Severe Weather & Amateur Radio Field Day Weekend Coordination Message #3 – Saturday 6/23/24-Sunday 6/23/24

Hello to all…

..The following is the third 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..
..This year’s Amateur Radio Field Day Weekend will feature the risk for Isolated to Scattered Strong to Severe Thunderstorms for Saturday and Sunday. It will remain warm and humid over most of Southern New England with some relief in Northeast Massachusetts Saturday before warm and humid conditions resume there for Sunday..
..A Heat Advisory is now in effect through 7 PM Sunday Evening for Northern Connecticut, Eastern Hampden and Eastern Hampshire Counties of Massachusetts for heat indices to 97 degrees..
..The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has placed Western and Central Massachusetts, Connecticut and interior Rhode Island in a Marginal Risk for severe weather for Saturday. Threat timeframe is from1-8 PM Saturday. Storm coverage is expected to be similar to Friday and perhaps slightly stronger if enough sun and heating for instability and destabilization is realized with slightly stronger wind shear profiles aloft..
..SPC has placed Western and North-Central Massachusetts and Northwest Connecticut in a slight risk for severe weather Sunday with the rest of Southern New England in a marginal risk for severe weather. Rough timing window for this potential is 1-10 PM Sunday and will be fine-tuned in future updates..
..Strong to damaging winds, hail, frequent lightning and heavy downpours leading to urban and poor drainage flooding are the main threats this weekend but an isolated brief tornado cannot be ruled out for Saturday and an isolated tornado risk exists Sunday in the slight risk area of Western and Northwest Massachusetts and Northwest Connecticut and will be monitored closely..
..At this time, not every Field Day site will see a shower, thunderstorm or severe weather and a widespread washout is not expected. Some Field Day sites could be dry all weekend but other Field Day sites could be quite wet depending on where showers and thunderstorms develop. This will be monitored throughout the weekend..
..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..
..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 with Amateur Radio Call-Up Nets are likely Saturday and Sunday Afternoon and Evening in interior Southern New England for the severe weather and flood potential 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/

On Wednesday, severe weather activity which was expected to stay north of Southern New England spilled into Northwest and North-Central Massachusetts with pockets of wind damage and flooding noted across parts of Franklin, Hampshire and Northwest Worcester Counties. See the Amateur Radio Report log and Local Storm Report info below:

WX1BOX Amateur Radio Log:
https://wx1box.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/reports_6_19_24.pdf

NWS Boston/Norton Local Storm Report:
https://wx1box.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/LSR_6_19_24.pdf

Thursday saw the severe weather coverage increase in area with pockets of wind damage and hail across Western, North-Central and Northeast Massachusetts. See the Amateur Radio Report log and Local Storm Report info below:

WX1BOX Amateur Radio Report log:
https://wx1box.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/reports_6_20_24.pdf

NWS Boston/Norton Local Storm Report:
https://wx1box.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/LSR_6_20_24.pdf

On Friday, severe weather and flash flooding developed in portions of Western and Central Massachusetts, Northern Connecticut and Western Rhode Island. See the Amateur Radio report log and Local Storm Report info below:

WX1BOX Amateur Radio Report log:
https://wx1box.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/reports_6_21_24.pdf

NWS Boston/Norton Local Storm Report:
https://wx1box.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/LSR_6_21_24.pdf

As we enter into Amateur Radio Field Day weekend, the thunderstorm and greatest severe weather potential will be across Western and Central Massachusetts, Northern Connecticut and Western Rhode Island for Saturday similar to how Friday was and this is on the warm end of the frontal boundary draped across the area. For Sunday, all of Southern New England has the potential for thunderstorms and severe weather with the greatest risk in the slight risk for severe weather area across Western and North-Central Masachusetts and Northwest Connecticut. This potential will be monitored closely as it may overlap with the end of Field Day weekend and the takedown of Amateur Radio station sites. Here is a breakdown of potential hazards by each day:

Saturday Afternoon and Evening:
Clouds and fog are burning off from west to eat which should allow for the heating and destabilization necessary to initiate severe thunderstorm development in the Marginal Risk for severe weather area. There is a bit more wind shear than the prior severe weather days and if the instability can develop with heating, it will set the stage for severe weather coverage similar to Friday in a similar area as yesterday. Threat timeframe is 1-8 PM which is also similar to Friday.

Sunday Afternoon and Evening:
This could be a day where much of Southern New England has severe weather potential and there is increasing risk for severe weather particularly in interior Southern New England with the greatest threat in Western and North-Central Massachusetts and Northern Connecticut. Wind shear profiles appear even stronger Sunday versus earlier in the week. The threat timeframe right now is between 1-10 PM Sunday and will be fine-tuned in the next coordination message and the headlines depict the current severe weather risk area for Southern New England.

While not as hot as earlier in the week, it will still be warm and humid for outdoor activities over the Field Day weekend period so Field Day sites should have plenty of liquids on hand and a place nearby to cool down whether it be a building or cars with AC to stay cool from the heat. Heat tips and safety guidelines are also included in this message. Northeast Massachusetts will have the most relief from the heat Saturday but the heat will return there as we get into Sunday.

SKYWARN Self-Activation with Amateur Radio Call-Up Nets are likely Saturday and Sunday Afternoon and Evening in interior Southern New England for the severe weather and flood potential 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, Enhanced Hazardous Weather Outlook, SPC Day-1, and Day-2 Convective Outlooks and NWS Norton Heat Advisory Statement:

NWS Boston/Norton Area Forecast Discussion:
https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=NWS&issuedby=BOX&product=AFD&format=CI&version=1&glossary=1&highlight=off

NWS Boston/Norton Enhanced Hazardous Weather Outlook:
https://www.weather.gov/erh/ghwo?wfo=box

SPC Day-1 Convective Outlook:
https://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/outlook/day1otlk.html

SPC Day-2 Convective Outlook:
https://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/outlook/day2otlk.html

NWS Boston/Norton Heat Advisory Statement:
https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=NWS&issuedby=BOX&product=NPW&format=CI&version=1&glossary=1&highlight=off

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 last year’s NWS Boston/Norton Lightning Safety Awareness Week and Public Information Statements on Lightning Safety from both 2023 and 2024. See links below:
https://www.weather.gov/safety/lightning
https://wx1box.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/lightning_safety_awareness_PNS_2023.pdf
https://wx1box.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/lightning_safety_awareness_PNS_2024.pdf

The next Severe Weather & Amateur Radio Field Day weekend coordination message will be posted by 10 AM Sunday Morning due to likely SKYWARN Operations this afternoon and evening. 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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