ALERT NEWSLETTER – November 2021

Hi everyone,

I hope this finds you well, and untouched by the hobgoblin attack of the 31st. We had no trick or treaters this year, so you know what that means. Yes, I have to eat ALL of the candy. Which is a tough job, but someone has to do it.

As we enter November, we also enter the Fall tornado season. The Fall season is often more severe than the Spring Season.

Just as in the Spring, you need to review your plans and procedures for the storms to come.

Take this time brush up on your skills, check and prepare your equipment and make sure that you have reliable methods to receive timely watches and warnings. This includes NOAA Weatheradio and phone Apps from local broadcast media. This does not include social media posts, as the medium’s algorithm can accidently “bury” a warning in the newsfeed. Also, beware of good meaning “amateur weather experts”, including myself. Instead trust the REAL experts at our NWS. They have the training, knowledge and expertise, which you can place confidence in.

Hopefully we will have a calm Fall as we look forward toward Thanksgiving and the Holiday Season.

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“Halap, halap, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up”
Or
How to properly call for help during emergencies

(The following article originally appeared in the September 2011 Newsletter. It was one of the best received articles and I received compliments from First Responders as it deals with situations they deal with quite regularly.)

“Mark call 911!!!” ”Click” as the caller hangs up.

In my line of work, I’ve heard this more than once, and each time I have had to call the caller back and ask for the proper information to give 911, which in turn delayed the response time. This revealed to me that most people really have no idea how to make calls for emergency assistance.

The “who, what, where, when and why” rules apply and should be taught, but apparently are not.

“Call 911!” Tell me why I’m calling, so I can tell the operator. Do you need the police or paramedics?
It makes a big difference. Engine 8 isn’t very helpful in a bank robbery, and Car 347’s officers may not know how to deliver a baby.

What is the situation? The EMS will need to know. “Bringing the paddles” doesn’t do much good for a lady in labor & air splints are overkill for a guy who just fainted because he just read his power bill.

By providing the information of who you are, including an exact location of where the emergency is located and when it happened help streamline the process. The EMS will know what they are heading for and will be better mentally and physically prepared to respond properly. It eliminates the wondering and guesswork.

Another thing not really taught is how to get help via amateur radio. Do you really know how to seek help?

Just saying “Hey can someone out thar call the pair of medics over to the Walls Smart” just might not suffice.

How do you transmit a distress call? I’m glad you asked.

Now the following is to be used only for bonifide emergencies. Using it in any other case and you will end up in Leavenworth, Sing Sing, Atmore or, well, you get the idea.

Distress calling procedure:

1. Tune to your local ARES / Skywarn frequency or the most heavily populated frequency you know of.
2. If you hear stations on frequency, break in and attempt to contact them.
3. If they hear and acknowledge you, calmly give your situation, remembering the “who, what, where, when and why” rules. Then wait at the location for help. Don’t wander off. That turns a rescue into a search and rescue. In 99% of the cases STAY PUT.
4. If it seems no one has heard you, then you will have to “broadcast in the blind”. Don’t let the word “broadcast” scare you. You do this every time you send a CQ or throw your call out on a silent repeater seeking a contact.
5. Say slowly and clearly the words “MAYDAY” three times.
6. Say, “This is” and give your call sign three times and your name once.
7. Give your position as exact as possible. Give your address, or street / cross street, or highway mile marker (you do you pay attention to those little green signs, don’t you?) or if you have GPS, your latitude and longitude. Or give your distance to any well-known landmark that may help rescuers locate the incident location. Use the best or most logical options you have.
Giving latitude and longitude, when you know the street and cross street is a little kooky.
8. Give the nature of the emergency – medical, fire, criminal, etc.
9. Indicate the type of assistance required – police, EMS, etc.
10. Say “over” and listen.

Example:

Mayday – mayday – mayday. This is WD4NYL, WD4NYL, WD4NYL. My name is Mark Wells. I’m located on Highway 45 near Johnson Road. I’ve just been in an accident and I’m trapped in my car. Please call 911. Over”.

If someone responds, great! If not, there is a decent chance someone listening on a scanner could be calling 911.

