Category Archives: Weather

Ham radio, SKYWARN, Weather

NWS northern Indiana changes SKYWARN® spotter training schedule

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Allen County ham radio group to invite general public to its own spotter class

National Weather Service meteorologist Sam Lashley trains SKYWARN storm spotters in Fort Wayne, Feb. 2017
National Weather Service meteorologist Sam Lashley trains SKYWARN storm spotters in Fort Wayne, Feb. 2017

National Weather Service (NWS)-led SKYWARN® storm spotter training will no longer occur every spring in Allen County, Indiana. A new training rotation developed by the northern Indiana NWS office (IWX) means that the next two sessions in Allen County will occur in the fall of 2019 and the spring of 2021. The Allen County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), however, plans to devote its February 21, 2019 meeting to spotter education, and to invite all interested persons.

Beginning in 2019, IWX will offer 21 spotter training sessions per year, versus the 22 to 26 sessions it previously conducted annually in February, March and April. The new schedule divides the sessions into two seasons; 12 in the spring season and nine in the late summer or early autumn. Autumn sessions will allow IWX to focus on late-season severe weather and winter weather observations.

“While this is a change, it is not a degradation of service,” IWX warning coordination meteorologist Michael Lewis wrote via email.

Lewis encouraged county emergency managers to promote spotter training sessions held in neighboring counties, because the NWS program contains no information that’s specific to any county. For example, Allen County residents who wish to attend an IWX session in the spring of 2019 may travel to Adams, Huntington or Noble County.

Increase in other services led to change

IWX created the new training schedule to provide more balance to the office’s operational workload, according to Lewis. He explained that an increase in the amount of Impact-Based Decision Support Services (IDSS) that the office provides to core partners made necessary the workload rebalance. For example, over the past four years, IWX staff members have attended:

  • District and sector emergency management meetings (including five Indiana Department of Homeland Security districts, one Ohio sector and one Michigan district)
  • Local emergency planning committee (LEPC) meetings (every active county LEPC meeting within the IWX coverage area at least once)
  • More than 40 exercises (including full scale, functional, tabletop and discussion based)
  • State and International EMA meetings
  • Countless other public outreach events throughout the 37 counties within the IWX service area.

County-specific training encouraged

In addition to promoting spotter training in neighboring counties, Lewis encouraged county emergency managers to conduct county-specific storm spotter training during “off years.” During such events, emergency managers could provide basic information about county-specific warning operations, such as outdoor warning siren policies, notification services, activation procedures, sheltering instructions, reporting methods, etc. To support such county-specific training, IWX will make available recorded spotter training segments (four- to six-minute videos) from the most current version of its spotter program.

In a November email to Allen County ARES, a representative of the Allen County Office of Homeland Security (ACOHS, Allen County’s emergency management agency) indicated that the office had no plans to conduct the suggested county-specific storm spotter training.

ARES to host training

Allen County ARES wants to give its members, other hams and members of the general public an opportunity to receive spotter education before the next spring severe weather season. For that reason, ARES plans to devote its Feb. 21 meeting to spotter education and to welcome all interested persons, including hams who are not ARES members and non-hams.

The meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the main branch of the Allen County Public Library. The agenda is still being developed, but ARES leaders plan to present some of the information themselves based on NWS materials. ARES has also invited others from the community to provide presentations, including ACOHS, the City/County Consolidated Communication Partnership (our local 911 public safety dispatching center), and broadcast meteorologists from all four Fort Wayne TV newsrooms.

At the time of this writing, two TV stations have agreed to send meteorologists and the 911 dispatch center has agreed send a representative to discuss how severe weather affects its operations.

Mark Feb. 21 on your calendar and watch this blog for more information.

Public safety, Weather

Do you really understand the danger of lightning?

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lightning
PC: Mr. Shane Lear, Orange Australia. Creative Commons

We had a doozy of a lightning show in Fort Wayne tonight. Fortunately, it appears (at the time of this writing) that our immediate area sustained no significant storm damage. But tonight’s storm — and the way I saw people react to it — prompts me to share some life-or-death information about lightning.

