Uncategorized – Page 149

Storm Coordination Message #1 – Friday Evening 5/16/14-Saturday Morning 5/17/14 Heavy Rainfall Event

May 16, 2014 Rob Macedo Leave a comment

Hello to all..

..Heavy Rainfall is likely and urban and poor drainage flooding and isolated small stream flooding are possible particularly in Western New England overnight through Saturday Morning. Widespread Rainfall of 1.5-2.5″ with isolated 3″ amounts are possible from Worcester County and the Rhode Island/Connecticut line west. Rainfall amounts of up to 1.5″ are possible east of this line. Heaviest rainfall is expected after 10 PM Friday Evening through 400 AM Saturday Morning in western areas and after 4 AM through around Noon Saturday in eastern areas..
..SKYWARN Self-Activation will monitor for rainfall and flood reports from this storm event. This will be the only coordination message on this event unless a significant upgrade to the situation occurs. Below is the NWS Taunton Hazardous Weather Outlook and a NWS Taunton Facebook graphic on the heavy rainfall..

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

NWS Taunton Facebook Heavy Rainfall Graphic:
http://beta.wx1box.org/local/fri_nite_sat_morning_heavy_rainfall_5_16_5_17.png

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
Like us on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/wx1box
Follow us on Twitter – http://twitter.com/wx1box

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Special Announcement: Storm Prediction Center (SPC) Proposed Changes to their Day-1 Through Day-3 Convective Outlooks

May 14, 2014 Rob Macedo Leave a comment

Hello to all..

The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) is doing a survey regarding changes to their convective outlook products. Essentially, it would change the ‘see text’ 5% severe weather category to a ‘marginal’ 5% severe weather category and it would add an ‘enhanced’ category that would essentially highlight a ‘high-end slight risk’ severe weather category. Further details on this information can be seen via the following link:

Storm Prediction Center (SPC) Experimental Day-1 through Day-3 Outlook:
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/exper/dy1-3example/

The deadline for survey input is Tuesday June 17th, 2014. All survey input is welcome.

Respectfully Submitted,

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Special Announcement: WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center, Annual Station Test Event – Saturday May 31st, 2014

May 5, 2014 Rob Macedo Leave a comment

Hello to all..

The WX4NHC Annual Station Test event will be Saturday May 31st, 2014. WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center, will be on the air using various modes from 9 AM-6 PM EDT (1300-2200 UTC). WX4NHC will be on the *WX_TALK* Echolink conference node: 7203/IRLP 9219 system from 4-6 PM EDT (2000-2200 UTC) for contacts and testing of their Echolink station. The complete announcement on the Annual Station Test Event is listed below:

Announcement from WX4NHC
Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center, Miami Florida

WX4NHC will be On-The-Air for the Annual Station Test on
Saturday, May 31st, 2014 from 9AM- 6 PM EDT (1300z- 2200z)

This will be our 34th year of public service at NHC.

The purpose of this event is to test Amateur Radio Station equipment, antennas and computers prior to this year’s Hurricane Season, which starts June 1st and runs through November 30th.

This event is will be good practice for Ham Radio Operators world-wide as well as NWS Staff to become familiar with Amateur Radio communications available during times of severe weather.

WX4NHC will also be performing operator training.

We will be making brief contacts on many frequencies and modes, exchanging signal reports and basic weather data exchange (“Sunny”, or “Rain”, etc.) with any station in any location.

WX4NHC will be On-The-Air on HF, VHF, UHF , 2 & 30 meter APRS and WinLink wx4nhc@winlink.org subject must contain “//WL2K”.

We will try to stay on the recognized Hurricane Watch Net frequency 14.325 MHz most of the time and announce when we QSY.

Due to space and equipment limitations, we will have 2 to 3 operators per shift, we can not be everywhere and every mode at the same time.
You may be able to find us on HF by using one of the DX Spotting Networks,

Such as the DX Summit Web Site:
http://www.dxsummit.fi/Search.aspx

We will also be on VoIP Hurricane Net 4pm-6pm EST (2000-2200z)
(IRLP node 9219 / EchoLink WX-TALK Conference node 7203).
http://www.voipwx.net/

Local South Florida area VHF & UHF Repeaters will be contacted.

QSL Cards are available via WD4R.
Please send your card with a S.A.S.E.

Please do NOT send QSLs directly to the Hurricane Center address, as it will get delayed.

Due to security measures;
Please, NO VISITORS will be allowed entry to NHC without prior clearance from NHC PIO and Security.

Only WX4NHC Operators on the pre-approved operating schedule will be allowed entry.

