SKYWARN Newsletter #250

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Hello to all..

NWS Taunton, Mass. SKYWARN Training 2008 Schedule Update..

NWS Gray, Maine. SKYWARN Training 2008 Schedule Update..

SKYWARN Self-Activation Report from March 5th, 2008..

SKYWARN Activation Report from March 8th, 2008..

Phil Klotzbach from Colorado State University Requesting Snowfall Historical Info..

Support of Acquiring "Core Samples" for Heightened Flood Threat..

ARES SKYWARN Coordinator for NWS Taunton Presenting at the National Hurricane Conference..

ARRL Letter Article: Tennessee Agency Calls Army MARS into Action..

Newsletter Issued: 3/15/08.

SKYWARN Training 2008 Schedule Update..

The following is a SKYWARN Training Schedule update for 2008. The

following training sessions have been confirmed. See links below for

updates as well as the schedule as posted at the link listed below:

http://www.wx1box.org/mod.php?mod=userpage&menu=8&page_id=1

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/box/skywarnTraining.shtml

Training Schedule is listed below:

Thursday May 1st, 2008 7-10 PM:

WFSB-TV Channel-3

333 Capital Boulevard

Hartford, CT

Sponsored by WFSB-TV and Hartford-Tolland County Connecticut SKYWARN

Directions: I-91 exit 23 West Street/Rocky Hill. If you're on I-91

southbound, turn left off exit ramp. If you're on I-91 northbound,

turn right off exit ramp. Proceed in right lane and go past the

Marriott. Take immediate right onto Capital Blvd. (Right lane must

turn right). Channel 3 is on the left after a curve.

Monday May 5th, 2008 6:30-9:30 PM:

Monadnock Regional High School

580 Old Homestead Highway

Swanzey, NH

Sponsored by: Swanzey, NH Emergency Management and Cheshire County, NH

ARES/SKYWARN

Wednesday May 7th, 2008 7-10 PM:

WWLP-TV Channel 22

One Broadcast Center

Chicopee, MA

Sponsored by WWLP-TV and Western Massachusetts SKYWARN

Thursday May 8th, 2008 7-10 PM:

Plymouth Emergency Operations Center (EOC)

44 Obery Street

Plymouth, MA

Sponsored by Plymouth Emergency Management Agency and Eastern

Massachusetts ARES/SKYWARN

Preregistration is required for this session as the Plymouth site is

limited to 25 people. Please contact Rob Macedo-KD1CY or Aaron

Wallace, Plymouth EMA Director for more information.

Tuesday May 13th, 2008 7-10 PM:

Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI)

Knight Campus-Room 1134 on First Floor

400 East Avenue

Warwick, RI

Sponsored by: Rhode Island ARES and SKYWARN.

Saturday May 17th, 2008 1-4 PM:

Boston Museum of Science

Cahner's Theater, Blue Wing Level 2

Boston, MA

Sponsored by the Boston Museum of Science, WBZ-TV Channel 4 and

Eastern Massachusetts ARES/SKYWARN

Note: Please be sure to bring Parking Tickets into the building for

validation for free Parking.

Directions: http://www.mos.org/visitor_info/maps_and_directions

Wednesday May 21st, 2008 7-10 PM:

Worcester Emergency Management Operations Center

50 Skyline Drive

Worcester, MA

Sponsored by Worcester Emergency Management/Worcester Emergency

Communications Team and Worcester County SKYWARN

More training sessions will be scheduled with 1 in Rhode Island, 1

in Cheshire County, NH, 1 in Hillsborough County, NH and 1 in Northwest

Massachusetts. All sessions above will be taught by forecasters. Additional

sessions will be taught by Amateur Radio SKYWARN Coordinators and will

be added to the schedule as they are confirmed.

NWS Gray, Maine. SKYWARN Training 2008 Schedule Update..

