WEATHER_RADIO_LISTENERS_NEWSLETTER_ISSUE_13_November_16th_2014Welcome to the 13th issue of the Weather Radio Listeners Newsletter. In this issue, we have much the same exciting articles you have come to know throughout the last 12 issues of the newsletter. There may also be a few new things thrown in there, to keep you interested. Please read on and enjoy.
Hello, this is your friendly author welcoming you to the 13th issue of the Weather Radio Listeners Newsletter. Yes, it is the 13th issue and I can’t believe it either. Is it Lucky 13 or not? I guess we will see when the next issue rolls around.
This issue is also the third year anniversary issue of The Weather Radio Listeners Newsletter and I am grateful to have this opportunity to do this for you. I may not be getting paid for it but I love doing it because it keeps me going and it gives me something to do, when I am not engaged in something else.
On another note, you may have noticed that I have included some non weather related material in some recent issues of the newsletter. I have done this to emphasize the universality of whether it’s self and how ubiquitous it is, alongside things such as radio and smart phones. I don’t think we actually consider how much we talk about whether on a daily basis and in other types of media, besides on the news and on the formats of regular broadcast radio.
Weather has seeped into all manner of media such as: television, music, comedy and even podcasts I’m sure. I can’t speak for the latter but for everything else I mentioned I can say that weather has definitely crept in to a lot of what we hear and see on both radio and television. That is why I’ve included such television shows as, Family Guy, The Simpsons and a comedian like George Carlin. All of which have included weather or weather people as a part of what they do.
David Letterman – Amateur Radio Operator…….Really ?
Even David Letterman started out as a weatherman when he was much younger. Yes… That David Letterman, who hosts his own late-night show and is retiring in a few months. He reported in one show that he enjoyed listening to short wave radio. You can see for yourself here. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Letterman
Note: There is a rumor out on the internet that David Letterman is a licensed Ham Radio operator (KL1ENO) but this will have to be verified. See the photograph below with David holding up his radio licence, which can also be seen at this link
Letterman Issued Embarrassing Ham Callsign
Okay, let’s get back to the newsletter. I would just like to say thank you to all of you, who have made whatever contribution you could to the newsletter, over the past 3 years. I sometimes badger people for stuff and I apologize for that. However, I do this because I need to get more people contributing besides myself. I don’t mind doing all the work but I don’t want to be the only one who is writing everything. This newsletter is not just about what I write in it… What you contribute is just as important and I value any contribution that anybody can make, whether it is a small one or a significant one to any forthcoming issue. If you feel you have nothing to say that’s okay. But, if you do please send me stuff and I will put it in there, where I think it will fit.
In the last issue we had a whole thing on weather forecasting and I put it in there because I thought it was interesting. The same is true with all the material related to various TV shows. For example: in the last three issues I have included synopses on episodes of The Simpsons, which have weather as a plot device and this will be the last issue spotlighting the show. I will have more on that later.
Before we go on to the rest of this landmark issue, I would like to thank all of you, for being a part of this journey and contributing when you can to the newsletter. Let’s keep this going for another 3 years.
WHATS NEW? – From Radioworld Inc
Have you visited the Radioworld Blog recently? Our blog highlights product news, events, sales and more!
fb.me/1gizehNEH
From Marc Fitkin and the NOAA Weather Radio Weatheradio Canada Facebook group
Weatheradio Canada flyer available online…may want to print it out and post it…http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2010/ec/En56-228-2010-eng.pdfpublications.gc.ca
THE SIMPSONS 25TH ANNIVERSARY
This year is the 25th anniversary of the TV show The Simpsons. Since they have inserted weather into some episodes as a plot device, I have decided to spotlight the relevant episodes in the last three issues of the newsletter because… Despite the fact that this is an adult animation satire on everyday life, it does deal with issues that affect all of us. Besides the fact that I am a huge fan of the show, I think it is good to talk about each of these episodes because, while it is satirical in nature it discusses something that: people, animals and inanimate objects have to deal with every day of their existence.
In this issue we are going to spotlight 2 classic episodes, which have a winter theme to them. They have also made it onto iTunes collections, besides their original season’s collection on DVD.
Mr. Plow
A blizzard hits Springfield, so Marge calls Homer at Moe’s Tavern and tells him to come home right away. Homer drives through the snowstorm and manages to wreck both of the family cars when he rear-ends Marge’s car in the driveway. Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie are in the front door waiting for him and are shocked at what happened. Homer then lies to an insurance claims adjuster, about his whereabouts before the accident in order to cover the fact that he was coming home from a bar.
