Hi folks. This is the May 2017 monthly post which contains the monthly reports for the SAME and 1050 HZ tone test alerts for Weatheradio Canada, as I have them. As for what to report, all you have to do is report: the transmitter and its call sign and frequency, alert test and time. For example: Toronto XMJ225 (RWT) 11:54 AM local. You can send reports directly to me here in the comments or you can email me at wxrnewsletter@gmail.com. You can also contact me through the NOAA Weather Radio and Weatheradio Canada Facebook group to report as well. Of course, if you are my friend or follower on Facebook or Twitter you can report using direct messages as well. Of course, you will also receive credit in the next post for your reports too.
Monthly SAME and 1050 HZ Tone Test Reports for May 2017
SAME and 1050 Hz tone test report for May 3rd 2017
St Catharines VAD320 (162.475 MHz) (RWT) 11:52 AM, (RMT) 11:57 A.m., (1050 Hz tone) 11:59 A.m. local, Toronto (XMJ225 162.400 MHz.) (RWT) 11:54 AM, (RMT) 11:59 AM, , (1050 TONE) 11:59 AM local, RWT received at 11:55 AM ADT, and the 1050Hz tone received at 12:01 PM ADT and Required Monthly Test (RMT) received at 12:18 PM ADT. Station XLK473, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Thanks to Brian Rodgers for his report from Nova Scotia this week.
SAME Test report for May 10th 2017
St Catharines VAD320 (162.475 MHz) (RWT) 11:52 AM local, Toronto (XMJ225 162.400 MHz.) (RWT) 11:54 AM local. Thanks to Brian Rodgers for his report from Nova Scotia for this week.
SAME Test Report For May 17th 2017
St. Catharines VAD 320 162.475 MHz (RWT) 11:52 AM local, Toronto (XMJ225 162.400 MHz.) (RWT) 11:54 AM local.
SAME Test Report for May 24th 2017
St. Catharines VAD320 162.475 MHz (RWT) 11:52 AM local, Toronto (XMJ225 162.400 MHz.) (RWT) 11:54 PM local.
SAME Test report for May 31st 2017
St Catharines VAD320 (162.475 MHz) (RWT) 11:52 AM local, Toronto (XMJ225 162.400 MHz.) (RWT) 11:54 AM local.
Folks, we are now more than halfway through the spring 2017 training schedule. Attendance continues to be very good at all of the venues. Unfortunately, due to a scheduling conflict, we have had to cancel the session planned in Sault Ste. Marie for May 31st. I have sent out a note to the people that I had listed as RSVPing to this event but may have missed a few, so hopefully you will see this message. In addition, those that live in the area covered by the Grey Sauble Conservation Authority (which covers an area from south of Georgian Bay into the southern part of the Bruce Peninsula), this Conservation Authority is looking for those that may be interested in joining the CoCoRAHS volunteer precipitation observing network (discussed during the CANWARN training). If you live in a location where the Conservation Authority is looking to fill a gap, the Conservation Authority will pay the CoCoRAHS registration costs. Those interested can contact John Bittorf at j.bittorf@greysauble.on.ca.
If you are on the email list, please also find attached the list of useful websites/apps/books and a reporting tip sheet as discussed in the presentations.
Please find following the list of the remaining CANWARN sessions for this spring…
May 24 – Markham – 7 PM Canada Room Markham Civic Centre, 101 Town Centre Blvd, Markham
Welcome to the 23rd issue of the Weather Radio Listeners Newsletter. It is hard to believe we issued our very first newsletters on November 04, 2011. As per usual, in this issue, we have many of the same exciting articles you have come to know throughout the various 22 issues of the newsletter. Please read on and enjoy.