The National Weather Service in Gray, Maine has confirmed 3 SKYWARN

Training Sessions in their County Warning Area. Meteorologist and

SKYWARN Spotter Coordinator, Mike Cempa from the NWS Gray, Maine

office is also working on finalizing details for SKYWARN Training

in Derry and North Conway, NH in the next week or so. Mike also

hopes to hit other areas such as Lebanon, NH, the Connecticut River

Valley as well as Jackson or Rangeley, Maine, Sanford, Maine and

the Concord, NH area. Mike is hoping to do the majority of these

additional sessions in the April through June timeframe.

The link below has the latest NWS Gray, Maine SKYWARN Training Schedule:

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/gyx/spotters_skywarn/skywarn2.shtml

SKYWARN Self-Activation Report from March 5th, 2008..

A rare March Severe Weather Event occurred over portions of

Connecticut, Rhode Island and Southeast Massachusetts with a line of

Severe Thunderstorms producing damaging winds in excess of 70 MPH.

The Severe Thunderstorms were associated with a storm system that

produced widespread severe weather over portions of the Eastern

United States Monday and Tuesday. Unseasonably mild air ahead of a

cold front coupled with a very strong wind field at the lower levels

of the atmosphere produced the severe weather event.

SKYWARN was activated on the 146.760-Scituate, RI, 147.165-Exeter,

RI, 146.685-Plymouth, 146.955-Barnstable and 147.180-Bridgewater

Repeaters. The New England Reflector System, *NEW-ENG* EchoLink

Conference Server Node: 9123 and IRLP reflector 9123 was utilized

with the 145.490-Fairhaven Repeater utilized via the New England

Reflector system. SKYWARN Coordinators Carl Aveni-N1FY and Martin

Mendelson-N1JMA from Rhode Island SKYWARN assisted with this

activation. Due to the short-fused nature of the situation and the

fact that it happened sooner than initially thought, the event was

handled with a SKYWARN Self-Activation with no Ops at NWS Taunton.

The Severe Thunderstorms produced brief but potent straight-line

winds and wind damage across the region. Severe Thunderstorm Warnings

were issued for Washington County, Newport and Bristol Counties in RI

and Bristol, Plymouth, Western Barnstable and Dukes Counties of

Massachusetts over a time period between 630-830 AM. W1HF-Bob in

Charlestown, RI reported estimated winds of 50-60 MPH and the

basketball hoop in his yard was blown down. Debris and other material

hit his house but no additional damage was reported. Adam-KB1PTE

reported wires down and power outages in North Kingstown, RI with

wires down on a school bus in the Perryville section of South

Kingstown, RI. A measured wind gust of 56 MPH was reported at the

Westerly, RI Airport. Reports were received via the 147.165-Exeter,

RI Repeater. It would be found out later that an 18” diameter tree

and other large branches were blown down in the Moosup section of

Sterling, CT.

On the 146.76-Scituate RI Repeater, Martin-N1JMA reported trees down

in Bristol, RI with wires down on Route 103 on the Somerset/Warren,

RI line on the Somerset side. A measured wind gust of 50 MPH was

recorded in Tiverton, RI at 703 AM with a 50 MPH measured wind gust

and a mailbox blown over in Warwick, RI. Measured wind gusts of 58

MPH on Block Island at 635 AM, 66 MPH in Newport RI in the Rose

Island area at 654 AM and 63 MPH in Westerly, RI at 635 AM with a

72 MPH wind gust in Barrington, RI at 714 AM. As the storm

approached the greater New Bedford area, Tony Duarte-N1XRS reported

a measured wind gust of 51 MPH at 720 AM. A measured wind gust of

40 MPH was recorded at Rob Macedo-KD1CY’s location. A large tree was

blown down on County Street in New Bedford as the storms came through.

