ALERT NEWSLETTER – March 2024

Hi Everyone,

The Birminghamfest 2024 is almost here, and I hope you can attend.

This event will be held at the Trussville Civic Center on Friday March 15 from 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM and Saturday, March 16 from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM.

The address is:

5381 Trussville-Clay Road
Trussville, AL 35173

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

Among the various forums are:

ALERT/NWS – 9 AM – 10 AM in the Fireside 2 Room
ARRL/ARES – 10 AM – 11 AM in the Fireside 2 Room
ARRL AL Section – 11 AM – to Noon in the Fireside 2 Room
Alabama WX Preparation (Fox 6) – 11 AM – Noon in the Fireside 3 Room
Jefferson County ARES – Noon – 1 PM in the Fireside 1 Room

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

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

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Alabama Traffic Net Mike Update

The Alabama Traffic Net Mike, which meets nightly on 3.965 MHz at 5:30 PM, will be changing its meeting time to 6:00 PM Central Time. This will be a permanent change unless band conditions present a problem.

If you have HF capability, I encourage you to support this net, as it is Alabama’s phone traffic net in the National Traffic System. During emergencies this frequency is the home of the Alabama Emergency Net Mike.

3.965 MHz LSB is Alabama’s HF frequency and it’s ham voice to the outside world.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Birmingham NWS Spring 2024 Storm Spotter Courses

The Birmingham NWS office is presenting several online and one in person Basic Spotter Courses and an 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 schedule is as follows:

Basic Class Online Thursday, February 29 at 6:30PM
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6300674854341889882

Basic Class Online Wednesday, March 6 at 6:30 PM
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5155626952501655645

Basic Class In Person Thursday, March 7 at 6:00PM to 8PM
Northport Police Department
3721 26th Avenue
Northport, AL 35473

Basic Class Online Thursday, March 14 at 6:30PM
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2247228481522559579

Basic Class Online Thursday, March 20 at 1:00 PM
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8713725744822051926

Advanced Online Thursday, March 26 at 6:30 PM
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3265170640177956951

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

If you are within NWS Birmingham’s 39 county coverage area and when you can do so safely, send the NWS a report. Include photos if you are able to. Remember, be concise and accurate with your report — who, what, when, and where. Please do not relay reports based on what you are seeing/hearing on television or on your app.

Send a report via:

Submit a Storm Report (weather.gov)

https://www.facebook.com/NWSBirmingham

Tweets by NWSBirmingham

On Twitter, tag The NWS in a Tweet or send a direct message. Include #alwx on your social media report and include a photo if possible

Call the NWS directly at 205-664-3010, option 2

Amateur Radio
Report:

Hail (any size):
Measure the largest hail stone or compare it to a common item.

0.25″ or less – pea
0.50″ – mothball
0.75″ – dime/penny
0.88″ – nickel
1.00″ – quarter (severe threshold)
1.25″ – half dollar
1.50″ – walnut/ping pong ball
1.75″ – golf ball
2.00″ – hen egg
2.50″ – tennis ball
2.75″ – baseball
3.00″ – tea cup
4.00″ – grapefruit
4.50″ – softball
Strong or damaging winds
What was damaged and to what extent?

Healthy trees snapped or uprooted
Large tree branches blown down
Power poles downed
Structures damaged (businesses, homes, outbuildings, etc.)
Rotating wall cloud, funnel cloud, or tornado
Be sure to confirm rotation and include the direction and distance of these features from your location.

 

Flooding:

Focus on water 6″ or more in depth that is rapidly flowing or standing water that is 3′ or more deep. Is the flood water threatening life or property? Are waterways/streams and creeks rapidly rising?

Severe Thunderstorm criteria (any combination of the following):

Winds of 58+ mph
Hail of 1″ in diameter or larger
A tornado

The knowledge gained by participating in these classes 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

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

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 2023 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 – 2024 there have been 88 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.

As I write this Tropical Storm Akara, which formed February 20 off the coast of Brazil, has just dissipated.

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 19 at 10:06 PM CDT or 03:06 UTC 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, 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 and the clouds of pollen that we love so well.

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 10. 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 might 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, The Water Bearer.

Mercury, magnitude -1.4, in Aquarius The Water Bearer, is lost in the glow of the Sun until midmonth when he reemerges into the evening sky.

On the 15th he will rise at 7:10 PM CST, at an altitude of 9° above the western horizon setting 1 hour and 3 minutes after the Sun at 7:57 PM.

Mercury’s 88 day orbit around the Sun will carry him to his closest point to the Sun or “Perihelion”, 28,816,300 miles from the Sun on March 17.

He will reach his greatest altitude above the horizon and greatest separation from the Sun, or “Greatest Eastern Elongation” on March 24, when he reaches 12° above the western horizon.

His evening visit will be brief though, as he will lower back into the glare of the Sun, disappearing from view on the 28th.

Venus, magnitude –3.9, in Capricornus, The Sea Goat, is very low in the predawn morning sky as she is lowering ever closer toward the horizon and the glow of the Sun.

At the first of the month, she rises at 5:06 AM CST, 1 hour and 6 minutes before the Sun, and reaches an altitude of 9° above the south-eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at 5:57 AM CST.

She will disappear into the Sun’s glow on March 7.

She will reach “Aphelion” or her furthest distance from the Sun, 67,857,739 miles from the Sun on March 19.
Earth and her Moon, magnitude -4.0, as viewed from the Sun, is in Virgo, The Virgin.

Dwarf Planet Ceres, magnitude +9.0, is in Sagittarius, The Archer.

Mars, with his moons Phobos and Deimos, magnitude +1.3, in Capricornus, The Sea Goat, is lost in the glow of the Sun.

