ALERT NEWSLETTER – June 2014
http://www.alert-alabama.org
Vol. 7 No. 12
84th Edition
Hi Everyone,
I hope all is going well & that you are finding a nice cool spot out of the pre-summer heat and
showers.
The biggest ALERT news of the month was our recent elections. At our last meeting the ALERT
elections were held for the 2014 – 2014 term.
The Officers for 2014 - 2015 are:
President: Ronnie King WX4RON
Vice-President & Membership: Steven Moss KB4FKN
NWS Liaison: Russell Thomas KV4S
Secretary: Mike Lamb KK4OHW
Operations: Steven Moss KB4FKN
Training: Ronnie King WX4RON
Treasurer: Johnny Knobloch KJ4OPX
Public Information: Zac Hollingsworth W4ZAC
Per the ALERT Bylaws our new Officers will assume their positions at the July 8 meeting.
Thanks to all of our new officers and to our outgoing officers for their service to our organization!
One thing which will remain the same is our newsletter. I will continue on as the Editor-In-Chief, and
hopefully will be able to provide interesting items for your enjoyment.
I will also continue as the Net Manager of the ALERT Sunday Nite Net. If you have not checked in to
our net I invite you to join us. We meet at 7PM Sunday on 146.88 MHz PL 88.5 hz.
I hope to see you there!
Atlantic Hurricane Season Begins
Some memories of hurricanes past...
“That crashing sound you just heard was a tree being blown through the window of our studio” –
Radio Station WWL 760 kHz AM - New Orleans – Hurricane Camille 1969
“…it was like a bomb set off. It blew everything away” – Danny Williams resident of Gulf Shores –
Hurricane Frederick 1979
"…no storm of this strength has struck this area in recorded history…..many people have had to go
through hurricanes before and survived. May God help us." - Meteorologist-In-Charge Richard
Hagen, NWS Brownsville TX – Hurricane Allen 1980
“…the rain is very light…the wind is incessantly howling, & I see green flashes continually lighting
the horizon in every direction – which I know is the power grid, poles and all being torn up by the
winds.” – WD4NYL’s log book – Jefferson County – Hurricane Opal 1995
“We have a report that the I-10 Bridge in Pensacola is down, in the water” – K4NWS – Hurricane Ivan
2004
“I’ve just received a report that Foley Alabama no longer exists” – K4NWS – Hurricane Katrina 2005
Many storms cross my mind as I write this article, including Hurricane Allen, which in 1980 was
heading directly towards Brownsville, and expected to bring 150 MPH winds, but suddenly weakening
to 110 to 130 MPH at land fall.
Or Hurricane Babe, a Category 1 storm which struck Louisiana in 1977. This was very unremarkable
storm, except for the beauty of the storm. At sunset looking directly west, to the left, which was
southwest, the sky was pitch black with lighting continually crawling across the clouds. To the right,
or northwest, the sky was as deep blue as I have ever seen. Directly west the sky was brilliant
orange. Later that night I would be listening to WWL as they, between storm reports, played Chicago
singing “Wishing You Were Here”.
During the callout with Ivan, the NWS told us to come with a packed bag, as we might get trapped at
the NWS by falling trees. I was on the air continuously for 17 hours that day.
During the Katrina callout I received the following report:
URGENT—WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
ISSUED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1205 PM CDT MONDAY AUG 29 2005
...EXTREME DANGEROUS HURRICANE KATRINA MOVING ACROSS SOUTHEAST
MISSISSIPPI...
...DEVASTATING DAMAGE CONTINUES ALONG ITS PATH...
KATRINA...NOW A CATEGORY THREE HURRICANE WITH WINDS OF 125 MPH AND
HIGHER GUSTS...WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE NORTHWARD ACROSS SOUTHEAST
MISSISSIPPI AND INTO EAST CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI THROUGH THE AFTERNOON
AND EVENING HOURS. ALONG AND NEAR KATRINA’S PATH...EXPECT PARTIAL TO
COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE. ALL WOOD FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT WILL
SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE...INCLUDING SOME WALL AND ROOF FAILURE.
HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY...A
FEW POSSIBLY TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. MANY WINDOWS WILL
BLOW OUT.
AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH
AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY
VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE
ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION...PERSONS...PETS...AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE
WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK.
POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN
AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING
INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.
THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED...ONLY
THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...BUT BE TOTALLY DE-FOLIATED.
THE HURRICANE FORCE WINDS WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH BELOW HURRICANE
STRENGTH FROM SOUTH TO NORTH THROUGH THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY
EVENING HOURS.
Though I find weather obsessively fascinating, I truly hope we don’t see any more reports such as
this for many years to come.
Using this trip down Memory Lane as a lead in, we greet, whether we want to or not, the beginning of
our North Atlantic Hurricane season, which begins June 1st.
Colorado State University meteorologist Philip Klotzbach and William Gray predict a quiet 2014
Atlantic hurricane season, suggesting that nine tropical storms will form, but only three will become
hurricanes. Among other factors, a predicted El Niño has led to their quiet forecast.
This year’s forecast follows two consecutive poor forecasts: In 2012, when more than twice as many
hurricanes formed as had been predicted, and in 2013, when only two hurricanes formed after a
spring prediction of nine.
A typical year, based on weather records dating to 1950, has 12 tropical storms, of which seven
become hurricanes. A tropical storm has sustained winds of 39 mph; it becomes a hurricane when its
winds reach 74 mph.
2014 Atlantic Basin Storm Names are as follows:
Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gonzalo, Hanna, Isaias, Josephine, Kyle, Laura,
Marco, Nana, Omar, Paulette, Rene, Sally, Teddy, Vicky & Wilfred
On the off chance that the forecast should be terribly wrong, and the NHC were to run out of hurricane
names, as occurred in 2005, they would use the Greek alphabet, with tropical cyclones Alpha, Beta,
Gamma, etc.
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Alabama Hurricane Impact & ALERT Hurricane Response
Alabama is impacted by hurricanes in three ways:
1. Direct Impact – Where the core of the storm or the rain / wind field actually strikes or passes
through a portion of Alabama. Examples being Hurricane’s Fredrick, Opal, Ivan and Katrina.
2. Indirect Impact – where the core is not over Alabama, but the feeder bands are passing
through and causing havoc. Rita’s feeder bands being a good example, which dropped 20
tornadoes over west Alabama in a 4-hour period.
3. Distant Impact – A storm is not even near Alabama, but affecting our weather. Such as with
Olivia, a Pacific Hurricane which was off Western Mexico. Her moisture was captured by the
jet stream, crossed the Sonora desert, the Arklatex region & dumped monsoon type rains on
Alabama & Mississippi, causing flooding.
ALERT typically will activate during scenarios 1 & 2. Most of our activity is when the storm is near the
coast normally was on HF at 3.965 MHz or the backup 40-meter frequency of 7.243 MHz. However,
since we currently are without HF capability and with the ever-improving coverage on D-Star,
ALERT’s coverage would concentrate on monitoring D-Star directly and using an offsite liaison
station to monitor HF activity.
Then as the storm moves northward into the BMX County Warning Area the focus would then shift to
the individual county Skywarn Nets, as we would do during a “normal” callout.
HF SSB Gulf Coast Nets to monitor are:
Primary State ARES SSB Frequencies & Nets for Gulf of Mexico & regular meeting times.
3.965 MHz
3.940 MHz
3.975 MHz
3.910 MHz
3.862 MHz
Alabama Emergency Net Mike
Florida Amateur Single Sideband Net
Georgia Single Sideband Net
Louisiana Traffic Net
Mississippi Section Phone Net
4:00 PM Sunday*
6:00 PM
7:30 PM
6:30 PM
6:00 PM
3.873 MHz
Texas Traffic Net
6:30 PM
* Note that this is also the frequency of the Alabama Traffic Net Mike, meeting daily at 6:30PM Central
& Sunday’s at 8:00 AM Central and the Alabama Day Net, which meets daily at 10:00 AM Central Time.
Wide Coverage SSB Nets
14.235 MHz
3.935 MHz
Hurricane Watch Net
Central Gulf Coast Hurricane Net
As Needed
1:00 UTC
The Hurricane Watch Net is only activated when a storm is within 300 miles of a populated land mass.
