GYX SKYWARN Strategy Meeting 2017 Operations Review Storm Highlights Types of Notifications Enhancements to WX1GYX station Exercise Participation Additional Resources

2017 Storm Highlights Winter Storms – December 2017 Dec. 11-12 - Winter storm affected cities in the Northeast, including New York City, before it moved into the Atlantic. Traffic fatalities associated with the snow and ice were reported in Oregon, Iowa, Michigan and Maine. Dec. 29-30 - Winter storm rapidly intensified as it moved across Cape Cod northward toward Maine and into eastern Canada, dropping from a central pressure of 1004 millibars at 1 p.m. Dec. 29 to 976 millibars at 1 a.m. Dec. 30, a fall of 28 millibars in 12 hours. The storm brought heavy snow and winds to much of New England. Fortis even brought thundersnow to portions of Connecticut, New York and Maine. More than 100,000 people lost power in Maine on Dec. 30.

2017 Storm Highlights Winter Storm - Feb 10-13 Feb 10-13 – Winter storm hammered upstate New York and New England with heavy snow. Its atmospheric pressure dropped 24 millibars in only 15 hours from late Feb. 12 into the morning of Feb. 13. Blizzard conditions occurred in parts of Maine into Nova Scotia. Many locations in Maine received more than two feet of snow. Parts of upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts saw more than a foot of snow. 40 inches of snowfall was reported in Glenburn, Maine, which combined with 10 inches from the previous storm, brought their total to 50 inches in less than a week. 8 foot high drifts were reported in Sherman, Maine.

Street flooding on Rt 25A, in Orford, NH 2017 Storm Highlights Spring and Summer Thunderstorms Street flooding on Rt 25A, in Orford, NH

2017 Storm Highlights Maine Tornados July 1st, 2017

2017 Storm Highlights October Storm

2017 Storm Highlights Wind Damage – October 29-30

October 29-30 Storm We received over 150 severe weather and wind damage reports, beginning on the evening of the 29th. Maintained active net for over 14 hours with several net controls, including two new hams, Eric Emery KC1HJK, and Waylon McDonald KC1HJN. Utilized mobile operators, including Jason Cote W1WDW, who surveyed a lot of damage in coastal York County on the morning of the 30th.

SKYWARN Activation Tree SKYWARN is Activated by NWS SKYWARN Amateur Radio Coordinator SKYWARN Net Control Operators and Ham Radio Spotters Regional Coordinators and Net Control Operators SKYWARN Spotter Coordinator Public Announcements for Spotter Reports SKYWARN Activation Tree The structure above works best with longer lead time situations, such as tropical and winter storms. The ultimate goal is to achieve a more fluid and organic activation process, where radio operators will self-activate as soon as they are aware of a severe weather situation. This is more important in short lead time situations, such as severe thunderstorms.

Hazardous Weather Outlook - https://forecast-v3. weather For SKYWARN amateur radio spotters, net controls, and coordinators, it is our responsibility to monitor the Hazardous Weather Outlook (published by the NWS) for requests of the potential need for spotter activity. This product alerts us of the nature of hazardous weather expected, the counties that will be effected, and the severity of the weather event.

Other types of notifications

NWS Chat https://nwschat.weather.gov/live/

GYX SKYWARN Amateur Radio Network Updated this spring Need to create a culture of awareness & organic reporting Don’t be afraid to get on the air and ask for reports!

Station Updates (2014-2015) Organizational supplies Headphones VHF/UHF Scanner Key, base, and slip pad Mousepad UTC / Local Time clocks Radio Quick Reference Guides

Station Updates (2016) Signalink USB interfaces for both VHF and HF Connect Systems CS801 DMR transceiver (VHF) Setup for NBEMS and Winlink message handling

2017 Exercise Participation Maine Fire & Ice Exercise (June & September) Maine Simulated Emergency Test (October) New Hampshire Simulated Emergency Test (November)

2017 Exercise Participation Takeaways Our net controllers work very well within the Maine ARES structure, and are also proficient with using the digital modes that are required, including the various NBEMS methods and Winlink. We also have more practice under the Maine ARES structure because of our participation in multiple exercises throughout the year. We need to make sure that future net control operators are proficient in FlDigi, Winlink, and the hardware used at WX1GYX, and can handle formal traffic in multiple formats, including ARRL Radiograms, ICS-213, and the Severe Weather Report forms. We had a good joint exercise during the NH SET, in which we learned a lot about our capabilities as well as NH ARES.

Severe Weather Report Form To better improve the flow of information, we’ve developed a simple report form that can be filled out and handed off to a forecaster or specified recipient during an activation.

Updated Log Sheet The new log sheet solves many of the logistical problems we found with the old one. It fits on a standard 8 ½ X 11 sheet of paper. It is only a log sheet Handing in Severe Weather Reports no longer means handing in part of your log, or becoming separated with your working list of call signs (who may need to be reached again for further reports)

Primary Frequencies 146.880 KQ1L Link System (Primary) 147.045 K1MV, NWS Gray, ME (Alternate) 146.655 W1NH, Mt. Washington, NH (Alternate) 146.985 W1JY, Gilford, NH (Alternate) 146.595 SIMPLEX DMR – TS2 Talk Group 8 Region North Echolink – New England Conference Node #9123 (Primary) WX Talk #7203 (Secondary) SKYWARN HF – 3965 kHz +/- LSB (Primary Night) 3860 kHz +/- LSB (Alternate Night) 7277 kHz +/- LSB (Primary Day)

Frequency Updates The Frequencies programmed in the FT8900 at WX1GYX are in the process of being updated. Discuss changes, omissions, missed repeaters A copy of this will be at the operating position for reference, included in the manual, and will be made available online as a PDF as well.

SKYWARN Scripts Scripts - Using scripts will help hams who aren’t familiar with SKYWARN reporting criteria to learn what information we need. The scripts help new net control operators become familiar with what to ask during different weather scenarios, and they also help us to be more specific about what types of reports we are looking for.

SKYWARN Spotter Training Left: Manchester, NH Above: Cumberland County EMA, Windham, ME

How to Report Radio via any active net Email: gyx.skywarn@noaa.gov NWS Public Reporting Number: Gray: 1-877-633-6772 Twitter: @NWSGray (especially if you have pictures)

Future Vision Continue to get the word out. The more involved, the better! Discuss possibility of setting up a table at hamfests, hosting a discussion, and creating a handout. Continue to develop local and regional subnets and work towards creating a more organic SKYWARN that is aware of and anticipates the potential of hazardous weather. Encourage more SKYWARN Spotter Training in new areas. Continue to improve workflow and evolve in ways that best achieve the goals of NWS Gray and the SKYWARN mission. Don’t take things too seriously and remember to enjoy what we do.