ALERT NEWSLETTER – March 2022

Hi Everyone,

The Birminghamfest is almost here, and I hope you can attend.

This event will be held at the Trussville Civic Center on Friday March 4 from 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM and Saturday, March 5 from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM.

There will be forums, vendors, ham radio testing and a flea market with parts and equipment needing a new home.

Admission is $10, which includes 1 prize ticket. Children under 12 will be admitted for free.

For more information go to http://birminghamfest.org/

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Birmingham NWS Spring 2022 Storm Spotter Courses

The Birmingham NWS office will present several online Basic Spotter Courses and a single online Advanced Spotter Course this spring. These online classes allow individuals to complete the courses in the comfort of their own home or office using GoToWebinar.

By attending any course, which are free and runs about 2 hours, individuals or a group of individuals will become SKYWARN Storm Spotters.

Unless you are in need of or just want to attend a refresher Course, you do not need to attend more than one Basic SKYWARN Course, as the material covered is the same; however it is required you to attend at least one Basic SKYWARN Course before taking the Advanced SKYWARN Course.

These courses are two-way, meaning you will be able to interact with the meteorologist leading the training. You will be muted while training is in-progress, and unmuted when applicable (e.g., for questions); or, you can use the built-in chat feature.

How do you Attend an Online SKYWARN Spotter Class?

To avoid being hurried, give yourself at least 15 minutes prior to
the start of the class to complete the following steps:

1. Via the schedule below, register by clicking the link
corresponding to the class you’d like to attend.

2. Select the ‘join webinar’ button on the registration page or
in your confirmation email and follow the prompts.

3. Enjoy the class and ask questions.

The current online schedule is as follows:

Basic Class Tuesday, March 9at 1:00 PM
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4995442385794405132
Basic Class Tuesday, March 8 at 6:30 PM
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2635345074819786765
Basic Class Thursday, March 10 at 6:30 PM
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7540743634374993676
Basic Class Wednesday, March 23 at 6:30 PM
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2681283770139924492
Advanced Class Tuesday March 30, at 6:30 PM
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3265345446326175243

These classes will help you provide the NWS the vital “ground truth” information they need to verify radar indications, target their attention and help you relay reports in a clear manner to the NWS, via the direct number, by calling 205-664-3010 and pressing option 2, online at http://www.weather.gov/bmx/submit_storm_report or amateur radio.

This knowledge helps SKYWARN Net Control stations filter reports, by giving them knowledge of what reporting stations are trying to describe. This way they can tell if the report is a valid report, an invalid report by an overly excited operator or a valid, but poorly described report, which without this knowledge would be mistakenly dismissed.

For further information on these classes visit: http://www.weather.gov/bmx/skywarnschedule

 

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N1YZ HF Net LIST

Ham radio nets have always had a special place in my heart.

It was listening to hams working the tornado outbreak of April 3, 1974, on the AENX or Alabama Emergency Net Xray on the old 146.94 MHz repeater that piqued my interest in amateur radio.

There are many types of nets. There are emergency nets, disaster relief nets, DX spotting nets, social nets and NTS or National Traffic System Nets such as the Alabama Traffic Net Mike or ATNM. The ATNM which meets nightly at 18:30 UTC and Sunday morning at 8:30 UTC on 3.965 MHz LSB, is a net which along with other state or section nets, region nets and wide area nets provide a nationwide network for passing radiograms which provide a crucial non-internet dependent means of communications, which is even more relevant than ever considering the fragile nature of modern communications, where an incident or accident a thousand miles away can knock out communications in your own back yard.

The ATNM becomes the Alabama Emergency Net Mike during emergency situations and id the statewide ARES Net.

The designations Alabama Emergency Net “Xray” and “Mike” are legacy designations going back to a time in the 60’s and 70’s when Alabama’s nets were organized in a system called “the Alabama Emergency Net System.

