All posts by Jay Farlow

I'm Jay Farlow. W9LW is my amateur (ham) radio call sign. I've been a ham since 1973. I've been a volunteer storm spotter for the National Weather Service SKYWARN program since the 1970s. I've also been a volunteer EMT and firefighter and member of a disaster medical assistance team. I advise the leadership team of Associated Churches Active in Disaster, a ministry of Associate Churches of Fort Wayne and Allen County. Learn more about w9lw at www.qrz.com/db/w9lw.
SKYWARN

Slight risk continues for Indiana

Probability of damaging thunderstorm winds or wind gusts of 50 knots or higher within 25 miles of a point, 9 a.m. EDT May 21 through 8 a.m. EDT May 22

 Almost all of Indiana has a slight risk of severe weather between now and 8 a.m. EDT tomorrow, according to the latest Day 1 Convective Outlook from the National Weather Service (NWS) Storm Prediction Center. The slight risk area includes at least part of every county covered by the northern Indiana NWS weather forecast office. The outlook indicates, however, uncertainty as to whether storms will be able to develop today in air made more stable by last night’s thunderstorms in the middle Mississippi Valley. The biggest concern in Indiana is straight-line wind. In Indiana, the outlook forecasts a 15 percent chance of damaging thunderstorm winds or wind gusts of 50 knots or higher within 25 miles of a point. The hail probability is only five percent in most of Indiana and the tornado probability is only two percent.

The Hazardous Weather Outlook that the northern Indiana weather forecast office issued early this morning indicates a slight chance of thunderstorms today and then a chance for thunderstorms tonight. The outlook indicates that an isolated storm tonight might become severe. It indicates that meteorologists do not anticipate a need for storm spotter activation.

As with yesterday, I advise checking the convective outlook as SPC updates it throughout the day and remain aware of any watches or warnings that the NWS issues.

SKYWARN

Slight risk of severe wind/hail today

Map from SPC Day 1 Convective Oultook issued at 1217Z May 20, 2013

According to the National Weather Service (NWS) Storm Prediction Center (SPC), almost all of Indiana and certainly all of the counties covered by the northern Indiana National Weather Service office have a slight risk of severe weather today. The Day 1 Convective Outlook that SPC issued at 8:17 a.m. EDT indicates that “multiple lines/clusters of thunderstorms will affect this region, with a few supercells possible. Hail and damaging winds are the main threats, but isolated tornadoes cannot be ruled out.”

The Northern Indiana weather forecast office, however, seemed less impressed when it issued its Hazardous Weather Outlook at 4:45 a.m. EDT. It reads, “Spotter activation is not expected at this time.”

The next convective outlook from SPC is due at 12:30 p.m. EDT. Keep an eye out for possible watches and warnings today, especially of the severe thunderstorm variety. And remember what June 29 taught us: severe thunderstorms can be very destructive!

Traffic handling

Taking a break


“Break” is a special word in traffic handling. Unless it appears in the text of a radiogram (e.g. “Having fun on spring break”), we say “break” at two and only two times during radiogram transmission (well, there is an exception for booked messages but that’s beyond the scope of this article). The first time we say “break” is at the end of the address block and before the text. At this point, we say “break” and then listen for a response from the receiving operator. That operator will either ask for clarification on some part of the preamble or address block, or, if he copied everything fine so far, he says nothing. So after we say, “break,” we listen for a second or two and if all we hear is silence or static, we assume it’s OK to send the text. You will sometimes hear operators say “break for text,” but that’s redundant and improper procedure. All you need is “break,” and a pause. Next week, the meat of the message.

(This is the 13th in a series of short traffic-handling columns I submitted to the Kosciusko County ARES newsletter.)

Traffic handling

Give me a ring

Sending the telephone number from a radiogram’s address block is pretty straightforward, with a catch. How you introduce the phone number varies, depending on whether the radiogram has a ZIP code. If we just sent a ZIP code, we introduce the telephone number with the word, “figures” alone. If there is no ZIP code, we introduce the telephone number with two words: “telephone figures.” This tips off the receiving operator that there’s no ZIP code and that he should move to the telephone line. In either case, we say “figures” only once per telephone number, like this: “Figures five seven four, five five five, one two three four.” Note that we don’t transmit the dashes in the telephone number, we just pause where the dashes are. Up next: Take a break.