If you hear no response, repeat the above for two minutes and then listen for three. If still no answer, to save your batteries, cut off the radio and wait until the top of the hour and begin calling again. It’s good if you indicate that you are going to do this, so someone listening will know to listen again.

This method is the recommended procedure for marine radios and can be effectively used on both the ham bands or on the 11-meter band.

And, yes, even though we may cuss it, every amateur in emergency communications or planning on going on a trip, should have a CB radio somewhere in their arsenal.

Repeaters may die; whole forests of repeaters may be uninhabited just when you need someone the most, or you may get stuck somewhere between the Podunk and Possum Hollow repeaters. But, chances are some Bubba is listening on Channel 9 or even more likely on Channel 19. He may call 911…. or he may come in a dually and help haul you boohunkus out of that ditch.

Giving oneself multiple options is savvy move, one that could save your hide someday.

Always have one or more backup plans.

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Mark’s Almanac

With the arrival of November we enter our second tornado season. Alabama and the Southeast are “blessed” by being the only area on Earth having two tornado seasons. The cause of the second season is the same as the spring season – clashes of cold and warm air masses. The cold air of winter is invading and trying to push the warmth of the summer back into the sea, which is the same process of springtime.

This second season is often more destructive than the spring season. From 1950 to 2020 there have been 279 November tornadoes in Alabama resulting in 52 fatalities and 1069 injuries. The third largest tornado outbreak occurred on November 24 – 25 2001 when 36 tornadoes occurred and 21 tornadoes occurred during the outbreak of November 23 – 24 2004.

November was Alabama’s leading tornado month from 2001 to 2011 until the dual outbreaks of April 15 and April 27 2011 erased that record.

So beware of a warm & muggy November day. Especially one with a south wind, as something may really be “in the air”.

The Hurricane threat greatly diminishes, with hurricane activity occurring mainly in the open Atlantic, threatening the Eastern Seaboard, but usually veering off into sea as cold fronts off the East Coast deflect them. Hurricanes can still form in the Caribbean, which usually visit the Yucatan, but can enter the Gulf.

From 1851 – 2020 there have been 101 Tropical Storms and 48 hurricanes, 5 of which made landfall in the United States.

Some notable November hurricanes are:

The 1932 Cuba hurricane, known also as the Hurricane of Santa Cruz del Sur or the 1932 Camagüey Hurricane. Although forming as a tropical depression on October 30, it became the only Category 5 Atlantic hurricane ever recorded in November, and was the deadliest and one of the most intense tropical cyclones in Cuban history. On November 6, the tropical cyclone reached its peak intensity as a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph. The storm weakened to Category 4 intensity as it came ashore in Cuba’s Camagüey Province on November 9 with winds of 150 mph. The storm took 3,033 lives.

Hurricane Ida, in 2009 was the strongest land falling tropical cyclone during the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season. Ida formed on November 4 in the southwestern Caribbean, and within 24 hours struck the Nicaragua coast with winds of 80 mph. It weakened significantly over land, although it restrengthened in the Yucatán Channel to peak winds of 105 mph. Ida weakened and became an extratropical cyclone in the northern Gulf of Mexico before spreading across the southeastern United States. The remnants of Ida contributed to the formation of a nor’easter that significantly affected the eastern coast of the United States.

1985’s Hurricane Kate was the latest Hurricane in any calendar year to strike the United States.
Kate formed on November, 15 and reached hurricane intensity on November 16, and reached Category 2 intensity three days later. Kate struck the northern coast of Cuba on November 19. Once clear of land, she strengthened quickly, becoming a Category 3 storm and reached its peak intensity of 120 mph. On November 21 Kate came ashore near Mexico Beach, Florida, as Category 2 hurricane with winds of 100 mph.

Hurricane Lenny, or Wrong Way Lenny, occurred in 1999. It is the second-strongest November Atlantic hurricane on record, behind the 1932 Cuba hurricane. Lenny formed on November 13 in the western Caribbean Sea and moved retrograde from the West to East passing South of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. He reached hurricane status south of Jamaica on November 15 and rapidly intensified over the northeastern Caribbean on November 17, attaining peak winds of 155 mph near Saint Croix in the United States Virgin Islands. It gradually weakened while moving through the Leeward Islands, eventually dissipating on November 23 over the open Atlantic Ocean.