Normally you shouldn’t check into this net, you should only listen. Only check in if you have a
legitimate need to do so. Legitimate needs being emergency or priority traffic or if the NCS
specifically calls for a station in Central Alabama, only then should you pick the microphone up.
Occasionally, if there is a lull in activity, they may actually give a call for general check-ins. But, don’t
be surprised if they don’t. Helping stations in the effected area is their primary concern.
Some Internet resources you should have in your toolbox include:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ - The National Hurricane Center out of Coral Gables, FL
http://14300audio.dynu.com:88/broadwave.asx?src=fhwn&kbps=16 Hurricane Watch Net Streaming
Audio (available only when the net is active)
http://derecho.math.uwm.edu/models/ & http://www.ral.ucar.edu/hurricanes/realtime/current/
Hurricane Forecast Models
http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/TC.html Satellite imagery and data – worldwide
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/trop-atl.html Storm centered satellite imagery
These and many other resources, including US coastal radar picket, Caribbean & Mexican radar,
charts and satellite imagery can be found on my website www.freewebs.com/weatherlynx/ and
clicking on “Tropics, Charts & Satellites”.
You may wish to bookmark these links.
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Mark’s Almanac
Originally the fourth Roman Month, June at one time had 29 days, until Julius Caesar in a glow of
inspiration added the 30th day.
What June was named for is uncertain. Some say it was named for Juno, wife & sister of Jupiter.
Juno was the goddess of marriage and a married couple's household, so some consider it good luck
to be married in this month, which is why June has become a month for so many marriages.
The beginning of meteorological Summer is June 1.
Storm activity retains many of the characteristics of spring, but more and more the pattern takes on
the summer pattern of pop-up thunderstorms.
Hurricane season begins, however June hurricanes are usually small and of minor intensity,
occurring roughly once every two years.
The centers for June Tropical Cyclone activity are the extreme Western Caribbean, with the storm
tracks striking the Yucatan or veering toward Western Florida & the Southwestern Gulf of Mexico,
with other storm tracks aiming toward the Mexican mainland.
The center of maximum tornadic activity shifts northward over Kansas and Iowa. Activity in Texas
and Oklahoma dies down. There is a 5% decrease in tornadic activity over the May average & by June
4th 50% of the years tornadoes have occurred.
Turning our eyes towards the sky, Mercury is reaching its highest altitude for 2014, visible in the
west-northwest as twilight fades.
Venus is the bright “Morning Star” low in the east at dawn.
Mars is high in the south in late twilight and sets in the west just before dawn. On June 7 the Moon
will pass within two degrees of Mars. Being that the moon is roughly .5 degrees in diameter, this
means they will appear 4 lunar diameters apart.
Jupiter in Gemini shines brightly in the west in the evening twilight and sets around midnight.
Saturn in Libra shines in the southeast during the evening and is highest in the south around
midnight.
Uranus & Neptune are low in the dawn.
June’s Full Moon is “Strawberry Moon” in Native American folklore. This will occur on June 12 at
11:11 PM CDT. It is called “Strawberry Moon” for it signals the time to harvest strawberries, as it is
peak strawberry ripening time. Other names are “Rose Moon” & “Honey Moon”.
Summer Solstice will occur at 5:51 AM CDT on June 21.
The June Bootids Meteor Shower will occur from June 26th until July 2nd. It peaks on June 27th.
Normally the shower is very weak, with a Zenith Hourly Rate or ZHR of 1 or 2, but occasional
outbursts produce a hundred or more meteors per hour. The source of the June Bootids is comet
7P/Pons-Winnecke, which orbits the Sun once every 6.37 years.
The Moon will not interfere with this shower, as June’s New Moon will occur June 27 at 3:08 AM CDT.
Finally, mark June 25 on your calendar and think about Christmas. Why? Because this is how
Christmas, which is just six months away, will feel like in Australia and Brazil in December.
Happy Holidays!
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Our next ALERT meeting is June 10th.
If for some reason you cannot attend the meeting in person, you can still participate via telephone.
The teleconference number is 1-877-951-0997 & and the participant code is 741083.
Hope to see you there!
Mark / WD4NYL
ALERT
http://weatherlynx.webs.com/