As i mentioned in an entry 2 blogs back, Stephanie and I are going to a Weather Spotter class put on for free by WYMT-TV and the N.O.A.A. weather staff from Jackson ,Ky.
Our county is in dire need of weather spotters, weather spotters aren’t the same as storm chasers. Although i would not be opposed if offered a job as a storm chaser, storms really don’t bother me so and i have enough sense to find shelter when things get out of control.
This class will teach us how to spot potentially dangerous weather conditions that could lead to flash floods, damaging winds and tornados as well as how to predict the best time to share that data in real time with NOAA weather radio and the media.
This class is for two hours and i hear there is a rumor of a cook out afterwards, we go at 9 am tomorrow morning. I am excited to say the least, weather is another one of my hobbies. And who knows, maybe i can work out some kind of deal where i can carry WYMT-TV weather on Blue Bucket Radio.
I will be taking a recorder with me, actually it’s an app on my old Android phone called voice recorder, the same app we recorded the Storm episode of The Little Things Radio show when our power was out for a week.
If all goes well i will share audio snippets from what i record, there will be some videos for us to watch so i probably wont be recording those.
I’ll let you all know.
Barry of Blue Bucket Radio 1620 AM
Sounds good
Wish you all the best.
Mark
Wx Spotting
I went through weather spotter training when I was active in the amateur radio WARN system. The course was given by NOAA and though I am no longer in WARN I am glad that I took it.
We learned the basic cloud types and how to estimate wind speed. The wall cloud was interesting and I have seen these in severe weather situations. I have witnessed two tornados and in both cases the sky turned a distinctive green color just before the funnel but I don’t recall any mention of this during the training. You might ask about this.
You’ll be glad you have the training if for no other reason than for personal safety.
Always facsinating
As a ham I’ve been involved in the Skywarn program for many years. I imagine the Skywarn classes we have up here are the same thing. The National Weather Service and the local Sheriffs office sponsor the classes, and they’re held at the courthouse which is also where the ham club has it’s emergency operations equipment, so we get to show folks out setup at the EOC (Emergency Operations Center). Myself, my Wife and my Son are all trained Skywarn spotters. We’ve been to the class many times. If it’s anything like our classes you’ll find it fascinating and the video presentations to be quite amazing.
Our ham club gets called out by the NWS quite often for storm spotting. We connect directly (through our net) with the NWS office in Duluth while spotting to give them real time information. Obviously, spotters can see weather that radar, etc cannot.
You’ll enjoy it and learn a lot.
TIB
Experienced
Neil,
Do you remember the tornado that started in Bright Indiana and ended in Mason,Ohio?
Excerpt from wiki:
Bright, Indiana/Harrison, Ohio
A violent nighttime tornado began west of Bright, Indiana, with 50 homes destroyed in that area. Four of the homes were of brick construction, yet were completely leveled. The F4 tornado then continued to produce F4 damage in Ohio as it hit the communities of Harrison, Crosby Township, and New Baltimore. In Hamilton County alone, the tornado damaged 800–900 homes and 31 businesses plus three schools; of these, 32 homes were reported destroyed, some so completely that their foundations were left “practically barren”.[2] Steel beams, 18 inches (1.5 ft) wide, 75 feet (23 m) long, and 5⁄8 inch (0.052 ft) in thickness, were deformed and brought to ground level in Harrison. The tornado continued into the southern part of Fairfield and surrounding areas of Butler County, where 19 homes and four trailers were destroyed, with 58 homes, 22 trailers, and five apartment buildings damaged. The tornado continued into Warren County before dissipating near Mason. A total of 37 people were injured by this tornado.
I experienced that tornado the hard way but came out of it safely, my ex-wifes soon to sister in law and her mother were right in the path of that monster.
The sister in law opened the front door trying to hear the sirens because i guess she wasn’t sure what she was hearing, that’s when they realized a tornado was on a path to their house, they slammed the door and hid under the kitchen table.
After the tornado passed and totalled their house, the sister in law tried to stand move out from under the table, she could not move without intense pain.
Turns out she was holding the table up that had debris piled up on it from the destruction, when EMS was finally able to get to their house they had to strap her into gurney in the same position she was found since it had broken her back.
After months of being in a brace and many visits to the doctors she was finally able to function again. The tornado jumped over a friends house less than 2000 feet from where i was living and followed the main for a mile before jumping the interstate and moving towards Mason Ohio.
Had it not been for our insurance agents shop behind us , the tire center and floral shop next to us and a neighbors house on the other side, our place would have sustained more damage than it did. A piece of tin roofing was picked up off the tire center roof and driven into the new roof on the place i lived in and my cb antenna on a 20 foot pipe was bent over the roof. Despite that bent pipe, the antenna itself was okay, we bent the pipe back straight and was back in business that evening.
I will never forget that sound, like a freight train and a 747 combined.
Barry of Blue Bucket Radio 1620 AM
The Bright/Harrison Tornado
That happened in 1990 which was after I left the Cincy (Montgomery) area. There was a tornado which pathed a block north of our previous home and destroyed many homes and this was likely the one you referenced. I saw the damage some time later and it was amazing how the woods was flattened.
One tornado I saw travelled along this same path and was part of the 1974 system which destroyed most of Xenis, Ohio. The one I saw passed just north of our house and damaged a Sears wharehouse in Blue Ash. It was, fortunately, a small one and no one was injured.
Neil
Back Home
And It’s Official Now. New blog post coming up.