Some nets that are in this system or at one time were, are:

Alabama Emergency Net Alpha – St. Clair County
Alabama Emergency Net Bravo – Defunct Alabama CW NTS Section Net 3.575 MHz
Alabama Emergency Net Delta – Defunct Alabama Slow Speed CW NTS Section Net 3.725 MHz
Alabama Emergency Net Juliette – Northwest AL
Alabama Emergency Net Kilo – Franklin, Mario & Winston Counties
Alabama Emergency Net Mike – Statewide ARES Net 3.965 MHz
Alabama Emergency Net November – Now the Shelby County ARES Net
Alabama Emergency Net Quebec – Covington County
Alabama Emergency Net Sierra – Marshall County
Alabama Emergency Net Uniform – Tuscaloosa County
Alabama Emergency Net Victor – Tallapoosa County
Alabama Emergency Net Whiskey – Calhoun County
Alabama Emergency Net Xray – Now the Jefferson County Emergency Net
Alabama Emergency Net Yankee – Etowah County
Alabama Emergency Net Zulu – Dekalb County

I know there are some I missed, and If anyone has further information I would be interested.

What ever became of the Alabama Emergency Net System, whether it still exists or not, I have never been able to determine. In fact, based on fruitless inquiries, I’m not sure if anyone other than me remembers that it even existed.

Back on topic, our friend, Rod Scott N1YZ has created an HF Net Webpage. This directory is in the form of a Google Doc and is maintained and updated by Rod, as he receives inputs, updates and corrections from his ham audience.

Rod has passed the link along to us.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1cpaIUPJOG9Kdb0Xo-hyzhcVKcyvOr37vrGIF1mIETHs/edit#gid=906307814

If you know of other nets which should be added to the list let Rod know.

Special thanks to Rod for making this list available to us.

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Mark’s Almanac

Originally called Martius, March is the third month & first month of the Roman calendar. March is named for Mars, the god of war, and was the start of the military campaign season.

The beginning of “Meteorological Spring”, which is based on changes in temperature and precipitation, not the solar angle, is March 1

March is a wet month. Most floods occur in March and rainfall averages around 6 inches.
Tornadic activity sharply increases in March with there being an increase of 2.2 times the number of tornadoes over the February amount. The focal point for this tornadic activity is the Gulf States.

March is the hail maximum for the Deep South. This is due both to the number of thunderstorms & due to the freezing level still being near the surface. This allows hail to form at lower altitudes and reach the ground intact, as opposed to summer months, when the freezing level is higher and near surface level temperatures are higher melting the hail into liquid before impact.

North Atlantic Tropical activity remains at a minimum. From 1851 to 2021 there has been only one Hurricane to occur. A 100 MPH unnamed Hurricane which affected the Lesser Antilles in March 6- 9, 1908. Some sources also cite a pre-Civil War Tropical Storm also occurring, but others do not.

South Atlantic Tropical activity doesn’t have a sharp peak as the North Atlantic season does in September, however currently March has a thin lead in activity, as from 1957 – 2021 there have been 86 identified Tropical or Subtopical Storms, including the only known South Atlantic Hurricane – Hurricane Catarina which struck Brazil March 28, 2004.

Brazilian authorities at first were unwilling to admit that Catarina was a hurricane, for up until that time is was considered impossible for the South Atlantic to generate a tropical system, due to wind shear, cold sea surface temperatures and the lack of storm systems from which a storm could develop. With extensive damage from an impossible storm looking at them, they finally reluctantly agreed that maybe NOAA’s opinion was right.

Meanwhile, back in Alabama…

Killing frosts are gone and the last average frost is on March 16.

March is a snow month for Alabama & there is a 45% chance of snow up to one inch, and an 8% chance of one inch or more.

The good news is that there is hope on the horizon as Spring will arrive at Vernal Equinox on March 20 at 15:33 UTC or 10:33 AM CDT.

The Sun will shine directly on the equator and there will be nearly equal amounts of day and night throughout the world. This is also the first day of fall, or Autumnal Equinox, in the Southern Hemisphere.

Remember to get the eggs out, as it is said that you can stand eggs on their ends at the hour of equinox.

