ALERT NEWSLETTER – May 2014

Hi Everyone, I hope this finds you doing well & that you have been enjoying these mostly sunny mid-spring days. Our May ALERT meeting will feature our annual elections. If you are a paid up Operational or Supporting Member, which is a member interested in Amateur Radio, Skywarn or Emergency Communications, but doesn’t have a ham license (yet), you may vote in the 2014 – 2015 ALERT leadership elections. The officers will assume their positions at the July meeting. July is also when ALERT dues are due. Remember, if you want to respond to ALERT callouts or serve as an officer you MUST be current with your dues. So put the teeth in, comb that one remaining hair and head to the NWS Forecast Office May the 13th at 7PM. I hope to see you at the meeting! ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Severe Weather & Weather Radios by Ronnie King WX4RON Have you or your family or close friends, ever had an up close and personal experience with severe weather? Could or would your experience have been altered by an alert from a weather radio? Let us take a look at a few things related to severe weather and weather radios. Do you know how to program one or do you know someone else that knows how? Many times your local NWS office personnel know how to program or setup most types/brands of weather radio. Most of the time it just takes reading the instructions to set it up also. Many ham radio operators know how to program weather radios too. If you do not know how to program one, talk to a local ham club or the news media or even your local NWS office about setting up a day for a weather radio programing event in your community. Do you always have your weather radio on so that you get severe weather alerts for yourarea both day and night? Do you have it turned off because it alerts for things that do not apply to your area or that you do not want to hear? This can all be fixed by the programming, meaning most of the alerts can be disabled/enabled. These can be set for all areas you want to hear certain alerts for. If you live in Idaho, you might not want “hurricane warnings” to alert in your area. If you live in Florida you might not want “Lake Effect Snow Warnings” to alert. There are lots of things that the NOAA/NWS has alerts for that can be of some benefit to some communities and others that are better for other communities. Do you know that many/most/all of the weather alert radios have a battery backup system? Do you know what size batteries your radio requires? Do you know if yours is in working condition? Do you know how to test your battery backup system? These are there for instances of severe weather or disasters that might knock your power out to the radio. This is good to have/know because if there are multiple instances of severe weather affecting your area, you can still count on your weather radio as long as you have the battery backup system taken care of. A fellow that I know uses a certain phrase all of the time and he is right about it, “Situational Awareness”. Having your weather radio operating properly helps one maintain this situational awareness. Knowing what is going on around you, before it is too late, is something that can help save your life or that of someone you love and care about. We are now in Spring and that means the greater possibility of severe weather here in Alabama. Being prepared and situationally aware is something that many of us practice doing. Please continue to do so and remember there is no shame in asking for help, especially if it can save a life or lives. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Emergency Notification Via Cellphones – Both Dumb & Smart by Mark Wells WD4NYL At our last ALERT meeting there was a brief interruption caused by the sounding of a trumpet that would make Gabriel proud. This auspicious sound was my cellphone heralding the news that the NWS was cancelling the flood warning for Jefferson County. This alert was sent by the NWS InteractiveNWS (iNWS) system. While the NWS normally provides alert and warning information through NOAA Weather Radio & its http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bmx/ website, it does not provide direct email/SMS alerts to the general public. The good news is that IF you are an ALERT member, you are not considered the “general public”, but part of the NWS community and qualify to sign up to receive these iNWS alerts. The iNWS is intended for members of community emergency planning and response management i.e. emergency managers, law enforcement, fire and emergency responders, transportation and safety managers, public officials, Skywarn Net Control operators, government partners of NWS offices, and members of the electronic media. You can receive messages either with a smartphone App or as a direct email/SMS message and it is free of charge. You can set which county you wish to be alerted for and which type of message you wish to be notified about, such as watches and warnings. To register go to https://inws.wrh.noaa.gov/alerts Your registration request will be reviewed and you will receive an email notifying you of the approval or denial of your registration request within 1-2 business days. There are other methods available also, which I will briefly describe. Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) If you are already receiving alerts, but never signed up for them, they may be coming from a new public system called the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA). WEA was developed by CTIA – The Wireless Association, the FCC and FEMA to provide a tool to alert people as soon as possible that their lives or properties are seriously at risk. The alerts are in the form of concise, text-like messages to users’ WEA-capable mobile devices. This ensures as many Americans as possible are alerted to the dangerous situations. This is not unlike the “reverse 911” system which some areas use for large scale public notification of dangers and civil emergencies. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_911 WEA use a point-to-multipoint system, which limits messages to where you are currently located. For instance, if you are visiting Southern California and an earthquake occurs at your location, you will receive an “Imminent Threat Alert., whereas, I won’t, since I’m sitting in Birmingham, not San Diego. There are three different kinds of alerts: Presidential Alerts – Alerts issued by the President or a designee, which will never be a happy note to receive, as it will mean a national emergency has or is occurring, such as Vladimir Putin waking up with a migraine and “pushing the button”. Imminent Threat Alerts – Alerts that include severe man-made or natural disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, etc., where an imminent threat to life or property exists. AMBER ALERTS – Alerts that meet the U.S. Department of Justice’s criteria to help law enforcement search for and locate an abducted child. These alerts appear on a person’s mobile device similar to a text message. Mobile users are not charged for receiving these text-like alerts and are automatically enrolled to receive them. More information can be found at http://ctia.org/wea. Alabama SAF-T-Net The Alabama SAF-T-Net service, is provided free of charge by Baron Services, the company which developed the VIPIR Radar system, which FOX6 uses, and is endorsed by the Alabama State EMA. With SAF-T-Net you can receive alerts via phone, email or text messaging for up to four locations. The system provides enhanced location-based storm alerts to recipients. The Alabama SAF-T-Net is a multi-source site-specific network, which includes: 1. National Weather Service storm-based (polygon) tornado, severe thunderstorm, and flash flood warnings. 2. Baron patented advisories for strong or dangerous twisting storms approaching designated locations 3. Mitigation messaging from Emergency Management 4. Breaking weather updates from media partners One message I received stated: “SAF-T-Net Weather Alert: Dangerous storm approaching your home and your workplace, BTI:2.2 http://now.baronservices.com/01073” A few minutes after receiving this I received quarter sized hail. A sample message for a possible tornadic storm is: “SAF-T-Net Weather Alert: Twisting storm approaching your home, BTI: 5.6, http://now.baronservices.com/01073” The “BTI” mentioned in the messages is the Baron Tornado Index, which determines the storm’s ability to produce the tornado. The color-coded legend for the BTI is: Baron Tornado Index BTI or Vipir Tornado Index VTI 0 – 2 Minimal Risk 2 – 4 Low Risk 4 – 6 Moderate Risk 6 – 7 Possible 7 – 8 Probable 8 – 10 Likely The link at the bottom of the message is a short radar loop of the incoming storm. Quoted from their website: “Alabama SAF-T-Net Mobile Weather Alerting Service Available is at no cost to all residents Alabama, Alabama SAF-T-Net notifies those in the path of dangerous weather through mobile apps, text messaging, email or voice calls. You choose up to four customizable locations, like home, work or your kids’ schools. The Alabama SAF-T-Net app is also great for daily weather, with current conditions, forecasts, a radar map and more. Alerts include: NWS Tornado Warnings NWS Severe Thunderstorm Warnings Baron-exclusive Twisting Storm Alerts Baron-exclusive Dangerous Storm Alerts And more Patented technology means Alabama SAF-T-Net only sends you weather alerts when it matters–if you’re not affected, you’re not alerted. Download the free iPhone or Android app today. If you don’t have a smart phone, you can also sign up for free text message, email and voice alerts Download the free iPhone or Android app today. You can also sign up for free text message, email and voice alerts here. – See more at: http://alabamasaftnet.com/about#sthash.HLLhijHP.dpuf” I find this source particularly useful in that it will let me know when a “non-severe severe storm” is approaching, which is by my definition is “any storm that will scare the stew out of me”. NEWS SOURCES During the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing, it occurred to me that I had no way of being notified of “non-weather” emergencies, either on a local or national scale. In our ever increasingly dangerous world, that is not a situation to be in. To remedy this I downloaded an app from Breaking News. This alerts me to national & international developments to which attention should be paid. This also is free. See http://www.breakingnews.com/ For local developments I downloaded ABC3340’s free app, so I won’t be caught blissfully unaware that I’m about to drive between some nut and a S.W.A.T Team. See http://www.abc3340.com/category/269288/abc-3340-news-app These tools should be included in your personal emergency preparedness plans. You will be glad you did. ———————————————————————————————————————— Mark’s Almanac May is the fifth month & third month of the Roman calendar. May is named for the Greek goddess Maia, who was identified with, Bona Dea, the Goddess of Fertility, who was celebrated in May. Since ancient times the first day of the month, “May Day” has been a time of celebration. In Rome it honored Flora, the goddess of flowers. On May the fifth Mexican’s celebrate Cinco De Mayo, the celebration Mexico’s 1862 victory over Napoleon III’s forces at Puebla. This is not, as many assume, Mexico’s Independence Day, which is actually on September 16. Rainfall decreases in May as the Bermuda High strengthens & begins rerouting storm systems northward. The door opens to the Gulf of Mexico & Gulf moisture spreads northward over the continent. The center of maximum tornadic activity also shifts northward over the Nation’s Heartland. May is the peak tornado month, with a 42% increase over April’s amount. Eastern Pacific hurricane season begins May 15, and although the North Atlantic hurricane season has not arrived, occasionally a tropical system will form in the Gulf of Mexico. In 110 years there have been 14 named storms. Turning our eyes towards the sky, Mercury is hidden in the glare of the Sun. Venus is the bright “Morning Star” low in the Eastern dawn. Mars is high in the southeast after dark and highest around 11PM. Jupiter in Gemini is high in the southwest in the evening twilight and sets around 1 AM. Saturn in Libra rises at evening twilight and is highest in the south around 1 or 2 AM. Saturn will be at opposition, or closest to Earth on May 10. Uranus & Neptune are low in the dawn. The Aquarids Meteor Shower, a minor shower, will peak May 5 & 6 with 30 meteors per hour. May’s Full Moon is “Flower Moon” in Native American folklore. This month’s full moon will occur May 14th at 7:16 PM. In the early morning hours of Saturday, May 24, the Earth will pass through the debris field left behind by a small comet known as P/209 LINEAR. Astronomers are predicting that this interaction may result in a brief but intense Meteor Storm that could range from dozens to hundreds of meteors per hour. Nothing is certain, but many mathematical models are predicting that this could be the most intense meteor shower in more than a decade. ……………………………………………………………………………………..…………………………………. This month’s meeting will be on May 13 at 7PM at the National Weather Service Forecast office at the Shelby County Airport. I hope to see you there! Mark / WD4NYL Editor ALERT http://www.freewebs.com/weatherlynx