June 2008 Newsletter

Published 06/01/2008 | By WD4NYL

ALERT NEWSLETTER — June 2008 Vol. 1 No. 12 Hi Everyone, June has arrived & with its arrival begins the North Atlantic Hurricane Season, which will last until the end of November. To help celebrate the arrival we already have Tropical Depression Arthur, which is inland over Mexico & dissipating. Arthur was originally an East Pacific storm named Alma, but, passed over Central America into the Caribbean, and reformed, regendered & was renamed. It reminds me of a few years ago a storm formed in the Eastern Atlantic, crossed the Caribbean & struck Central America. It reformed off the Pacific side & was renamed. It continued westward passing south of Hawaii & crossed the International Date Line & was renamed again & finally dissipated off shores of Malaysia. I was disappointed. I wanted it to cross the Malay Peninsula & enter the Bay of Bengal & regenerate. Then it would have had the distinction of being a hurricane, a typhoon & a tropical cyclone. As it is it crossed two thirds of the Earth’s surface. Not a wimpy feat, in my book. Other storms I remember, which were a little closer to home were Camille in 69, Fredrick in 79, Opal, and of course Ivan & Katrina. During the callout with Ivan, the NWS told us to come with a packed bag, as we might get trapped at the NWS by falling trees. I was on the air 17 hours straight that day. During the Katrina callout I received the following report from the Mobile WFO: URGENT–WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA ISSUED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 1205 PM CDT MONDAY AUG 29 2005 …EXTREME DANGEROUS HURRICANE KATRINA MOVING ACROSS SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI… …DEVASTATING DAMAGE CONTINUES ALONG ITS PATH… KATRINA…NOW A CATEGORY THREE HURRICANE WITH WINDS OF 125 MPH AND HIGHER GUSTS…WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE NORTHWARD ACROSS SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND INTO EAST CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. ALONG AND NEAR KATRINA’S PATH…EXPECT PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE. ALL WOOD FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE…INCLUDING SOME WALL AND ROOF FAILURE. HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY…A FEW POSSIBLY TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. MANY WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT. AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD…AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION…PERSONS…PETS…AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK. POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS…AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS. THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED…ONLY THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING…BUT BE TOTALLY DE-FOLIATED. THE HURRICANE FORCE WINDS WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH BELOW HURRICANE STRENGTH FROM SOUTH TO NORTH THROUGH THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS. Though I find weather obsessively fascinating, I truly hope we don’t see any more reports such as this for many years to come. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Hurricane Impact & Hurricane Response Alabama is impacted by hurricanes in three ways: 1. Direct Impact — Where the core of the storm or the rain / wind field actually strikes or passes through a portion of Alabama. Examples being Hurricane’s Fredrick, Opal, Ivan or Katrina. 2. Indirect Impact — where the core is not over Alabama, but the feeder bands are passing through and causing havoc. Rita’s feeder band being a good example, which dropped 20 tornadoes over west Alabama in a 4 hour period. I was NCS on 88 as Tuscaloosa County was hit by 10 tornadoes. Some on the ground simultaneously, north and south in the county, during this – the second largest one day tornado outbreak on record. 3. Distant Impact — A storm is not even near Alabama, but, affecting our weather. Such as with Olivia, a Pacific Hurricane which was off Western Mexico. Her moisture was captured by the jet stream, crossed the Sonora desert, the Arklatex region & dumped monsoon type rains on Alabama & Mississippi, causing flooding. ALERT typically will activate during scenarios 1 & 2. Most of our activity when the storm is near the coast is on HF at 3.965 or the backup 40 meter frequency of 7.225. Gulf Coast Nets to monitor are: Primary State ARES Frequencies & Nets for Gulf of Mexico & regular meeting times. 3.965 MHz Alabama Emergency Net Mike 4:00 PM Sunday 3.940 MHz Florida Amateur Single Sideband Net 6:00 PM 3.975 MHz Georgia Single Sideband Net 7:30 PM 3.910 MHz Louisiana Traffic Net 6:30 PM 3.862 MHz Mississippi Section Phone Net 6:00 PM 3.873 MHz Texas Traffic Net 6:30 PM Wide Coverage Nets 14.235 MHz Hurricane Watch Net As Needed 3.935 MHz Central Gulf Coast Hurricane Net 1:00 UTC Now with the Hurricane Watch Net, it is only activated when a storm is within 300 miles of a populated land mass. This net is one where you don’t check in to, only listen. Only if you have a legitimate need to check in do you do so — emergency/priority traffic or if the NCS specifically calls for a station in Central Alabama, only then should you pick the microphone up. Once upon a time a Hurricane, I think Gilbert, was rearranging Jamaica & the NCS asked “do we have any stations in the affected area, the affected area only?” Some dingbat from zero-land, piped in and slowly drawled out “This is K0QRM, Homer over in Tulsa Oklahoma, just wanting to tell you folk what a fine job, a fine job you fellers are doing. And, if I can be of any help, any help at all just let me know. This is Homer, K0QRM, over in Tulsa Oklahoma on frequency and standing by.” Learn from a bad example. Don’t do this. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Mark’s Almanac Originally the fourth Roman Month, June at one time had 29 days, until Julius Caesar got bored and added the 30th day. What June was named for is uncertain. Some say the heathen named it for Juno, wife & sister of Jupiter. Storm activity retains many of the characteristics of spring, but more and more the pattern takes on the summer pattern of pop-up thunderstorms. Hurricane season begins, however June hurricanes are usually small and of minor intensity, occurring roughly once every two years. The centers for June Tropical Cyclone activity are the extreme Western Caribbean, with the storm tracks striking the Yucatan or veering toward Western Florida & the Southwestern Gulf of Mexico, with the storm tracks aiming toward the Mexican mainland. The center of maximum tornadic activity shifts northward over Kansas and Iowa. Activity in Texas and Oklahoma dies down. There is a 5% decrease in tornadic activity over the May average & by June fourth 50% of the years tornadoes have occurred. Summer Solstice will occur at 23:59 UTC on June 20. Mark June 25th on the calendar & on that date remember Christmas, for this is what Christmas day feels like in Northern Australia. “I’m dreaming of a sweaty Christmas”….just doesn’t seem to have the same ring. Also, next to last but not least, in June ducks loose all their flight feathers at once and are incapable of flying. But, if you decide to grab a Louisville Slugger and go about bludgeoning ducks for supper, I really don’t want to know. May’s Full Moon is “Strawberry Moon” in Native American folklore. ………………………………………………………………………………………. This month’s meeting will be on June 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

June 2008 Newsletter

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