ALERT NEWSLETTER – December 2022

Hi Everyone,

I hope this finds everyone well as we look forward to the Christmas Season.

Do you know where you stand on the Naughty and Nice List?

I find it’s getting harder to trick Old Saint Nick, especially with Alexa and Siri snitching on me, for you do know they are listening, don’t you? I heard them talking about me just the other day.

Will I get a nice new antenna, good gooey chocolate or that large sack of coal, as the mechanical sounding heifers were saying just yesterday?

Only time will tell.

But, I trust you are all on the Nice list and are safe from unpleasant surprises.

So, I from the House of Mark and Teresa, we wish you all a very safe and Merry Christmas!

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ALERT Happenings!

Good evening everyone!

We have a few important breaking news, items/events coming up this holiday season, that will need some coordination. Big email ahead! :: deep breath ::

But first, just a thought from Casey:
Let’s keep our brothers and sisters in the hobby in our thoughts. There are a few folks going through a rough time, health-wise, or other-wise. It’s easy to get caught up in our own thought processes, or to-do list at this time of year, that we might miss what’s really important.

The holidays are awesome, fun, but it is rough for some. Be sure to remember to check on our friends, and remember that we are all imperfect human beings. If you can do something small to make someone’s day when things are rough, don’t hesitate, just do it. It is always better to be a light in the dark, than a back-pew criticizer.

Let’s talk about…
• Christmas Party
• Skywarn Recognition Day
• New BMXSpotterChat

Christmas Party and Dinner
When: Tuesday, December 13, 2022, at 6:30PM
Where: National Weather Service, in Calera, in person!

The meat voted on this year at the November meeting was BBQ, and will be provided.

Please RSVP ASAP to Johnnie Knobloch wxjohnnie@gmail.com , with how many and what you’re bringing. Be sure to include your phone number, so that Johnnie can coordinate/ensure that it’s a good mix.

Skywarn Recognition Day – #Skywarn2022

When: Saturday, December 3, 2022, 0Z-24Z (6PM – 6PM the following day.)
Where: National Weather Service in Calera, and… At Home, Out and About.

What is Skywarn Recognition Day? A celebration of the contribution to public safety made by Skywarn Spotters and Amateur radio during threatening weather.
• Amateur Radio stations exchange information/messages with as many NWS stations as possible, on 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6, 2 meter bands, and 70 centimeter bands. Contacts via repeater, and other digital means is permitted!
• Skywarn Spotters who are not amateur radio licensed would exchange weather information/conditions as often as possible via social media with NWS offices. Maybe, even use BMXSpotterChat to make contact!

ALERT Members: If anyone would like to come to the NWS office to operate the radio, please reply back, so that we can inform NWS.
There’s nothing that says we have to be there for the full 24 hours, but we are welcome to operate the station for as long as we wish, as an activation. We are also able to represent NWS remotely.

If we choose to have some operators representing ALERT/K4NWS remotely, and you want to use a shared log, so that people in different places can see updates to the log in real-time, and avoid duplicate contacts, I would recommend using this log:
Skywarn Recognition Day Contact Log.xlsx

* Home Participants: If you log in to Teams, you can edit that.
If you do not have a login, please email casey@alert-alabama.org
for the password to edit. I can give you a password.

Links:
Skywarn Recognition 2022 Page: https://www.weather.gov/crh/skywarnrecognition
Skywarn Recognition on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/srd2021
(Yes, this is for 2022 as well)
Amateur Radio Operating Procedures: https://www.weather.gov/crh/skywarn_operating_procedures
Zulu/UTC Time to Local Time Conversion Table: https://www.weather.gov/iwx/wsr_88d#utc

 

New BMXSpotterChat Server!!!

Remember when BMXSpotterChat was on Weather.IM, and we monitored that?
At least a year ago, the owners/administrators of Weather.IM made ALL chats read-only, which meant that BMXSpotterChat became unusable for everyone.

What did we do when Weather.IM’s BMXSpotterChat became unusable/obsolete/extinct?
We had replaced BMXSpotterChat with Microsoft Teams. Adoption of Teams wasn’t as strong/well-accepted, because not everyone had (or remembered) their Microsoft account login. People who use Teams for work found that you can’t be logged into both ALERT and Work at the same time… That means, participation in Microsoft Teams was a bit low.