1994’s Hurricane Gordon claimed 1122 lives in Haiti when it passed just west of the country as a tropical storm on November 13, 1994.

Figure 2 – November Tropical Cyclone Breeding Grounds

Both the Atlantic and Pacific Hurricane seasons ends November 30.

Days rapidly grow shorter as the Sun’s angle above the noonday horizon steadily decreases from 40.9 degrees at the beginning of the month to 34.8 degrees at the month’s end. Daylight decreases from 10 hours 40 minutes on November 1 to 10 hours 07 minutes on November 30.

Sunrise and sunset times for Birmingham are:

November 1 Sunrise 7:06 AM Sunset 5:55 PM
November 15 Sunrise 6:19 AM Sunset 4:45 PM – After Daylight Savings Time Ends
November 31 Sunrise 6:33 AM Sunset 4:39 PM

The blooms of summer have faded, but you may find yourself still sneezing, due to ragweed and mold.

Mold is a fall allergy trigger. You may think of mold growing in your basement or bathroom – damp areas in the house – but mold spores also love wet spots outside. Piles of damp leaves are ideal breeding grounds for mold.

Oh, and did I mention dust mites? While they are common during the humid summer months, they can get stirred into the air the first time you turn on your heat in the fall. Dust mites can trigger sneezes, wheezes, and runny noses.

November welcomes the peak of fall colors. For Birmingham the peak occurs around November 15, but the date can vary depending on your elevation & latitude.

Indian Summer and Squaw Winter continue to battle it out, but the cool or cold weather will eventually win, with the first average frost being on November 11.

The usual fall effects occur in North America with Canada’s Hudson Bay becoming unnavigable due to pack ice & icebergs. Navigation in the Great Lakes becomes perilous due to storms bringing the “Gales Of November” made famous in the Gordon Lightfoot song “The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald”.

And, don’t be surprised if you hear ducks overhead & see wedges of Canadian geese heading south for the winter. And if you see strange birds appearing in your front yard, remember that for 336 species of birds Alabama IS south for the winter.

Looking skyward, at the beginning of the month, the Sun, magnitude -26.8 is in Virgo.

Mercury, magnitude -0.7, in Virgo, is still making his best appearance of the year. As the month progresses, he sinks towards the eastern horizon and slips beyond view midmonth.

He will pass behind the Sun, or reach “Superior Conjunction” on November 28, 2021.

Venus, magnitude –4.5, in Ophiucus, shines brilliantly in the southwest during and after twilight, to the lower right of the vastly fainter Sagittarius Teapot.

Venus remains in the evening sky an hour after dark. She will continue to get a little higher and brighter into early December.

Her prominent glow in the evening sky occasionally triggers UFO reports by those not familiar with “The Morning Star”, Earth’s twin sister.

“Earth’s twin sister” because they are nearly the same size, have the same density, have volcanoes, and dense atmospheres. In the dim mists of ages past they were even more similar, both having oceans. Then they parted ways Venus entering a runaway greenhouse effect, and now sports crushing atmospheric pressure and sulfuric acid rain.

A Venusian Hades, as compared to the Garden of Eden, which is Earth.

Earth, magnitude -4.0, as viewed from the Sun, is in Taurus.

Mars, magnitude +1.5, in Virgo, remains out of sight deep in the glow of sunrise.

Dwarf Planet Ceres shines at magnitude +7.8 in Taurus.

Jupiter, magnitude -2.5, and Saturn, magnitude +0.6, glow in the south during evening, 15° apart in Capricornus. Jupiter is the bright one with Saturn, to his right or lower right.

In twilight they’re just beginning to tilt. As evening advances, they tilt more steeply as they move westward. Saturn sets around between 1 and midnight, Jupiter about an hour later.

Uranus, magnitude +5.7, in Aries, will reach his closet approach to Earth, or opposition on November 5.

The blue-green planet will be fully illuminated by the Sun. It will be brighter than any other time of the year and will be visible all night long. This is the best time to view Uranus. Due to its distance, it will only appear as a tiny blue-green dot in all but the most powerful telescopes.

Neptune, magnitude +7.7, in Aquarius remains at near peak brightness, but is fading slowly.

