SKYWARN Newsletter #215

---

Hello to all...

SKYWARN Strategy Meeting Minutes from Saturday March 6th, 2004...

SKYWARN Training Update....

NWS Taunton SKYWARN Coordinator Attends NWS Brookhaven, NY SKYWARN Meeting...

Last Marine WX Course Offering from NWS Taunton for 2004...

Unusual South Atlantic Hurricane Makes Landfall in Southern Brazil...

National Hurricane Awareness Week Scheduled from May 16th-22nd, 2004...

Emergency Communications Workshop in Hingham, Mass. on April 3rd, 2004...

***Newsletter Issued 3/28/04.

SKYWARN Strategy Meeting Minutes from Saturday March 6th, 2004....

The SKYWARN Strategy Meeting was held on Saturday March 6th, 2004

at NWS Taunton. 16 people attended the meeting and they were as

follows:

KB2SAE-George Bourassa Berkshire County SKYWARN Coordinator

KB2VLC-Diane Bourassa Berkshire County SKYWARN

N1QKO-Eric Tuller Western Massachusetts SKYWARN Coordinator

W1ZSA-Roger Turner Norfolk County SKYWARN/Walpole EMA Director

K1HRV-Dave Doe Norfolk County SKYWARN/Walpole Asst. EMA Director

KC5WXC-Wayne Helms Cheshire County, NH SKYWARN Coordinator

N1FY-Carl Aveni South Shore SKYWARN/NWS Taunton Operator

N1IV-Jim Duarte Sturdy Memorial ARES/SKYWARN Team

KA1IG-Bruce Alexander Sturdy Memorial ARES/SKYWARN Team

N1VUX-Bill Ricker Northeast Massachusetts SKYWARN Coordinator

W1MPN-Mike Neilsen Eastern Mass. ARES Section Emergency Coordinator

K1CJS-Chris Smith Fall River RACES Radio Officer

K1IED-Larry Skilton South Windsor, CT Deputy Fire Chief

KD1CY-Rob Macedo ARES SKYWARN Coordinator for NWS Taunton

KB1GHX-Glenn Field NWS Taunton Warning Coordination Meteorologist

Bill Babcock NWS Taunton SKYWARN Program Leader

The first item completed was a presentation on the SKYWARN program

for 2004. The presentation went over the goals of the program for 2004,

and reviewed the wintertime SKYWARN Activations.

The next item discussed was the continued work on SKYWARN training

planning. This is discussed in the newsletter through the SKYWARN

Training update. An action was taken to go through the revised

SKYWARN training slide set for 2004 once Bill Babcock has completed

the revisions. It is noted that there are now 4,180 Spotters in the

NWS Taunton program. NWS Taunton will be going to a system where

a refresher will be needed every 7 years and that the refresher be

done by either attending a SKYWARN training session done by a

NWS Meteorologist or Amateur Radio Operator or by using a

web-based refresher training course that will be made available. A

recommendation was made to send a letter to the person prior to

deleting them from the database as they may help to retain some

people who maybe active spotters but cannot attend the SKYWARN

training regularly.

The next item discussed was the potential for a NWS Taunton Open House

anywhere in the foreseeable future. Glenn Field and Bill Babcock both

stated that an Open House will not occur over the next 12-18 months.

This will be revisited at the next NWS Taunton SKYWARN Strategy

Meeting.

The next three items discussed in parallel were continued utilization

and better coordination of Echolink and IRLP nodes as well as liaison

paths to the various regions that NWS Taunton covers and the use of

Email and IM Software for reporting into NWS Taunton. A handout

concerning the various liaison paths were handed out to all of the

coordinator's and there was much discussion over the current workable

paths and if there were any additional ways to make contact between

the Weather Office and the areas that it covers. Wayne Helms, KC5WXC

was going to check on potential capability for a link from the Keene,

NH Repeater to Mount Wachusett for liaison when needed. Larry Felton,

K1IED, noted that the 145.41-Vernon, CT Repeater has the same coverage

as the 146.79-Vernon, CT repeater and was connected to Echolink

as well as the Naugatuck and Torrington Repeaters full-time. That

information was taken under advisement. The Mount Tom Amateur Radio

Club will soon have an IRLP node for the 146.67 Mount Tom Repeater.

That repeater is an alternate repeater for the 146.94 SKYWARN Net

and would be considered an alternate node link for the

147.105-Wilbraham Repeater. For a couple of the areas that weren't

represented, the current liaison path plan will be reviewed with

those coordinators to make sure that other important paths will not

be missed.