GORD – VA3WXA – PHOTOGRAPHS
HELLO AGAIN
Hello again and welcome to the second issue for 2017. At last, everyone gets a chance to see it and not just those who are on the email list. As soon as the New Year hit, I made it a project for this year to put every issue on the relatively new Weather Radio Listeners Newsletter website/blog and as I’ve said, every issue is up there now. Although, I’ve had to make some very slight modifications to some issues but for the most part, they are in their original form intact. From now on, every issue going forward will be in PDF form and also on the web so everyone will get to know about this very important service throughout North America and throughout the
rest of the world. Something else which has happened since the last issue is the brand-new Facebook group which is also named The Weather Radio listeners Newsletter and I started it just before the last issue was released. For a couple of years now I wanted to have some sort of presence on Facebook, as I have had on Twitter since July 2014. Now, I have and I have three other administrators to help
me out with the group. I will talk more about them in the next issue but for now, I will say that I chose them based on their connections with either the newsletter or Weather Radio. I have added
the link to the group in the links section near the end of this issue and it will appear in all issues
going forward. Also, all issues will be included on Facebook from now on too, so as many people will see it as possible.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading the rest of this issue. Once again, many thanks to everyone who has contributed to the newsletter so far and hopefully many more years and issues to come.
WEATHER RADIO APPLICATIONS FOR THE IPHONEThis article is about to Weather applications for the IPhone, which I personally recommend to
anybody and especially anybody, who has an interest in Weather in varying degrees, (no pun intended).
The first app is called WeatherEh and is a very good app especially, if you want to receive weather alerts. I find it a little hard to get around this for me to find out the actual weather but, for weather alerts it’s a cinch. All I do is just turn on the weather alerts for the area I select and
bingo; they come at me via push notifications.
At first glance it will seem like the app is limited, as to what cities and towns you can include in the options. When the app is first set up the default cities are: Winnipeg, Toronto, Calgary,
Ottawa and Montréal. Those are the cities it shows if you clear the cash of cities you have selected. As for what cities are available, there are a lot of them across Canada that you can add
to the cache but you have to do a search and you can use the ECCC website as a general guide to select cities and towns in your province to add to the cash.
This is a really fine app for anyone wishing to keep a beat on the latest severe weather alerts.
Also, too keep up with the weather in general. I also like that updates for watches, warnings and
statements are sent via push notification, during severe weather events and when weather
statements are issued. I recommend it for everyone and especially those of us who are weather spotters. This is a real plus for those of us with IPhones because of its limitations on push alert
updates. The one problem I have with this feature is that it doesn’t alert you by ringing your phone to let you know of the alert, being issued, updated or ended. Can they fix that? Otherwise,
they should keep doing what they’re doing with this feature.
One thing I would like to see in the near future is the addition of marine forecasts for the lakes and rivers across this great country provided by Environment Canada. I think what would make
this app a real weather app, is not only the public forecast but also marine forecasts and alerts. Well… actually I have received an alert or two but they don’t stay on the phone after tapping on
it and moving on, to something else. Hopefully they can help save more lives.
The next app will talk about is called Météo and this is another application I highly recommend, to anyone who drives across Canada and does not want to hear a radio squawking at them, other than their car or truck radio. However, I still think that a Weather Radio goes hand-in-hand with this app and with WeatherEh. As far as my own navigation of the app, it’s a lot easier to navigate
to get the weather forecast then WeatherEh but once again, it offers weather alerts. To make this app work for you, just let it use your location and it will follow you around. Just turn on all the
alerts it offers and you are all set to receive weather alerts via push notifications.I like this app compared to most other weather alert apps out there. From what it has available in the settings, it has been a real friend to me so far. It has also allowed me to follow along with
Weatheradio Canada and make sure that everything is up to date. It has also kept me informed as a CANWARN trained spotter, when the next potentially dangerous winter storm and later on, the
next summer thunderstorm and when it may develop. The fact that the app offers: statements, watches and warning notifications is a real plus and I recommend anyone who has a real interest
in keeping abreast of the weather to get this application. The one suggestion I do have is that along with the options for notifications for: statements, watches, warnings and when their ended,
why not add an additional option whether you want to be updated on the current alert in effect? There could be an option to toggle on or off updates and other than that; nothing really needs to
change to make it better for me. So, will there be an android version of Météo in the future? Well, not yet. I emailed the person who runs the app and he told me he would like to but he just
needs more time to get it together.
For more information on both of these applications, see the links section and in particular, the link to Weather applications.
THE NEW MIDLAND EMERGENCY HANDHELD RADIO, MODEL# EH55VP
This is an article about the relatively new Midland EH55VP. I first found out about it late last summer, while browsing the Midland website. I also found out about a new store which sells this type of radio called Cabela’s. A friend of mine who is also part of the mailing list and who
follows the blog let me know about the store and that they carry this model. So, I went out and bought it early January of this year.
