Last Tuesday’s in-person Skywarn Training by NOAA-NWS meteorologist Bryce Williams at Newport’s CCRI was a success. This was the final in-person training in RI planned for 2024, and was attended by about 60 motivated people – including at least a dozen radio amateurs from the Providence Radio Association (PRA), Newport County Radio Club (NCRC), Fidelity Amateur Radio Club, Blackstone Valley Amateur Radio Club (BVARC), and RI-ARES leadership.
Please note: “NEW FOR 2024: NWS Boston is no longer issuing individual SKYWARN numbers or requiring re-training every 5 years in order to remain a spotter. While we encourage spotters to retrain periodically, it is not required to continue to provide reports.” https://www.weather.gov/box/skywarn
Huge shout-out to Danny Bright, age 18, who drove 2 hours from Boston to attend. He is a dedicated lifelong weather spotter and was thrilled to be able to meet NOAA-NWS weather officials and be at this in-person training. Danny will be attending U Mass Lowell’s respected program in Meteorology and Atmospheric Science next fall. He is not yet a licensed radio amateur, and I encourage clubs in the Boston/Lowell area to reach out.
Bryce Williams presentation was fact-filled, used helpful videos, and was engaging with wide-ranging comments. These included:
- Lightening is the #2 weather-related killer; #1 is heat.
- Radar does not provide truth at the ground level, and about 1/3 of decisions are made based on ground-truth reporting. Being a weather spotter matters!
- Like many Millenial meterologists, Bryce Williams was first motivated toward this career path after watching the 1996 movie, Twister. A sequel is due out soon, and they can’t wait!
- New England is overdue for a major hurricane. Be prepared to be self-sufficient for at least 3 days. KNOW YOUR EVACUATION ROUTE ahead of time. https://riema.ri.gov/planning-mitigation/evacuation
To learn more about emergency preparedness for you, your family and community, as well as the public service mission of amateur radio, please join RI-ARES. This upcoming Wednesday’s RI-ARES monthy meeting will cover some topics raised here, as well as the new ARES course released by ARRL.
We hope to meet you there, or during an ARES or Skywarn net.
For more information, please join us at RIARES.org https://riares.org/ . Or reach out to Teri DiIorio, W1PUP, ARRL RI Assisant Section Emergency Coordinator.