In addition, it was stressed that with the Internet access at NWS

Taunton, that the AOL Instant Messenger program could be utilized

for a "coordinator's chat" when feasible from the NWS office. Also,

the two email addresses for the NWS Taunton office were also stressed

as a way to send information to and from the NWS Taunton office with

one of the email addresses being accessible from both the Internet and

Packet Radio. The Liaison Path documentation will be solidified and

put into the SKYWARN Operations manual and may later be posted on our

web site along with maps showing where the various SKYWARN repeaters

are located. Instant Messenger and Email addresses for forwarding

severe weather information to NWS Taunton when Amateur Radio has

either formally activated or self-activated by SKYWARN will be done

with direction put into the Storm/Severe Weather Coordination Messages

issued to the SKYWARN email list on when to use these additional tools

to get information to NWS Taunton. The email/IM information will also

be available for any Spotter who request it. For 2005, the email

addresses and the IM Screen Name could be made widely known to the

entire Spotter Community if we are successful in utilizing the IM

software and email addresses within the base of Spotters that have

signed up for the email list.

The next item discussed was the Storm Ready program. Glenn Field stated

that NWS Taunton is currently working on the towns of Manchester and

Glastonbury, CT as well as Worcester, Saugus, Agawam and Ipswich,

Massachusetts. Hayden Frank has been assisting with this work along

with Glenn Field. In addition, Glenn Field mentioned that through

the efforts of Smithfield, RI, they have EMWIN and are looking to

retransmit EMWIN to parts of the region. Further details are still

being worked out on this potential proposal and further updates

will be posted in later SKYWARN Newsletters.

The next item discussed was an updated status on NWS Taunton

Ham Station Operations. Carl Aveni-N1FY donated an Icom IC-735 HF

Radio but the status of that installation is in limbo due to power

problems at the NWS Forecast Office. A revamp of the power system

in the Weather Office will occur within the next 3 months to address

this issue. It is hoped to have power enough to run the current

equipment but have an additional 50-100% worth of power in case of

future enhancements to the station. Backup Battery Power was discussed

for the station. Larry Skilton mentioned a couple different style large

battery pack systems that would be suitable for indoor installation

and have around 30 amp-hours of power. A UPS was also discussed

as a good Surge Suppressor and source of short-term power if it

makes sense to have that capability. An action was taken to

do a NWS Taunton Technical Committee Meeting to discuss this issue and

a couple of additional technical issues may also be added for the

Committee as needed.

The next item discussed was the NWS Taunton Topics. Glenn Field

gave an overview of the Experimental Graphical Grids verbally to

the Coordinators. He also discussed a new Public Information Statement

Software package where he is on the formal test team for the software

package. NWS Taunton has the test suite for 2 weeks with Beta

Testing into AWIPS on June 15th with full implementation hoped for

on September 1st. The coordinators gave their input on what would

be useful to do with the program centered specifically on having the

ID field be flexible so that a Spotter ID or a Ham Call could be

entered as needed for reporting purposes. In addition, Eastern Region

continues to work on a generic Spotter Database system for entering

data that would first be used by the staff and then be useable from

Spotters. This project, however, remains several years from being

completed.

The Southern New England WX Conference is now scheduled to take place

on Saturday November 6th, 2004 at the Dexter School of Boys/Southwick

School for Girls Prep School. The details and speakers of the

conference has actually also been setup as well. The Dexter School

features a large telescope that can be utilized to see into the

stars even if the weather is not very clear.

The cost of the conference will be the same as last year with the

cost being 55 dollars for the early bird special, 65 dollars in the

main flow of registrants and 75 dollars if you register at the door.

Blue Hill is expected to get Vendors and Volunteers to do

demonstrations and that will be setup at one of the labs in the school.

Registration and Breakfast will begin at 7:30 AM and the conference

will end around 8 PM. While the agenda looks solid for this

conference, the agenda has not been posted publicly yet so a later

newsletter will post that information once its made public. This year's

conference will be slanted towards marine interests though there

will be some lectures that will be based on severe weather and other

interests. Further details on the conference will be posted in later

newsletters.

The last item was to tentatively schedule the next NWS Taunton SKYWARN

Strategy Meeting. It has been scheduled for Saturday October 16th

at 10 AM at NWS Taunton. Special thanks to all Coordinators and

to Bill Babcock and Glenn Field for attending this meeting and making

it very successful!