The wind gusts were short lived lasting about a minute in intensity

but were enough to cause isolated pockets of damage. Pockets of trees

and wires were blown down in Halifax, Freetown, Marion and

particularly hard hit were Rochester and Falmouth Massachusetts

where the most pockets of wind damage occurred from these severe

thunderstorms across South Coastal Massachusetts. In addition, a

tree was blown down on to a house causing severe damage to the home

in Warren, RI. It would later be found out that Frank O'Laughlin-WQ1O

had a measured wind gust of 64 MPH in the Marstons Mills section of

Barnstable with large limbs about 4" in diameter blown down in his

area and a power outage lasting about an hour in time as the storms

moved through. The time of the measured wind gust and damage was

754 AM.

Some isolated flooding reports were also received as heavy rainfall

occurred along and behind the line of storms. In Windsor, Connecticut,

Route 159 was closed underneath a railroad underpass due to flooding

in a typical poor drainage location. Other flooding was more brief

in nature as the line of thunderstorms moved through the are providing

heavy rain but its quick movement resulted in only brief minor pockets

of urban/poor drainage flooding along the line of storms.

The line of storms moved swiftly off the coast by 830 AM. While

elements of the line north of the warning area did intensify, cooler

temperatures at the surface precluded the strong winds from reaching

the ground reducing the threat of wind damage for those areas.

Thanks to all who assisted in this self-activation of SKYWARN!!

SKYWARN Activation Report from March 8th, 2008..

SKYWARN was activated on Saturday March 8th starting at 930 AM for

the potential of widespread moderate flooding region wide and the

potential for wind damage and possibly severe weather across Southeast

New England. Carl Aveni-N1FY and Rob Macedo-KD1CY manned the NWS

Taunton Amateur Radio Station, WX1BOX, for the duration of this event.

Reports came in of flooding by early Saturday Afternoon after one

slug of heavy rainfall came through the region late Friday Night

into Saturday Morning and a second round of heavy rainfall began

late Saturday Morning into early Saturday Evening. Reports of

significant flooding in Wareham with a trailer park being evacuated

due to flood waters was received along with significant street flooding.

Rainfall continued to increase across the region with numerous flooded

basements across Western and Central Massachusetts and Southwest New

Hampshire. As the rain continued, a 15-acre golf course was flooded

out in Smithfield, RI with numerous urban flood reports received in

other parts of Rhode Island. The Hockanum River was out of its banks

flooding low-lying areas in Vernon, Connecticut. Amateur Radio

Operators were active on the 146.760-Scituate, RI, 146.700-Cranston,

RI and 147.165 Repeaters in Rhode Island and the 146.790-Vernon, CT

Repeater. Amateur Radio Coordinators, Bill Boyes-KB1G, Rick Andreano-

K3OQH and Byron Piette-K1YCQ were active giving reports and being

liaisons. Another active Amateur providing reports from South County

in Rhode Island was Adam Hobgood-K1OCD. In Connecticut, Roger Jeanfaivre,

K1PAI, was active with Hartford-Tolland County SKYWARN and several

Amateurs checked area small stream and rivers for NWS Taunton.

In Worcester and other parts of Western Massachusetts, Western Massachusetts

ARES and SKYWARN were active through the efforts of the Worcester

Emergency Communications Team and the WPI Amateur Radio Club along

with Ray Weber-KA1JJM and Eric Tuller-N1QKO from Western Massachusetts

SKYWARN. John Rugerrio-N2YHK, Western Massachusetts ARES Section

Emergency Coordinator, acted as a liaison as well utilizing the

New England Reflector system *NEW-ENG* Node: 9123, IRLP 9123. Reports

of flooding of several streets and flooded basements came in from

the city of Worcester with Beaver Brook out of its banks in the city

of Worcester. SKYWARN was active on the 146.925-Worcester, 146.970-

Paxton, 146.985-Greenfield, 146.94-Mount Tom and 146.910-Mount Greylock

Repeaters.

As the event went into the evening hours, low-level cool air at the

surface which kept temperatures in the region in the upper 30's to

lower 40's scoured out from southeast to northwest with temperatures

rising 20-25 degrees in about 10-15 minutes. As this low-level cool

air eroded, winds increased rapidly as the low-level inversion was

removed allowing strong winds to reach the surface. This resulted

in widespread pockets of wind damage across Southeast Massachusetts,

Rhode Island and Connecticut that eventually expanded up through

other portions of Massachusetts.