Introducing….. BMXSpotterChat (New, easier software – Slack.)
The National Weather Service is working on retiring NWSChat, and replacing it with Slack. To simplify things, we are doing the same thing!
You can use this on your Android/iPhone, PC/Linux/Mac, or a web browser. You can be in as many Slack workspaces as you wish.

Log-ins are simple, you can use your email and password, OR have it send a link to your email, which will log you in automatically when clicked.
New Users Sign Up: https://join.slack.com/t/bmxspotterchat/signup

Existing Users: https://bmxspotterchat.slack.com
Users of ALERT or NOAA email addresses will be auto-approved.

Name Guidelines: Required for All Users.
ALERT Member:
Format: County-ALERT-Callsign-Full Name
Example: ALERT-Jefferson-NZ2O-Casey Benefield

Amateur Radio:
Format: HAM-County-Callsign-Full Name
Example: HAM-Jefferson-NZ2O-Casey Benefield

Skywarn Spotter:
Format: SKYWARN-County- Full Name
Example: SKYWARN-Jefferson-Casey Benefield

Does Microsoft Teams go away?
No, at least not yet. Microsoft Teams is still a great tool for video conferencing, file storage/training, shared/collaboratively editing documents in real-time. It is vastly superior to Slack video calling, in terms of how many people can be on a meeting/conference at a time.
Additionally, in Slack, messages and files will go away after 90 days, but Teams does not have this limitation, and we have plenty of licenses. It’s a good back-up, if Slack ever went down.
If you aren’t in Teams, but want to be, let me know. I can still add you.

Existing “ALERT-K4NWS Skywarn Operations” Slack Users: I owe you an explanation!
Some of you may have already received an invite to a Slack group called “ALERT-K4NWS Skywarn Operations.” This was our attempt to test it out, and give Slack for Nonprofits a try.
For those of you in that group, we are changing it again! Slack for Nonprofits is not free, when you exceed 250 users. The free version actually supports more users.
I will try and get everyone invited to the new one, but this particular group will be renamed, and probably only used for internal Ops Member/Moderation purposes. We haven’t decided how we might use this one.


Thank you for your time – I know this was a lot to unpack!

Best regards, and 73,

Casey Benefield, NZ2O

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Mark’s Almanac

December was the tenth Roman Month, from whence it gets its name, “decem” meaning “ten”. Among many Native American tribes it was called “the Moon of Clacking Rocks”, as it was the time when they prepared and manufactured stone tools, implements and weapons, since the growing season was over, and bad weather prevented them from hunting.

December is the cloudiest month of the year, with only 40 to 60% of possible sunshine poking through the clouds. It is also the stormiest month of the year for the Continental US & the Gulf of Mexico. By “stormy” meaning large-scale storms, not necessarily the tornadic storms that they bring, even though we are still in our Second Tornado Season.

A region of heavy rainfall usually forms from Texas to Northwest Florida to Tennessee and Arkansas. Cold waves bringing rain, snow, ice and occasionally tornadoes, sweep across the region.

Average precipitation in Birmingham is 4.47” of rainfall and 0.1” of snowfall.

December can be cloudy and cold, and, then it can swing into spring like warmth, luring plants to bloom early, only to have the frosts and freezes return and the plants are “nipped in the bud”.

Hurricane season is now “officially” over, however Mother Nature sometimes throws a surprise in to make life interesting.

From 1851 – 2020 there have been 19 Tropical Storms and from 1822 to 2021 there have been 8 Category 1 hurricanes, but none have ever struck the United States.

Two notable December hurricanes are:

Hurricane Alice of 1954, which is the only known Atlantic hurricane to span two calendar years and one of only two named Atlantic tropical cyclones, along with Tropical Storm Zeta of 2005, to do so.

Alice developed on December 30, 1954 from a trough of low pressure in the central Atlantic Ocean in an area of unusually favorable conditions. The storm moved southwestward and gradually strengthened to reach hurricane status. After passing through the Leeward Islands on January 2, 1955, Alice reached peak winds of 90 mph before encountering cold air and turning to the southeast. It dissipated on January 6 over the southeastern Caribbean Sea.

The last December hurricane to occur was Hurricane Epsilon during the 2005 season, the year in which we ran out of hurricane names. The year also featured Tropical Storm Zeta, the latest forming Tropical Storm which formed on December 30, 2005 and lasted until January 7, 2006.