Dwarf Planet Pluto, with his five moons shines at a dim +14.4 in Sagittarius.

Dwarf Planet 136108 Haumea, its ring and moons Hiʻiaka and Namaka, shines at a faint magnitude of +17.4 in Bootes.

Dwarf Planet 136472 Makemake with his moon faintly shines at magnitude +17.2 in Coma Berenices.

Dwarf Planet 136199 Eris and her moon Dysnomia is barely visible in the most powerful telescopes at magnitude +18.7 in Cetus the Sea Monster

New Moon will occur November 4. The Moon will be located on the same side of the Earth as the Sun and will not be visible in the night sky. This phase occurs at 21:15 UTC or 4:15 PM CDT. This is the best time of the month to observe faint objects such as galaxies and star clusters because there is no moonlight to interfere.

The Moon will be at Perigee or its closest approach to Earth on November 5, when she will be 222,976 miles from Earth.

The First Quarter Moon occurs November 11.

The Northern Taurid Meteor Shower will occur November 11 & 12. The Northern Taurids is a long-running minor meteor shower producing only about 5-10 meteors per hour. This shower is, however, famous for producing a higher than normal percentage of bright fireballs, It is also unusual in that it consists of two separate streams. The first is produced by dust grains left behind by Asteroid 2004 TG10. The second stream is produced by debris left behind by Comet 2P Encke.

The shower runs annually from September 7 to December 10. It peaks this year on the night of the 11th and morning of the 12th. The First Quarter Moon should not overly interfere with what should be an excellent show. Best viewing will be just after midnight from a dark location far away from city lights. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Taurus, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

The annual Leonid meteor shower occurs from November 6 – 30 and peaks on the night of November 17 & the morning of the 18th. Though the Leonids are an “average shower”, producing only an average of 15 meteors per hour, they are well known for producing bright meteors and fireballs.

This shower is also unique in that it has a cyclonic peak about every 33 years where hundreds of meteors per hour can be seen. That last of these occurred in 2001. The Leonids are produced by dust grains left behind by Comet Tempel-Tuttle, which was discovered in 1865.

Its productivity varies per year, but it can deposit 12 to 13 tons of particles across the planet. Which is why having an atmosphere to shield us is such a nifty thing.

Unfortunately, the nearly full moon will dominate the sky this year, blocking all but the brightest meteors. But if you are patient, you should still be able to catch a few good ones. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Leo, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

Full Moon will occur November 19. The Moon will be located on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun and its face will be fully illuminated. This phase occurs at 3:59 AM CST or 08:59 UTC. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Beaver Moon because this was the time of year to set the beaver traps before the swamps and rivers froze. It has also been known as the Frosty Moon and the Dark Moon.

A Partial Lunar Eclipse will occur November 19. A partial lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes through the Earth’s partial shadow, or penumbra, and only a portion of it passes through the darkest shadow, or umbra. During this type of eclipse, a part of the Moon will darken as it moves through the Earth’s shadow. The eclipse will be visible throughout most of eastern Russia, Japan, the Pacific Ocean, North America, Mexico, Central America, and parts of western South America.

In Birmingham the eclipse timings are:

Eclipse Begins 12:02 AM
Partial Eclipse Begins 1:18 AM
Maximum Eclipse 3:02 AM
Partial Eclipse Ends 4:47 AM
Eclipse Ends 6:03 AM

The Moon will be at Apogee or its farthest distance from Earth on November 20, when she will be 252,448 miles from Earth.

The Last Quarter Moon occurs November 27.

4551 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of October 25, per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/.

Finally, don’t forget to set your clocks back one hour at 2 AM, Sunday morning November 7th, as Daylight Savings Time ends and the clock goes back to the way the Good Lord intended.

Look up Hezekiah 4:7, I dare you.

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This month’s meeting will be on November 9 at 7PM.

The meeting will be done remotely as was last month’s meeting.

Details and instructions will be issued as the time nears.

I have had difficulty joining in, but hopefully my technical issues will be resolved and I can will
see you there!

Mark / WD4NYL
Editor
ALERT Newsletter
wd4nyl@bellsouth.net

Mark’s Weatherlynx
Weather Resource Database
www.freewebs.com/weatherlynx/