The insurance company pays the claim, and Homer goes to a car show to get a new car. A salesman talks Homer into getting a snowplough because he can afford the higher payments by doing plowing jobs on the side. Homer buys the snowplough after the salesman scares Homer into buying it by making a whipping noise with his mouth, after Homer points out that he wishes to discuss it with Marge. Homer then starts his snowplough business, thanks to a late night TV commercial it becomes an instant success. Here is the commercial in which The Simpson family participated, along with Grandpa Simpson.
(Marge) “Our driveway’s snowed in.” (Bart and Lisa) “Old Man Winter!” (Grandpa Simpson as old man winter) “That’s right. I fill your driveways with ice and snow. What are you going to do about it? Nothin’. That’s what. (Homer as Mr. Plow) “Stop!” (Bart, Lisa and Marge) “Mr. Plow!” (Homer) “Get out, you lousy season.” (Grandpa Simpson) “All right. I’m going. My head hurts. I have to lie down for a while.”
(Bart and Lisa) “Yea!” (Homer Simpson as Mr. Plow) Hello, I’m Mr. Plow. Are you tired of having your hands cut off by snow blowers and the inevitable heart attacks that come with shoveling snow?” (Bart and Lisa) “Uh-huh.” – (Mr. Plow) “Then call Klondike 5-3226. Call now and receive a free T-shirt. He could still surprise ya.”
(Lisa) “But I’m a real tightwad. Can I afford this remarkable system?” (Mr. Plow) “Absolutely. My prices are so low; you’ll think I’ve suffered brain damage.” (Bart Simpson) “You are fully bonded and licensed by the city, aren’t you, Mr. Plow?” (Mr. Plow) “Shut up, boy.”
So, remember–call Mr. Plow, that’s my name. That name again is Mr. Plow.”
In recognition of the achievement, Mayor Quimby gives Homer a key to the city. Mr. Plow, for making it possible for people to get where they’re going without resorting to public transportation or carpooling I give you the key to the city.”
Barney, who has been working at a succession of dead-end jobs, asks Homer how he can be a success, so Homer tells him to go out and be the best Barney he can be. The next day Barney has bought a bigger plow, and goes into business for himself as “The Plow King”. With Linda Ronstadt’s help, Barney creates his own ad (denouncing Mr. Plow as an alcoholic loser) and steals all of Homer’s customers. Mayor Quimby then takes back the key to the city from Homer and gives it to Barney. To get revenge, Homer tricks Barney into going on a fake plow job at the top of a mountain called Widow’s Peak.While Barney is gone up the mountain, Homer begins to plow driveways again. However, the news later reports there have been an avalanche on Widow’s Peak. Homer, feeling guilty, sets out to rescue Barney, and in the end they agree to become partners. Their claim that not even God could stop them brings about a response from God “oh no? and the melting of the snow.Later on the news Kent Brockman says the following:
“Could this record-breaking heat wave be the result of the dreaded greenhouse effect? Well, if70 degree days in the middle of winter are the price of car pollution you’ll forgive me if I keep my old Pontiac.”
With no more business, and no way to make the payments, Homer’s plow is repossessed at the end of the episode, but that doesn’t stop Marge from enjoying Homer wearing his Mr. Plow jacket to bed.
SKINNERS “SENSE OF SNOW
The Simpsons attend a French-Canadian circus called Cirque du Purée, which is a play on Cirque du Soleil, when a demonic blizzard hits Springfield. Sideshow Mel points out “a storm is coming! I feel it in my bone!” One of the circus hands says “Mesdames et messieurs, it appears the Cloud Goddess is ripe with rain babies.”
A Springfield Channel 6 News weatherman says “well, sir, we’ve got ourselves a classic nor’easter meeting a classic sou’wester. Overnight, expect rain turning to freezing rain turning to sleet turning to snow – and then melting in the summer.”
Much to Bart and Lisa’s dismay, everyone has the day off, except for Springfield Elementary School. At school, Skinner shows them a boring Christmas film from 1938, called “The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t But Then Was”. They watch the movie for hours until the DVD overheats and catches fire, but Skinner puts it out. When Skinner dismisses the kids, they find that they are snowed in, trapping them in the school with Skinner and Groundskeeper Willie, much to their horror. Skinner tries to call for help, but phone lines are down. On Channel 6 news, Kent Brockman says “roads closed. Pipes frozen. Albinos virtually invisible. The Weather Service has upgraded Springfield’s blizzard from winter wonderland to a class-three kill storm.” Marge says to the TV “I don’t like the sound of that “class-three.” Kent Brockman continues: “and where are the city’s snowplows? Sold off to billionaire Montgomery Burns in a veritable orgasm of poor planning.”
