It’s that time of year when the weather can significantly influence our driving. Snow on the roads is easily seen, then readily dealt with but black ice, it’s another story. We can often experience black ice and it shows up quickly, at times without warning. Be aware and cautious.
The National Weather Service, State College has posted the Basic SkyWarn Spotter training schedule for October. All of the training sessions will be online.
The heat we’ve had needs to be taken seriously regardless of a person’s age. Experiencing the heat while outdoors can be debilitating and it poses a serous health concern. Just keeping hydrated is not necessarily the best preventative for heat related issues.
Additionally remember that there are serious ramifications that result from the heat that builds in our vehicles. Remember to take children with you regardless of how quick you think you’ll be back. Also remember to lock the vehicle to prevent children entering the vehicle and unable to exit.
Our pets are effected just as adversely with high temperatures when left in a vehicle. Leaving a window open part-way is not the answer, your pet needs to go with you.
Strong, damaging winds and/or large hail are occurring or will occur shortly. When a severe thunderstorm warning is in effect for your area, move inside a sturdy structure immediately and stay away from windows and doors. Acting early helps save lives!
A severe thunderstorm WATCH means BE PREPARED for the potential of strong, damaging winds and/or large hail typically within the next 3-7 hours of the watch issuance.
When there is a severe thunderstorm watch, pay extra close attention to the weather and be ready to act. Preparing ahead of time helps save lives!
Even though the hurricane will likely have little to no effect on the WPA area, remember that there is a possibility that people in the effected area may be trying to contact family or friends relative their well-being. Consider monitoring the hurricane net frequencies of 14.325 MHz & 7.268 MHz. I have not heard any traffic so far but they may pass the messages using the ARRL Radiogram message form or the ICS 213 message form. These are the same forms we covered in the training programs at the Club meetings.
SKYWARN™ Recognition Day (SRD) 2018 takes place on Saturday, December 1, from 0000 until 2400 UTC (11/30 1900 – 12/1 1900 Eastern). Developed in 1999 by the National Weather Service (NWS) and ARRL, SRD celebrates the contributions that SKYWARN volunteers make to the NWS mission, the protection of life and property. During SKYWARN™ Recognition Day, special event stations will be on the air from NWS offices, contacting radio amateurs around the world.
The object of SRD is for amateur stations to exchange contact
information with as many National Weather Service stations as
possible on 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6, and 2 meters, plus 70 centimeters.
Contacts via repeaters are permitted. Stations should exchange call
sign, signal report, and location plus a quick description of the
weather at your location (e.g., sunny, partly cloudy, windy, rainy,
etc.). EchoLink and IRLP nodes, including the Voice over Internet
Protocol Weather Net (VoIP-WX),
are expected to be active as well.
SSB, FM, AM, RTTY, CW, and PSK31 are modes that can be utilized
during the event. While working digital modes, special event stations
will append “NWS” to their call signs (e.g., N0A/NWS). It’s
suggested that during SRD operations a non-NWS volunteer serve as a
station control operator.
With the official arrival of Summer on June 20, I expect most of us feel that considering the high temperatures and severe weather we’ve experienced, it seems like Summer has been around for awhile already.
A couple weather issues that we need to keep in mind are lightning and the effects high temperatures. Often lightning concerns take a back seat relative to our activities but the saying “When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors” really should be followed.
Along with lightning concerns we need to take into consideration the high temperatures that can effect people of all ages. Parents and grand-parents need to be especially aware of the high temperatures when they have children in the vehicle. In our hectic world it is too easy to get caught up in thinking ahead of ourselves. Try to keep in the current moment to avoid any tragedies! Also remember folks who might need extra attention during high temperatures and severe weather.
Try to be aware of your location to be able to articulate where you are in the event a 911 call is made. Many 911 centers don’t have the cell phone location ability.
The National Weather Service, Spring Safety Campaign is in effect. There are many aspects of Spring weather that can ruin a good day and we have to be aware of such adverse weather. Being aware and recognizing is only part of the equation, we have to follow the advise to remain safe. One that this area is familiar with is flooding. The catch phrase of “Turn Around, Don’t Drown” is so appropriate to safety but too often is not followed. Driving into high water places not only the driver and passengers but then involves the responders who have to jeopardize their lives.
I briefly looked at this site before but today I decided to spend a little more time looking. It was worth the time! I found the GOES-East GEOColor screens, they are really interesting and the resolution is quite good. Be sure to click on the GeoColor Loop, located in the GeoColor panel, it provides an animated view of the satellite’s images. This page updates so be sure to check back to see the current satellite images. Be sure to adjust the “LOOP” as this will enable you to see more or fewer images. You will be able to see the lights of the cities as the grey-line moves across the earth!
A full disk image can be seen at GOES-EastImage viewer web-page. This image, considering the time, depicts the grey-line as the earth rotates and night time occurs.
The National weather Service has expanded some experimental winter weather informational pages. I believe that you will find these pages interesting and informative. They may assist you in planning for upcoming winter weather events in you locale. Be sure to scroll down the page and also check out the four tabs. There is a lot of information on this page.
Remember this is experimental, hopefully it will prove out to be well received information and become a standard page to refer to. There is a link to provide feed back, if you are so inclined to do so.
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