All thunderstorms — including those that aren’t technically severe — produce lightning and are therefore dangerous.

Lightning kills

As of  this date, lightning has killed at least 15 people in the United States so far this year, according to National Weather Service (NWS) statistics.  They ranged in age from seven to 75. Three of the victims were women, The rest were men and a boy. Many were doing some kind of gardening, like mowing, tree trimming, etc. All had one thing in common; they were outdoors when lightning struck.

Needless deaths

Making these statistics even sadder is the fact that most lightning deaths are preventable. Rarely does a lightning bolt strike a person without lightning (and its accompanying thunder) first occurring some distance away. That’s why the NWS came up with the slogans, “when thunder roars, go indoors” and “see a flash, dash inside.” Many people who were killed by lightning simply didn’t seek appropriate shelter soon enough.

Important lightning facts

All thunderstorms — including those that aren’t technically severe — produce lightning and are therefore dangerous. So many thunderstorms happen every year that the NWS issues warnings only for those that it expects to produce damaging winds or gusts of at least 58 mph and/or hail of one inch or more in diameter. No matter how much lightning a storm produces, if it doesn’t have strong enough winds or big enough hail, it doesn’t get a severe thunderstorm warning. Nonetheless, it’s potentially deadly, because of its lightning.

Lightning can strike even if it’s not raining. In fact, it can strike as far as 10 miles from any rainfall.

If you can hear thunder, therefore, you are in danger, unless you are already in an appropriate shelter (see below).

Avoiding lightning strikes

Staying alive in a thunderstorm is relatively simple, according to an NWS brochure. If you hear thunder, even a distant rumble, seek safety immediately. Fully enclosed buildings with wiring and plumbing are best.

A hard-topped metal vehicle with the windows closed is also safe.

Sheds, picnic shelters, tents or covered porches do not protect you from lightning.

Stay inside until 30 minutes after the last rumble of thunder.

If you are at a sporting event and venue officials recommend taking shelter, do it. Many venues have access to lightning data and suspend competition and advise sheltering when the first strike is detected within a certain number of miles of the venue. Such policies, when heeded, help give spectators and participants adequate time to reach appropriate shelter.

Spread the word

Help stop needless lightning deaths by making sure your family and friends understand the danger and what to do. Share this helpful NWS website and/or one or more of the resources to which it links.

 

Public safety, SKYWARN, Weather

Why was a commercial tour boat on a Mo. lake during a severe thunderstorm warning?

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Update: A grand jury has indicted the boat captain, reports the AP: https://apnews.com/97a50539272942bd9306a5937dc81cfb

I’m saddened and angered by an apparently weather-related tragedy in Branson, Missouri yesterday. News reports indicate that at least 11 people died when an amphibious, commercial tour boat capsized on Table Rock Lake during a warned severe thunderstorm.

Reports indicate that the incident occurred at around 7 p.m. CDT, well after the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Springfield, Missouri placed the area (shaded in yellow on the map above) under a severe thunderstorm warning at 6:32 p.m. The initial warning was in effect until 7:30 p.m., well after the incident occurred. The warning indicated that 60 mph wind gusts were possible as well as “damage to roofs, siding, and trees.”

This warning should not have surprised anyone, because the NWS Storm Prediction Center issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the area at 11:20 a.m. that was in effect until 9 p.m.

As I write this, I find no answers in news media reports to the following critical questions:

  • Did the amphibious tour boat enter the water before or after the NWS issued the severe thunderstorm warning?
  • Were operators of the tour boat aware of the severe thunderstorm warning before the boat capsized?
  • If the boat was already in the water when the NWS issued the warning, did it immediately head for shore at that time?
  • Does Ripley Entertainment, the company that owns the tour boat, have policies regarding how its operators become aware of and react to weather watches and warnings?

