 WELCOME
Fall
has arrived, with its shorter (and cooler) days. And with
apologies to the snow fans in the audience, hopefully our
quiet tropical season will lead to a quiet winter weather
season. For those interested in the official winter
outlook from the NWS, check out this link. (It looks like
it could be another cold winter in these parts.)
Of course, much of our attention in the past few weeks
has been on the happenings in New York, Washington DC,
and throughout the US and the world. Our thoughts and
prayers are with the families of those who lost loved
ones or friends in those disasters. The Tri-State SKYWARN
community was also affected, as our Hudson County (NJ)
SKYWARN Coordinator Robert Cirri (KA2OTD), was among
those who perished in the World Trade Center disaster.
Many of our Amateur Radio friends have been involved
with the ongoing efforts in New York City. Our heartfelt
praise and thanks to those individuals, and to ALL of the
volunteers involved with the search and rescue efforts in
lower Manhattan, and in Washington DC.
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ADVANCED SPOTTER TRAINING
...
Over the past few years, a number of spotters have
inquired about an Advanced Spotter Class. Well, your wait
will soon be over as we have begun developing such a
class. Our thanks to the Albany and Charleston WV NWS
offices for their assistance in this project. Our goal is
to have it "ready for primetime" by next
Spring. We are planning to conduct 2 Advanced Classes
this coming Spring…probably in April or May. Times
and dates will be announced with the remainder of the
2002 Spring Spotter Training schedule in early 2002. In
the future, we may only hold Advanced classes in the
fall, and run the Basic classes in the
Spring.
Any suggestions for items to include in the Advanced
Class are welcomed. However, to attend an Advanced
Spotter Class, please remember that you must be a current
Spotter, meaning that you have been trained within the
past 3 years!
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The 2001-2002 winter season is fast approaching (a little too fast for
some of us). In preparation for the upcoming winter season, Matthew Hirsch,
our Webmaster, recently posted our New Winter Weather Page. This page
contains the NWS Winter Weather Outlook for 2001-02, information on the
New Wind Chill Index formula, the NEW Wind Chill Chart, and much more
informative news about this upcoming winter season. For the latest winter
weather forecasts, changes in NWS winter weather services, safety tips,
climatological data, and more…visit our Winter Weather Page at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/er/okx/winterweather2002.html
.
Speaking of the new Wind Chill Formula, it’s use
has already begun. This link provides details on all of
the changes. The new Calculation chart is below. (Thanks
to NWS Headquarters for this chart.)
When CAUGHT in
a Winter Storm...remember these tips…
IF OUTSIDE…
Find shelter:
-
Try to stay dry.
-
Cover all exposed parts of the body.
If no shelter is available:
-
Prepare a lean-to, wind-break, or snow cave for
protection from the wind.
-
Build a fire for heat and to attract attention.
-
Place rocks around the fire to absorb and reflect
heat.
-
Do not eat snow: It will lower your body
temperature. Melt it first.
IF IN A CAR OR TRUCK…
Stay in your car or truck. Disorientation occurs
quickly in wind-driven snow and cold. Run the motor about
ten minutes each hour for heat.
-
Open the window a little for fresh air to avoid
carbon monoxide poisoning.
-
Make sure the exhaust pipe is not blocked.
Make yourself visible to rescuers.
-
Turn on the dome light at night when running
engine.
-
Tie a colored cloth (preferably red) to your
antenna or door.
-
Raise the hood indicating trouble after snow
stops falling.
Exercise from time to time by vigorously moving arms,
legs, fingers, and toes to keep blood circulating and to
keep warm.
IF AT HOME OR IN A BUILDING…
Stay inside. When using ALTERNATIVE HEAT from a
fireplace, wood stove, space heater, etc.:
-
Use fire safeguards.
-
Properly ventilate.
If there is no heat...
-
Close off unneeded rooms.
-
Stuff towels or rags in cracks under doors.
-
Cover windows at night.
Eat and drink. Food provides the body with energy for
producing its own heat. Keep the body replenished with
fluids to prevent dehydration. Wear layers of
loose-fitting, lightweight, warm clothing. Remove layers
to avoid overheating, perspiration, and subsequent chill.
KEEP AHEAD OF THE STORM
by listening to NOAA Weather Radio, commercial radio, and
television for the latest winter storm watches, warnings,
and advisories.
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With the change in seasons comes a different set of
call-in/e-mail criteria for spotter reports. We thought
we'd take a moment to review the fall/winter activation
and reporting criterion...
SKYWARN will automatically be activated following a
NOAA Weather Radio Tone Alert for the following…
-
Blizzard Warnings.
-
Coastal Flood Warnings.
-
Flood Watches.
-
Flood Warnings (If not activated by a Watch).
-
High Wind Warnings (short duration for less than
6 hours).
-
Winter Storm Warnings.
