Sunday, April 26, 2015

A Final Farewell

(For some context, please read the most recent post, A Final Notice to the Viewers).

On April 15th, I made a decision to move from one stage of my life to the next, by announcing that I would be ceasing operations here at The Weather Centre on our five-year-anniversary, April 26th 2015. In that process, I finally lifted the veil over my age, my (lack of) credentials, and how I got started on this blog in the first place.

The response I got was very much the most overwhelming and inspiring collection of comments I have ever seen anywhere on the Internet, and possibly at any time in my life. As I read and re-read your comments, I started to really realize what The Weather Centre has become. It is not a blog; we've built it into a community unlike any other. For five years, we all contributed to teaching each other (myself included) a little more about the weather with each post, and that's something I'm extremely proud of.

As I sit here, writing what will be the final post on The Weather Centre blog, I'm experiencing a wide range of emotions. I can still remember the feverish nights spent during the April 2011 tornado outbreak, posting tornado warnings on this blog, not being able to keep up with all the warnings that kept coming out. I can still remember rushing home from school on a daily basis to check the weather models and whip up a new post on an impending winter storm. But the thing I remember most is how fun it's been, and how sad I am to see it go. However, as the saying goes:

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."
- Dr. Seuss


As I close the book on this chapter of my life and move on to a new one, I can't help but smile.

Thank you all for such an incredible five years. This has become something more than I could have imagined in my wildest dreams, and you've all been the driving force behind it. There is nothing else I can say but thank you.

For the final time,
Andrew Racki