For more information about WX4NHC, please visit our website
www.wx4nhc.org

Thank you for your participation in the WX4NHC Annual Station Test event.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Julio Ripoll Architect WD4R
WX4NHC Amateur Radio Asst. Coordinator
www.wx4nhc.org
Celebrating 33 years at the
National Hurricane Center
www.nhc.noaa.gov
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Respectfully Submitted,

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Storm Coordination Message #1 – Convective Showers and Isolated Thunderstorm Small Hail and Strong Wind Threat Sunday Afternoon/Evening

May 4, 2014 Rob Macedo Leave a comment

Hello to all..

..Convective showers and perhaps even an isolated thunderstorm or two will pose the potential for small hail and strong wind gusts to 45 MPH this Sunday Afternoon and Evening. SKYWARN Self-Activation will monitor this threat during the afternoon and evening. This will be the only coordination message unless a significant upgrade to the situation occurs. The NWS Taunton Special Weather Statement for today’s weather is listed below..

NWS Taunton Special Weather Statement:
http://kamala.cod.edu/offs/KBOX/1405041519.wwus81.html

Respectfully Submitted,

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Special Announcement: Severe Weather Preparedness Week – Monday April 28th, 2014-Friday May 2nd, 2014

May 4, 2014 Rob Macedo Leave a comment

Hello to all..

The week of Monday April 28th was declared Severe Weather Preparedness Week by NWS Taunton. Public Information Statements on Severe Weather safety were issued over the course of the week. The list of those statements and a web site link to the statements have been provided below:

NWS Taunton Severe Weather Preparedness Week Page:
http://www.weather.gov/box/SevereWeatherPreparednessWeek

NWS Taunton Public Information Statements – Severe Weather Preparedness Week:
http://beta.wx1box.org/local/pns_svr_wx_awareness_week.txt

Respectfully Submitted,

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Storm Coordination Message #2 – Wednesday Evening 4/30/14-Thursday Morning 5/1/14

April 30, 2014 Rob Macedo Leave a comment

Hello to all..

..Strong Storm System that Has Brought Severe Weather to the South-Central and Southeast Portions of the United States on track to bring heavy rainfall and the potential for flooding to portions of Southern New England. An isolated strong thunderstorm is possible Thursday Afternoon into early evening if sufficient heating develops after heavy rainfall moves through the area Thursday Morning particularly in interior Western and Central New England..
..A Flood Watch is remains in effect from Wednesday Evening through Thursday Afternoon for Hampden County Massachusetts, Northern Connecticut and Providence, Kent and Washington Counties of Rhode Island..
..SKYWARN Activation in some form is likely some time on Thursday. Ops at NWS Taunton is possible..

The strong storm system that has brought severe weather to South-Central and Southeast United States is on track move up into the Northeast as we get into Wednesday Evening through Thursday and will bring the threat of heavy rainfall to the region. A Flood Watch remains in effect from Wednesday Evening through Thursday Afternoon for Hampden County Massachusetts, Northern Connecticut and Providence, Kent and Washington Counties of Rhode Island. This could extended eastward in future outlooks. Total rainfall of 1-2″ is likely with isolated rainfall amounts of 3″ possible. It remains possible that heavier rainfall which is expected to stay further and southwest could advance further into the Flood Watch area and some surrounding locations and will be monitored in future model runs.

If sufficient heating develops after heavy rainfall moves through the area Thursday Morning, an isolated strong thunderstorm is possible in interior Western and Central New England Thursday Afternoon into early evening. This threat will be monitored in future forecasts as well.

SKYWARN Activation in some form is likely some time on Thursday. Ops at NWS Taunton is possible. The next coordination message will be posted by 11 PM Wednesday Evening. Below is the NWS Taunton Flood Watch Statement and NWS Taunton Hazardous Weather Outlook:

NWS Taunton Flood Watch Statement:
http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.wgus61.KBOX.html

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

Respectfully Submitted,

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Storm Coordination Message #1 – Wednesday Evening 4/30/14-Thursday Morning 5/1/14

April 30, 2014 Rob Macedo Leave a comment

Hello to all..

..Strong Storm System that Has Brought Severe Weather to the South-Central and Southeast Portions of the United States will bring heavy rainfall and the potential for flooding to portions of Southern New England..
..A Flood Watch is now in effect from Wednesday Evening through Thursday Afternoon for Hampden County Massachusetts, Northern Connecticut and Providence, Kent and Washington Counties of Rhode Island. The Flood Watch may be extended in future forecasts..
..SKYWARN Activation in some form is likely some time on Thursday. Ops at NWS Taunton is possible..