When the students become uncontrollable from cabin fever, Principal Skinner’s army instincts kick in, and he begins ruling them with an iron fist. At night, Bart tries to escape by tunneling through the snow, but Skinner catches him. Skinner tries to collapse the tunnel, but it caves in on him, burying all but his head. The kids tie him up in a dodge ball sack and gag him. They then run wild, even getting into a safe with all their permanent records. Upon learning that Skinner makes $25,000 a year, and knowing that he is 40 years old, they figure Skinner is a millionaire. (40 years x $25,000 / year = $1,000,000) When it’s pointed out that Skinner also makes money painting houses in the summer, they amend their estimate of his wealth to “billionaire”.
Meanwhile, Homer and Flanders use a “snow-plower” (Ned’s car with Ned’s roofing attached to the front as a plow) to save the kids. They get frozen in ice after hitting a fire hydrant, and Homer’s repeated gunning of the engine causes carbon monoxide to flood the car. Flanders and Homer get high from the fumes and wildly hallucinate. Homer hallucinates about belly dancing women who wait on him. They receive a message from Nibbles the school hamster, send out by Skinner, and head for the school. They crash into a salt silo, melting the snow and rusting up the car. The car exhaust makes Homer hallucinate again, making him see Lisa as a camel and Bart as a beautiful woman. As Homer tries to kiss the “beautiful woman”, Bart tries his best to escape, causing the car to crash. Lisa, (as a camel), then says “Merry Christmas from the Simpsons”.
There is a connection to both episodes in that, when Homer and Flanders go to save the kids, Homer is wearing his Mr. Plow jacket. However, he doesn’t remember his own Mr. Plow business after Ned points it out to him. Homer says “I think “I know my own life Ned.” Then, he sings the Mr. Plow jingle from the episode Mr. Plow.
With this episode, there is a direct Canadian connection as it was written by Canadian born Simpson’s writer Tim Long, who was born in Brandon Manitoba but probably grew up in Exeter Ontario. Here is the Wikipedia page on this episode. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skinner%27s_Sense_of_Snow
For those of you who are fans of The Simpsons, I hope you enjoy this little break from the usual fare in this newsletter. If you didn’t enjoy this, don’t worry, this is the last time I will talk about the Simpsons for a while here. The idea came to me to put these in the newsletter when I realized how many episodes have a Weather theme to them, even though there are no weather themed episodes listed on the Simpson’s Wiki sites. The other reason behind this is because as I said above, it is the 25th anniversary of the TV show itself. I wanted to do something in my own way to acknowledge it and this is the best place for me to do this where I can reach a lot of people, besides my own blog. They obviously don’t mention Weather Radio directly but as we’ve seen in the last three issues of the newsletter, the show discusses weather events that could and probably have happened in the lives of the people who wrote them. In fact, the episode we just finished spotlighting is a prime example of this and you can check the Wikipedia page for more on it. However, they have used Ham Radio as a plot device, as has most other cartoons.
http://www.qsl.net/kb9mwr/files/ham/cartoon/cartoon.html
In conclusion, I would like to thank: Matt Groening, Sam Simon, James L Brooks, Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Al Jean, Bill Oakley, Josh Weinstein, Mike Scully and many others who have written for, been a cast member of or has guessed starred on the Simpson’s in the past 25 years. I wish to thank them all for the laughter over these many years and hopefully there are many more to come with many more interesting episodes and plots.
THE WATCHDOG REPORT
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 Meteorological Service of Canada at ECWeather-Meteo@ec.gc.ca, or email the National Weatheradio Canada Team at Wxradio@ec.gc.ca. You can also go on the web at http://www.ec.gc.ca/weatheradio. Also, you can report it on the NOAA Weather Radio Weatheradio Canada Facebook page and the Yahoo Weatheradio Chat Group. You will find links to the Yahoo group later in the newsletter.
On Saturday, August 2 a problem arose with Toronto XMJ225. It started at approximately 8:02 PM, when the severe thunderstorm watch for the city of Hamilton was ended. The French bulletin dropped off butthe English bulletin didn’t for almost an hour. Everything else dropped off as new forecasts were being issued but no new data came in and the bins simply disappeared. Toronto’s configuration got corrupted and is now fixed. There was one other problem at Sudbury (XLJ898 162.400 MHz), but that was also fixed. No other reports for sites in Ontario.