So what’s changed? Well, not a whole lot really. The radio is the same physical size as the HH54VP and has all the same features. However, the differences that there is a new feature
added on, which allows the user to turn off the key beeps much like the Midland WR-120. This is good if you don’t want to hear beep… Beep… Beep… When you’re trying to program the unit
or perform a function. For me, I leave it on anyway because I need to hear the beeps in order that I know that a function has been performed, such as turning on and off the radio. Otherwise, the
menu layout is basically the same as the HH54VP model.
Something else which is changed is the packaging. Whereas the HH 54VP came in a clamshell case, the new EH55 comes in a box. However, it comes with: the radio, the owner’s manual and
the BATT5R battery packs, like the original HH54VP2. However, there is no charging cradle but it does come with a regular AC wall charger to power up the radio and charge the battery pack.
As with my other midland handheld radios, I do not use the battery pack because I want to keep it running all the time, despite it not being my main radio at home. So, I use my reliable three
AA rechargeable batteries as before and so far, things have gone rather swimmingly. If you want to take a look at the radio, here it is in this link. http://www.cabelas.ca/product/87885/midland-
During April 2017 Weatheradio Canada began to test out the new voices they will be using in the future, for dissemination. It’s no secret that all the voices used are from Nuance Communications
and the English-speaking voices are American. This so far, has caused a problem with the mispronunciation of city, town and region names. However, this can be fixed. Even the name of
the service has been mispronounced and unfortunately I can’t demonstrate here because this is text and not voice, for those who are reading it as text. However, if you have a computer or a
Smart phone with a screen reader you could just type in Weather Radio Canada then Weatheradio Canada, (as it is spelled) and you will hear how badly it is mispronounced.
However, I have been told that this can be fixed but I don’t know how. As for the voices, I have mentioned them here in a previous issue but here they are again. For
English speaking voices we have Tom and Ava. For French speaking voices we have Chantal
and Nicholas. Strangely, they also have the option for using Spanish voices Paulina and Juan if necessary.
Some people including myself, (who use A screen reading voice every day have noticed things such as mispronunciation and the speed of the text being spat out by the voices. In fact I have all
six of these voices on my IPhone, available for download and use and for the record; I use the four voices I mentioned here first. I have tested them all out using my Météo Application and
other IPhone applications I use to get Weather information, for both it and the WhetherEh application. Even reading a Facebook post by somebody about the tests recently, about their
local transmitter brought the mispronunciations to light. There are going to be a lot of city, town and regional names which will be badly mangled but
there are ways to fix this problem and I hope that there will be minimal bumps in the road, as the new voices are rolled out across Canada, in the next few months or so. Even words like flurries
or moderate may sound funny at first but that is the result of the voice itself. Even the old Avipads had those problems too. For example: the town Washago had a time when it was miss
pronounced with the second a being both short and long and even sounding like a short u, in both languages. So, let’s not all worry about the new voices and if there are problems we know how to
contact Weatheradio Canada. Right? Anyway, to give you an idea of what will be coming in the next few months to a year; here is a YouTube video with all four voices in a test of the broadcast
If you hear anything that doesn’t sound right on your local Weather Radio transmitter, there are
various ways to report a problem that depend on where you live. If you live in The United States,
you can call 1-888-697-7263. You can email NOAA at nwroutage@noaa.gov, or on the web at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr. If you live in Canada, you can call 1-877-789-7733. You can email the
National Weatheradio Canada Team at ec.wxradio.ec@canada.ca. Also, you can report it on the NOAA Weather Radio Weatheradio Canada Facebook page and the Yahoo Weatheradio Chat
Group. You will find the link to both the Facebook and the Yahoo group later in this issue and all issues of the newsletter. You can also email the author directly at wxrnewsletter@gmail.com andit will be passed on for you.
Note from the author:
I will only include items with a definitive time stamp on them, from start to finish. That is in
affect the whole point of this report, to give conclusive dates and times when outages have begun and ended.
On Monday February 27 Toronto XMJ225 and possibly the rest of the Weatheradio Canada
network in Ontario, went into watchdog mode at around 6:14 AM. It came back at around 12:45 PM the same day.