I hope investigators uncover and report answers to these questions. In the interim, this tragedy unfortunately reminds me of fatal incidents elsewhere in the country in which organizations apparently ignored severe thunderstorm warnings:

One would hope that incidents like those would teach organizations everywhere to enact and enforce severe weather policies and procedures, and to take severe thunderstorm warnings seriously. I fear that yesterday’s tragedy could be a sign that some organizations still haven’t learned this lesson.

Ham radio, SKYWARN, Weather

Ham radio operators configure weather radios for citizens

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Ham radio operator and SKYWARN storm spotter Steve Haxby, N9MEL configures a weather alert radio for a citizen. WB9SSE photo.
Ham radio operator and SKYWARN storm spotter Steve Haxby, N9MEL configures a weather alert radio for a citizen. WB9SSE photo.

Five radio amateurs assisted members of the general public with configuring weather alert radios during a special event last month. The Kroger store at Georgetown Square on Fort Wayne’s northeast side hosted the April 16 event, which was organized by WANE TV-15 and the Allen County Office of Homeland Security (ACOHS).

Ham radio participants included Tom Baker, N9TB; Al Burke, WB9SSE; Jay Farlow, W9LW; Steve Haxby, N9MEL; and Howard Pletcher, N9ADS. Mark Frazier, meteorologist in charge of the Northern Indiana National Weather Service Office also participated, as did Lori Mayers, assistant director of ACOHS and WANE broadcast meteorologist Greg Shoup and Adam Solarczyk.

After the three-hour event, WANE chief meteorologist Nicholas Ferreri wrote, “Thanks for gathering such a great group of Fort Wayne area volunteers for Monday’s kickoff to WANE Weather Radio Week. I’ve heard many good reviews about Monday’s event.”

Bruce Jones, meteorologist/spokesperson for manufacturer Midland Radio Corporation added, “We appreciate everything SKYWARN/ARRL does to support weather safety both before and during severe weather events.  WANE-TV is helping get the word out there and with partners like you, Lori, and Mark we are building the NOAA Weather Radio audience bigger and bigger every year.  We estimate there are 15-20 million weather radio receivers in the US and Canada and it is important that we keep them all operational and properly tuned. So in addition to setting up new radios, thank you for troubleshooting the older models.”

Ham radio, SKYWARN, Weather

Promote weather safety by posting a #SafePlaceSelfie

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Jay Farlow,. W9LW demonstrates safe sheltering during tornado warnings with a #safeplaceselfie
My safe place during tornado warnings is the only room in our single-story house that has neither windows nor exterior walls. The portable ham radio provides situational awareness while sheltered and a means of communication if the cellular phone system fails.

April 4, 2018 is national safe-place selfie day. It’s a campaign to help educate people about safe places to take shelter, especially during dangerous weather. The National Weather Service explains the campaign on its website.

You can help with the public education effort by simply going to your shelter (whatever it is at your location), taking a photo of yourself and then posting that photo on your social media channels, along with the hash tag #SafePlaceSelfie.

For example, I posted the photo above on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and SnapChat.

Show the world how you shelter! Post a #SafePlaceSelfie.

 

SKYWARN, Weather

I’m a storm spotter, not a storm chaser!

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Well-known tornado researcher Dr. Chuck Doswell
Well-known tornado researcher Dr. Chuck Doswell

I can’t count the number of times I’ve gone out of my way to make sure people know I’m not a storm chaser. I’ll very likely stop doing that, however, in part because of something I heard renowned tornado researcher Dr. Chuck Doswell say this week on a podcast.

It’s well known that the behaviors of some storm chasers have created a negative image of the hobby. We frequently see stories of chasers taking risks that we might consider unacceptable, driving recklessly and/or causing traffic problems. It’s this negative image that made me want to distance myself from the chaser community.

This week, however, Doswell posited that there’s real value in storm chasing, even for (perhaps especially for) storm spotters.