Peter Staples – Dissemination – Ontario Region | Diffusion – Région de l’Ontario
Strangely, it never went into watchdog mode, after everything had been silenced, including the station ID. All that remained was a single click, which repeated throughout Monday August 4th and part of Tuesday. It was restored on Tuesday, August 5th at 7:50 AM.
On Friday September 5th Collingwood XMJ316 went off the air during the severe weather outbreak. Peter Staples has more on this.
It went down during the storms on Friday evening at 6:47 and back up Tuesday Sept 9th at 1:02 pm. The UPS failed during a power outage and was replaced.
Peter Staples – Dissemination – Ontario Region | Diffusion – Région de l’Ontario
On Friday September 12th Toronto XMJ225 went into watchdog mode at 3:13 PM. It was restored at 8:55 AM on Monday September 15th.
There was a stuck ftp process. In other words the system didn’t hang-up between messages and no other data was loaded. Re-setting now.
Peter Staples – Dissemination – Ontario Region | Diffusion – Région de l’Ontario
On Sunday September 21st at around 4:00 AM Toronto XMJ225 had developed another problem with data corruption. It is similar to what has happened in the past, with bins being in the wrong spot in the configuration. Thus, nothing had been updated from 3:00 AM, until it went into watchdog mode around 10:15 AM. It was restored and reset on Monday September 22nd at 8:25 AM.
Wednesday October 8th, there was no weekly test of Toronto XMJ225 at the normal time. See below. It was off and on air for a few minutes, while people were visiting The CN Tower transmitter site to do some checking. As a result, there seems to have been some sort of a network feed outage. The system is up but not on a network feed, so all the messages for now (until we get the network outage fixed) will be dial-up. We are going to get a fix in. A power fluctuation caused the network outage and so we are on backup dial-up. It’s still loading and transmitting so it’s not our highest priority at this point.
Peter Staples – Dissemination – Ontario Region | Diffusion – Région de l’Ontario
Sunday October 26th St. Catharines VAD320 went into watchdog mode and was restored on Monday October 27th at around 8:40 AM.
WEEKLY/MONTHLY SAME/1050 TONE ALERT TEST REPORT
The following are reports from listeners on the weekly (RWT), monthly (RMT) SAME tests sent to each site in Canada. However, it is not complete so we need you to send your reports to the author as well as Wxradio@ec.gc.ca. Remember, the 1050Hz Tone test and SAME Required Monthly Test is performed on the first Wednesday of each month just before noon local time. The SAME Required Weekly Test is performed every Wednesday around 11:50 local time.
Date Call Sign Tx Frequency (MHz) Name alphanumeric or basic tone alert test alarm time
Wednesday August 6th, St Catharine’s (VAD320 162.475 MHz.) (RWT) 11:52 AM, (RMT) 11:57 AM, (1050 TONE) 11:59 AM local, Toronto (XMJ225 162.400 MHz.) (RWT) 11:54 AM, (RMT) 11:59 AM, (1050 TONE) 11:59 AM local.Wednesday August 13th, St Catharine’s (VAD320 162.475 MHz.) (RWT) 11:52 A.M. local, Toronto (XMJ225 162.400 MHz.) (RWT) 11:54 AM local.
Wednesday August 20th, St Catharines (VAD320 162.475 MHz.) (RWT) 11:52 AM local, Toronto (XMJ225 162.400 MHz.) (RWT) 11:54 AM local.
Wednesday August 27th, St Catharine’s (VAD320 162.475 MHz.) (RWT) 11:52 AM local, Toronto (XMJ225 162.400 MHz.) (RWT) 11:54 AM local, Ottawa (VBE719 162.550 MHz) (RWT) 11:54 A.M Local.
Wednesday September 3th, St Catharine’s (VAD320 162.475 MHz.) (RWT) 11:52 AM, (RMT) 11:57 AM, (1050 Hz. tone) 11:59 AM local, Toronto (XMJ225 162.400 MHz.) (RWT) 11:54 AM, (RMT) 12:01 PM, (1050 Hz. tone) 12:02 AM local.
Wednesday September 10th, St Catharine’s (VAD320 162.475 MHz.) (RWT) 11:54 A.M. local, Toronto (XMJ225 162.400 MHz.) (RWT) 11:56 A.M. local.
Wednesday September 17th, St Catharine’s (VAD320 162.475 MHz.) (RWT) 11:52 AM local, Toronto (XMJ225 162.400 MHz.) (RWT) 11:54 AM local.