Measured wind gusts of 76 MPH in Chatham, Mass, 65 MPH in Warwick, RI,

62 MPH in Salem, Mass, 61 MPH in Acushnet, Mass, 59 MPH in Plainfield,

CT, 60 MPH in Scituate, Mass, 59 MPH in Foster, RI, 58 MPH in

Brookline, Mass, 57 MPH in Vineyard Haven, Martha's Vineyard,

55 MPH in Falmouth and 53 MPH in south Dartmouth were recorded during the

evening and early morning hours. Numerous pockets of tree and power

line damage were reported across New Bedford, Rochester, Bourne, Pocasset,

Plympton, Middletown, RI, Narragansett, RI, Glastonbury, CT. Other

reports of wind damage were received across the North Shore and into

Western and Central Massachusetts during the late evening and early

morning hours. N1YHR-Rick Canfield, who works at Barnstable County

Dispatch, was instrumental in getting much of the information from

the Cape Cod area.

Additional flooding reports were received during the early evening

hours with the Accord Brook out of its banks flooding low-lying areas

and homeowners yards in Hingham, Massachusetts. A 51 MPH measured wind

gust was reported in Hingham by Mark Duff-KB1EKN, Hingham Fire Chief

and Amateur Radio SKYWARN Spotter. In New Bedford, Massachusetts,

the Buttonwood Brook went out of its banks in the area of Hawthorne

Street flooding the yard of a Jewish Synagogue in that area with

the Buttonwood Park Pond very high and ready to spill over its banks.

SKYWARN was active on the 146.955-Barnstable Repeater as well as the

145.490-Fairhaven and 145.39-Scituate Repeaters through the New England

Reflector System.

Coastal flooding became a concern across South Coastal areas as well

with a low-end moderate coastal flood event occurring across portions

of the South Coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. In Narragansett,

RI, Adam-K1OCD reported that the Bonnet Shores Causeway was closed

due to coastal flooding in the area of the Allegash Trail. In Marion,

Massachusetts, Chris Washburn-W1EAV reported that several yards of

homeowners were flooded by coastal waters on Front Street with water

coming up over the seawall and a small boat sunk in Marion Harbor.

In Western Massachusetts, heavy rainfall combined with wet snow

caused a barn collapse in Bernardston, Massachusetts. The report

came in through Western Massachusetts SKYWARN and was confirmed by

the Massachusetts State EOC through the efforts of Massachusetts

State RACES Radio Officer, Tom Kinahan-N1CPE, as the State EOC in

Massachusetts ran a limited level-2 activation that included RACES

support at the State EOC. The State EOC monitored several HF, 6 Meter,

and 2 Meter frequencies as well as the New England Reflector EchoLink/

IRLP system throughout the event.

In the North Shore of Massachusetts, flooding of Canal Street in Salem

occurred with wind damage occurring in the middle of the night with

a large tree taking down two poles on South Street with a large tree

and wires down on Proctor Circle. SKYWARN was active on the 145.47-Danvers

Repeater with the Peabody EOC active for several hours through the

efforts of Jim Palmer-KB1KQW, Eric Horwitz-KA1NCF, Mike Griffin-KB1OHZ,

and Nat Henricksen-NG1Z.

In Cheshire County, NH, Bruce Bohannon-WA1YZN, reported that in Swanzey,

they had a small mudslide closing South Road in Swanzey with numerous

additional roads flooded and scattered power outages. Bruce forwarded

his report via the New England Reflector system.

SKYWARN was secured at 430 AM EDT with the last couple hours of the

activation taking place as a self-activation as NWS Ops secured at

1 AM EST. Special thanks to all those who assisted in this activation

of SKYWARN. An email with the Public Information Statement and Local

Storm Report was sent out previously and this will be archived to

the WX1BOX web site along with other Local Storm Reports and Public

Information Statements at a later time.

Phil Klotzbach from Colorado State University Requesting Snowfall Historical Info..

