Alert newsletter – June 2014 Vol. 7 No. 12 84th Edition
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- Atlantic Hurricane Season Begins
- Alabama Hurricane Impact ALERT Hurricane Response
- Mark’s Almanac
Hi Everyone, I hope all is going well & that you are finding a nice cool spot out of the pre-summer heat and showers. The biggest ALERT news of the month was our recent elections. At our last meeting the ALERT elections were held for the 2014 – 2014 term. The Officers for 2014 - 2015 are: President: Ronnie King WX4RON Vice-President & Membership: Steven Moss KB4FKN NWS Liaison: Russell Thomas KV4S Secretary: Mike Lamb KK4OHW Operations: Steven Moss KB4FKN Training: Ronnie King WX4RON Treasurer: Johnny Knobloch KJ4OPX Public Information: Zac Hollingsworth W4ZAC Per the ALERT Bylaws our new Officers will assume their positions at the July 8 meeting. Thanks to all of our new officers and to our outgoing officers for their service to our organization! One thing which will remain the same is our newsletter. I will continue on as the Editor-In-Chief, and hopefully will be able to provide interesting items for your enjoyment. I will also continue as the Net Manager of the ALERT Sunday Nite Net. If you have not checked in to our net I invite you to join us. We meet at 7PM Sunday on 146.88 MHz PL 88.5 hz. I hope to see you there! Atlantic Hurricane Season BeginsSome memories of hurricanes past... “That crashing sound you just heard was a tree being blown through the window of our studio” – Radio Station WWL 760 kHz AM - New Orleans – Hurricane Camille 1969 “…it was like a bomb set off. It blew everything away” – Danny Williams resident of Gulf Shores – Hurricane Frederick 1979 "…no storm of this strength has struck this area in recorded history…..many people have had to go through hurricanes before and survived. May God help us." - Meteorologist-In-Charge Richard Hagen, NWS Brownsville TX – Hurricane Allen 1980“…the rain is very light…the wind is incessantly howling, & I see green flashes continually lighting the horizon in every direction – which I know is the power grid, poles and all being torn up by the winds.” – WD4NYL’s log book – Jefferson County – Hurricane Opal 1995 “We have a report that the I-10 Bridge in Pensacola is down, in the water” – K4NWS – Hurricane Ivan 2004 “I’ve just received a report that Foley Alabama no longer exists” – K4NWS – Hurricane Katrina 2005 Many storms cross my mind as I write this article, including Hurricane Allen, which in 1980 was heading directly towards Brownsville, and expected to bring 150 MPH winds, but suddenly weakening to 110 to 130 MPH at land fall. Or Hurricane Babe, a Category 1 storm which struck Louisiana in 1977. This was very unremarkable storm, except for the beauty of the storm. At sunset looking directly west, to the left, which was southwest, the sky was pitch black with lighting continually crawling across the clouds. To the right, or northwest, the sky was as deep blue as I have ever seen. Directly west the sky was brilliant orange. Later that night I would be listening to WWL as they, between storm reports, played Chicago singing “Wishing You Were Here”. During the callout with Ivan, the NWS told us to come with a packed bag, as we might get trapped at the NWS by falling trees. I was on the air continuously for 17 hours that day. During the Katrina callout I received the following report: URGENT—WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA ISSUED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 1205 PM CDT MONDAY AUG 29 2005 ...EXTREME DANGEROUS HURRICANE KATRINA MOVING ACROSS SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI... ...DEVASTATING DAMAGE CONTINUES ALONG ITS PATH... KATRINA...NOW A CATEGORY THREE HURRICANE WITH WINDS OF 125 MPH AND HIGHER GUSTS...WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE NORTHWARD ACROSS SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND INTO EAST CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. ALONG AND NEAR KATRINA’S PATH...EXPECT PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE. ALL WOOD FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE...INCLUDING SOME WALL AND ROOF FAILURE. HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY...A FEW POSSIBLY TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. MANY WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT. AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION...PERSONS...PETS...AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK. POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS. THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED...ONLY THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...BUT BE TOTALLY DE-FOLIATED. THE HURRICANE FORCE WINDS WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH BELOW HURRICANE STRENGTH FROM SOUTH TO NORTH THROUGH THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS. Though I find weather obsessively fascinating, I truly hope we don’t see any more reports such as this for many years to come. Using this trip down Memory Lane as a lead in, we greet, whether we want to or not, the beginning of our North Atlantic Hurricane season, which begins June 1st. Colorado State University meteorologist Philip Klotzbach and William Gray predict a quiet 2014 Atlantic hurricane season, suggesting that nine tropical storms will form, but only three will become hurricanes. Among other factors, a predicted El Niño has led to their quiet forecast. This year’s forecast follows two consecutive poor forecasts: In 2012, when more than twice as many hurricanes formed as had been predicted, and in 2013, when only two hurricanes formed after a spring prediction of nine. A typical year, based on weather records dating to 1950, has 12 tropical storms, of which seven become hurricanes. A tropical storm has sustained winds of 39 mph; it becomes a hurricane when its winds reach 74 mph. 2014 Atlantic Basin Storm Names are as follows: Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gonzalo, Hanna, Isaias, Josephine, Kyle, Laura, Marco, Nana, Omar, Paulette, Rene, Sally, Teddy, Vicky & Wilfred On the off chance that the forecast should be terribly wrong, and the NHC were to run out of hurricane names, as occurred in 2005, they would use the Greek alphabet, with tropical cyclones Alpha, Beta, Gamma, etc. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Alabama Hurricane Impact & ALERT Hurricane ResponseAlabama is impacted by hurricanes in three ways:
tornadoes over west Alabama in a 4-hour period.
ALERT typically will activate during scenarios 1 & 2. Most of our activity is when the storm is near the coast normally was on HF at 3.965 MHz or the backup 40-meter frequency of 7.243 MHz. However, since we currently are without HF capability and with the ever-improving coverage on D-Star, ALERT’s coverage would concentrate on monitoring D-Star directly and using an offsite liaison station to monitor HF activity. Then as the storm moves northward into the BMX County Warning Area the focus would then shift to the individual county Skywarn Nets, as we would do during a “normal” callout. HF SSB Gulf Coast Nets to monitor are: Primary State ARES SSB Frequencies & Nets for Gulf of Mexico & regular meeting times. 3.965 MHz Alabama Emergency Net Mike 4:00 PM Sunday* 3.940 MHz Florida Amateur Single Sideband Net 6:00 PM 3.975 MHz Georgia Single Sideband Net 7:30 PM 3.910 MHz Louisiana Traffic Net 6:30 PM 3.862 MHz Mississippi Section Phone Net 6:00 PM 3.873 MHz Texas Traffic Net 6:30 PM * Note that this is also the frequency of the Alabama Traffic Net Mike, meeting daily at 6:30PM Central & Sunday’s at 8:00 AM Central and the Alabama Day Net, which meets daily at 10:00 AM Central Time. Wide Coverage SSB Nets 14.235 MHz Hurricane Watch Net As Needed 3.935 MHz Central Gulf Coast Hurricane Net 1:00 UTC The Hurricane Watch Net is only activated when a storm is within 300 miles of a populated land mass. Normally you shouldn’t check into this net, you should only listen. Only check in if you have a legitimate need to do so. Legitimate needs being emergency or priority traffic or if the NCS specifically calls for a station in Central Alabama, only then should you pick the microphone up. Occasionally, if there is a lull in activity, they may actually give a call for general check-ins. But, don’t be surprised if they don’t. Helping stations in the effected area is their primary concern. Some Internet resources you should have in your toolbox include: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ - The National Hurricane Center out of Coral Gables, FL http://14300audio.dynu.com:88/broadwave.asx?src=fhwn&kbps=16 Hurricane Watch Net Streaming Audio (available only when the net is active) http://derecho.math.uwm.edu/models/ & http://www.ral.ucar.edu/hurricanes/realtime/current/ Hurricane Forecast Models http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/TC.html