01/25/2016
Amateur Radio volunteers were at the ready as a storm of historic proportions
over the January 23-24 weekend dropped up to 3-1/2 feet of snow, some of it on
states not used to seeing much snow at all. Some communities remained paralyzed
Monday morning, as they continue to dig out. Utility line icing caused power
outages in some states, and flooding occurred along coastal areas. While the
storm bypassed Northern New England, it brought major East Coast cities to
their knees, and some 30 deaths have been blamed on the severe weather. In the
New York City area, Hudson Division Director Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, said he tried
to keep up with the rapid and heavy snowfall accumulation as he anticipated
reports from Section Managers (SMs) and Emergency Coordinators (ECs).
"I shoveled snow three times already today," he said late Saturday. "There's
still another foot of snow out there. The city is completely shut down. No cars
are allowed to be on the road at all! I've never seen that happen in my 62
years." A record 26 inches of snow fell in New York City's Central Park.
Lisenco said 31 inches fell in Brooklyn.
New York City Area
ARRL NYC/Long Island SM Jim Mezey, W2KFV, reported, approximately 2 feet of
snow with some local flooding. All ARES members were on standby but active in
net operations, with SKYWARN also active. In all 13 volunteers took part.
Communication was on VHF and UHF repeaters, and 40 meters was used to transmit
weather information using digital modes. Babylon EC John Melfi, W2HCB, said the
Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club, which makes up the town's ARES team, took
part in storm-related operations on Long Island.
Eastern New York Section Emergency Coordinator David Galletly, NM2O, said parts
of his section received little to no snow, while others areas closer to New
York City were clobbered.
"The snow/no snow line was extremely sharp. The northern two-thirds of the
Eastern New York Section - covered by NWS Albany - received little in the way
of precipitation. Albany, for example, did not see a flake," he told ARRL. "The
story was a bit different in the southern third closer to New York City -
covered by NWS Upton. Blizzard warnings in ENY were limited to southern
portions of Westchester County with Winter Storm Warnings and Special Weather
Statements issued in adjacent northern Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, and
Orange counties. Reports with snow totals attributed to 'Trained Spotters' and
'Amateur Radio' were filed from these areas" in NWS statements.
The NWS Upton also credited Amateur Radio spotters with snowfall accumulation
reports from Bergen and Passaic counties in New Jersey, from Westchester,
Suffolk, and Orange counties and Bronx borough in New York, and New Haven and
Fairfield counties in Connecticut, among other locations. Farther north, in
Southern New England, there was some uncertainty as to just where the extreme
snowfall would hit the region.
The South
The Appalachian Region may have been the hardest hit, with more than 40 inches
of snow reported in parts of West Virginia, where Gov Earl Ray Tomblin declared
a state of emergency on January 22, deploying state resources in anticipation
of the storm. Kanawha County ARES activated nets on 75, 40, and 2 meters.
"We were lucky," said ARRL West Virginia SM Phillip Groves, N8SFO. "Lots of
snow - 24 inches in Beckley, a few power outages around the state. We had
several ARES/RACES nets on standby, and a lot of hams with nothing to do but
talk on the radio."
In Kentucky, not typically known for snow emergencies, Gov Matt Bevin also
declared state of emergency after several of that state's southern and eastern
counties received a foot or more of snow, stranding thousands of motorists
along a 30 mile stretch of Interstate 75. According to Kentucky Public
Information Officer Greg Lamb, W0QI, the Kentucky Emergency HF Net activated on
75 meters, with stations checking in from throughout the Commonwealth. Hazard
and Harlan County-area repeaters activated a SKYWARN net on January 22 in
anticipation of the storm. It remained active for 12 hours, until after the
storm had passed.
Amateur Radio volunteers provided 67 storm-related reports to the National
Weather Service (NWS) Jackson office. Assistant Region Four Section Emergency
Coordinator Johnny Brashear, KY4JLB, was net control, while Fred Jones, WA4SWF,
provided details from Louisa. Some area repeaters were down as a result of
storm.
In Shelby County, ARES was contacted by served agencies, including the Red
Cross, and the county emergency manager, and put on standby to assist with any
shelter communication, if needed. No activation was necessary, though and
Shelby ARES stood down, although it continued to actively monitor. In Madison,
Rockcastle, and Laurel counties, the Red Cross asked for assistance after the
Interstate 75 closing. Lamb said the NWS Louisville office expressed thanks for
the Amateur Radio assistance.
In Virginia, National Weather Service (NWS) Wakefield SKYWARN Amateur Radio
Coordinator Steve Crow, KG4PEQ, said the Wakefield SKYWARN Amateur Radio Team
was active from Friday morning through Saturday evening, with brief wrap-up
nets for storm total snowfall on Sunday morning.
