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MILWAUKEE AREA SKYWARN®ASSOCIATION
SKYWARN IS THE IDENTIFICATION, EVALUATION, AND REPORTING OF DANGEROUS
WEATHER.
Everyone Talks About The Weather, But Trained Storm Spotters Do
Something About It. Fear Is Not A Option.
Wisconsin Non-Profit And I-R-S 501c3 Tax Exempt.
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WATCH BOX and
WARNING DIAMONDS:
RED=TORNADO,
BLUE= SVR THUNDERSTORM,
GREEN= FLASH FLOOD.
DASHED BOX= Expires with 90 Minutes. |
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LINKS: |
U-S Temps |
U-S Dew Point |
U-S Wind Direction |
U-S Satellite |
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LINKS: |
Inter-Active Satellite |
Surface Map |
Expected Rainfall
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River Flooding |
Lightning |
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MESSAGE BOARD Copyright 2010 MASA Inc. www.mke-skywarn.org
SOCIAL MEDIA SURVEY
A new Red Cross survey on how people obtain
information on disasters and emergencies (including severe weather) reveals
that 'Social Media" networks are becoming a dominant force.
Stats, bar
graphs, pie charts, 19 pages.
LINK
TORNADO EMERGENCY:
We all
understand that a TORNADO WARNING means that a tornado has been detected on
radar or seen by storm spotters. But how do you get public attention
when a confirmed tornado will likely hit a city and there is a high
likelihood of damage and fatalities?
A "Tornado Emergency" is not a new
type of weather warning, but a new, visible, and high
impact call-to-action statement issued by the National Weather Service.
A TORNADO EMERGENCY means that significant, widespread damage with a
high likelihood of numerous fatalities is expected to continue with a
strong and violent tornado.
INTENDED PURPOSE:
.....
To motivate and provide a
sense of urgency to persons in the path of this storm to take immediate
shelter in a reinforced structure that offers maximum protection from
destructive winds.
.....
To communicate to state, local, and county officials and emergency
responders that they should prepare for immediate search and rescue
operations.
.....
To communicate the need to prepare for immediate medical emergencies,
evacuation measures, and emergency
sheltering.
Tornado Emergency Wikipedia LINKS
BROCHURE: THUNDERSTORMS, TORNADOES, and LIGHTNING /strong>lass="style22">
The NWS now has on-line it's updated (June 2010)
brochure covering "Thunderstorms, Tornadoes, and Lightning." This 20 page
(PDF) brochure is aimed at the general public. It uses easy to follow
explanations, terminology, and has outstanding graphics. Recommended to
everyone in our Milwaukee Skywarn family.
LINK HERE
WHATS MAKES GOOD FLOODING REPORTS?
The following examples are
reportable flood criteria
1. Water over the curb (not just a
small low spot) 2. High/rushing water impacting homes, businesses, basements,
roads and transportation 3. Rivers, creeks, and streams at or above bank
full. 4. Water created washouts, mudslides, cave-ins, and evacuations.
VIDEO TOUR OF
THE APPLE "I-PAD"
Surf some of your favorite weather sites and applications using Apple's new
I-Pad. Websites include Radarscope, Weatherbug Elite, Weather Channel, Storm
Prediction Center (SPC), the NWS, and others. 19 minutes.
LINK HERE
WEATHER APPLICATIONS LINK/span>
The Ipad, Ipod, and Iphone have
revolutionized how we transfer weather data. Follow the left side menu button
to the most used weather applications. Our favorites include "RadarScope
and Trained Storm Spotter."
2010 SEVERE WEATHER WORKSHOP
Many of the
programs at this year's national severe weather workshop have now been posted
on-line in PDF format.
Target audiences include emergency managers, businesses, storm spotters,
forecasters, researchers, TV media,
and weather enthusiasts. A link to each session is on this page:
http://www.mke-skywarn.org/storm_spotters.html
Pick the programs that appeal to you, but scan others as well. Lots of
pictures, charts, statistics, and important
information. There is something for everyone in our Milwaukee Skywarn family.
SPOTTER HANDOUT MATERIAL
Make a copy of these two reference documents to better understand the concepts presented during
your spotter training.
Each page is full color in a PDF format. Adjust your printer for the
'Landscape' mode (File/print/properties).
Page 1 - Diagrams and images (1.1 Mb)
Page 2 - Descriptions & Definitions (.99Mb)
2010 SPOTTER TRAINING
Annual storm
spotter training programs are now completed for all of Wisconsin and will
begin in February of 2011.
Here in
southern Wisconsin all
storm reports require some form of T-L-C-S. Time when you observe the
weather
event, Location is your county
and city, the
Condition you observed, and Source of report (your name, agency,
ham radio
call, I-D number, etc).
A new automated voice menu system for the non-trained general public will soon
launch and only require a
Zip code or
latitude-Longitude.
ON-LINE
TRAINING PROGRAMS
Okay lets assume you could not make it to a training program or you want more
training. Then visit our Spotter Training
Links page. It contains links to numerous training programs most which are
produced by the NWS.
Training Link
WARNINGS TO GET HAIL SIZE-WIND GUST TAGS
Beginning March 1st 2010 all NWS
offices in the north central U-S will add a tag line to severe thunderstorm
warnings,
follow up statements, and special marine warnings. This tag will indicate the
maximum expected hail size and wind
speed expected with a given warning. Inclusion of this information represents
an effort to respond to partner requests
from the emergency management community as well as several societal impact
groups. The target audience for this
product includes
national, state and local emergency managers, media, the private weather
enterprise, government,
and military agencies. This copy from
mke-skywarn.org
With the hail-wind tags local
area emergency managers can now make better decisions regarding the activation
of their
sirens which typically are activated only for tornadoes. Should a particular thunderstorm event exceed the
E-M's defined
threshold (say 75 MPH winds) a siren activation can occur
because winds of 90 MPH are expected. The tag
line will be
found near the bottom of the message as: "WIND...HAIL 90MPH 2.75IN"
Indicating 90 MPH wind gusts and 2.75 inch
[Baseball size] hail are the maximums expected with this event.
The experimental max wind-hail
tag line will be evaluated from March 1st through October 1st 2010. The NWS is
seeking
comments and suggestions regarding its usefulness or improvements.
Feedback Survey:
http://www.weather.gov/survey/nws-survey.php?code=svr-wind-hail
Service Description For this Experimental Product:
http://products.weather.gov
Map of Affected States:
http://www.weather.gov/os/notification/resources/cr_wfos.pdf
Comments-Questions:
kim.runk@noaa.gov
jim.keeney@noaa.gov
OUR SKYWARN CALENDAR
Mar 31
Governor's Conference On Emergency Management in Appleton WI.
Apr 19-23 Wisconsin Tornado & Severe Weather...
Awareness Week
Apr 22 1-2PM Statewide Tornado Drill
Apr 26-27 Air Quality Awareness Week
May 12 Wisconsin Weather Radio Awareness Day
May 22-28 National Safe Boating Week
Jun 6-12 National Rip Current Awareness Week
Jun 10 Wisconsin Heat Awareness Day
Jun 20-26 National Lightning Awareness Week
Jun 26-27 Amateur Radio Field Day
Jun 24 Milwaukee Summerfest Starts
July 26 EAA Air Venture (Oshkosh Air Show) Oct 3-9 National Fire Prevention Week
Nov 7 DST ends
Nov 8 Wisconsin Winter Awareness Week
Dec 3-4 Skywarn Recognition Day (ham radio event)
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