Wednesday September 24, St Catharine’s (VAD320 162.475 MHz.) (RWT) 11:52 AM local, Toronto (XMJ225 162.400 MHz.) (RWT) 11:55 AM local.
Wednesday October 1st 2014, St Catharine’s (VAD320 162.475 MHz.) (RWT) 11:52 AM, (RMT) 11:57 AM, (1050 Hz. tone alert) 11:59 AM local, Toronto (XMJ225 162.400 MHz.) (RWT) 11:54 AM, (RMT) 11:59 AM, (1050 Hz. tone alert) 11:59 AM local.
Wednesday October 8th, St Catharine’s (VAD320 162.475 MHz.) (RWT) 11:52 AM local, Toronto (XMJ225 162.400 MHz.) had no weekly test today, until 2:32 PM. For more, see The Watchdog Report.
Wednesday October 15th, St Catharine’s (VAD320 162.475 MHz.) (RWT) 11:52 AM local, Toronto (XMJ225 162.400 MHz.) (RWT) 11:55 AM local.
Wednesday October 22rd, St Catharine’s (VAD320 162.475 MHz.) (RWT) 11:52 AM local, Toronto (XMJ225 162.400 MHz.) (RWT) 11:55 AM local. 🙂
Wednesday October 29, St Catharine’s (VAD320 162.475 MHz.) (RWT) 11:52 A.M. local, Toronto (XMJ225 162.400 MHz.) (RWT) 11:54 A.M. local.
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.
From Geoff Colson, Warning Preparedness Meteorologist for Environment Canada
Folks, as another summer severe weather season winds down, I want to take this opportunity to again thank all of you for being a part of the CANWARN volunteer storm spotter program. As I write this note, we now stand at 19 tornadoes in Ontario for this season. The long-term average is 12 tornadoes. Fortunately, the majority of the events this year were relatively short-lived and rated near the low end of the Enhanced Fujita Scale. It is the Enhanced Fujita Scale 2 tornado in Angus that occurred on June 17that remains our biggest event this year with a damage track a little over 20 kilometres long and about 300 metres wide.
I sent a note out in the summer talking about the CoCoRaHS volunteer observing network. Volunteers in this network take precipitation observations once per day and these observations are then viewable on a
North American map. My thanks to a number of you who volunteered to join this network over the summer. I also joined the network back in July.
The precipitation observations from this network are used by a variety of people including Environment Canada meteorologists. These precipitation readings can be used in Storm Summary bulletins issued by Environment Canada as well as for case studies in the wake of notable precipitation events. The snow observations from this network are also particularly helpful in providing additional information to our existing network. There are currently about 125 volunteers in the program from Ontario and we are hoping to grow this number to 300 by next spring. If you are interested in learning more about the CoCoRaHS program, please visit… http://www.cocorahs.org/Content.aspx?page=aboutus
Snowfalls have already occurred in parts of Northwestern and Northern Ontario and eventually these winter-like conditions will work their way down into Southern Ontario. Just a reminder that we will continue to monitor the storm.ontario@ec.gc.ca email address and the #ONstorm hashtag on Twitter for reports of fall/winter severe weather like dense fog, freezing rain, heavy snow, damaging winds and snow squalls.
My thanks again to all of you who are a part of the CANWARN program…keep your eyes on the sky and keep those reports of severe weather (summer and winter) coming in.
Regards, Geoff Coulson
Warning Preparedness Meteorologist
Météorologue de sensibilisation aux alertes
Ontario Region Client Services |
Service à la clientèle, Région de l’Ontario
Environment Canada | Environnement Canada
Government of Canada | Government du Canada
4905 Dufferin St | 4905 rue Dufferin
Toronto, ON M3H 5T4
Geoff.Coulson@ec.gc.ca Telephone | Téléphone 416-739-4466 Facsimile | Télécopieur 416-739-4603
Website | Site Web http://www.weather.gc.ca
SKYWARN training schedules, you can go to either of the following sites:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/skywarn/
http://skywarn.org/
https://www.meted.ucar.edu/training_course.php?id#
http://spotterguides.us/
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 are witnessing/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 bankful — 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 (fromtwig 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 Radios
Weather Radios can be purchased at various electronics stores that specialize in radios and other equipment such as:
BML Communications at http://www.bml.ca/,
CB World at http://www.werecb.com/,
Universal Radio at http://www.universal-radio.com/,
Durham Radio at http://www.durhamradio.com/,
Radio World at http://www.radioworld.ca/,
Burnaby Radio at http://www.burnabyradio.com/,
Ambient Weather at http://www.ambientweather.com/
Weather Radio Store at http://www.Weatherradiostore.com/, and many more retailers throughout North America.