We ask that SKYWARN Spotters report the following to
the NWS via e-mail, the 800 number provided to you during
Spotter Training, or to your local SKYWARN Coordinator
(who will in turn forward this to the NWS)...
-
Any deaths or injuries associated with hazardous
weather.
-
Damaging wind gusts of 58 mph or higher, whether
or not accompanied by a thunderstorm. If you are
unsure of the speed, contact your coordinator or
NWS office anytime trees or power lines are
downed or if structural damage to homes begins
(e.g. slates off roof, antenna downed).
-
Flooding of streams and rivers onto roadways,
homes or businesses.
-
Any urban flooding significant enough to make
roadways or underpasses impassable.
-
Two inches of rain within a 12-hour period.
-
One inch of rain in a hour in urban areas.
-
Heavy accumulation of ice which downs trees or
power lines.
-
Ice jams on rivers or streams which produce
flooding.
Also, please call or email the following…
-
Estimated wind gusts from 40 mph to 57 mph.
-
Freezing rain or sleet occurring when none is
forecast.
-
A thunderstorm in progress when none is forecast.
-
The presence of rain when only frozen
precipitation is forecast (sleet, snow, and/or
freezing rain).
-
Rain or snowmelt which cause minor roadway
flooding or flooding of streams.
-
Blowing or drifting snow which closes roadways.
Don’t forget any warm season criteria that you
see …
-
Any deaths or injuries associated with hazardous
weather.
-
Any TORNADO or WATERSPOUT.
-
Funnel or wall clouds.
-
Clusters of "Virga" that expand as they
descend beneath the cloud base.
-
Thunderstorms with wind gusts of at least 58 mph,
or that cause structural damage to homes, power
lines, or whole trees.
-
Hail 3/4 inch in diameter (about the size of a
penny) or greater.
-
Flooding of rivers or streams into homes or
industries. Also stream, river, or poor drainage
urban flooding which make roadways totally
impassable.
-
Report following a short (less than 1 hour)
torrential downpour (0.7 inches in 15 mins., 1.2
inches in 20 mins).
-
Report 2 inches of rain in 3 hours.
-
Report 1 inch of rain in an hour in urban area.
-
Event total rainfall.
-
Rises of streams or rivers to bankfull.
REMEMBER...NEVER
place yourself in any danger when reporting Severe
Weather! Your safety is and should be your highest
priority. Pass along your reports ONLY when it is safe to
do so. We need you and thank you always for your help.
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What do they all mean?
The National Weather Service uses
specific winter weather terms to ensure that people know
what to expect in the coming days and hours. A
Winter Storm Watch
means that severe winter
conditions, such as heavy snow and/or ice, may affect
your area, but its occurrence, location and timing are
still uncertain. A winter storm watch is issued to
provide 12 to 36 hours notice of the possibility of
severe winter weather, and is intended to provide enough
lead time so those who need to set plans in motion can do
so.
A watch is upgraded to a
Winter Storm Warning
when 6 or more inches of
snow or sleet is expected in the next 12 or 24 hours, or
1/2 inch or more of ice accretion is expected.
Winter Weather Advisories
inform you that winter
weather conditions are expected to cause significant
inconveniences that may be hazardous. If caution is
exercised, advisory situations should not become
life-threatening.
A
Blizzard Warning
means that snow and strong winds will combine to produce
a blinding snow (near zero visibility), deep drifts, and
life-threatening wind chill.
...Always be sure to listen
carefully to the radio, television, and NOAA Weather
Radio for the latest winter storm watches, warnings, and
advisories...
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Since June 2001, two NEW NOAA Weather
Radio (NWR) transmitters are up-and-running and one more
is on the way!
A NWR transmitter on Mohawk Mountain in
Cornwall, Connecticut began operation on June 29th, 2001.
WWH-33 operates on a frequency of 162.500 mHz, 24 hours a
day. In addition to providing much improved broadcast
service coverage for residents of Litchfield County, it
also provides additional coverage for surrounding
counties in Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts.
Specifically, the broadcast service area includes
Litchfield, Hartford, Fairfield, and New Haven Counties
in Connecticut; Columbia, Dutchess and Putnam Counties in
New York; and Berkshire and Hampden Counties in
Massachusetts. The broadcast program will be driven by
the
NWS in Albany, NY
.
Another NWR transmitter began operating
on September 25th, 2001 in Howell Township of Monmouth
County, NJ. WXM-60 operates on a frequency of 162.450
mHz, 24 hours a day at a power of 300 watts. This
transmitter will provide much improved broadcast service
coverage for people living in Monmouth and Ocean Counties
in New Jersey. The broadcast program will be driven by
the
NWS in Mount Holly, NJ
.
