Blizzard Coordination Message #4 – 1/12/11 Event

January 12, 2011 Rob Macedo Leave a comment

Hello to all…

..Dangerous Major Severe Winter Storm/Blizzard to pound Southern New England with Heavy Snowfall and the potential for strong to damaging winds and blizzard to near blizzard conditions for the region..
..A Blizzard Warning is now in effect from 2 AM to 8 PM Wednesday for Eastern Essex, Southeast Middlesex, Suffolk, Eastern Norfolk, Southern Plymouth, Barnstable and Dukes Counties of Massachusetts for blizzard conditions and 12-16″ of snow with isolated higher amounts except for Eastern Barnstable and Dukes Counties where 4-8″ of snow will occur with isolated higher amounts. Sustained winds of 20-30 MPH with gusts up to 45-55 MPH are possible except for Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard where sustained winds of 30-40 MPH with gusts to 65 MPH are possible. The winds and heavy snow will cause blizzard conditions for the region and the potential for pockets of tree and wire damage in this region..
..A Winter Storm Warning is in effect from Midnight tonight through 8 PM Wednesday for Southern Bristol County Massachusetts, Newport County Rhode Island and Block Island Rhode Island for 8-12″ of snow with isolated higher amounts. Winds of 10-20 MPH with gusts to 35 MPH are expected in this area with the potential near blizzard conditions at times. The winds and heavy snow will cause blizzard conditions for the region and the potential for pockets of tree and wire damage in this region..
..A Winter Storm Warning is in effect from Midnight to 8 PM Wednesday for the remainder of the NWS Taunton County Warning Area except for Nantucket Island for 12-16″ of snow with isolated higher amounts with the potential for near blizzard conditions at times. Winds of 10-20 MPH with gusts to 35 MPH are expected in this area..
..A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect for Nantucket Island from 2 AM to 10 PM Wednesday for 2-4″ of snow before the changeover to rain. A High Wind Warning is also in effect for
Nantucket Island from 2 AM to 7 PM Wednesday for sustained winds of 30-40 MPH with gusts to 65 MPH. This area could see pockets of tree and wire damage due to the strong winds..
..Coastal flooding is not expected due to low astronomical high tides, however, some minor splashover on the most vulnerable shore roads and beach erosion are possible on north and east facing coastal areas of Eastern Massachusetts..
..SKYWARN Activation with Ops at NWS Taunton will commence at 3 AM Wednesday..
..ARES/RACES groups should closely monitor the progress of this system. Winds are still expected to be less than the previous 12/26-12/27/10 major nor’easter/blizzard but with near blizzard to blizzard conditions now more likely in portions of the NWS Taunton County Warning Area, ARES/RACES groups should seek advice from local/regional ARES/RACES leadership. Eastern Massachusetts ARES will be placed on stand-by for Wednesday into early Thursday Morning for this major nor’easter blizzard event..
..Massachusetts State EOC and Massachusetts Emergency Management Regional offices will be in a partial activation mode for this major storm..

Model solutions are in very strong agreement on a powerful major nor’easter with near blizzard to blizzard conditions now becoming more likely over portions of the NWS Taunton County Warning area. The headlines of this coordination message cover the pertinent impacts to the region from this system. The storm impact in terms of wind will be less over areas hard hit by the 12/26-/12/27/10 event but it will be a contributing factor to severe winter/near blizzard to blizzard conditions for the region. The snow rates and accumulation will rival the 12/26-12/27/10 blizzard in Eastern New England and should exceed that event in Central and Western New England.

In an attempt to increase participation further, SKYWARN Coordinators from the region are working on call-up planning on local SKYWARN area repeaters. This will allow Amateur Radio SKYWARN Spotters to plan snow removal activities and other personal items around gathering data for the SKYWARN Nets. It is noted that the schedule for these nets could change on the fly depending on how the storm situation evolves. Here is some of the information gathered to date from area SKYWARN Coordinators:

Hartford-Tolland County SKYWARN Net – 146.790 PL: 82.5 information provided by Roger Jeanfaiver-K1PAI, Hartford-Tolland County SKYWARN Coordinator:
Call-up Nets planned at 530 AM 730 AM, 930 AM, 1130 AM and will be evaluated in the afternoon pending storm developments

Windham County CT SKYWARN Net – 147.225-Killingly CT Repeater PL: 156.7 Hz information provided by Bernie Dubb-KB1DGY, Windham County SKYWARN Coordinator:
Windham County Skywarn will be conducting nets tomorrow (Wed 1/12) at 9:00 A.M., 11:00 A.M., 1 P.M., 3 P.M., 5 P.M. and immediately after the ARES 4N net at 8:00 P.M. on 147.225 / PL 156.7. This schedule may be adjusted as indicated.

Rhode Island SKYWARN Net – 146.700-Cranston, RI Repeater (The 146.760-Scituate RI repeater is having issues currently) from N1JMA-Martin Mendelson, K1OCD-Adam Hobgood and KB1G-Bill Boyes, RI SKYWARN Coordinators:
Hourly call-up nets from 5 AM to Noon. Assessment on the net schedule will be done at noon time based on storm events.

The New England reflector system, Echolink *NEW-ENG* Node: 9123/IRLP 9123 will be active and always monitored by NWS Taunton looking for SKYWARN reportable criteria snowfall and storm related damage reports. If additional coordinators report timeframes for their nets between now and Midnight Wednesday, the coordination message will be updated with that information. After Midnight, we will be in storm operations mode and there won’t be time to update the message.

SKYWARN Activation with Ops at NWS Taunton will commence at 3 AM Wednesday. ARES/RACES groups should closely monitor the progress of this system. Winds are still expected to be less than the previous 12/26-12/27/10 major nor’easter/blizzard but with near blizzard to blizzard conditions now more likely in portions of the NWS Taunton County Warning Area, ARES/RACES groups should seek advice from local/regional ARES/RACES leadership. Eastern Massachusetts ARES will be placed on stand-by for Wednesday into early Thursday Morning for this major nor’easter blizzard event. The Massachusetts State EOC and Massachusetts Emergency Management Regional offices will be in a partial activation mode for this major storm. There maybe one more coordination message updating the status of the SKYWARN Net call-ups over other parts of the region if further info is received prior to midnight Wednesday.

As has been the case in other major storm incidents, precision in reporting is critical and the large amount of reporting is helpful. The data is utilized not only by the National Weather Service but also local, state and federal emergency management, media, American Red Cross and Salvation Army in damage assessment scenarios. All reporting during this event per the SKYWARN reporting criteria will be greatly appreciated. Below is the NWS Taunton Blizzard/Winter Storm Warning/Winter Weather Advisory Statement, High Wind Warning Statement, Snowfall prediction map and Hazardous Weather Outlook:

NWS Taunton Blizzard/Winter Storm Warning/Winter Weather Advisory Statement:
http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.wwus41.KBOX.html

NWS Taunton High Wind Warning Statement:
http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.wwus71.KBOX.html

NWS Taunton Snowfall Prediction Map:
http://www.erh.noaa.gov/box/StormTotalSnow/

NWS Taunton Hazardous Weather Outlook:
http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.flus41.KBOX.html

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 508-346-2929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://beta.wx1box.org