Severe Weather & Amateur Radio Field Day Weekend Coordination Message #6 – Sunday 6/25/23
Hello to all..
..The following is the sixth and final 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 20 years for Amateur Radio Operators involved with Field Day and the NWS Boston/Norton SKYWARN Program..
..For Sunday, there remains a greater risk for isolated to scattered strong to severe thunderstorms with strong to damaging winds, hail, frequent lightning and heavy downpours as the main threats. The timeframe of severe weather potential has pushed a bit earlier and could start as early as 12 PM and continue through about 3-5 PM. This could now affect the last few hours and takedown of Field Day sites but again coverage will be isolated to scattered so some Field Day sites could see a thunderstorm but others will not see this activity. The area with the greatest potential is now from the Connecticut/Rhode Island/Mass border north into Northern New England but all locations should monitor..
..Any thunderstorms have lightning potential which is a safety hazard for all Amateur Radio Field Day sites. Amateur Radio Field Day sites are encouraged to guard their local Amateur Radio SKYWARN frequency and have multiple ways to receive weather alerts during the course of this Field Day weekend including by cell phone/Internet and NOAA Weather Radio..
..Conditions will be warm and very humid through Sunday. While there are low clouds and fog across Connecticut, Rhode Island and Southeast Massachusetts, that will burn off in these areas and there is already strong clearing and heating already occurring across Western, Central and Northeast Massachusetts. This will create greater instability and a better threat for thunderstorms with heavy rainfall and lightning hazards as well as isolated strong to severe thunderstorms..
..Temperatures Sunday will range between the Upper-70s to low 80s in coastal areas to the mid to upper 80s in interior areas and dewpoints in the low 70s will create very humid conditions. Be sure to drink plenty of liquids and guard against heat exhaustion especially during Amateur Radio Field Day setup and takedown..
..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..
..SKYWARN Self-Activation will monitor conditions throughout Field Day weekend and activate as needed to guard Amateur Radio Field Day sites to provide weather information as well as to gather reports meeting SKYWARN reporting criteria throughout this weekend..
Here are some links to information on these Amateur Radio Field Day Sites from across the region.
Amateur Radio Field Day Information: https://www.arrl.org/field-day
Amateur Radio Field Day National Locator: https://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator
Eastern Massachusetts Field Day Home Page: https://ema.arrl.org/field-day/
Eastern Massachusetts Field Day Directory: https://ema.arrl.org/field_day/
For the remainder Amateur Radio Field Day weekend, the greatest risk for thunderstorms and isolated to scattered strong to severe thunderstorm potential will be Sunday from early Afternoon into Evening. The headlines of this message give the current thinking and coverage area. Key factors for Sunday include:
1.) Significant heating is already occurring in Western, Central and Northeast Massachusetts and this should spread into Connecticut, Rhode Island and Southeast Massachusetts as low clouds and fog burn off by mid-morning.
2.) Position of a trigger in the atmosphere to set off what should become an unstable atmosphere with the heating of the day. Right now that’s a weak front best positioned from around the Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts border and points north into Northern New England but all areas should monitor the thunderstorm potential.
3.) Wind shear values are low but amount of instability and the triggering mechanism may allow for isolated to scattered strong to severe thunderstorms and a greater coverage for non-severe thunderstorms with lightning risk. Thunderstorm coverage will be isolated to scattered so some Field Day sites could see a thunderstorm but others will not see this activity.
SKYWARN Self-Activation will monitor conditions throughout Field Day weekend and activate as needed to guard Amateur Radio Field Day sites to provide weather information as well as to gather reports meeting SKYWARN reporting criteria throughout this weekend. Below are links to the NWS Boston/Norton Area Forecast Discussion, Hazardous Weather Outlook and Enhanced Hazardous Weather Outlook:
NWS Boston/Norton Area Forecast Discussion:
https://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.fxus61.KBOX.html
NWS Boston/Norton Hazardous Weather Outlook:
https://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.flus41.KBOX.html
NWS Boston/Norton Experimental Enhanced Hazardous Weather Outlook:
https://www.weather.gov/erh/ghwo?wfo=box
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 as there is a threat for thunderstorm development and any thunderstorm can be a threat to the safety of Amateur Radio Field Day sites. 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. The link below features information on Heat Safety:
https://www.weather.gov/safety/heat
With the thunderstorm threat for this weekend, now is the time to remind folks that 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 and we have also added a link from this week’s NWS Boston/Norton Lightning Safety Awareness Week and Public Information Statements on Lightning Safety. See links below:
https://www.weather.gov/safety/lightning
https://wx1box.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/lightning_safety_awareness_PNS_2023-1.pdf
This is the final Amateur Radio Field Day weekend coordination message for Field Day 2023. We hope the Amateur Radio community participating in Field Day has a great weekend!
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)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
https://ares.ema.arrl.org
https://www.wx1box.org
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