“I’ve never had a problem with spotters who want to be chasers. In fact, I think it’s a great idea,” Doswell said on episode 635 of “WeatherBrains,” the weather podcast hosted by Alabama television meteorologist James Spann.

“Every time I go out (as a chaser), I see something I’ve never seen before,” Doswell continued. “If you’re just an ‘ordinary spotter,’ the number of storms that you would see in any given year is fairly small, unless it’s just a fantastically busy year in your neighborhood that year. But, as a chaser, you can sample more storms. If I’m out for two weeks, I’ll probably see 20, 30 different storms. And of those, maybe some fraction will be supercells and some fraction of those will produce tornadoes. But every year, then, I see a fairly large sample of storms. So, I’ve been doing this for more than 45 years, and so I’ve seen a lot of storms, and I’m still seeing things that I’ve never seen before.”

“So, chasing and spotting are not necessarily opposed to one another,” Doswell added. “I would recommend anyone who’s a serious spotter to go ahead and chase, if for no other reason than to expand their vocabulary of storms.”

WeatherBrains panelist Rick Smith, who works as warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Norman, Oklahoma, agreed. “The best spotters, I think, are the ones that are kind of the hybrid chasers and spotters.”

Doswell and Smith make an interesting point. There’s only so much a storm spotter can learn by looking at photos and video. Seeing the real thing in person would logically make it easier for a spotter to later recognize important storm features as a storm approaches the spotter’s home jurisdiction.

So, I hereby discontinue my previous efforts to distinguish myself from storm chasers. In fact, I’m seriously thinking about asking one of the accomplished chasers I know if I can go along on a chase sometime. Heck, if I ever have the spare cash, I might even buy a seat on a well-regarded storm chasing tour, like those offered by Tempest Tours (some of which Doswell himself leads) or the College of DuPage (which allows anyone to easily register as a student for that single class).

One thing you won’t see me doing is trying it on my own. Numerous experts in the field extolled the dangers of solo chasing, as did Dr. David Call of Ball State University during the recent Central Indiana Severe Weather Symposium in Indianapolis.

But perhaps in the future, you’ll hear me saying, “I’m a storm spotter and sometimes a chaser,” rather than the statement in the title of this blog post.

SKYWARN, Weather

Registration opens for College of DuPage storm-chasing tours

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College of Dupage storm chasing tour participants view a developing storm. Photo credit: College of DuPage Meteorology
College of Dupage storm chasing tour participants view a developing storm. Photo credit: College of DuPage Meteorology

Registration has opened to all for this year’s storm-chasing tours operated by the College of Dupage (COD), which is headquartered in the western suburbs of Chicago.

What makes these tours unusual and of interest to any and all weather enthusiasts, is that you don’t have to be a COD student to join a trip. (Technically, if you’re not already enrolled, you pay a $20 application fee and COD makes you an official student for the trip, but everyone pays the tuition rates they’d pay if they were permanent residents of COD’s district).

I’m certain that I’d learn more about severe meteorology, which would help me be a more effective storm spotter.

The total cost for someone who isn’t already a student, therefore, is $1,290. That fee includes a minimum of eight nights of hotel stay;
transportation costs while on the trip; teaching and instruction of severe weather analysis, spotting techniques, and other meteorological phenomena; and three hours of college credit.

That price seems to compare favorably to those of some of the commercial tornado tour companies out there. Plus, everyone participating on a COD trip can expect to learn about thunderstorms, tornadoes and storm chasing from a respected instructor, such as Prof. Paul Sirvatka. COD has been taking students out storm chasing since 1989, enabling it to offer, as its web site reads, “more experience than any of the major storm chasing tour operators that we are aware of.”

I’ve never taken one of these trips. In fact, I’m not all that interested in storm chasing, although I’ve been a SKYWARN® storm spotter for more than three decades. I can see, however, some advantages to a trip like this for someone like me. I’m certain that I’d learn more about severe meteorology, which would help me be a more effective storm spotter. In addition, the experience of watching storms produce tornadoes would help me better understand what to look for when I’m at home making reports to the National Weather Service.

