The Front Porch

[TWCToday]

Today marks the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Andrew making landfall over Florida.  I can still remember watching it all happen on TWC when I was a kid.

Still amazing that the first storm of the season was such a monster. On the bright side it helped improve a lot of building codes throughout FL so they are fairly prepared for future canes

[TWCCraig]

Ok, here is another inaccurate reading. The forecast only called for a high in the middle to upper 80's for the Poughkeepsie area. I don't understand how you can have two inaccurate temperature readings for two consecutive observations.

[Mr. Rainman]

A few things I wanted to note about SPC:

1) Anyone else like their little tab strictly dedicated to products in relation to Tropical Storm Isaac?
2) Starting September 25, the Day 3 Convective Outlooks will contain general thunderstorm lines, just like Days 1 and 2.
3) Starting September 26, the Thunderstorm Outlooks, which have been experimental for the last year or so, become fully operational.

[phw115wvwx]

Here's my answers to your thoughts:

1)  You can just put Tropical Storm Isaac to start the line as they did, and it would work just fine without the box around it.  I think NHC has already done the job as they created a special icon linking to SPC for each storm.  You'll see it in Isaac's box with an icon for SPC and tornado potential.

2)  I'm glad that's being done.  We need those maps to be more consistent so that everyone can understand them better.  They are used heavily in the NWS and in the public.  I think the public views those maps as the second most important SPC product behind the actual severe thunderstorm watch product.

3)  I haven't heard anyone using this product for reference.  The information in those maps might clash with what local offices put in the forecasts on any given day, which won't help the public.

[Localonthe8s]

For those of you who enjoy smooth jazz, boswell69's YT account was recently terminated. He uploaded the most full length TWC songs than anyone else on the site. Going to miss his uploads, particularly several from Ficara.

[Trevor]

Our XFINITY channel lineup just changed some...here's what I've noticed.

There are 2 sets of HD channels. We still have the original HD channels in the 800's, but now we have a second set of HD channels in the 1000's-1400's. For instance, TWC HD in the 800's is on 836, but in the 1000's, it's on 1111.

Our Music Choice channels are doing the same thing as the HD channels, there are 2 sets of them. One is in the 700's, the other in the 1400's.

MANY more HD channels have been added from 748-800, these same channels were spread out in the 1000s. A few examples of these new HD channels include, but are not limited to, VH1 HD, GSN TV, and QVC HD.

They've added WGN-TV Chicago in HD on Channel 802.

However, I can't find the AccuWeather channel that we are supposed to be getting sometime this summer

[Eric]

It sounds like Xfinity is about ready to make some major lineup changes.  Either that, or they like wasting precious bandwidth.

[TWCJim]

I'm trying to find a tripod to go along with a camcorder I'm thinking about purchasing real soon, and I want to know: do all camcorders/cameras fit on any tripod?    I just wanted to make sure before I make any decisions.

[Eric]

I'm trying to find a tripod to go along with a camcorder I'm thinking about purchasing real soon, and I want to know: do all camcorders/cameras fit on any tripod?    I just wanted to make sure before I make any decisions.

So long as they use a standard mount, which the overwhelming majority will, then yes, it will fit.

[TWCJim]

I'm trying to find a tripod to go along with a camcorder I'm thinking about purchasing real soon, and I want to know: do all camcorders/cameras fit on any tripod?    I just wanted to make sure before I make any decisions.

So long as they use a standard mount, which the overwhelming majority will, then yes, it will fit.

Okay thanks for the info, Eric 

I'm trying to get a new camcorder along with some equipment. This is what I'll be purchasing real soon from Amazon:

• A blue Sony Handycam DCR-SX45
• A 60-inch Vista Explorer tripod
• A 32 GB Transcend SDHC flash memory card

IMO the handycam is an excellent camera    I previously borrowed one from an old friend of mine back in Spokane to record a rock concert there last May. The digital zoom and picture quality are excellent, and the sound is good, despite it being so loud at the concert.

[Zach]

I just went through the worst power outage since 2008 for me. According to my UPS (uninterruptible power supply), it lasted about 52 minutes, and yes that is quite long for me because my power is delivered via ungerground wiring.

[TWCCraig]

Well glad to hear your power is back. 

The longest power outage I ever experienced lasted 3 full days, from 3/13/2010 - 3/16/2010 during a powerful nor'easter that brought hurricane force winds. Our wiring is delivered from above so it's much easier to get a power outage.  I remember seeing the wires sparking across the street at the time the power went out.

[xoddf2]

I just went through the worst power outage since 2008 for me. According to my UPS (uninterruptible power supply), it lasted about 52 minutes, and yes that is quite long for me because my power is delivered via ungerground wiring.

I believe my worst power cut was from 10–12 December 2007, due to an ice storm. I believe the power cut started at Monday, 2007-12-10T04:51-0600 (or so I remember the clock displaying when it happened), and ended sometime on Wednesday.

[toxictwister00]

The longest outage I can remember recently was after being hit by an tornado. We were out of power for about 2 days and had to rely on a radio for wx updates because the following day there was more severe weather/tornadoes. That day was also the day I saw the largest hail I've ever seen which was golfball sized hail, scared the crap out of me.

[Localonthe8s]

We had a few outages. Worst was the recent derecho in June when we lost power for 16 hours. The President's Day 2003 blizzard, we lost power for about 6 hours.