SKYWARN Training Update...

As of this newsletter writing, 16 of the planned 17 SKYWARN training

sessions have been completed. The only site remaining to be confirmed

is for the Southbridge-Sturbridge area for Saturday June 19th. The

latest schedule can be seen below and can also be seen at the

following link:

Link to the SKYWARN training schedule:

http://users.rcn.com/rmacedo/trsched.htm

The following is an update on SKYWARN training for year 2004. Further

updates will be posted on the web site as needed.

04/15/2004 7-10PM American Red Cross-Greater Hartford Chapter

Thurs. 209 Farmington Avenue

Farmington, CT

04/19/2004 7-10PM Manchester Community College

Mon. Manchester, CT

04/20/2004 7-10PM Anne T. Dunphy School

Tues. Williamsburg, Mass.

04/24/2004 1-4PM Miller's River Educational Center

Sat. 100 Main Street

Athol, Mass.

04/28/2004 7-10 PM Red Cross, NH West Chapter House

Wed. Court Street

Keene, NH

05/06/2004 7-10PM Walpole Town Hall/Senior Center

Thurs. Walpole, Mass.

05/13/2004 7-10PM Mastricola Elementary School All Purpose Room

Thurs. 26 Baboosic Lake Road

Merrimack, NH.

05/15/2004 Noon-3PM Braintree Town Hall

Sat. Braintree, Mass.

05/20/2004 7-10PM Martin Middle School Auditorium

Thurs. 131 Caswell Street

East Taunton, Mass.

05/22/2004 Noon-3PM North Kingstown, RI Library

Sat. North Kingstown, RI

05/24/2004 7-10PM Sturdy Memorial Hospital

Mon. Rice-Webb Auditorium

Attleboro, Mass.

05/25/2004 7-10PM Ipswich High School

Tues. Ipswich, Mass.

06/01/2004 7-10PM Thomas Talbot Masonic Lodge

Tues. 11 Concord Road

Billerica, Mass.

06/02/2004 7-10PM Smithfield High School Media Center

Wed. Smithfield RI

06/07/2004 6:30-9:30PM Boston Museum of Science

Mon. Boston, Mass.

06/17/2004 7-10PM Cape Cod National Seashore

Thurs. Province Lands Visitor Center

Provincetown, Mass.

NWS Taunton SKYWARN Coordinator Attends NWS Brookhaven, NY SKYWARN Meeting...

Through an invite from NWS Brookhaven, NY Senior Forecaster and SKYWARN

Program Leader, Scott Reynolds, KC2JCB, I attended the NWS Brookhaven,

NY SKYWARN Meeting which is similar to the SKYWARN Strategy Meeting

held at NWS Taunton three weeks ago. The NWS Brookhaven, NY Meeting

included representation from the National Weather Service Philadelphia/

Mount Holly, NJ office with Dennis Dura-K2DCD attending. Dennis is

part of the NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly SKYWARN Advisory committee,

used to work in New Jersey Emergency Management and is the

Assistant RACES Radio Officer for New Jersey Emergency Management.

Coordinators from Southeast New York, Northern New Jersey, Long Island

and the Southern Connecticut counties of Middlesex and New Haven

attended the meeting.

NWS Brookhaven gave an overview of their suite of weather products,

and an overview of their SKYWARN Training plans for 2004 for the first

part of the meeting. After a short break, Gary Conte, NWS Brookhaven,

NY Warning Coordination Meteorologist gave a 20 minute presentation

on Severe Weather Damage Surveys. Gary Conte is building up SKYWARN

Coordinator skills to be able to survey severe weather damage on

a preliminary basis so that the coordinators can go out, look at

damage, take pictures and give their assessment and information to

the weather office so that meteorologists can make the final

determination and assessment on the damage to determine whether the

damage was caused by a microburst/macroburst/downburst, tornado or

straight-line winds. This is similar to what we have done in our

County Warning Area with our SKYWARN Coordinators.

There was then a break where a tour of the NWS Brookhaven, NY office

was given and coordinators got to have lunch and exchange ideas on

the SKYWARN program. Following lunch, I gave a high level overview

of the capabilities of the NWS Taunton SKYWARN program and how

we activate, setup our network and how important it is to have a

seamless program between NWS office area's of jurisdiction. Dennis

Dura-K2DCD gave a similar presentation on the program for the

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly office including the addition of

2 NOAA WX Radio transmitters in his region within the past 3 years.

A general discussion on NWS Brookhaven's Amateur Radio Network was

had for the remainder of the meeting with input and ideas solicited

from the coordinator's and a plan of action obtained for what things

would be worked on based on the priority given by the coordinators.