When planning to purchase your first Weather Radio, it is highly recommended to look for the Public Alert identification logo. 🙂
Weather Information on the Internet
Suggested weather sites to visit as follows; In Canada visit http://www.weather.gc.ca/
Want to get your weather in the US? Go to http://www.nws.noaa.gov/
Weatheradio Canada webpage at http://www.ec.gc.ca/weatheradio
NOAA Weather Radio webpage at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr.
DX Info Centre at http://www.dxinfocentre.com/, to hear what Weather Radio sounds like before buying your first receiver, visit YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/,
The NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards Newsletter is published four times a year. There is some seasonal information to notify recipients of additional weather information available to them that they may not know about (most of which can be found on the NOAA Watch web site http://www.noaawatch.gov/ ). At this site you can also subscribe to various weather feeds. The rest of the newsletter remains relatively unchanged due to outreach requirements. The current newsletter is available at the NOAA Weather Radio website http://www.weather.gov/nwr/news.htm. At this time, there is no newsletter mailing list to subscribe. If you have additional questions, please feel free to e-mail answers@noaa.gov, here is the link to the answers website; http://findanswers.noaa.gov/noaa.answers/consumer/search.asp.
Yahoo Weatheradio Chatgroup, at http://tech.Groups.yahoo.com/group/weatheradio/,
NOAA and Weatheradio Canada group on Facebook,
WXtoIMG at http://www.wxtoim.com/downloads/,
Digital Atmosphere at http://www.weathergraphics.com/da/
WebEx http://www.freewebs.com/ve1jbl/canwarn.htm
NWS Taunton Amateur Radio SKYWARN Station home page at http://www.wx1box.org
The Maritime Amateur (Ham Radio for Maritimers by Maritimers) http://www.maritimeamateur.caVoIP Hurricane Prep Net – Saturday 9pm Atlantic Time / http://www.voipwx.net/
Phil Chadwick’s blog at philtheforecaster.blogspot.com
Manufacturers / Distributers of Weather Radio Products
There are many reliable manufacturers and retailers of Weather Radios sold in Canada and the USA. Below is a list of the recommended models currently for sale. Note: This list of suggested weather radios is strictly for informational purposes, and not as an endorsement of any specific model or manufacturer.
Midland Radio Corporation http://www.Midlandradio.com W-r300, W-r100B, W-R120, HH54VP, HH54VP2, ER102, Nautico 3 and W-R11 are all manufactured by Midland and sold in North America.
Oregon Scientific http://www2oregonscientific.com W-R601, W-R203 and W-R602 are currently sold in North America.
Uniden Corporation http://www.Uniden.com BC75XLT, BC95XLT, BC125AT, BC346XT, BCT15X, BCD996XT, Homepatrol, BC436HP, BC536HP and BCD396XT are currently sold in North America.
Sangean USA http://www.Sangean.com CL100, DT400, and PRD9W are manufactured by Sangean and currently sold in North America.
Reecom Electronics Inc http://www.reecominc.com R-1630 and R-1650 are manufactured by Reecom and currently sold in North America.
Kaito Electronics Inc http://www.kaitousa.com/. KA500, KA101 and KA600 are currently sold in North America.
Alert Works http://www.alert-works.com/ Alert Works desktop model EAR-10 is currently sold in North America.
In Closing
If you have any comments or suggestions, or if you wish to submit an article, please email the author Gord at wxrnewsletter@gmail.com blindgordie@gmail.com or va3wxa@gmail.com. We also encourage you to visit http://www.qrz.com/db/va3wxa and you can also follow him on Twitter @WxrNewsletter @BlindGordie or @VA3WXA.
Also, check out his blog at http://blindgordieblog.wordpress.com
You can also contact him on Skype and his Skype name is blindgordie.
I would like to give special thanks to those who made contributions to this 13th issue as follows: Radioworld Inc., Joey Shynne, Bob Robichaud, Bill Hepburn, Dennis T. Paganin (our faithful web master and Co-Editor), Denis Paquette, Peter Staples, Malcolm Kendal, Gregory Zwicker, Phil Chadwick, Geoff Coulson and Marc Fitkin for their help and contributions to the newsletter.
Sincerely, Gord The Old Reliable, VA3WXA