You might also think about the Aurora, for Auroras love equinoxes. At this time of year, the interplanetary magnetic field or IMF can link up with Earth’s magnetic field, prying open cracks. Solar wind then pours in to fuel displays of the aurora borealis with no geomagnetic storm required. Researchers call this the Russell-McPherron Effect, named after the physicists who first described it in the 1970s

If you do see them be cautioned though, for among some northern Native American tribes it is said that as you are looking at the northern lights do not wave sing or whistle at them. Alerted to your presence the spirits of the lights will come down and take you away.

This month sees the return of Ruby Throated Humming Birds and the Giant Yellow Sulfur Butterflies that migrated south during the Fall.

Days grow longer as the Sun’s angle above the noonday horizon rapidly increases from 49.0 degrees at the beginning of the month to 60.7 degrees at the end. Daylight increases from 11 hours 28 minutes on March 1 to 12 hours 30 minutes on March 31.

Sunrise and sunset times for Birmingham are:

March 1 Sunrise 6:16 AM Sunset 5:44 PM
March 15 Sunrise 6:58 AM Sunset 6:55 PM
March 31 Sunrise 6:36 AM Sunset 7:07 PM *Daylight Savings Time

Why the sunrise is later midmonth as opposed to the first and the last of the month is due to a combination of the quirks in the Earth’s orbit, it’s axial tilt and it being near equinox affecting the length of day based on sunlight as opposed to the measurement of time based on the Earth’s rotation.

Daylight Savings Time begins at 2 AM on March 13. So remember to “spring forward” one hour. This, of course means I will lose one hour of “beauty sleep”, which is something I desperately need.

I don’t particularly care for Daylight Savings Time. I share the same opinion I found on the “Republic Of Lakotah” website:

When told the reason for daylight saving time the old Native American said…
“Only a white man would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket and sew it to the bottom of a blanket and have a longer blanket.”

Saint Patrick’s Day is Thursday March 17, and you better participate by wearing a Touch O’ The Green or you will be plagued by leprechauns and gnomes. Not a pleasant experience, I can assure you.

Looking skyward, the Sun, magnitude -26.8 is in Aquarius.

At the beginning of the month Mercury, magnitude -0.1 in Capricornus, is below the horizon at the first of the month but will soon reappear the predawn sky.

Venus, magnitude –4.8 in Sagittarius, rises 2 ½ hours before sunrise and is approaching
“Greatest elongation west” or her highest position in the predawn skies, which will occur on March 20, when she will be 46.6° above the horizon.

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

Mars, magnitude +1.3, in Sagittarius, rises 2 hours before sunrise.

Dwarf Planet Ceres, magnitude 8.7 is in Taurus.

Jupiter, magnitude –2.0 in Aquarius, is hidden in the Sun’s glare and will pass behind the Sun or be in Conjunction on March 5.

Saturn, magnitude +1.4, in Capricornus, is hidden in the glare of the Sun.

Uranus, magnitude +5.8, in southwestern Aries, becomes visible above the Western horizon around 6:39 PM CDT as dusk fades and sets around 10:38 PM.

Neptune, magnitude +7.8 in Aquarius, is hidden behind the Sun and will pass directly behind the Sun at Solar Conjunction on March 13.

Dwarf Planet Pluto, with his five moons shines at a dim 14.5 in Sagittarius.

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

Dwarf Planet 136472 Makemake with his moon S/2015 (136472) 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 18.8 in Cetus the Sea Monster.

At least four additional bodies with the preliminary criteria for identifying dwarf planets, and though not “officially” declared as such, are generally called dwarf planets by astronomers as well.

90482 Orcus, and his moon Vanth shines at magnitude 19.1 between Hydra and Serpens.

50000 Quaoar,and his moon Waywot shines at magnitude +18.6 in Ophiucus,

90377 Sedna, the coldest, and at one time, the most distant known place in the Solar System, glows faintly at magnitude +20.7 in Taurus.

90377 Sedna, glows faintly at magnitude +20.7 in Taurus.

225088 Gonggong, and his moon Xiangli glows dimly at +21.5 magnitude in Aquarius.

Currently the most distant observable known object in the Solar System, and asteroid unofficially called Asteroid 2018 AG37, and nicknamed FarFarOut, glows at a barely detectable +25.5 magnitude in Lynx.