"While the SKYWARN Radio Desk at NWS Wakefield (WX4AKQ) was not activated, we
ran local nets in four of our regions impacted by the storm," Crow told ARRL.
"Participation exceeded expectations, with 13 SKYWARN net controls taking 274
reports from 109 different spotters. Reports consisted of snowfall measurements
and ice accumulation, and also provided extremely valuable data on
precipitation transition times as the storm fluctuated between snow and sleet
in many areas."
Crow said the Wakefield office serve 66 counties and independent cities in
central and southeastern Virginia, northeastern North Carolina, and eastern
Maryland.
In Stafford County, Virginia, about a dozen ham radio volunteers were deployed
for emergency communication in support of the county emergency manager, but an
emergency situation did not develop there.
In North Carolina, the storm brought snow and a lot of power outages, with some
200,000 without power at the peak, but no communication outages, ARES SEC Tom
Brown, N4TAB, reported. "A few shelters were opened, but were subsequently
closed due to minimal need," he said.
Middle Atlantic
Delaware, which typically - but not always - experiences fairly mild winters,
was not spared this time. "While some areas of Delaware received up to 17
inches of snow, public service, wireless, and telephone services were
operational throughout," ARRL Delaware SM Bill Duveneck, KB3KYH, said. "This
made for a very routine and uneventful ARES activation?just the kind we always
hope for."
Amateur Radio volunteers in The First State began preparing for the storm the
day before it started, firing up a "Ready Net" on Friday evening in Sussex
County, providing weather forecasts and potential served-agency assignments.
The next morning ARES initiated spot reporting to the county emergency
operations center (EOC), staffed by Sussex County RACES. The ARES Storm Net
opened at noon, and stayed up into the evening. Duveneck said 34 volunteers
participated in the net, reporting weather, downed wires, and traffic
accidents. Other ARES volunteers staffed a shelter at a Georgetown high school,
and ARES remained on standby to assist South Delaware hospitals and the
Delaware State Police.
In Delaware's two other counties, Kent and New Castle, ARES did not deploy, but
volunteers activated an emergency net Friday evening and remained at the EOC in
Dover until Sunday morning, taking spot reports and providing information to
county emergency managers. Duveneck said the Amateur Radio station at
Delaware's Emergency Management Agency EOC did not activate, but a team of
operators remained on alert. Volunteers also kept an ear on the state HF net
frequency.
The Washington, DC, area got smothered by snow. AMSAT announced on Sunday that
its office would be closed on Monday while the region cleans up.
Southern New England
In Connecticut, Section Emergency Coordinator Wayne Gronlund, N1CLV, summed it
up this way. "Our first significant winter storm has passed with surprisingly
few power disruptions!" He expressed his appreciation to SKYWARN and other
volunteers and net participants for reporting observations to the NWS.
In Massachusetts, NWS Taunton office is home to the Southern New England
SKYWARN station WX1BOX, which activated for 16 hours over the weekend to gather
reports on the blizzard's effects over its coverage area. The storm largely
affected the area south of Boston toward southeast Massachusetts - especially
Cape Cod and the Islands, south-central Rhode Island, and south-central
Connecticut.
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator Rob Macedo,
KD1CY, and Noah Goldstein, KB1VWZ, staffed WX1BOX for much of the activation.
The team handled several hundred snowfall reports, as well as reports of damage
from high winds and the heavy, wet snow and of coastal flooding.
"Compared to last year, this storm did not impact our Section as badly as it
could have or as badly as our neighbors south and west of us, but there was
still significant snowfall reports as well as some coastal flooding and pockets
of tree and wire damage and power outages in the region," Macedo said. "SKYWARN
Net reports were invaluable to find out where the heaviest snow occurred and
where the cutoff in snow accumulations was in our region."
SKYWARN nets ran hourly on the 146.955 Barnstable repeater covering Cape Cod
and the Islands, the area hardest hit. ARES District Emergency Coordinator
Frank O'Laughlin, WQ1O, and Assistant ARES DEC Dan Howard, K1DYO, Norfolk
County and South Shore SKYWARN, also ran periodic nets on their frequencies, as
did Connecticut SKYWARN on their frequencies in the NWS Taunton coverage area.
Nantucket ARES was on standby to support shelter operations on the island, as
power outages mounted. Utility companies were able to restore power quickly,
averting the need for a shelter, however.
---
■ Synchronet ■ Whiskey Lover's Amateur Radio BBS
|