It is noted that NWS Brookhaven, NY will be having their antenna

tower replaced some time this year which should enhance their Amateur

Radio communication capability. When NWS Brookhaven is on the air for

SKYWARN, they utilize the call-sign, WX2OKX.

The NWS Brookhaven, NY office is located in the Brookhaven National

Labs on Long Island, NY. The Brookhaven office has a lot of land

surrounding it being on the grounds of the Brookhaven Labs.

The Brookhaven National Labs is a large area that is almost a

community in and of itself. There is extra security at the facility

since some work of National Security interest is done there.

The meeting was excellent and allowed for a great exchange of ideas

within the NWS Brookhaven, NY program and between the NWS Brookhaven,

NY, NWS Taunton and NWS Mount Holly/Philadelphia Weather Offices. I

would like to thank Scott Reynolds, KC2JCB for the invitation for

the meeting. I would also like to thank Middlesex/New Haven County

SKYWARN Coordinator, Glenn Krieger, N1HAW, and Deputy Middlesex/New

Haven County SKYWARN Coordinator, Jim Williams, N1GPB for letting me

ride with them on the Bridgeport Ferry to get to the SKYWARN Meeting.

I would also like to thank Warning Coordination Meteorologist Gary

Conte from NWS Brookhaven for giving Glenn, Jim and I a ride to the

Weather Office for the meeting and then back for the ferry ride home.

Last Marine WX Course Offering from NWS Taunton for 2004....

The Last Marine WX Course offering from NWS Taunton for 2004 will

take place at the Plymouth Community Intermediate Schools in Plymouth,

Massachusetts on Wednesday March 31st from 6:30-9:30 PM. Pre-registration

is required for this course by either calling Marine Program Leader,

Frank Nocera at (508) 823-1900 ext: 411 or sending an email to

Frank.Nocera@noaa.gov

A link concerning more information on this Marine WX Course is listed

below:

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/box/marineWxCourse.html

Unusual South Atlantic Hurricane Makes Landfall in Southern Brazil...

An unusual South Atlantic Hurricane has caused significant damage

in portion of Southern Brazil baffling weather forecasters and

causing some problems in who should be issuing watches, warnings

and advisories on the potent no name system.

Hurricanes rarely form in the Southern Atlantic due to unfavorable

upper level winds and the lack of an Inter Tropical Convergence

Zone across the Southern Hemisphere. The hurricane made landfall in

Southern Brazil around 10 PM on the evening of March 28th. All

intensity estimates on the system were done with satellite imagery

and the intensity estimates indicate the storm was an 85 MPH Category

I hurricane.

Dr. Gray will be issuing his updated Atlantic Hurricane Forecast on

Friday April 2nd. It is not known if this event in the Southern

Hemisphere will have any affect on the forecast or tell us anything

about the upcoming Atlantic Hurricane Season.

Further information on this hurricane including coordinate data and

a brief history of tropical systems is listed below and was provided

by the University of Michigan WX Underground web site:

Tracking info for South Atlantic Tropical Cyclone 01

Due to the unprecedented nature of a tropical cyclone in the

South Atlantic Ocean, intensity estimates from human forecasters

are not available. Intensity estimates below are taken from satellite

measurements from:

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/positions.html

Time Lat Lon Wind(mph) Storm type

--------------------------------------------------------------

20 GMT 03/25/2004 -28.7 -42.1 50 Tropical Storm

00 GMT 03/26/2004 -28.6 -41.8 75 Category 1

12 GMT 03/26/2004 -28.8 -43.6 85 Category 1

00 GMT 03/27/2004 -28.9 -44.8 85 Category 1

12 GMT 03/27/2004 -29.5 -46.4 85 Category 1

00 GMT 03/28/2004 -29.3 -48.2 85 Category 1

06 GMT 03/28/2004 -28.9 -49.7 ?? Tropical Storm

The unnamed hurricane in the South Atlantic made landfall at

approximately 03 GMT March 28, 2004, and has rapidly decayed to

tropical storm or tropical depression strength. At its peak on March

28, the storm was classified as a Category 1 hurricane with maximum

sustained winds of 85 mph, making it the strongest of the three

tropical cyclones ever observed in the South Atlantic.