Days continue to grow shorter as the Sun’s angle above the noonday horizon steadily decreases from 34.6 degrees at the beginning of the month to 33.0 degrees at Winter Solstice on December 21 and then the angle begins to lift reaching 33.4 degrees on New Year’s Eve,

Daylight decreases from 10 hours 6 minutes on December 1 to 9 hours 56 minutes at Winter Solstice and then increases to 9 hours 58 minutes on December 31

Sunrise and Sunset times for Birmingham are:

December 1 Sunrise 6:33 AM Sunset 4:39 PM
December 15 Sunrise 6:43 AM Sunset 4:40 PM
December 21 Sunrise 6:47 AM Sunset 4:43 PM
December 31 Sunrise 6:51 AM Sunset 4:49 PM

Looking skyward, at the beginning of the month, the Sun, magnitude -26.8 is in Scorpius, The Scorpion.

Mercury, magnitude -0.7, in Ophiuchus, recently passed behind the Sun at Superior Conjunction
and is lost in the glow of the Sun as the month begins. As the month progresses, he will emerge into the evening sky and will reach his highest point above the western horizon or “Greatest Eastern Elongation” on December 21.

This is the best time to view Mercury. Look for the planet low in the western sky just after sunset

Venus, magnitude –3.9, in Ophiuchus, The Serpent Bearer, is hidden in the glow of the Sun.

Earth and her Moon, magnitude -4.0, as viewed from the Sun, is in Orion, The Hunter.

Mars, with his moons Phobos and Deimos, magnitude -1.8, in Taurus, The Bull, becomes visible around 6 PM, 7° above the north-eastern horizon. He will then reach his highest point in the sky around 1 AM, 81° above the southern horizon. He will be lost in the dawn twilight around 6 AM, 19° above the western horizon.

Mars will pass very close to the Moon or vice versa on December 7, when they will be 0.5° apart.

The red planet will be at his closest approach to Earth, or “Opposition” on December 8 and his face will be fully illuminated by the Sun. He will be brighter than any other time of the year and will be visible all night long. This is the best time to view and photograph Mars. A medium-sized telescope will allow you to see some of the dark details on the planet’s orange surface.

On December 26 Vernal or Spring Equinox will greet the Northern Hemisphere of Mars.

Dwarf Planet Ceres, magnitude +8.6, is in Leo the Lion.

Jupiter, and his 79 moons and ring, magnitude -2.6, is in Pisces, The Fish, dominates the night sky, becoming visible around 7 PM 40° above your south-eastern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness.

He will reach his highest point in the sky around 7:30, 54° above your southern horizon. He will continue to be observable until around 12:30, when he sinks below 7° above the western horizon.

Saturn, his 82 moons and extensive debris ring system, shining at magnitude +0.8, in Capricornus, The Sea Goat, is an early evening object, becoming visible a little after 5 PM, 40° above the southern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will then sink towards the horizon, setting around 10 PM.

Uranus, his 27 moons and ring, glow at magnitude, +5.7, in Aries, The Ram, is approaching “Opposition” or directly opposite the Earth and Sun and is visible as a morning object.

He becomes visible around 6 PM, 26° above the eastern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will then reach his highest point in the sky at around 10 PM, 72° above the southern horizon. He will continue to be observable until around 3 AM, when he sinks below 21° above the western horizon.

Neptune, his 14 moons and ring, at magnitude, magnitude +7.7, on the border of Aquarius, The Water Bearer and Pisces, the Fish, is an early evening object, now receding into evening twilight.

He becomes visible in telescopes around 6 PM, 48° above your south-eastern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will reach his highest point in the sky around 7 PM, 52° above your southern horizon. He will continue to be observable until around 11 PM, when it sinks below 21° above the western horizon.

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

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

Dwarf Planet 136472 Makemake with his moon S/2015 (136472) faintly shines at magnitude 17.2 in Coma Berenices or “Berenices Hair”.

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.

At least five 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, The Snake.

50000 Quaoar,and his moon Waywot shines at magnitude +18.6 in Ophiuchus, The Serpent Bearer.

90377 Sedna, the coldest, and at one time, the most distant known place in the Solar System, glows faintly at magnitude +20.8 in Taurus, The Bull.