Phil Klotzbach from Colorado State University, who is well known for

being named the primary forecaster for Dr. Gray's Hurricane Outlook,

has requested Snowfall data going back to 1970 where he can gather

monthly resolution of snowfall over the months of December, January,

February and March. He is looking for continuous data from 1970

to the present but if you have something that is continuous from

a sizeable but lesser range then this period, the data will be taken

and will see if there is any interest from Phil Klotzbach. This request

came from Phil Klotzbach through Mish Michaels of WBZ-TV Channel 4.

Anyone with this type of information can email me at kd1cy@comcast.net

and the info will be forwarded with the author of the info cc'ed and

credited for all work. Emphasis for data is placed on Western Massachusetts

and Connecticut but other parts of New England may be helpful.

Thanks to all in advance for their help!

Support of Acquiring "Core Samples" for Heightened Flood Threat..

The following information is provided by Scott Reynolds-KC2JCB. Scott

is the Assistant ARES Emergency Coordinator for SKYWARN and Public

Information Officer in Hillsborough County, NH. Scott previously worked

as a forecaster and SKYWARN Program Leader at the National Weather

Service in Brookhaven, NY and is now the Meteorologist-In-Charge of

the CWSU in Nashua, New Hampshire. He provided the following

information to the New Hampshire ARES list and with his permission,

we posted the information in this edition of the SKYWARN Newsletter

as we continue to be in an elevated risk for flooding due to snow

melt and numerous storm events over the course of this winter. While

this information was focused on New Hampshire, this would also apply

to folks in Northern Massachusetts as well. See below:

The flood potential will continue to be quite high for the foreseeable

future statewide in light of the deep snow cover throughout NH, as well

as high SWEs (SWE is Snow Water Equivalent). Scott spoke with Nicole Belk,

Service Hydrologist at NWS Taunton MA. She said that the NWS (both

Taunton MA and Gray ME), state of NH and many other agencies are

already gearing up for what could be a long period of heightened

flood potential. Small streams and smaller rivers will be under the

gun initially, but as time goes on, the threat for main stem river

flooding will be increasing (i.e. the Connecticut, Merrimack and Pemi

Rivers, to name a few). ARES members should be aware for this as

well for the coming weeks.

The NWS is looking for what we call "core samples." A core sample is

where you take some type of round cylinder and punch down into the

snow to get a "core" of the snow cover, preferably in an area of

uniform snow cover...no snow banks please! The snow from the

cylinder is melted to determine the water content of the snow. You

can use any cylindrical object, so long as the side are straight (or

close to it). Standard garbage cans can be used in a pinch,

especially if you have THAT much snow depth. (According to Nicole, a

quarter of an inch more or less of water in your measurement isn't

that big a deal, especially given the amount of snow on the ground.)

If anyone could do this for their respective areas, you can email

your data direct to NWS Taunton or NWS Gray ME, or send it to me

and I will forward to the appropriate NWS office. The data needed

would be location, elevation, snow depth and melted liquid amount.

GPS locations are great if you have them. The same goes for any

observed flooding.

Thanks for your help in this endeavor...and hopefully it'll be a

gradual thaw (and the rain won't be that heavy). If you have any

questions about how to do this, just email me and I'll be glad to

explain things better.

Scott Reynolds can be contacted at kc2jcb@comcast.net

ARES SKYWARN Coordinator for NWS Taunton Presenting at the National Hurricane Conference..

ARES SKYWARN Coordinator and Director of Operations for the VoIP

Hurricane Net, Rob Macedo, KD1CY, will be presenting at the National

Hurricane Conference at the Amateur Radio Workshop on Tuesday April

1st, 2008 from 130-500 PM. Rob will be a part of a panel discussing

Amateur Radio Operations during hurricanes and will discuss the

VoIP Hurricane Net and working with Manager of Preparedness and

Response at ARRL HQ, Dennis Dura, K2DCD, they will present the

importance of gathering disaster intelligence information during

hurricanes.

