Freeze Front

Thanks for Sending Your Questons and Pictures Amy.e.Freeze@abc.com

Amy Freeze is Meteorologist for WABC-TV's popular Eyewitness News Saturday and Sunday Morning.

Amy is one of only a few women in the world who has earned the prestigious Certified Broadcast Meteorologist accreditation from the American Meteorological Society. She also holds Seals of Approval from both the AMS and the National Weather Association.

Get your New York City weather and Tri-State area AccuWeather forecast here on 7online!

Amy joined Channel 7's Eyewitness News Weather Team in 2011, after serving as Chief Meteorologist for Fox News in Chicago. Before that she was a meteorologist at Philadelphia's WCAU-TV, was morning meteorologist at KMGH-TV in Denver and worked on KPTV's local morning news program "Good Day Oregon" in Portland. Her work has earned her several Emmy Awards, including for "Best Weathercaster," "Outstanding Host" and for her weather special, "Surviving Severe Weather."

Amy holds a Masters Degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of Pennsylvania. She earned her B.A. in Communications from Brigham Young University, with an emphasis on Broadcast Journalism. She also has a B.S. in Geosciences from Mississippi State University, with an emphasis on Severe Weather and Forecasting.

An avid runner, Amy has completed marathons in Colorado, Illinois, Pennsylvania, California and New York, completing the New York City Marathon in 2002 and 2011. She's also a certified SCUBA diver and has taken a swim with the dozen or so 300lb sharks that reside at the New Jersey State Aquarium. She has reported on movies and entertainment, covered the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City and Atlanta, and was the first female sideline reporter for Major League Soccer.  Amy also worked on the NFL Sidelines during Chicago Bears Games for four seasons.

Amy gives time to her community speaking to school children about weather and supporting charitable causes. She has emceed the Miss Illinois/Miss America Pageant in Chicago, the Miles to Fight Melanoma Race and won Chicago's "Dancing with the Stars" contest benefitting the March of Dimes.

Born in Utah and raised Southern Indiana, Amy has lived in eight states. She is married and lives on the Upper West Side with her four children.

And yes, "Freeze" is her real name!

 

Picky About the Weather

www.twitter.com/amyfreeze

My friends like to tease me that I think EVERTHING is weather-related!  But honestly, I really can’t think of anything that isn’t related somehow to the weather.  Even Jack-o-Laterns and Apple Cider.  Let me explain.

 

The stories of farmers losing everything extend to more than a dozen counties in the TriState Region. While traditonally farmers are praying for rain, the late August through early September tropical storms were way more than crops or fields could handle.   Farmers from NJ through the Hudson Valley into the Catskills reported critcal losses from flooding rains brought by Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.  Many farmers in the Black Dirt area of Orange County were completely wiped out.  (By the way, Black Dirt comes from the fertile dark soil notoriously found in this area—it’s rich from nutrients brought by water!)  Not only did they lose crops in these areas but they lost the roads to even get to their fields.   Orange County's Cornell Cooperative Extension is a great resource to the farm losses from Hurricane Irene.   

The late summer rainfall produced in these farmlands set records.  Crops didn’t stand a chance on farms in Ulster County where an estimated $5 million in crops were lost.   On the banks of the Rondout Creek in Ulster there is a small wooden shed near St. Peter's Church which is a United States Geological Survey stream gaging station. USGS Streamflow data has been collected here for about 100 years. The Hudson Valley Geologist Reports: “In that century of data collection, the amount of water in the creek from Irene was the highest recorded at 36,500 cubic feet per second (cfs) of discharge!  It was also the highest water level (26.94 feet) ever recorded there.”  

The wet weather was hardest on field crops — pumpkins rotted in fields, the zucchini was wiped out completely and plum tomatoes burst from drinking too much water.   So, the pumpkins were wiped out from the weather.  But before you decide to buy a plastic orange jack-o-lantern, hear this!  Many farms in NJ and NY have simply brought in pumpkin crop from other farms to provide customers with a large selection. Lewen Farms on Long Island told me over the phone that they are only open weekends with a limited pumpkin supply!!   The estimates are that the price increased by only 10 cents per pound. 
Before Hurricane Irene, at Goold Orchards in Hudson, NY just south of Albany, the weather was on track for a bumper crop of McIntosh apples.  Apparently apples depend more on the hot, sunny days of summer – which they got - for the best quality of apples. (The increased sun means higher residual sugar in the fruit which means a tastier product.) But then came Irene, followed by Tropical Storm Lee taking a bite out of the crop.  With wind and hard rain shaking the apples from the trees, most of the McIntosh Apples were ruined for individual sale. But they could still be pressed and turned into apple cider.  So, when Mother Nature shakes down your apples, make apple cider!  And the news gets even sweeter for apple farms.  Seventeen varieties of apples, including Empires, Red Delicious and Cortlands, which are harvested later in the season, seem to be unaffected by the heavy rain and are ready for picking at local farms.   The New York Apple Association predicts this year's crop will yield the same number of apples statewide as last year.   But make sure you call ahead --- on Long Island apple picking is done.  The short crop cancelled picking at  Fort Salonga Farm in Northport. Lewen Farm also has stopped the "you pick" for the season. 

Many farmers are worried that reports of the damage and crop loss would deter tourists from coming to farms for picking activities and purchases.  Don’t stay home!  The farmers need you more than ever.  Here are a few favorite pick your owns but I would love to hear your suggestions of places in your area or favorite fall traditional trips!

Pick your Own NJ

Pick your Own NY

Terhune Orchards 330 Cold Soil Road, Princeton, NJ 08540. Phone: 609-924-2310 *Yes APPLE Picking AND PUMPKINS

The Farm in Closter 515 Piermont Rd, Closter, NJ 07624 (201) 768-1438 *They have both their own and brought in pumpkins

Demarest Farms  244 Wierimus Rd  Hillsdale, NJ 07642-1133 (201) 666-0472 *Apples and Pumpkins

Other Farms that are eager for business via Patch.com

Wilkens Fruit and Fir Farm 1335 White Hill Rd., Yorktown Heights 914-245-5111

Salinger's Orchards 230 Guinea Road, Brewster  845-277-3521

Stuart's Farm 62 Granite Springs Rd, Granite Springs 914-245-2784

Harvest Moon 130 Hardscrabble Road, North Salem 914-485-1210