Nothing jump-starts early mornings for me like a stellar weather forecast. A sunny forecast can carry me through the most challenging of days.

While weather and an accompanying forecast is a smartphone click away, I’m still somewhat beholden to the Tee Vee weather puppets. This habit likely dates back more than 30 years when my baseball star was on the rise at Lisbon High School. I’d check that day’s prediction to see if our game was going to take place that afternoon—or get washed out by spring showers or rain.

Interestingly, I’m once again seeking weather updates related to baseball games. Now, I’m an arbiter, better known as an umpire. With six to eight games on the docket each week during May, I’m checking weather first thing courtesy of Todd Guttner, and later, rechecking hourly specifics via websites like weather.com.

I’m back with Guttner after a falling-out period when he seemed to have a penchant for under-predicting snow totals during the rugged winter of 2014-15. For some reason, Mr. Guttner had a rough stretch, predicting flurries and then having to apologize after we’d get 10 inches dumped on us. After this happened several times, I abandoned WCSH-6 for the upbeat and personable (as well as more accurate) Matt Zidle and his equally sunny sidekick at WMTW-8, Mallory Brook.

Today’s forecast-sunny!!

Zidle left weather puppetry for the educational realm last year. WMTW-8, a perennial also-ran in the Tee Vee ratings game in Portland, once more has changed-up their morning anchor personalities, as well as weather predictors. None of the new screen people are particularly appealing. I’m now back with Guttner for a second go-round. He seems to have rebounded from his forecasting slump, although deep snowfall totals were few and far between last winter.

Today looks like I’ll be able to be in shirtsleeves behind the plate, as Guttner’s promising Portland-area temperatures in the mid-to-high 60s with plenty of sunshine. We might even see the 70s later in the week, the first time this has happened since March 31.

Let the sun shine.