The strong storm system that has brought severe weather to South-Central and Southeast United States will move up into the Northeast as we get into Wednesday Evening through Thursday and will bring the threat of heavy rainfall to the region. A Flood Watch is now in effect from Wednesday Evening through Thursday Afternoon for Hampden County Massachusetts, Northern Connecticut and Providence, Kent and Washington Counties of Rhode Island. This could extended eastward in future outlooks. Total rainfall of 1-2″ is likely with isolated rainfall amounts of 3″ possible. It is possible that heavier rainfall which is expected to stay further and southwest could advance further into the Flood Watch area and some surrounding locations and will be monitored in future model runs.

SKYWARN Activation in some form is likely some time on Thursday. Ops at NWS Taunton is possible. The next coordination message will be posted by 9 AM Wednesday Morning. Below is the NWS Taunton Flood Watch Statement and NWS Taunton Hazardous Weather Outlook:

NWS Taunton Flood Watch Statement:
http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.wgus61.KBOX.html

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

Respectfully Submitted,

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Boston Marathon Eastern Massachusetts ARES Standby and Weather Coordination Message #1

April 20, 2014 Rob Macedo Leave a comment

Hello to all..

While this may be a bit off topic for some SKYWARN Spotters, Amateur Radio Operators and Red Cross volunteers, many of which are SKYWARN Spotters, will be involved in the Boston Marathon on Monday April 21st. To reach out to the highest level of Amateur Radio Operators involved in the event, this coordination message is being sent out to the SKYWARN email list and posted to the various Amateur Radio lists. We appreciate everyone’s patience with this message. This is likely to be the only coordination message on the Marathon unless a significant change in the weather forecast occurs. See information below:

Eastern Massachusetts ARES members not participating in the Boston Marathon are requested to be on standby for marathon activities on Monday April 21st from 12 AM-8 PM for any significant issues outside of the Boston Marathon that may require Amateur Radio Emergency Communications support and for any unexpected issues on the Boston Marathon route. With over 300 Amateur Radio Operators staffing the Boston Marathon route, the start line and the finish line, if an issue arises needing Amateur Radio support outside of the Marathon route or an unexpected issue arises in marathon operations, it is important that any ARES members not involved in the marathon can help with any response that is required. There will be two backup communication centers including the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net Control Center at the town of Bridgewater EOC.

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) Multi-Agency Coordination Center (MACC) at the SEOC (State Emergency Operations Center) will be active for the Boston Marathon. Amateur Radio Operators will be at the SEOC to support Amateur Radio communications while many agencies will be there performing primary operations for the marathon.

With all of the significant security provisions and additional resources being provided for 2014, this should greatly reduce the chance of an issue along the Boston Marathon route. Nonetheless, being one year after the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings and the fact that even more resources are being deployed to the Boston Marathon route, placing Eastern Massachusetts ARES on standby for any possible significant issue along the Boston Marathon route or any issue within the Eastern Massachusetts section outside of the Marathon route is prudent given the situation.

The weather outlook for the Boston Marathon is one that should be favorable for volunteers and slightly warm for the runners. The Weather Forecast across the Boston Marathon is for mostly sunny conditions throughout the day. There will be a 5-10 MPH breeze with isolated higher gusts. Temperatures will range in the mid 30s across the inland portion of the Boston Marathon route to mid-40’s in the Boston area early in the morning warming to the 55-60 degree range by mid to late morning to the mid to upper 60s by afternoon. This means that conditions for the runners should be reasonable with an ‘average’ amount of ambulance requests along the route versus some prior years where warmer weather conditions resulted in some of the highest amounts of ambulance requests since Amateur Radio Operators have handled the event. It is noted that conditions this year are slightly warmer than last year but still fairly comfortable for the runners.

For Amateur Radio, Red Cross and all other volunteers along the route, it is recommended that you dress in layers for this event so that you can put on or take off clothes as needed for comfort. Be sure to drink liquids and eat properly during the event and that you are self-sufficient so that you can be of full help to the function and not distract everyone from the main purpose of supporting the runners by having a health issue on your end that can be avoided. No rain is expected at this time so there should be no need for rain gear.

For those people that are planning to go to the Boston Marathon as spectators, given the tragedy that occurred at the 2013 Boston Marathon, the following link details guidelines for spectators as distributed by MEMA:
http://www.mass.gov/eopss/docs/mema/baa-spectator-and-participant-information.pdf

Barring a significant change in the weather forecast, this will be the only coordination message on the Boston Marathon. We appreciate everyone’s support in this event and hope those that volunteer enjoy themselves and feel the self-satisfaction of supporting this historic event and those that are monitoring the Marathon or events outside of the Marathon realize that the monitoring is an important function as well and is a testament to being able to scale other incidents beyond the marathon if required. Thanks to all for their support!

