Good morning!  I hope each of you had a safe, enjoyable holiday weekend.  Mother Nature kept us dry for the fireworks Saturday night but brought up to half an inch of rain on what was a very cool Sunday.  In fact, the high in Charlottesville was 69 degrees - roughly eighteen below normal.  This week promises a much different scenario with very little rain, but by the weekend it will finally feel more like July.

High pressure building over the Eastern Plains will be the mainstay through the middle of the week.  A dry flow of air from Canada will mean very comfortable conditions and low humidity levels.  Since the air originates from Canada, it will be cooler in nature resulting in highs through Wednesday in the mid 80s. For what it's worth, the normal high this time of year is 88 degrees. Our next chance for rain comes in the form of an upper-level disturbance which may trigger a few showers and storms Thursday afternoon.  We dry out during the weekend with building heat and humidity; highs Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will be in the upper 80s to near 90 with partly cloudy skies. For those of you longing for a true dose of summer, it's coming!

I close this blog with a few thoughts about Casey Kasem, the long-time disc jockey / American Top 40 voice / cartoon-character voice provider who announced this past Sunday that he has done his final countdown shows. News is that he's retiring to pursue other voice-over work that he had to pass over due to other engagements.  There were very few Sundays growing up that I didn't listen to Casey. No matter who came and went on the airwaves on my favorite stations, he was always there: a constant that could be relied on, his voice consistent and recognizable. Who can possibly forget the phrase "on with the countdown", the long-distance dedications, or his voice as Shaggy on Scooby Doo? (I reserve Casey's signature send-off to him; no one else can do it justice!) Here's to you Casey; thanks for being there every week and inspiring a legion of young children who would grow up to work in radio.  I was one of them.

What are your thoughts and memories of Casey Kasem's American Top 40?

Over and out-

Travis Koshko