINED SPOTTER POWER LINES DOWN, LARGE TREE LIMBS DOWN, TRANSFORMER BLOWN, TIME ADJUSTED FROM RADAR 1117 PM TSTM WND DMG WOODCLIFF LAKE 41.03N 74.06W 07/07/2009 BERGEN NJ TRAINED SPOTTER TREES DOWN BLOCKING PASCACK ROAD AND WOODCLIFF AVENUE

I could do my usual page or two of comments about the Fourth of July, but I had a better idea......let "Brother Ray" do it for me. I will say this remember our veterans and SUPPORT OUR TROOPS. God Bless America!! Watch this video: America the Beautiful by Ray Charles