Weather...it's such a passion of mine that I even think about it when I'm on vacation! (Yes, I know I'm a weather geek!) For those of you that don't know, my husband and I recently took a trip to Japan. While we were there, I couldn't help but tune in to a few weather casts. Of course, all I could really do was watch, since I don't know much Japanese except hello, goodbye, and thank you.

7-Day Forecast

I noticed the segments weren't as in-depth as they are here in the states. They didn't show big areas of high pressure, low pressure, or cold fronts, but instead showed forecast highs and lows, and whether it would be sunny, cloudy, or rainy. On some channels the anchor gave the forecast, which I'm glad isn't the case here or I wouldn't have a job!

Japan Meteorological Agency (rooftop)

While we were in Tokyo, I noticed the Japan Meteorological Agency on a sign. I started looking for the building and found it pretty easily...it was the one with the rain gauge and anemometer on top. I checked out the website when we got back and it's actually all in English. It's basically the equivalent of National Weather Service here in the U.S., although we have different regions and they cover the whole country. Their website shows current watches and warnings, weather maps, and forecasts along with much more. You can check it out HERE.

Mascot: The harerun

One more cool thing before I wrap up. The Japan Meteorological Agency has its own icon. It is the harerun, which means fine weather in Japanese. It's actually quite cute as it is a figure composed of sun, clouds, and rain. I think the U.S. National Weather Service needs a cool mascot like that, too!

Sayonara! (That's Japanese for goodbye)

Meteorologist Sonya Stevens

February Outlook

After a miserably cold start to the winter season, we've seen a nice break from the cold weather. Morning lows haven't been below freezing in quite some time and we even had highs in the 70s!

Unfortunately, it's too good to last. It's looking like this upcoming February might be one of the coldest on record! Long term models are suggesting the cold, wet, dreary weather pattern will return in a few weeks, bringing more freezing temperatures and even the possibility of snow at some point in the month. We've already had enough rain and the ground is extremely saturated, so this isn't exactly welcome news.

I don't know about you, but personally I'm ready for the warm weather of spring to return.

Meteorologist Jason Disharoon

Welcome to the Weather Blog

Hey guys!

Ben Jones here. We’re about to start bloggin' like nobody's business. By we, I mean the 13WMAZ Weather Team. Now, before we get this ball rollin', I want to make sure we're not just blabbin' about stuff that people don't really care about. Soooooo, if you have any suggestions on topics that you'd like to read about, let 'em rip! If we don't get any suggestions, we'll do a ten part series on the evaporative cooling process!

That was a joke. I wouldn't wish that on anyone!

O.K.! So post your ideas here. It can be a weather related topic...or maybe you just want to know what kind of hair gel Frank Malloy uses. I've got the inside scoop!

Chief Meteorologist Ben Jones