Satellite imagery and data – worldwide http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/trop-atl.html Storm centered satellite imagery These and many other resources, including US coastal radar picket, Caribbean & Mexican radar, charts and satellite imagery can be found on my website www.freewebs.com/weatherlynx/ and clicking on “Tropics, Charts & Satellites”. You may wish to bookmark these links. …………………………………………………………………………………………………. Mark’s AlmanacOriginally the fourth Roman Month, June at one time had 29 days, until Julius Caesar in a glow of inspiration added the 30th day. What June was named for is uncertain. Some say it was named for Juno, wife & sister of Jupiter. Juno was the goddess of marriage and a married couple's household, so some consider it good luck to be married in this month, which is why June has become a month for so many marriages. The beginning of meteorological Summer is June 1. Storm activity retains many of the characteristics of spring, but more and more the pattern takes on the summer pattern of pop-up thunderstorms. Hurricane season begins, however June hurricanes are usually small and of minor intensity, occurring roughly once every two years. The centers for June Tropical Cyclone activity are the extreme Western Caribbean, with the storm tracks striking the Yucatan or veering toward Western Florida & the Southwestern Gulf of Mexico, with other storm tracks aiming toward the Mexican mainland. The center of maximum tornadic activity shifts northward over Kansas and Iowa. Activity in Texas and Oklahoma dies down. There is a 5% decrease in tornadic activity over the May average & by June 4th 50% of the years tornadoes have occurred. Turning our eyes towards the sky, Mercury is reaching its highest altitude for 2014, visible in the west-northwest as twilight fades. Venus is the bright “Morning Star” low in the east at dawn. Mars is high in the south in late twilight and sets in the west just before dawn. On June 7 the Moon will pass within two degrees of Mars. Being that the moon is roughly .5 degrees in diameter, this means they will appear 4 lunar diameters apart. Jupiter in Gemini shines brightly in the west in the evening twilight and sets around midnight. Saturn in Libra shines in the southeast during the evening and is highest in the south around midnight. Uranus & Neptune are low in the dawn. June’s Full Moon is “Strawberry Moon” in Native American folklore. This will occur on June 12 at 11:11 PM CDT. It is called “Strawberry Moon” for it signals the time to harvest strawberries, as it is peak strawberry ripening time. Other names are “Rose Moon” & “Honey Moon”. Summer Solstice will occur at 5:51 AM CDT on June 21. The June Bootids Meteor Shower will occur from June 26th until July 2nd. It peaks on June 27th. Normally the shower is very weak, with a Zenith Hourly Rate or ZHR of 1 or 2, but occasional outbursts produce a hundred or more meteors per hour. The source of the June Bootids is comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke, which orbits the Sun once every 6.37 years. The Moon will not interfere with this shower, as June’s New Moon will occur June 27 at 3:08 AM CDT. Finally, mark June 25 on your calendar and think about Christmas. Why? Because this is how Christmas, which is just six months away, will feel like in Australia and Brazil in December. Happy Holidays! .................................................................................................... Our next ALERT meeting is June 10th. If for some reason you cannot attend the meeting in person, you can still participate via telephone. The teleconference number is 1-877-951-0997 & and the participant code is 741083. Hope to see you there! Mark / WD4NYL ALERT http://weatherlynx.webs.com/ Directory: pipermail pipermail -> 1960 Chevrolet Corvair "500" Coupe This Corvair is the pipermail -> Written by Hungarian Women’s Media Lobby and Columbia University students and staff co-operation funded by the Global Fund for Women pipermail -> A. 1 Description of Program a. Executive Summary pipermail -> 10 January 2006 kictanet cocktail Party Appreciating old friends welcoming new ones Jacaranda Hotel, Nairobi 19 January pipermail -> Austron 2000c new gri generator pipermail -> Table of Contents About whois 1 pipermail -> Version: 1 Date June 3, 2015 Download 35.51 Kb. Share with your friends:
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