One of my recent activities is that I became a SKYWARN storm spotter and licensed ham radio operator. Sunday night about 10:15 pm , the local Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES)was activated as a hailstorm moved through the northern part of our county. I was watching the storm on radar at home and was anticipating that a Severe Thunderstorm Warning would be issued, so I had already driven out to a good spot to observe the storm when Skywarn was activated.
To those who are unfamiliar with storm spotting, when the Weather Service wants spotters to look at a storm, they will notify the local ARES group, who then sends out a page to let us know spotters are being requested. Some spotters work from home or a set location, others like me, go mobile. There is always one radio operator who serves as a "manager" of sorts to keep track of who is spotting, where the spotters are, take reports, and advise us (either themselves or in conjunction with another radio operator who has access to radar) if we are wanted in a different location or if there is a change in the storm we need to know about (current storm location, direction of movement, strengthening or weakening......or radar indication of a possible tornado forming near where we are.....this can be especially important at night)
The storm dropped 1/2 inch hail on me for about 3-4 minutes about 15 minutes after the photos were taken. There was not much rain, and the winds picked up for a little bit, gusting to about 40-45 mph. It was a cool wind blowing away from the storm, which meant that I was in the cooler outflow air that leaves a thunderstorm, as opposed to the warmer moist air that blows into the storm providing its fuel.
To those who are unfamiliar with storm spotting, when the Weather Service wants spotters to look at a storm, they will notify the local ARES group, who then sends out a page to let us know spotters are being requested. Some spotters work from home or a set location, others like me, go mobile. There is always one radio operator who serves as a "manager" of sorts to keep track of who is spotting, where the spotters are, take reports, and advise us (either themselves or in conjunction with another radio operator who has access to radar) if we are wanted in a different location or if there is a change in the storm we need to know about (current storm location, direction of movement, strengthening or weakening......or radar indication of a possible tornado forming near where we are.....this can be especially important at night)
The storm dropped 1/2 inch hail on me for about 3-4 minutes about 15 minutes after the photos were taken. There was not much rain, and the winds picked up for a little bit, gusting to about 40-45 mph. It was a cool wind blowing away from the storm, which meant that I was in the cooler outflow air that leaves a thunderstorm, as opposed to the warmer moist air that blows into the storm providing its fuel.
