ALERT February 2009 Newsletter

Published 02/01/2009 | By WD4NYL

ALERT NEWSLETTER – February 2009 Vol. 2 No. 8http://www.alert-alabama.org Hi Everyone, Next month begins our spring severe weather season. Now is the time to take the time to review your emergency preparedness plans and for brushing up on your skills – including both communications & stormspotting. Now is the time to prepare, don’t wait until the sirens sound. It may be too late then. In preparing, you should ask yourselves these questions: Is my family shelter (and everyone should have one) ready? Is my equipment ready? Antennae up & radios working? Batteries charged? Are my communications channels open? Including RF, Internet & telephone resources. Can I receive weather bulletins & the ALERT callouts that will come? And, a reminder to all ALERT members, that all responses to the NWS are done on a callout basis. We want and welcome Operational members to take active roles in callouts. But, always coordinate with NWS liaison issuing the callout – Nathan or Russell before responding to the NWS. This allows us to: 1. Know who is actually there, so we can maintain accountability, security & control. 2. Avoid duplication of effort. When we know who is available & what times, we can schedule shifts allowing us to more efficiently utilize our available resources & avoid having an confused, chaotic response. 3. Ithelps operators choose which responses they can best give to which entity. This is especially becoming more & more important as many operators belong to more than one emergency response group. For instance, if there are multiple callouts – ALERT, CERT, ARES, etc all issuing simultaneous callouts, if one calls & asks if ALERT needs operators or is adequately staffed it will help you decide where you are best needed, since you can’t be everywhere at once. It allows you to cover more bases, as It can allow you to say “I can be at the NWS with ALERT from 3PM to 7PM and then at the EMA from 8PM till the duration”. So, for these and many other good reasons, make sure to call Nathan or Russell, who’s numbers are on the callout notices & are also posted in the cubical. Mark Concerning this topic, we have a message from our Boss, Jim Stekovich of the NWS: On behalf of NWS Birmingham, I want to thank the ALERT Board for the opportunity to address them on January 14, 2009. I fully support the ALERT Board in making the determination on which operators are both trained by NWS personnel on basic storm spotter, radar interpretation and NWS operations, and more importantly, which members are allowed into the office during hazardous weather. In essence, we are trusting the ALERT Board to ensure those operators who are trained and you approve are allowed to volunteer in this office for the explicit purpose of saving lives and property. We appreciate all that the ALERT group does, and the sacrifices made to meet this critical mission. Jim Stefkovich Meteorologist In Charge Incidentally, we are fortunate to have Jim as our NWS Meteorologist In Charge. Jim being a ham operator and having dealt with many, many ham operators while at NWS Chicago, he is very understanding & patient in dealing with our ham community. Even those times when we have acted quirky. (Now that I’ve buttered him up, should I go ahead and send him my resume…again?) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Mark’s Almanac February is named “Februa”, the Latin word signifying the festivals of purification celebrated in Ancient Rome during this month. February was not originally included in the Roman calendar, which began in March, but was added, along with January. Also, February was originally 29 days long, but one day was taken and added to August, so now only Leap Year has 29 days. February is a cold month and more snow falls in February than in any other month. Statistically speaking, there is a 70% chance of snow flurries, and a 57% chance of snow up to one inch. There is a 13% chance of over one inch, and a 3% chance of 4 inches or more. There is hope on the horizon though, as the worst of winter weather is usually over by February 15. In the evening sky Venus is shining bright, greeting a winter evening alit with bright stars. With Orion the Hunter overhead, along with his faithful hunting dogs, Canis Major & Canis Minor, the Large & Lesser Dogs. In Canis Major is the blue star Sirius, The Dog Star, which 8.6 light years away, is the brightest star in the night sky. February and March are the best times of the year for seeing the Zodiacal Light. In the evening away from city lights and after twilight has faded you might see a faint, roughly triangular, whitish glow near the sunset point. This is Zodiacal Light, which is formed by the sunlight reflecting off millions of minute particles of cosmic dust aligned with the Earth’s orbital plane. Another sight, much more common is the Earth Shadow. At sunset, on very clear days, as the sun goes farther below the horizon, you will see what appears to be a layer of gray cloud rising along the eastern horizon. This is actually the silhouette of the earth’s shadow being cast against darkening sky, sometimes with a pinkish glow along the edge. It fades as twilight fades into darkness. February’s Full Moon is “Cold Moon” in Native American folklore. ………………………………………………………………………………………. This month’s meeting will be on February 10 at 7PM at the National Weather Service Forecast office at the Shelby County Airport. Hope to see you there! Mark / WD4NYL President ALERT www.freewebs.com/weatherlynx/

Posted in ALERT Newsletter

ALERT February 2009 Newsletter

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