At around 6:20 p.m. on Thursday, March 9, the entire network in Ontario had gone into watchdog mode. It was restored at around 9:26 PM. Then, at 1:20 a.m. The next day, the entire
network in Ontario went back in to watchdog mode, again. It was restored at around 7:01 AM.
On St. Patrick’s Day before everybody celebrated and drank green beer, once again, Ontario had
gone into watchdog. The network was restored add around 8:18 a.m., the same day.
On Sunday, March 19 between 1:15 and 1:30 2 AM, the entire network in Ontario went back
into watchdog mode, again. It returned to life at 6:50 a.m. on Monday, March 20.
On Wednesday March 29th, Brian Rodgers has contributed this report.
4:12AM ADT station XLK 473, Halifax went out of service. It came back later on the same day,
during the morning.
THE CANWARN/SKYWARN REPORT CANWARN
(CANadian Weather Amateur Radio Network) is a volunteer organization of amateur radio
operators who report severe weather and damage reports to Environment Canada when they see it. Weather reports from amateur radio operators help confirm on the ground what satellites and
radars see in the atmosphere. The information gathered from CANWARN is also used to update and fine tune weather warnings, fill in gaps in current observing networks and is also valuable in
forensic storm analysis. When Environment Canada issues severe weather watches or warnings, they may alert the CANWARN volunteer Net Controllers in the affected areas. The volunteer
Net Controllers contact other CANWARN members on the amateur radio, tell them a watch or warning has been issued and ask them to report signs of approaching severe weather. In the US
SKYWARN is the American counterpart to CANWARN in Canada and the purpose for it is exactly the same.
For this section of the newsletter, we will explore how different CANWARN and SKYWARN groups operate in their local region, from time to time. There may be some SKYWARN
information from meteorologists in this issue and there will be some tips on how to report severe weather for both CANWARN and SKYWARN.
We may not agree with everything that is written here, but it is important to hear from others to see how different groups operate throughout North America.
On May 6, 2017 CANWARN In Ontario has seen the retirement of Ward G. Kenedy, (who’s ham radio call sign is VE3WGK) step down as the amateur radio coordinator for the South Central Ontario region. He has also written about himself in a past issue of this newsletter but here he is again, about his decision and some other things.
As some of you have heard I have retired today from Canwarn Central Ontario as the coordinator for Amateur Radio. It’s been a decision that I have been thinking about now for several Months. As some of you know I was injured in a work place accident in 2011 that left me fighting for my life when I developed septicaemia or Blood poisoning in my right hip area. After surgery I was put on a very strong antibiotic 2000mg every 4 hours for almost 9 weeks via an IV pump and pick line. Not being able to walk with out the aid of a wheel chair or walker for more then 2 years and another surgery left me thinking about life and how precious our time is.
I had been doing the Svr wx stuff well before Canwarn was formed 30 years ago. In 1981 while working as a junior Ranger with the Ontario Ministry Of Natural Resources I noticed a pick up truck with a window sticker on it. The sticker read Weather spotters OF Ontario and had a logo of a Tornado on it. I contacted. EC and they sent out some info for me as well as a training book and a chart of clouds on it. That was my first intrest in SVR WX. I would listen to ham radio svr wx nets on my scanner for vhf uhf on the ULR system. When I got my ham radio call sign some 16 or 17 years ago I was finely able to join Canwarn as a true ham radio operator and take part in the nets for svr wx.
When Scott Keddie stepped down from Canwarn some years ago I was asked if I would be interested in taking over the Canwarn program for him. I said a very happy Yes! During this time I gained a lot of radio experience in doing the nets from EC or home or from my mobile.
In the last couple of years since the accident I have had trouble getting to EC for nets relying on Wheel trans or taxie’s. Or friends dropping me off or picking me up. So it’s been a challenge for me. I have found that when I go out with friends for events I am always carrying a 2 way radio with me and always checking on any severe wx that we might have to deal with or trying to run a net while out with friends. If a net was required I would try to at least start the net and hope that some 1 could take over from me while I was out. So I was always worrying if we had a net controler. I have seen the cut backs in funding that Canwarn had the last several years and it’s not great 😦
at this point in my life I would like a change. I would like to get back into other hobbies I have had over the years and have let some of them slip away because of my injury and family. I am going to start by trying to be more active in life with doing things I have not been able to do in several years such as Canoeing Camping with my now 17 year old Daughter Celine who I love a great deal and I also want to get back into my photography and fishing that I used to do before I started with Canwarn. I want to thank the many friends of mine who have given support to me over the years with Canwarn and other Ham radio stuff. It has been a great pleasure working with you and I will always remember it. I will keep my CANWARN Related fb group running and will still post. Wx alerts and info on Canwarn that I get. Geoff Coulson has told me that he will be retireing next year in June 2018 after the Canwarn sessions are done.