The Mount Holly NWS Office is working
with the New Jersey State Police Office of Emergency
Management in planning for a new NWR transmitter that
will serve Northwest NJ and surrounding areas. This
transmitter is scheduled for installation on Hamburg
Mountain in Rudeville (elevation of almost 1200 ft.) of
Sussex County soon. The station identifier will be WWW-13
and the transmitter will operate on a frequency of
162.425 mHz, 24 hours a day at a power of 1000 watts. In
addition to providing much improved broadcast service
coverage for residents of Sussex County, it will also
provide additional coverage for surrounding counties in
New Jersey, Northeast Pennsylvania, and Southeast New
York. Spotters living in Orange and Rockland Counties of
New York; and Passaic, Bergen, Warren, Morris, and Essex
Counties in New Jersey, should receive a strong broadcast
signal. The broadcast program will be driven by the Mount
Holly NWS Office.
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On December 1st, we will be holding a SKYWARN
Coordinators meeting. This had originally been scheduled
for October, but in light of the events of September
11th, we postponed this meeting. We hope to see all of
county coordinators at the meeting.
That same day, SKYWARN Recognition Day will be held,
from midnight to midnight. SKYWARN Recognition Day for
Amateur Radio Operators is being co-sponsored by the
National Weather Service and the American Radio Relay
League (ARRL). The purpose of the event is to celebrate
the contributions that amateur radio operators
("hams") make to the National Weather Service
during times of critical weather. During the event, hams
across the country try to contact as many NWS offices as
possible using their radio equipment. The contacts are
received and logged at the individual NWS offices by
volunteer amateur radio operators.
http://hamradio.noaa.gov/
is the national web site set up for the event…
http://skywarn.gigdot.net/recognition
is a local site set up by Bob Giglio, our regional
SKYWARN Coordinator (N2JJM). For further information
about the event, either locally or nationally, contact
Bob
(e-mail)
or
Tom Carrubba
(e-mail)
.
...From the SKYWARN team at NWS Upton...Thanks to
our amateur radio friends for all of your help in the
past, and we look forward to working with you again this
year and in the future! And from all Americans, thank you
for your efforts during the recent tragic events in our
nation’s capital and in New York. Special thanks to
Tom (KA2D) for his work in NYC and for organizing the
local participation in SKYWARN Recognition Day.
FROM THE REGIONAL
“HAM” COORDINATOR…
I am saddened by the events of Sept 11th and the
passing of Bob Cirri, our Hudson County Coordinator. He
will be missed by all. Bob became a police officer and
also an amateur radio volunteer to help the public and he
died helping others. Please pray for him.
Our EMWIN computer is running smoothly with some
occasional problems that are easily fixed. We have
expanded from one list to three lists (Skywarn,
Coordinators and Weather), with the weather list
broadcasting products from EMWIN computer. I am also
added three lists with e-groups at yahoo.com. They are
exactly like our weather list but are sorted to the three
states we serve. I will announce this on December 1st,
but they are available now on yahoo.
We had hoped to have a work party by now to make final
repairs to antenna system at Upton but events of 09/11/01
changed that. This will have to wait until Spring 2002.
The work that was done this spring has made a huge
improvement. The VHF antennas are improved but the UHF
antenna is poor. All in all things are better.
Bob Giglio, Regional Skywarn Coordinator-Upton NY
(
skywarn@gigdot.net
)
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I’ll start out the final section with a reminder
to all of our SKYWARN friends. All SKYWARN volunteers
should begin thinking about attending a training session
next spring if they haven’t been trained (or
retrained) in the past three (3) years. This will allow
our spotters to remain current on the latest storm
spotting information. Beginning with the end of the
Spring 2002 Training season, all spotters who have not
attended a training session within the past five (5)
years will automatically be dropped from our Spotter
lists.
This means that if you were trained in 1998 or
earlier, you will be dropped this spring unless we
retrain you or unless you make other arrangements
with Scott! For our coordinators, the requirements
will likely be mandatory retraining every 3 years.
If any of your spotter information has changed since
you were trained (especially if you were trained between
1995-2000), please e-mail any updates to Scott as soon as
possible. We can say that a few areas will DEFINITELY be
targeted for a Basic SKYWARN Training Class in the
Spring. Those areas will include the South Fork of Long
Island, Middlesex and New London Counties in southeastern
Connecticut, Fairfield County CT, and Rockland County NY.
There are some new and exciting goings on here at the
Upton Forecast Office…
- Graphical Digital Forecasts have arrived. Follow this
link to get to them.
-
Graphical forecasts for maximum/minimum
temperatures, 12-hour Precipitation Probabilities
and other forecast fields are coming sometime in
early 2002.
And of course, we thank you again for your support of
the SKYWARN program, and we hope to see you at a SKYWARN
Training Class near you soon. Keep those cards and
letters coming (and the spotter reports and e-mails)!
Scott R. / Editor of
The
Microburst
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