…SLICK SPOTS POSSIBLE THROUGH SUNRISE SATURDAY… MOTORISTS MAY ENCOUNTER SLICK SPOTS ON UNTREATED ROADS AND ELEVATED SURFACES THE REMAINDER OF TONIGHT DESPITE TEMPERATURES NEAR OR JUST ABOVE FREEZING. IF THE ROAD APPEARS WET…SLOW DOWN AND USE CAUTION…ESPECIALLY ON BRIDGES AND OVERPASSES.
View the full statement on the NWS website.
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Freezing Fog Advisory issued December 12 at 9:43PM EST until December 13 at 7:00AM EST by NWS
…FREEZING FOG ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 AM EST SATURDAY… THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTHERN INDIANA HAS ISSUED A FREEZING FOG ADVISORY…WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 AM EST SATURDAY. HAZARDOUS WEATHER… * AREAS OF FREEZING FOG WITH SOME PATCHY FREEZING DRIZZLE WILL
View the full statement on the NWS website.
Special Weather Statement issued December 12 at 8:04PM EST by NWS
…AREAS OF FREEZING FOG… FOG WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT THE AREA THROUGH THE NIGHT. WITH TEMPERATURES AT OR JUST BELOW THE FREEZING MARK…FREEZING FOG MAY RESULT IN SCATTERED SLICK SPOTS ON WALKWAYS AND ROADWAYS THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. VISIBILITIES THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE EVENING HOURS WILL RANGE FROM ONE HALF MILE TO TWO
View the full statement on the NWS website.
Special Weather Statement issued December 12 at 4:57PM EST by NWS
…AREAS OF FOG THIS EVENING… FOG WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT MUCH OF SOUTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN AND NORTHERN INDIANA THROUGH TONIGHT. VISIBILITIES MAY DROP TO ONE QUARTER OF A MILE AT TIMES THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING HOURS…PARTICULARLY ACROSS FAR NORTHERN INDIANA AND SOUTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN. IN ADDITION…WITH TEMPERATURES JUST BELOW THE
View the full statement on the NWS website.
SPC maps confirm quiet severe weather year
If you thought 2014 was a quiet year for severe weather in northern Indiana, southern Lower Michigan and northwestern Ohio, you were right.
The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center (SPC) published today the two maps below, which show the total number of watches (severe thunderstorm and tornado combined) issued by the SPC through November 2014. The bottom map shows the departure from normal. As you can see, for most of the country, this year had a below-average number of watches issued, with a few spots above normal. The graphic is also available on the SPC website at http://www.spc.noaa.gov/
Radio station fined for storm chase tour commercial
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has fined the owners of Niles, Michigan radio station WTRC-FM $46,000 for a violation connected to a commercial for a storm chasing tour service.
The radio station admitted that in April, 2013, it broadcast the commercial, which included the sounds of Emergency Alert System (EAS) tones. according to an FCC consent decree. After an investigation, the FCC concluded that the commercial violated a federal law that prohibits the transmission of false signals of distress and an FCC rule that prohibits the transmission of EAS codes or attention signals except during actual emergencies or tests.
In the consent decree, the FCC writes that it received a complaint about the commercial from an employee of the National Weather Service (NWS), after the NWS received a number of calls about the commercial from members of the general public. Callers to the NWS reportedly expressed concern that the ad minimized or defeated the importance of true EAS activations.
In exchange for the fine and the radio station’s agreement to implement a compliance plan, the FCC agreed to terminate its investigation into the incident. The FCC approved the agreement Dec. 10. You can read the entire consent decree online.
“Amateur call” or “Mixed group”?
A fellow ham radio operator who is, like me, active in the National Traffic System (NTS) of the American Radio Relay League, sent me an email message yesterday with a question about the proper way to send an amateur radio call sign when transmitting an NTS radiogram on voice.
According to the NTS Methods and Practices Guidelines (MPG) 2.1.5.7, the proper way to send a call sign in a message is to first say the words, “amateur call,” and then send the call sign phonetically, for example, “amateur call, whiskey nine Lima whiskey.”
My correspondent wrote that he witnessed confusion on the part of a receiving operator when the sending station followed this procedure. Apparently, the receiving station incorrectly recorded the words “amateur call” as part of the message text, which caused the message word count to be incorrect.
My correspondent wondered if operators should introduce call signs with the words, “mixed group,” instead of “amateur call” as a way of preventing such receiving errors.
The MPG, however, indicates that “mixed group” should only be used to introduce a call sign that contains a slash. For example, W9LW/NCS would be sent as, “mixed group, whiskey nine Lima whiskey slash November Charlie Sierra.”
Further, the words “mixed group” could just as easily create the same error (i.e. a receiving operator adding “mixed group” to the text) if the receiving operator is not sufficiently familiar with NTS methods and practices.
I believe that casual message handlers often think that those of us who advocate strict adherence to procedures as described in the MPG are unnecessarily nit-picky. The situation described above, however, is a case in point for the position that in message handling, it is essential for all participants throughout the system to know and consistently use standardized procedures. In other words, had the receiving operator known that the MPG calls for introducing a call sign with the words, “amateur call,” he probably would not have written those words down when copying the message.
If everybody learns one way to do it and everybody always does it the same way, such errors can be reduced, if not eliminated. Error prevention, after all, is the whole point of having standardized procedures. Fortunately, we all have equal opportunity to learn the standardized way of sending NTS messages on voice; by simply reading the MPG.
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NWS Enhanced Data Display provides multitude of options
The National Weather Service (NWS) has a tool called the “Enhanced Data Display” (EDD) that you might not have seen, because officially, it’s in an experimental stage. But the tool is available for public use and offers a vast array of options to displaying NWS data over a Google Map.
One valuable use of EDD is to learn about weather issues that might exist along the route of a road trip you’re planning. This is especially valuable during winter weather, as it can help you decide when (or whether) to depart on your trip.
But travel weather is just one of many features of EDD. And because EDD has so many features, I found it just a little difficult to learn by playing with its user interface.
So, if you have an hour and a quarter to kill, the NWS has produced a very verbose video demonstration of EDD’s many functions and features. To be honest, I have not yet viewed the entire demo yet but I did preview it. Very interesting, if time consuming!
Special Weather Statement issued December 05 at 2:41AM EST by NWS
…VERY LIGHT FREEZING DRIZZLE TONIGHT… VERY LIGHT PATCHY DRIZZLE OR FREEZING DRIZZLE WILL AFFECT NORTHERN INDIANA…SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN…AND NORTHWEST OHIO EARLY THIS MORNING WITH TEMPERATURES NEAR FREEZING. A FEW SLICK SPOTS ON UNTREATED ROADS ARE POSSIBLE…ESPECIALLY ON BRIDGES AND OVERPASSES. IF YOU ARE TRAVELLING EARLY THIS MORNING…PLEASE USE CAUTION AND
View the full statement on the NWS website.
Special Weather Statement issued December 02 at 11:47PM EST by NWS
…VERY LIGHT FREEZING DRIZZLE TONIGHT… VERY LIGHT FREEZING DRIZZLE AND FLURRIES WILL AFFECT NORTHERN INDIANA…SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN…AND NORTHWEST OHIO OVERNIGHT. A FEW SLICK SPOTS ON UNTREATED ROADS WILL BE POSSIBLE…ESPECIALLY ON BRIDGES AND OVERPASSES. MOTORISTS ARE URGED TO EXERCISE CAUTION IF TRAVELING OVERNIGHT. FREEZING DRIZZLE IS EXPECTED TO END BY 5
View the full statement on the NWS website.