Severe Weather & Amateur Radio Field Day Weekend Coordination Message #5 – Sunday 6/28/20 Severe Weather Potential
Hello to all..
..The following is the fifth and final message in a series of messages on Amateur Radio Field Day Weekend and providing information on the weather during this period. This is a tradition spanning over 17 years for Amateur Radio Operators involved with Field Day and the NWS Boston/Norton SKYWARN Program..
..After the Saturday afternoon and early evening beneficial rain of around 0.10″-0.90″ around the area with lesser amounts in parts of Northeast Massachusetts, Sunday will feature a warm and humid day with the potential for isolated to scattered strong to severe thunderstorms across the region. The most likely timeframe is from 3-9 PM but some activity could start as early as 12-1 PM Sunday..
..The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has upgraded much of Southern New England to a slight risk of severe weather with a marginal risk for severe weather from the cape cod canal east through Cape Cod and the Islands for Sunday afternoon and evening. Strong to damaging winds, hail, and torrential rainfall leading to urban and poor drainage flooding are the main threats. Model trends continue to indicate a greater potential for severe weather on Sunday than today with strong instability, forcing from a cold front and marginally sufficient wind fields..
..Amateur Radio Field Day Weekend is an annual event where Ham Operators across the United States setup at Emergency Operations Centers, field locations, home locations etc. to operate and test their equipment and skills and make as many radio contacts as possible during the weekend. Due to COVID-19, Amateur Radio Field Day across Southern New England will be quite different with far less Field Day sites than normal in the region and those that are up and running in the field adhering to social distancing guidelines with limited to no public access. There will be many more Amateur Radio Field Day operations operating at home and not at field locations. Amateur Radio Field Day resource information is listed below..
..SKYWARN Self-Activation will monitor conditions throughout Field Day weekend with Amateur Radio Call Up Nets brought up as required..
Here are some links to information on these Amateur Radio Field Day Sites from across the region understanding limited to no public access in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions and far less field day sites than normal years:
Amateur Radio Field Day Information: http://www.arrl.org/field-day
Amateur Radio Field Day National Locator: http://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator
Eastern Massachusetts Field Day Home Page: https://ema.arrl.org/field-day/
Eastern Massachusetts Field Day Directory: http://ema.arrl.org/field_day/
ARRL President K5UR-Rick Roderick’s Field Day 2020 Statement: http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-president-rick-roderick-k5ur-issues-field-day-2020-statement
Severe weather for Saturday was squelched by the warm front remaining along the south coast of New England today resulting in an area of light to moderate rain occurring across much of southern New England during the mid-afternoon to early evening hours bringing a beneficial 0.10″-0.90″ to much of Southern New England with lesser amounts in parts of Northeast Massachusetts.
For Sunday, conditions are lining up favorably for isolated to scattered strong to severe thunderstorms across Southern New England for Sunday Afternoon and evening. The headlines depict the current thinking. Key factors for Sunday’s severe weather potential will be as follows:
1.) The position of the cold front/impulse in the atmosphere and the timing as it sweeps through the area. This is expected to be between 3-9 PM Sunday Afternoon and evening which should take advantage of the highest instability timeframe.
2.) Wind fields will be marginal but current models have brought up the wind levels slightly. Given that change and the level of instability and some other parameters pertaining to downdraft instability, the wind fields should be sufficient for isolated to scattered strong to severe thunderstorms.
3.) While the likely timeframe for severe weather is between 3-9 PM with the actual cold front and impulse that will swing through the area, the setup of a seabreeze front and differential heating in terrain may allow activity in some areas to start a bit early between 12-3 PM in isolated locations. There is also the possibility of an isolated strong to severe thunderstorm extending past 9 PM to as late as 11 PM as instability will hold on through mid to late evening before waning after 11 PM. Amateur Radio Field Day sites towards afternoon should keep an eye to the sky and monitor conditions though the greatest risk for severe weather will be at the end of the event where any field sites will be taking down their field setups.
SKYWARN Self-Activation will monitor conditions throughout Field Day weekend with Amateur Radio Call Up Nets brought up as required. Below are links to the NWS Boston/Norton Hazardous Weather Outlook, NWS Boston/Norton Enhanced Hazardous Weather Outlook, and SPC Day-1 Convective Outlook:
NWS Boston/Norton Hazardous Weather Outlook:
http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.flus41.KBOX.html
NWS Boston/Norton Experimental Enhanced Hazardous Weather Outlook:
https://www.weather.gov/box/ehwo
SPC Day-1 Convective Outlook:
https://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/outlook/day1otlk.html
Amateur Radio Field Day sites are encouraged to bring a NOAA All-Hazards Weather Radio, monitor various cell phone weather apps where Amateur Operators may have those available and have a dedicated Ham Radio that can monitor their local SKYWARN Frequency for their area as a best safety and preparedness practice. Also sites that have mobile Internet capability can utilize that capability as a way to monitor for weather information. With Mobile Internet capability, utilizing Echolink to monitor the New England Reflector system on Echolink Conference *NEW-ENG3* Node: 9123/IRLP 9123 would be helpful as well. Please see the link below for the latest SKYWARN Frequency information for the region:
https://wx1box.org/southern-new-england-skywarn-frequency-list/
During setup and takedown of Amateur Radio Field Day sites and even while operating, be sure to drink plenty of fluids and eat accordingly. Also having a jacket or sweatshirt during evenings as conditions cool and rain gear for any showers and thunderstorms etc. may also be useful while operating this year’s Field Day. The link below features information on Heat Safety:
https://www.weather.gov/safety/heat
Given the threat for thunderstorms in isolated to scattered locations over the course of Friday and the weekend, lightning is a threat to any and all Amateur Radio Field Day sites. Remember your lightning safety tips and details on lightning safety can be seen at the following link:
https://www.weather.gov/safety/lightning
Also, NWS Boston/Norton have put out Public Information Statements for Lightning Safety Awareness Week which occurred from Monday 6/22 through Friday 6/26. The statements with lightning safety tips can be seen here:
https://wx1box.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/lightning_safety_2020.pdf
This will be the last Amateur Radio Field Day weekend message as we shift into operations mode to monitor the Sunday severe weather potential.
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
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