Regards. Ward Kennedy. VE3WgK VA3WGK VA3CTA
On a personal note from the author, I got to know Ward mostly through CANWARN And our other mutual interests around it. We mostly communicate by text message but we are also friends on Facebook and are friends with and we follow each other on Twitter as well. We both share most of the same association with EC through both this newsletter and CANWARN And we both own Midland Weather Radios. He turned me onto a group on Facebook, which centers around Weather Radio and when I join Facebook in 2013 I join that group as soon as I could.
As for the announcement, I have been sensing it for a while now but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I kept thinking that it was coming but it just didn’t register with me that this day would come. My worry is who will now replace him? Despite that I receive most of the same information from Environment Canada in regards to severe weather warnings, watches and statements I can’t. I would love to but the reality is I haven’t had enough experience doing CANWARN nets with the right group of people to support me, in regards to how the nets should be run. The other thing is because I’m blind, I’m limited in what I can do. I can certainly do a lot with the technology I have but this is a more demanding position than it looks. If I was to be in a position similar to what Ward did it would have to be on a smaller scale, such as a regional coordination. That, I think I could manage somewhat, given my limitations. It would also have to be a relatively new group, where we are all learning together and back in 2012, I was the assistant coordinator for Halton CANWARN. It was for a brief time and my main job was doing administrative duties. At first I didn’t have an iPhone and it was during the first three or four issues of the newsletter, that I had this position. Right now I am part of the Mississauga ARES group and unfortunately, there is no Real strong CANWARN Presence other than on the Mississauga Amateur Radio Club website, which I had a hand in updating in recent months. My hope is that sometime in the future CANWARN Will be more active in the Mississauga/brampton area and I will be a part of it, whether it is in a managerial role or not. But I know, I can’t do it alone and I would need some guidance especially if I was assigned a more demanding position, such as The Cordinator.
I’m very thankful that Ward has been there and done as good a job as he could, given his own personal circumstances and I certainly wish him the best in his future endeavors. I know that he will be missed by a lot of people including myself, who had come to rely on him for the latest severe weather bulletins, other than on our Weather Radios of course. I certainly hope that the future for CANWARN Incoming years will be bright, whom ever will take the place of Ward and hopefully, I will be able to contact him directly outside ham radio, as I am lucky to have a direct contact with Ward. Thanks again my friend for all you’ve done in the past eight years, since you became the Cordinator for south-central Ontario CANWARN. 🙂
SKYWARN TRAINING
As for SKYWARN training schedules, you can go to either of the following sites:
There are many links for you to look at on these sites.
SPOTTER REPORTING TIPS
How to Report
Amateur radio network (if applicable) – Amateur Radio Condition
Condition Codes: Code Green – Severe Thunderstorm Watch
Code Yellow – Severe Thunderstorm Warning or Tornado Watch
Code Red – Tornado Warning in Ontario by email at storm.ontario@ec.gc.ca
Twitter with hashtag #onstorm
If you are CANWARN trained you should give the following information to the weather office
in order to help them ground truth: Your name, CANWARN ID, contact number, – Where – you
are located and the approximate location of what you are reporting, – Describe what you arewitnessing/what you witnessed, the time of occurrence of the event and duration, its movement
(where the phenomenon came from and where it is going).
In the spring/summer severe weather season, please report the following:
Hail (use coins to describe its size…dime, nickel, quarter, loonie for larger hail…golf ball etc.),
Heavy rain that has resulted in local flooding, Damaging winds (damage from tree branches
down to more significant tree or structural damage), Large scale rotation in a thunderstorm such
as: Wall Cloud – Funnel Cloud, Waterspout and Tornado, Dense fog – visibility less than 1 km
Note: if you are unsure of the rotation or presence of a wall cloud or funnel cloud…watch the
area for a few minutes if it is safe to do so to verify the situation.