(This is the 12th in a series of short traffic-handling columns I submitted to the Kosciusko County ARES newsletter.)

SKYWARN

Severe threat disappears for today

The Storm Prediction Center issued a new Day One Convective Outlook at 4 p.m. EDT. It shrinks the area of Indiana for which there is a slight risk of severe weather. The slight risk area no longer includes any of IMO SKYWARN quadrant two. In fact, a small part of White County in quadrant three is the only part of the NWS northern Indiana office’s coverage area that still has a slight risk. The risk for the Fort Wayne area was always marginal at best today.

SKYWARN

Slight risk of severe storms today

Map of northeastern Indiana and northwestern Ohio, showing slight risk area from convective outlook
Yellow area indicates a slight risk of severe weather between 8 a.m. Thursday, May 9 and 8 a.m. Friday, May 10, based on a Day One Convective Outlook issued by the Storm Prediction Center at 8:21 a.m. Thursday, May 9. (All times EDT.)

There is a slight risk of severe in much of northern and central Indiana today, including many of the counties served by the northern Indiana National Weather Service (NWS) office and all the Indiana counties of IMO SKYWARN’s quadrant two (Whitley, Allen, Huntington, Wells, Adams, Blackford and Jay). The slight risk area also includes a small part of Van Wert County, Ohio.

According to the Day 1 Convective Outlook that the NWS Storm Prediction Center (SPC) issued at 8:21 a.m. EDT this morning, thunderstorms could begin by this afternoon. The outlook indicates a 15 percent chance of damaging thunderstorm winds within 25 miles of any point and the same chance of hail of one inch diameter or larger.

The outlook forecasts an atmosphere that will be barely unstable enough for severe storms to develop. If any severe storms form, the forecasters believe those storms will weaken by evening.

At 4:28 a.m. EDT today, the northern Indiana NWS office issued a Hazardous Weather Outlook that indicates severe storms are more likely this evening than this afternoon. It reads, “Spotter activation may be needed this evening.”

Keep an eye on the SPC website for any mesoscale discussions that it might issue, as they’ll provide advance notice of thunderstorm watches. Meanwhile, if severe thunderstorms develop, remind your friends and family that they can be more dangerous than tornadoes, as the June, 2012 derecho demonstrated!

SKYWARN

Social media for SKYWARN spotters

Facebook and Twitter logos

In previous articles, I’ve mentioned the National Weather Service’s interest in receiving storm reports via Internet social media channels, such as Twitter and Facebook. From the viewpoint of NWS meteorologists, these channels have significant advantages over ham radio. Chief among these: They don’t require the presence of a licensed ham radio operator at the weather forecast office (WFO). That’s important, because it’s becoming more and more difficult to find volunteer hams to staff the WFO’s station (WX9IWX) during severe weather. Another advantage in meteorologists’ eyes is sheer numbers. Many more people already report weather phenomena to their friends and followers via Twitter and Facebook than there are ham radio-equipped spotters.

An NWS service assessment of the historic June 29, 2012 derecho published in January discussed use of social media. Meteorologists at the Cleveland WFO told the assessment team that it received several reports via Twitter from people in and around its warning area during the event, often before receiving reports from its regular spotters. One of the official recommendations in the service assessment reads:

“NWS should expand the use of social media for reaching the public and receiving observations and damage reports during high-impact events. NWS should consider a virtual volunteer program to support social media operations similar to the SKYWARN program.”

The Northern Indiana WFO has already started monitoring Facebook and Twitter for such reports. What does this mean to spotters who are licensed ham radio operators? If a SKYWARN net is on the air, I recommend sharing your information on the net, even if you also submit it via social media and even if WX9IWX is not on the air. That way, other spotters listening to the net will immediately know what you saw. And even when WX9IWX is on the air, if you’ve taken a photo to go with your report, use Twitter or Facebook to send the report and photo to the WFO and then send your report on the net. Any time you give the net a report you’ve already sent via another means, say so on the air.

How to set up and use Twitter and Facebook accounts is beyond the scope of this article but such information is readily available on the Web. It’s worth noting, however, that in addition to sending tweets via Twitter’s website and via a myriad of smartphone apps, you can also configure Twitter to allow you to send a tweet from any cellular telephone that has text messaging (SMS) capability. In other words, sending a spotter report via Twitter while you’re away from home does not require a smartphone or any other kind of mobile Internet access.