To learn more about COD’s storm chasing trips, visit the program’s dedicated website at http://weather.cod.edu/chasing/.

SKYWARN, Weather

Why do some storm chasers call 911 vs NWS?

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After a small tornado outbreak in Indiana and neighboring states yesterday, I’ve been looking at some tornado videos published by storm chasers. On at least two of them, one can hear on the audio track references to calling 911 to report the tornado. On one, you can hear a chaser instructing a public safety answering point (PSAP) operator to activate warning sirens.

Here’s my question: Why would storm chasers — who one would expect to be familiar with the National Weather Service (NWS) warning system — call 911 instead of the NWS?

Why would storm chasers — who one would expect to be familiar with the National Weather Service (NWS) warning system — call 911 instead of the NWS?

Sure, a call to the local PSAP might lead to activation of outdoor warning sirens, which might alert some nearby residents — especially ones who are outdoors — that something is going on. But it won’t lead to activation of NOAA weather radios, wireless emergency alerts on cellular phones, or alerts on broadcast channels until and unless the NWS knows about the tornado and issues an official tornado warning.

You might think that a call to 911 will get a report to the NWS. In reality, that’s not necessarily true. I’ve attended several meetings of an NWS integrated warning team, where PSAP representatives have repeatedly said that during periods of severe weather, they’re so busy answering phones, that they don’t have time to  call NWS. And an NWS warning coordination meteorologist has personally told me that his office yearns to know what citizens are reporting to 911, but can’t get the information.

Granted, calling 911 is easy, especially for chasers whose anxiety levels have reached a near panic stage as they stare down tornadoes. After all, calling 911 when something bad happens is almost a reflex. But a single call to the NWS would get life-saving information to a whole lot more people who are in the path of the storm.

There is a challenge, though, especially for chasers who are always moving from county to county (and for some, state to state) as they try to get in position to see tornadoes. They must always know exactly where they are and they must know which NWS office to call. Adjacent counties are not always served by the same NWS office.

The first part (knowing exactly where you are) is challenging enough, when you’re driving through unfamiliar territory. I’ve heard numerous spotters and chasers, who, while trying to make a report to NWS offices, were unable to say exactly where they were, much less where the funnel cloud or tornado was. Knowing what county your are in and knowing what NWS office serves that county is even more difficult. In truth, any NWS office will accept a tornado report from outside its area and get that information immediately to the correct office. So calling the “wrong” NWS office is probably still better than calling 911, when it comes to warning the most people.

But there’s an even better solution. Members of Spotter Network, Inc. can use a combination of location-reporting software on their smartphones and the Spotter Network website to learn immediately the phone number of the NWS office that covers whatever location they’re in at the moment.

University demonstrates questionable understanding of tornado warnings http://w9lw.farlowconsulting.com/2017/11/05/university-demonstrates-questionable-understanding-of-tornado-warnings/
The Spotter Network website can tell members where they are, which NWS office to call, and the phone number for that office.

By using the location-beaconing software, staying logged into the Spotter Network website and bookmarking the “Submit Severe Report” page above, chasers and spotters can learn the best NWS number to call with a couple touches of their smartphones. The result will be warning a lot more people a lot sooner than calling 911 can.

Public safety, SKYWARN, Weather

What residents need to know about their new outdoor warning siren

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Tornado siren. Outdoor warning sirens are not intended to be heard indoors.

Blogger’s note: Below is an article I submitted to the “The Waynedale News,” a neighborhood newspaper in Fort Wayne, Indiana. If refers to the installation of an outdoor warning siren in a neighborhood that had been without one for years. The newspaper published the article July 7, 2017.

The new outdoor warning siren that’s coming to Waynedale brings with it some true risks that area residents might not have considered. Chief among those risks are over reliance and desensitization. Continue reading →