Jupiter, and his 95 moons and (invisible from Earth) ring, magnitude -2.2, is in Aries, The Ram, is an early evening object and is receding into the evening twilight.

At the beginning of the month, he will become visible around 5:59 PM CST, 53° above the south-western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will continue to be observable until around 10:23 PM, when he sinks below 7° above the horizon.

By midmonth he becomes accessible around 7:10 PM CDT, 42° above the western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will continue to be observable until around 10:40 PM CDT, when he sinks below 7° above the horizon.

By the end of the month, he will become accessible around 7:22 PM CDT, 30° above the western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness and will continue to be observable until around 9:53 PM, when he sinks below 7° above the horizon.

Saturn, magnitude +1.0, and his 146 moons and extensive debris ring system, is in Aquarius, The Water Bearer, is lost in the glow of the Sun.

Uranus, magnitude +5.8, and his 27 moons and ring, in Aries, The Ram, is an early evening object, becoming visible around 6:42 PM CST, 52° above the western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will continue to be observable until around 11:04 PM, when he sinks below 21° above the western horizon.

By midmonth he will become visible around 7:53 PM CDT, at an altitude of 39° above the western horizon, as dusk fades into darkness. He will continue to be observable until 11:11 PM CDT, when he sinks below 21° above the western horizon.

At month’s end he becomes visible around 8:06 PM CDT, at an altitude of 24° above the western horizon. He will continue to be observable until around 11:12 PM CDT, when he sinks below 21° above the western horizon.

Neptune, magnitude +7.8, and his 14 moons and ring, in Pisces, The Fish, is lost in the glow of the Sun.

He will pass close to the Sun or be in Conjunction on March 17,

Dwarf Planet Pluto, with his five moons shines at a dim +14.5 in Capricorn, The Sea Goat.

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) 1, nicknamed MK1 by the discovery team, shines faintly at magnitude +17.1 in Coma Berenices.

Dwarf Planet 136199 Eris and her moon Dysnomia, originally referred to as Xena and Gabrielle, is barely visible in the most powerful telescopes at magnitude +18.7 in Cetus the Sea Monster.

At least six 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 Sextans, The Sextant.

50000 Quaoar, and his moon Waywot shines at magnitude +18.6 in Scutum, The Shield.

90377 Sedna, the coldest, and at one time, the most distant known place in the Solar System, glows faintly at magnitude +20.9 in Taurus, The Bull.

225088 Gonggong, originally nicknamed Snow White by the discovery team, 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 +23.1 in Eridanus, The River.

120347 Salacia, and her moon Actaea glows at magnitude 20.7 in Andromeda, The Chained Woman. Salacia is considered a “borderline” Dwarf Planet. Some astronomers saying she “most certainly is a Dwarf Planet”, while others disagreeing based on her size, saying she is too small to have compressed into a fully solid body, to have been resurfaced, or to have collapsed into “hydrostatic equilibrium”, that is to assume spherical shape like a planet.

This dark world lies beyond the orbit of Neptune, orbiting 4,164,420,166 miles from the Sun.

Currently the most distant observable known object in the Solar System, Asteroid 2018 AG37, nicknamed “FarFarOut”, which is 12,239,800,450 miles or 18 hours, 15 minutes and 6 seconds from Earth, , glows at a barely detectable +25.5 magnitude in Lynx.

The most distant man-made object, and the most distant known object in the Solar System Voyager 1, still operating after 46 years, 5 months and 19 days is 15,142,427,4210 miles, or in Light Time, 22 hours, 34 minutes and 47 Seconds from Earth as of 12:42 PM, February 24, 2024, sailing 38,027 miles per hour through Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer.

There are 1,308,871 known asteroids as of February 24, 2024, per NASA.

5587 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of February 24, 2024 per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/

Last Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Eastern side illuminated, will occur March 3, at 9:25 AM CST or 11:25 UTC.

During a Quarter Moon the Moon’s magnitude is -10.0.

New Moon will occur on March 10 at 4:02 AM CDT or 9:02 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.

You have heard of a “Supermoon”, which occurs when a Full Moon occurs at her nearest point to the Earth. When a New Moon occurs near her closest point to Earth, it is known as a Super New Moon.

This month’s New Moon is a Super New Moon.

The Moon will be at Perigee or its closest approach to Earth on March 10, when she will be 221,764 miles from Earth.

First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur March 16 at 11:11 PM CDT or 6:11 UTC.

During a Quarter Moon the Moon’s magnitude is -10.0.

Vernal Equinox occurs at 10:06 PM CDT or 03:06 UTC 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 Apogee or its farthest distance from Earth on March 23 when she will be 252,458 miles from Earth.

March’s Full Moon will occur on March 25 at 2:01 AM CDT or 9:01 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.

This month’s Full Moon is a Micromoon, as it is occurring as the Moon is at her farthest distance from the Earth.

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

There will be a Penumbral Lunar Eclipse March 25. A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes through the Earth’s partial shadow, or penumbra. During this type of eclipse, the Moon will slightly darken, but not completely. The eclipse will be visible throughout all North America, Mexico, Central America, and South America.

The eclipse will begin at 11:53 PM CDT or 4:53 UTC
Maximum eclipse will occur at 2:12 AM CDT or 7:12 UTC
The eclipse ends at 4:32 AM CDT or 9:32 UTC

Eclipses usually come in pairs. The second eclipse with be the Great North American Eclipse, a total eclipse which will cut through the central US on April 8, which in Alabama will be a partial solar eclipse.

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.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

This month’s meeting will be on March 12 at 7PM.

The meeting will held at the National Weather Service Forecast Office at the Shelby County Airport in Calera.

I hope to see you there!

Mark Wells
WD4NYL
Editor
ALERT Newsletter