Reporting via Twitter

To send a spotter report via Twitter, generate a tweet that includes your report and the “hash tag” #NWSIWX. The WFO and others constantly monitor Twitter for tweets that contain that hash tag. If there’s room in the 140-character tweet, indicate that you’re a trained spotter. Whenever possible, take a photo and include a link in your tweet (see the Web for instructions on how to do this). Note: If you monitor Twitter, you will see some people sending reports with @NWSIWX instead of #NWSIWX. You’ll also see the WFO reply to such tweets. Nonetheless, Warning Coordination Meteorologist Michael Lewis said the WFO prefers that spotters use the #NWSIWX hash tag in their reports. Also, if you need to send reports from a county that’s not in the coverage area of the Northern Indiana WFO, contact the appropriate WFO to learn what hash tag it uses and/or use that WFO’s Facebook page.

Reporting via Facebook

To send a report via Facebook, log into your Facebook account and go to the National Weather Service Northern Indiana Facebook page. Click on “Write Post” and enter your report. Indicate they you’re a trained spotter and as with tweets, include a photo if possible.

Whether you use Twitter or Facebook, meteorologists at the WFO will notice your report almost immediately. So will broadcasters, emergency managers, other spotters and members of the general public.

In fact, hams who are SKYWARN spotters can monitor these channels to improve their own situational awareness. More on that in a future article.

Traffic handling

Going to town


We transmit city names without introduction. Unless the city is well known, we then say, “I spell,” followed by the city phonetically. We say the state name in full, even if it is abbreviated in the radiogram (as it usually is). We introduce ZIP codes with the word, “figures” (not, “ZIP figures”) and then transmit them one digit at a time. There’s a special rule for nine-digit ZIP codes and I admit it’s a bit weird. A ZIP code of 21200-1234 would sound like this: “Figures two one two zero zero, dash, I spell delta alpha Sierra hotel one two three four.” Why do we spell out the dash? Beats me, but that’s what it says in the official NTS guidelines. Fortunately, radiograms rarely have nine-digit ZIP codes! A typical city line would sound like, “Burket, I spell, bravo uniform Romeo kilo echo tango, Indiana, figures four six five zero eight.” Next week: telephone numbers.

(This is the 11th in a series of short traffic-handling columns I submitted to the Kosciusko County ARES newsletter.)

Traffic handling

Hitting the street

Before we transmit the numerical part of a street address, we say, “figures.” Then we transmit the house number one digit at a time. Next, we say the street name. Unless the street name is a very common word, we then say, “I spell” and then spell the street name phonetically. In the street address, we do not expand abbreviations or compress words to abbreviations. If the radiogram reads, “Ave,” we say “Initials alpha Victor echo.” If the Radiogram reads “Avenue,” we say, “Avenue,” not “Ave.” So, an address like this: 1234 Woodlan Rd, would sound like “Figures one two three four, Woodlan, I spell, whiskey Oscar Oscar delta Lima alpha November, initials Romeo delta.” PO Box 1234 would sound like “initials papa Oscar, box, figures one two three four.” 313 4th St would sound like “figures three one three, mixed group four tango hotel, initials Sierra tango.” Next week, going to town.

(This is the 10th in a series of short traffic-handling columns I submitted to the Kosciusko County ARES newsletter.)

Traffic handling

Addressing the addressee

The pause we take after sending a radiogram preamble is the only introduction the address needs. We don’t say, “Going to,” we just say the first name of the addressee. If the first name is unusual or could be spelled in more than one way (e.g. Jon and John or Chris and Kris), we follow the name with the words, “I spell,” and then spell it phonetically. If there’s a middle initial, we say, “initial,” and then the initial phonetically. Then we say the last name. It is best practice to always spell the last name, even common last names, so we again say, “I spell” and the spell the name phonetically. If there is a call sign after the name, we say, “amateur call” and then the call sign phonetically. Here’s how “Chris B. Johnson W9XAB” should sound: “Chris, I spell, Charlie hotel, Romeo, India, Sierra, initial bravo, Johnson, I spell, Juliet, Oscar, hotel, November, Sierra, Oscar, November, amateur call whiskey nine x-ray alpha bravo.” Next week: Addresses.

(This is the ninth in a series of short traffic-handling columns I submitted to the Kosciusko County ARES newsletter.)