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

2014 UZ224 nicknamed “DeeDee” for “Distant Dwarf” is 8.5 billion miles from the Sun, at magnitude +23.0 in Eridanus, The River.

Currently the most distant observable known object in the Solar System, Asteroid 2018 AG37, nicknamed “FarFarOut”, which is 12.4 billion miles or 18.5 light hours from Earth, glows at a barely detectable +25.5 magnitude in Lynx.

5211 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of November 14, per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/

Full Moon occurs at 10:09 PM CST on December 7 or 4:09 UTC on December 8 when the Moon, being on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun will be fully illuminated. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Full Cold Moon because this is the time of year when the cold winter air settles in and the nights become long and dark. This moon has also been known as the Moon Before Yule and the Full Long Nights Moon.

The Moon will be at Apogee or its farthest distance from Earth on December 11, when she will be 252,195 miles from Earth.

Last Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Eastern side illuminated, will occur December 16 at 2:59 AM or 8:59 UTC.

During a Quarter Moon the Moon’s magnitude is -10.0.
The Geminid Meteor Shower peaks on December 13-14. Geminids are one of the year’s best meteor showers. It is my favorite meteor shower and considered by many to be the best shower in the heavens. It’s a consistent and prolific shower, and usually the most satisfying of all the annual showers, even surpassing the more widely recognized Perseids of August. This shower typically produces 50 or more multicolored meteors an hour, or about one every minute, and at the peak 120 meteors per hour.

As a general rule, the dazzling Geminid meteor shower starts around mid-evening and tends to pick up steam as evening deepens into late night. No matter where you live worldwide, the greatest number of meteors usually fall in the wee hours after midnight, or for a few hours centered around 2 a.m. local time, as the Earth plows headlong into the stream. If you’re game, you can watch the Geminid shower all the way from mid-evening until dawn.

The Geminids are produced by debris left behind by an asteroid known as 3200 Phaethon, which was discovered in 1982. The shower runs annually from December 7-17. It peaks this year on the night of the 13th and morning of the 14th. The morning of the 15th could also be nearly as active this year.

The waning gibbous moon will block many of the fainter meteors this year. But the Geminids are so numerous and bright that this should still be a good show. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Gemini but can appear anywhere in the sky.

Winter Solstice will occur on December 21 at 5:40 PM CST or 21:40 UTC. The South Pole of the earth will be tilted toward the Sun, which will have reached its southernmost position in the sky and will be directly over the Tropic of Capricorn at 23.44 degrees south latitude. This is the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of summer in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Ursid meteor shower, a minor meteor shower, which runs annually from December 17-25 will peak on the night and morning of December 21 – 22 producing about 5-10 meteors per hour. It is produced by dust grains left behind by comet Tuttle, which was first discovered in 1790.

This year, the nearly new moon will leave dark skies for what should be a good show. Best viewing will be just after midnight from a dark location far away from city lights. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Ursa Minor but can appear anywhere in the sky.

New Moon occurs December 23 at 4:17 AM CST or 10:17 UTC. The Moon will 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.

The Moon will be at Perigee or its closest approach to Earth on December 24, when she will be 2212,619 miles from Earth.

First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur again December 29 at 7:22 PM or 01:22 UTC on December 30. During a Quarter Moon the Moon’s magnitude is -10.0.

’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’

Christmas

Christmas is my favorite time of the year.

Christmastime is a time of wonder & mystery. A time of bright lights, shining trees and the time of hide and seek, as presents are hidden from inquiring minds and fingers.

It is a time when one’s mind and memories drift back to days of childhood, and Christmases now long gone by. Remembering friends and family, some here, some now gone & longing that they were near once again, as it was once upon a time not so long ago.
And it is a time when, if we allow ourselves and don’t choose to “Grinch out” and be sour pusses, we can become kids once again.

Most importantly though, it’s a time to remember that the true “reason for the season” occurred in a manger, long ago on that first cold and chilly “Silent Night.”

So, as you go about your Christmas preparations remember the magic that was there when you were a child & don’t let that magic die. Make it magic once again

For Christmas truly is “the most wonderful time of the year”.

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This month’s meeting will feature the ALERT Christmas Party on December 13 at 7:00 PM at the National Weather Service Forecast office at the Shelby County Airport.

Hope to see you there!

Mark / WD4NYL
Editor
ALERT Newsletter