For the fall/winter, please report the following: Dense fog (visibility less than 1 km), Any
occurrence of freezing rain or freezing drizzle, Heavily accumulating snow (2 or more cm/hr),
Whiteout conditions in snow/blowing snow (visibility near zero), Rapid freezing of water on
road surfaces.
For SKYWARN spotters, you should report: Tornadoes or funnel clouds (be very wary of look-
alikes; watch for rotation) waterspouts, Wall clouds, especially if they are rotating.
Hail (Be specific with regard to size; however, YOU SHOULD NOT report MARBLE size)
Winds (40 mph or greater; specify whether they are estimated or recorded), large branches
downed (specify the diameter of the branch), Trees/power lines downed, Structural damage to
buildings such as roof, windows, etc.
Rainfall (1 inch or greater in an hour) (NOT a 1″/hr. rate for 10 minutes), 2 inches or greater
storm total, Flooding — Streams/Rivers — also, when nearing bank full — Coastal — Street (Road
Closures/Washouts, Cars Stuck due to flood waters. Minimum of 6″ of water covering an entire
roadway or lane of a major route/highway).
For Winter Weather you should report: Precipitation type change (rain to sleet/freezing
rain/snow, when the change has “taken hold”), Thunder when it is accompanied by snow, 1/4″
radial ice accretion (from twig outward; not circumference), New Snowfall from the First 2
inches; every 2-3 inches thereafter, 1 inch per hour or greater.
If it is less than 2 inches total, give the final total only Give final total: no partial reports please)
Report any snow/sleet/freezing rain if not in NWS forecast.
Please consult your local Amateur Radio club or CANWARN or SKYWARN group for their:
email address, Twitter account or Facebook pages.
WHERE TO PURCHASE WEATHER RADIO’S
Weather Radios can be purchased at various electronics stores that specialize in radios and other
This is another app designed for Canadians and is available in both English and French. It issimilar to the Degrees Pro app and some of the others on this list.
Atmosphérique Pro – Canadian Weather from EC by Quadrant Newmedia Corp.
Folks, unfortunately due to a problem with the venue, I have had to cancel the CANWARN training in Brantford that was to have taken place on May 3. Those who intended on coming out for that session would be welcome to attend another one. I believe I tracked down most of those who RSVP’d for this session to let them know of the cancellation.In other news, the time and venue of the presentation in Mallorytown has been confirmed and can be found in the list below.
RSVPs for the various sessions can be sent to me at geoff.coulson@canada.ca except for the sessions in Tiverton (Bruce Power Visitor Centre) and Markham where specific RSVP instructions can be found below.
My thanks to all of you that have already come out to a session and I look forward to seeing many more at the upcoming sessions.
Please find following the latest on the upcoming CANWARN training sessions…
May 3 – Brantford – 7 PM 3rd Floor Atrium Room, Brantford Public Library, 173 Colborne St.
EVENT CANCELLED
May 6 – Toronto – 9 AM Environment and Climate Change Canada HQ, 4905 Dufferin St.
May 8 – Niagara Region – 7 PM Niagara Region HQ, Council Chambers, 1815 Sir Isaac Brock Way, Thorold
May 9 – Dufferin County – 7 PM Dufferin County Courthouse, 55 Zina St., Orangeville
May 10 – Waterloo – 7 PM RIM Park 2001 University Ave East, Waterloo
May 11 – Mallorytown – 6:30 PM – Mallorytown Community Centre (above the Library) – 76 Leeds County Road #5
May 13 – Hamilton – 9:30 AM Stoney Creek City Hall, 777 Highway 8, Stoney Creek
May 15 – Peterborough – 7 PM Peterborough Lawn Bowling Club, 577 McDonnel St.
May 16 – Ottawa – 6:30 PM – Greenboro Community Centre, 363 Lorry Greenberg Dr., Ottawa
May 16 – Toronto – 7 PM – Environment and Climate Change Canada HQ, 4905 Dufferin St
May 17 – Cornwall – 6:30 PM – Cornwall Public Library, 45 Second St. E, Cornwall
May 18 – Tiverton – 7 PM Bruce Power Visitor Centre – RSVP to rsvp@brucepower.com
May 24 – Markham – 7 PM Canada Room Markham Civic Centre, 101 Town Centre Blvd, Markham