FarFarOut is 12,246,241,135 miles or in Light Time, 18 hours, 15 minutes and 40.1951 seconds from Earth.

This object was discovered during an ongoing search for the source of the “gravity well” or the pull of gravity of a large body in space beyond Neptune that is apparently altering the path of objects in the outer solar system. The yet to be discovered Planet X, presumably is a Neptune sized planet tracing an unusual, elongated orbit in the outer solar system 20 times more distant from the Sun than Neptune.

4935 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of February 22, per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/

New Moon will occur on March 13 at 11:38 AM CDT or 17:38 UTC. 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 is the best time of the month to observe faint objects such as galaxies and star clusters because there is no moonlight to interfere.

First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur March 10 at 4:46 AM or 10:46 UTC. During the Quarter Moons the Moon’s magnitude is -10.0

The Moon will be at Apogee or its farthest distance from Earth on March 17, when she will be 251,200 miles from Earth.

March’s Full Moon will occur on March 18 at 2:20 AM CST or 7:20 UTC. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as “Worm Moon”. So called because the rains disturb the earthworms & they are seen wiggling around after the rains.

This moon has also been known as the Full Crow Moon, the Full Crust Moon, the Full Sap Moon, and the Lenten Moon.

During a Full Moon the Moon’s magnitude is -12.7,

Vernal Equinox occurs at 9:33 AM CDT or 15:33 UTC on March 20. The Sun will shine directly on the equator and there will be nearly equal amounts of day and night throughout the world. This is also the first day of fall, autumnal equinox, in the Southern Hemisphere.

The name “Vernal” comes from the Latin vernālis, which means “of those things pertaining to the spring”.

The Moon will be at her closest distance from Earth or perigee at 229,761 miles on March 23.

Last Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Eastern side illuminated, will occur March 25 at 12:39 AM CDT or 18:39 UTC.

Celestial carnivores are emerging from hibernation. After dinnertime at this time of year, five carnivore constellations are rising upright in a ragged row from the northeast to south. They’re all seen in profile with their noses pointed up and their feet (if any) to the right. These are The Great Bear, Ursa Major in the northeast, with the Big Dipper as its brightest part, Leo the Lion in the east, Hydra the Sea Serpent in the southeast, The Lesser Dog, Canis Minor higher in the south-southeast, and The Greater Dog, bright Canis Major in the south.

Sirius, shining at magnitude −1.46, the brightest nighttime star, blazes high in the south on the meridian, in Canis Major by about 8 or 9 p.m. Using binoculars, you will find a fuzzy spot 4 degrees south of Sirius, directly below it when the constellation is directly South. Four degrees is somewhat less than the width of a typical binocular’s field of view.

That dim little patch of gray haze is open star cluster Messier 41, a small gravitationally bound group of 100 stars about 2,200 light-years away and moving away from us at 869 miles per second. Sirius, by comparison, is only 8.6 light-years away.

Canopus, shining at magnitude -0.72, making it the second-brightest star after Sirius, lies 36° almost due south of Sirius. That’s far enough south that it never appears above the horizon if you are above latitude 37° N, such as southern Virginia, southern Missouri and central California. Luckily we lie south of that latitude, with our horizon lying, in the case of Central Alabama, around latitude 33°.

Canopus is located in the southern constellation Carina, The Keel, part of the defunct constellation Argo Navis, the ship of Jason and the Argonauts who searched for the Golden Fleece.

The constellation of Argo was introduced in ancient Greece. However, due to the massive size of Argo Navis and the sheer number of stars that required separate designation, Nicolas Louis de Lacaille divided Argo into three sections in 1763, including Carina, the Hull or Keel, Puppis, the Poop Deck, and Vela the Sails.

In the 19th century, these three became established as separate constellations, and were formally included in the list of 88 modern IAU constellations in 1930.

Canopus, 313 light years away, crosses low above the horizon, due south just 21 minutes before Sirius and is worthy of a peak.

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This month’s meeting will be on March 8 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 hope to see you there!

Mark Wells
WD4NYL & WRJE893
Editor
ALERT Newsletter
Wd4nyl@bellsouth.net

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