2010 SKYWARN® Severe Weather Spotter Training

2010 SKYWARN® Severe Weather Spotter Training

Lucas County SKYWARN® TRAINING

The National Weather Service (NWS), in conjunction with Lucas County SKYWARN® and the Lucas County Emergency Management Agency, will be holding a SKYWARN® Severe Weather Spotter Training class on Saturday, March 27th 2010 starting at 10:00 a.m. at St. Lukes Hospital Auditorium in Maumee, Ohio. The class will last around 2 hours and includes a multimedia presentation. Gary Garnet, Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Cleveland, Ohio, organizes the training each spring. It is open to all citizens interested in severe weather recognition, reporting, safety and teaches:

Basics of thunderstorm development
Fundamentals of storm structure
Identifying potential severe weather features
Information to report
How to report information
Basic severe weather safety

SKYWARN® Storm Spotters form the first line of defense against severe weather. It’s more than just a weather class. It is information that could save many lives by advance warning!

All interested individuals are encouraged to attend this free training for all ages and it is not necessary to pre-register for this training. Those who attend and complete the program will be registered with the National Weather Service Cleveland Forecast Office and will be issued a SKYWARN® Spotter ID card at the training.

For more information contact:
Tim McConoughey-Lucas County Skywarn Coordinator KD8HLX@ARRL.NET

Severe Weather Week Announcements

In conjunction with Ohio's Spring Severe Weather Awareness Week, and the Statewide Tornado Drill, Lucas County will be activating the outdoor warning sirens on the morning of Wednesday, March 25th at 9:50 AM Eastern Daylight Time. Lucas County Skywarn will be conducting a special session net that will take station check-ins, stand by for the outdoor warning siren test, and then conclude with a brief roll call of all stations that have checked in. This special Skywarn net will be activated Wednesday Morning at 9:40 AM on the primary Lucas County Skywarn frequency (the 147.27 MHz TMRA repeater). All stations that are available at that time are encouraged to check in to the net.

And also, as a general reminder, the National Weather Service, in conjunction with Lucas County Skywarn and the Lucas County Emergency Management Agency, will be holding Skywarn Severe Weather Spotter Training class this Saturday morning, March 28th at 10:00 AM at Saint Luke’s Hospital Auditorium in Maumee, Ohio. The program is updated every year and the National Weather Service recommends spotters take the training every 2-3 years as a refresher. All individuals are encouraged to attend.

Severe weather season fast approaching: Spotter Training 2009

Being a storm spotter not only means dedication, but also training. Each spring the Cleveland office of the National Weather Service trains members of police & fire departments, emergency management officials, amateur radio operators and weather interested citizens on spotting techniques. Typically the training is coordinated by a local group (such as an emergency management agency), and a NWS meteorologist serves as the guest instructor. The goal of the training is not just to recognize tornadoes, but to have some understanding of storm structure, which in turn better prepares the spotter for the extreme and unusual circumstances.

The National Weather Service (NWS), in conjunction with Lucas County SKYWARN® and the Lucas County Emergency Management Agency, will be holding a SKYWARN® Severe Weather Spotter Training class on Saturday, March 28th at 10:00 AM at St. Luke's Hospital Auditorium in Maumee, Ohio.

The class will last around two hours and includes a multimedia presentation. Gary Garnet, Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Cleveland, Ohio, organizes the training each spring. It is open to all citizens interested in severe weather recognition, reporting, and safety and covers: Basics of thunderstorm development; Fundamentals of storm structure; Identifying potential severe weather features; What and how to report; Basic severe weather safety.

The program is updated every year and the National Weather Service recommends spotters take the training every 2-3 years as a refresher. All interested individuals are encouraged to attend this free training and it is not necessary to pre-register. Those who complete the program with be registered with the National Weather Service Cleveland Forecast Office and will be issued a SKYWARN® Spotter ID card.

NWS Cleveland SKYWARN® Spotter Training Schedule for NW Ohio District 1 Counties:

March 5th @ 6:30 PM - Seneca County
March 12th @ 6:30 PM - Wood County
March 16th @ 2:00 PM - Online Webinar*
March 19th @ 6:30 PM - Sandusky County
March 28th @ 10:00 AM - Lucas County
March 31st @ 2:00 PM - Online Webinar*
April 6th @ 6:30 PM - Hancock County
April 13th @ 6:30 PM - Wyandot County
April 14th @ 6:00 PM - Online Webinar*

* Cleveland also offers SKYWARN® Webinar Training, Visit their Website for more information.

Helpful websites:

National Weather Service Cleveland: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/cle/
NW Ohio District 1 SKYWARN®: http://www.nwoskywarn.org/
Lucas County SKYWARN®: http://www.lucascoskywarn.org/

About NW Ohio Live Services: "Live Weather"

Hello again,

This is the second entry of a series of seven blog entries that will provide additional details surrounding all the elements at NW Ohio Live Services (http://nwohio-liveservices.dyndns.org/).

Today's topic is the "Live Weather" component (http://nwohio-liveservices.dyndns.org/liveweather.html). I have always had an interest in weather phenomena and keeping track of the weather conditions around us. This past year I have also had the opportunity to receive National Weather Service severe weather spotter training (http://www.erh.noaa.gov/cle/skywarn/training/spottran.html) and have been involved with Lucas County SKYWARN® (http://www.lucascoskywarn.org/).

I have deployed a Personal Weather Station at my home location in Oregon Ohio and have recently integrated the weather reporting data with the Internet. My weather station instrumentation consists of an Oregon Scientific WMR100N (http://www2.oregonscientific.com/shop/product.asp?cid=2&scid=84&pid=922) Professional Wireless Weather Station. The WMR100N includes five different sensors and is capable of measuring and reporting temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, wind, and rainfall. The wireless feature allows for easy mast mounting of the primary instruments above roof level.

The Oregon Scientific WMR100N weather console is connected to a computer via USB cable. The computer is running Virtual Weather Station (http://www.ambientweather.com/virtualstation.html) software that is capable of logging and redistributing the weather data. I am submitting data to Weather Underground (http://www.wunderground.com/) and they're hosting my "KC8NNO" Personal Weather Station (http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KOHOREGO2). Weather Underground offers and impressive array of personal weather services and historical data logging and analysis capabilities.

I am also uploading weather data to the APRSWXNET in support of the Citizen Weather Observer Program (http://www.wxqa.com/). From here, weather data is sent to the NOAA Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System [MADIS] (http://www-sdd.fsl.noaa.gov/MADIS/index.html) for further distribution and quality control. View my CWOP information and MADIS weather quality ratings: http://weather.gladstonefamily.net/site/AT081.

The implementation of a new service always has it's challenges. I've just finished with recalibrating my barometric pressure this weekend and my station should now be tracking that measurement with little error going forward. I'm looking forward to seeing a two thumbs up rating from MADIS. I've also had some recent glitches with wind and rain reporting, but hopefully related to cold weather and poor batteries and those will not be causing any further issues.

This concludes the in depth look at the details surrounding the Live Weather element. Stay tuned for the next topic which will cover the Live Camera component in more detail.

(About NW Ohio Live Services - Blog Entry 2 of 7)

2008 NW Ohio Live Services