The National Hurricane Center documented the occurrence of a strong

tropical depression/weak tropical storm that formed off the coast of

Congo in mid-April 1991. The storm lasted about five days and drifted

toward the west-southwest into the central South Atlantic.

A tropical storm was observed on January 19, 2004, off the coast of

Brazil.

See http://www.met-office.gov.uk/sec2/sec2cyclone/tcimages/Misc/

for more information and images of these storms.

The South Atlantic is not prone to tropical cyclones because there is

strong vertical wind shear between the surface and the upper atmosphere.

This shear tends to tear storms apart before they can form. In addition,

there is typically no inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ) over the

South Atlantic. Without an ITCZ to provide thunderstorm activity and an

initial spin, tropical cyclones never get a chance to form.

National Hurricane Awareness Week Scheduled from May 16th-22nd, 2004...

The National Hurricane Center has scheduled National Hurricane Awareness

Week from May 16th-May 22nd. During this timeframe, the National

Hurricane Center will provide information on actions that should

be taken should a hurricane approach the region and what the threats

are from tropical systems and hurricanes.

To see updated information as it gets posted during National Hurricane

Awareness Week, please visit the following link on the National

Hurricane Center Web Site:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/intro.shtml

Emergency Communications Workshop in Hingham, Mass. on April 3rd, 2004...

Announcement on the Emergency Communications Workshop retransmitted

for the benefit of Amateur Radio Operators and is listed below:

There will be an Emergency Communications Workshop on Saturday

April 3rd, 2004 from 9:00 AM-4:00 PM at the South Shore Educational

Collaborative; 90 Industrial Park Road, Hingham, Mass.

This session is being put on by the ARES Section Staff through the

efforts of Metro Boston ARES District Emergency Coordinator,

KB1EKN-Mark Duff. This Emergency Communications Workshop will provide

the background and information to serve Amateur Radio Operators when

they need to respond to a communications emergency. It will feature an

Introduction and Conclusion to Emergency Communications, and five

1-hour training sessions on topics including:

Overview of Eastern Massachusetts ARES-RACES-SKYWARN Programs

Basic Overview of ICS

Net Operations

NTS Traffic Message Handling

Go Kits

Interactive Exercises on Field Operations

This training will also feature a 1-hour lunch that will be provided at

no coerced cost to any Amateur who attends the session.

The presentations will be given by other Amateur Operators well versed

in the topics listed above. The training will be a worthwhile endeavor

not just for emergency communicators but for anyone who is an Amateur

Radio Operator, and wants to learn more about the hobby.

Preregistration is requested but is not required in case anyone would

like to attend at the last minute. Please try to preregister by

Monday March 29th, 2004 to assure the meeting hall is setup properly and

we have enough refreshments for breaks between lectures and for the lunch

break. We will, however, accept any last minute preregistrations after that

day or any walk-ins as long as space permits.

Directions to South Shore Educational Collaborative (SSEC):

90 Industrial Park Road, Hingham, Ma.

N42. 10. 521’

W70. 54.791’

From the north follow Rt. 3 south to Exit 15. Sign says South

Hingham-South Weymouth. At the stop sign at the end of ramp,

turn left on Derby St. toward South Weymouth. Go 1/8 mile; sign on

left says South Shore Park. Take left on Industrial Park Rd. South

Shore Educational Collaborative is down about ½ mile on left.

Parking is to the left of the building.

From the south follow Rt. 3 north to exit 15, South Hingham

South-Weymouth. Stay to the right at end of ramp on to Derby St.

following the sign to South Weymouth. Go over Rt 3 and drive 1/8 mile;

sign on left says South Shore Park. Take left on Industrial Park Rd.

South Shore Educational Collaborative is down about ½ mile on left.

Parking is to the left of the building.

For any additional information and to preregister for the workshop,

please contact:

KB1EKN-Mark Duff emgmgt@comcast.net

W1MPN-Mike Neilsen w1mpn@ema.arrl.org

This training should be a worthwhile endeavor for anyone interested in

learning more about emergency communications and amateur radio in

general.

That's all for this edition of the SKYWARN Newsletter.

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)

ARES SKYWARN Coordinator

Southeast Massachusetts ARES District Emergency Coordinator

SEMARA ARES Emergency Coordinator

Pager #: (508) 354-3142

Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)

Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)

Work Phone #: 1-800-445-2588 Ext.: 72929 (8 AM-5 PM)

Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com

http://users.rcn.com/rmacedo

Back to the SKYWARN Newsletter Archive