Assistant WX4NHC Coordinator, Julio Ripoll-WD4R, will present

operations at the National Hurricane Center Amateur Radio Station,

WX4NHC, where Julio and WX4NHC Coordinator John McHugh-K4AG and their

team of Amateurs have been involved assisting the National Hurricane

Center for 28 years. They will present highlights of their operations

and what the agency is looking for during hurricanes as far as

reporting.

The National Hurricane Conference for 2008 will be held in Orlando

Florida and the Amateur Radio Workshop is one of a number of workshops,

training sessions and presentations at the conference. For more info,

please see the link below on the conference:

http://www.hurricanemeeting.com/

ARRL Letter Article: Tennessee Agency Calls Army Mars into Action

The following ARRL Letter article discusses how a Tennessee Emergency

Management used Military Affiliated Radio System (MARS) to assist after

tornados swept through the state. See article below:

==> TENNESSEE AGENCY CALLS ARMY MARS INTO ACTION

The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) called Army Military

Affiliate Radio System (MARS) into action as tornados swept across

the Southeastern United States February 5-6. According to Army MARS

Chief Stuart Carter, "For the first time as far back as we can

remember, a state government called for MARS deployment in response

to an actual emergency. The resulting teamwork and use of Army MARS

Winlink capability gave TEMA its only e-mail link during President

Bush's visit to the storm-stricken area." At least 70 messages were

sent during the state operation ranging from casualty figure updates

and signal reports to staff rosters and photos.

TEMA's Chief of Communications David Wolfe, WA4VVX (MARS call sign

AAR4CY), said, "Although there was no commercial power at the

deployment site, TEMA's communications infrastructure was fully

operational. Both the VHF high band and 800 MHz repeater systems had

good coverage for voice command and control. Our shortage was

Internet connectivity, and our unmet needs were e-mail and the

ability to send pictures. MARS Winlink provided exactly what was not

available by any other means."

Carter said that this event illustrates the importance of detailed

preparation and training that has taken place during realistic

disaster response exercises over the past several years. "In the

case of Tennessee, the story goes back a year and a half. Steve

Waterman, K4CJX (MARS call sign AAA9AC) began working with Wolfe in

late 2006, preparing for just such a deployment. At the time, Army

MARS was just beginning to adopt the Winlink 2000 radio e-mail

network system, and with the assistance of the then-Tennessee State

Director Paul Drothler, WO4U (MARS call sign AAV4DJ), Army MARS had

just signed a Memorandum of Understanding with TEMA. This MOU just

served to strengthen an already strong relationship between TEMA and

Army MARS. Wolfe led TEMA staffers who were already hams to becoming

MARS members and to become qualified MARS Winlink 2000 operators. The

rest of Wolfe's team soon obtained their Amateur Radio and Army MARS

licenses."

The next step, according to Carter, was joint training for TEMA staff

and Tennessee Army MARS members. Some was classroom training followed

up with extensive field training. The culmination of the field

training was TNCAT07, a massive exercise that included the Central

United States Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC), an eight-state alert

consortium along the New Madrid fault line. This exercise also

included the participation by ARRL Amateur Emergency Radio Service

(ARES), Civil Air Patrol and other EmComm services that clearly

demonstrated interoperability between TEMA, Tennessee Army MARS, the

Amateur Radio community and other municipal communications services.

"To make a long story short," Carter said, "we now have seen a

demonstration of seamless collaboration between Army MARS and one of

our supported agencies under 'Real World' emergency conditions. This

was the first Army MARS deployment since the Katrina/Rita disasters

two years ago. Successfully meeting the challenge involved deployment

readiness on the part of our members, and it required total Winlink

2000 mobility. First of all came the building of relationships with

existing and potential customers, and then came meticulous training

of state and federal staffers, and frequent exercising at home and

in the field. With this pattern of established collaboration between

our customers and MARS members, we enter the new era of Army MARS

Emergency communications support."

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

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)

ARES SKYWARN Coordinator

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section 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://ares.ema.arrl.org

http://www.wx1box.org

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