Respectfully Submitted,

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Storm Coordination Message #1 – Tuesday 4/15/14-Early Wednesday Morning 4/16/14 Storm Event

April 15, 2014 Rob Macedo Leave a comment

Hello to all..

..Strong Storm System to bring a variety of weather hazards to Southern New England Tuesday Afternoon through Tuesday Night..
..A Flood Watch is now in effect from 8 AM Tuesday through Wednesday Morning for the entire NWS Taunton Coverage Area except for Cape Cod and the Islands. Rainfall of 1-2″ with potentially higher amounts may cause urban and poor drainage flooding and some small river and stream flooding..
..A Wind Advisory is now in effect from Noon to Midnight Tuesday for Rhode Island, Northern Worcester County and Eastern Massachusetts for sustained winds of 20-30 MPH with gusts to 45-50 MPH likely. Isolated higher wind gusts may be possible in any heavier convective showers or thunderstorms that can develop. This may bring isolated pockets of tree and wire damage and isolated power outages to the area..
..SKYWARN Activation with Ops at NWS Taunton are possible later Tuesday Afternoon and Evening..

A strong cold front will be moving through the region today bringing with it the potential for heavy rainfall and strong winds. The headlines of this coordination message cover the potential storm threats of urban and poor drainage flooding with some potential for small river and stream flooding and strong winds causing isolated tree and wire damage and power outages in the area. SKYWARN Activation with Ops at NWS Taunton are possible later Tuesday Afternoon and Evening. This may be the only complete coordination message for this storm event. A shortened coordination message will be issued if time allows and Ops at NWS Taunton are initiated. Below is the NWS Taunton Flood Watch Statement, Wind Advisory Statement and Hazardous Weather Outlook:

NWS Taunton Flood Watch Statement:
http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.wgus61.KBOX.html

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

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

Respectfully Submitted,

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Special Announcement: National Hurricane Conference Amateur Radio Workshop Sessions To Be Livestreamed – Tuesday April 15th, 2014

April 14, 2014 Rob Macedo Leave a comment

Hello to all..

The National Hurricane Conference Amateur Radio Workshop sessions will be livestreamed on Tuesday April 15th, 2014. Links to the livestream are as follows:

http://www.voipwx.net/files/stream.htm
http://www.nsradio.org/stream.htm

The session schedule is listed on the links above and is also listed below as well:

Tuesday, April 15 — 10:30-12:00 EDT*
10:30 Opening Remarks (5 Minutes – Presented by John McHugh – K4AG)
10:35 Importance of Amateur Radio / Spotter Surface Reports (25 Minutes – Presented by NHC Director Dr. Rick Knabb)
11:00 Canadian Hurricane Centre Amateur Radio Operations (20 Minutes – Presented by Bob Robichaud-VE1MBR, Canadian Hurricane Centre)
11:20 WX4NHC Group Presentation(20 Minutes – Presented by Julio Ripoll – WD4R)
11:40 Weather Initiatives by WX4NHC(20 Minutes – Presented by John McHugh – K4AG)

—> NOTE: Speakers will be at lunch from 12:00-13:30 EDT

Tuesday, April 15 — 13:30-15:00 EDT*
13:30 ARRL Hurricane Preparedness (20 Minutes – Presented by Mike Corey – KI1U)
13:50 Hurricane Sandy: A Mid-Atlantic Perspective (20 Minutes – Presented by Rob Macedo – KD1CY)
14:10 Hurricane Sandy: A New England Perspective (30 Minutes – Presented by Rob Macedo – KD1CY)
14:40 Amateur Radio at the Boston Marathon (20 Minutes – Presented by Rob Macedo – KD1CY)

—> NOTE: Speakers will be on a break from 15:00-15:30 EDT

Tuesday, April 15 — 15:30-17:00 EDT*
15:30 Brief Overview of the Hurricane Watch Net(15 Minutes – Presented by Bobby Graves – KB5HAV)
15:45 Brief Overview of the VoIP Hurricane Net (15 Minutes – Presented by Rob Macedo – KD1CY)
16:00 ARRL Update (20 Minutes – Presented by Mike Corey – KI1U)
16:20 RAP Session — Amateur Radio: The Emergency Manager’s Hidden Resource (40 Minutes – Presented by KI1U, KD1CY, K4AG, WD4R, VE1MBR)

Given the one-year anniversary of the Boston Marathon Bombings, the Boston Marathon Amateur Radio response was added to the presentation schedule as it is of historical significance nationally. It also ties into the situational awareness aspect that Amateur Radio can provide not only during weather events but also in non-weather related incidents.

We hope folks can join the livestream Tuesday 4/15/14. If people cannot make the livestream, the presentations will be archived and information will be sent out once that occurs.

Respectfully Submitted,

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