WINTER WEATHER ACTIVATION JANUARY 23, 2016

Per the Raleigh National Weather Service, we will have a limited winter weather activation for January 23. A Winter Weather Net will run at 10am and 1pm today on the 146.88 repeater.  Spotters may make winter weather reports there or on the Central Carolina SKYWARN Facebook page.  Thanks to all spotters for their reports yesterday!  Awesome job folks!

Winter Weather Activation for January 22-23, 2016

Central Carolina SKYWARN  (CCS) will activate for this event per the direction of the Raleigh National Weather service.  We will activate on the 146.88 beginning at 7:00 AM on Friday and conduct formal nets at the top of each hour  until 12:00 midnight. We will begin again at 6:00 AM Saturday and continue until the NWS directs us to stand down. We will monitor in between nets for any changeovers in precipitation.

Spotter reports should include the following information:

  • Name and callsign
  • Location and nearest cross street
  • Precipitation type (rain, freezing rain, sleet, or snow)
  • Intensity of precipitation (light, moderate or heavy)
  • Changeovers in precipitation and time
  • Accumulation of snow and ice accretion
  • Impacts such as road conditions (particularly any roads that are impassable or closed), sustained power outages (not just blinking), and downed limbs/trees from ice.

Our backup repeater will be the 147.105 repeater with a tone of 82.5 Hz located in Broadway, NC.

Folks may make reports via the SKYWARN net, or post here on the Central Carolina SKYWARN Facebook page.

The SKYWARN Net may also be monitored via live-streamed audio at www.broadcastify.com .

We appreciate your reports. Stay safe!

SKYWARN RECOGNITION DAY 2015 – A SUCCESS!

SKYWARN Recognition Day (SRD) took place Saturday, December 5, 2015, from 0000-2400 UTC. Created in 1999 by the National Weather Service and the American Radio Relay League, the event celebrated the contributions that SKYWARN radio operators make to the National Weather Service to help keep their communities safe. During the event, SKYWARN operators contacted other NWS offices and spotters across the nation. Radio operators exchanged names, call signs, locations, signal reports, and a 1 or 2-word weather report. Over 90 NWS offices across the country participated in this annual event.

Central Carolina SKYWARN (CCS) enthusiastically teamed up with the Raleigh National Weather Service for the 16th annual SKYWARN Recognition Day, operating under the call sign WX4NC.

On the air from 7-10:30pm on Friday and 8am-7pm on Saturday at the NWS office on Centennial Campus in Raleigh, the WX4NC team consisted of NWS Warning Coordination Meteorologist Nick Petro WX3H, former NWS Meteorologist-in-Charge Darin Figurskey KC2IPY, CCS Emergency Coordinator Virginia Enzor NC4VA, CCS Assistant Emergency Coordinator Bob Woodson WX4MMM, CCS Assistant Emergency Coordinator Scott Lewis KJ4BPV, Statewide Deputy AUXCOMM Coordinator Frank Pleshe N3FRP, Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator – Central Branch Steve Misel K4WEB, Wake County Assistant Emergency Director Steve Newton KJ4TTU, Jackson Newton, Lauren Petro KF7RCU, John Stone K3RHJ, Pam Lewis KB4PAM, Ken Stark W4KJS, Randy Stark WN4RSS, and Jose Guzman KD4JWF.

For VHF/UHF, we used two permanently installed dual band Kenwood TMD7 radios with Diamond dual band vertical antennas and a temporary ICOM 208 with magmount antenna.

There were 3 HF radios – the NWS’ Kenwood TS 570S, Scott Lewis’ Kenwood TS 120, and Virginia Enzor’s IC-7000. Antennas included a Buckmaster and inverted dipoles for 20 and 40 meters.

Good propagation and teamwork favored us to earn the F1 Tornado certificate by contacting 51 NWS offices. We also contacted 44 out of 50 states and accumulated at total of 352 contacts. Our most distant contacts were 2E0LUN in Kempston Rural, England and OE3CHC in Vienna, Austria! To see the scores of all participating offices, please visit http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mtr/hamradio/.

The goal for 2016 will be the highest certification: Category 5 Hurricane!

We wish to thank to all spotters who made contacts with us, and we hope to get you in the log again next year on SRD. And most importantly, thanks for your service and reports to SKYWARN and the NWS throughout the year.

WX4NC SRD Team From L to R (Front Row) Lauren Petro KF7RCU, Scott Lewis AB4SL, Virginia Enzor NC4VA, Pam Lewis KB4PAM (Middle Row) Nick Petro WX3H, Scott Lewis AB4SL, Virginia Enzor NC4VA, John Stone K3RHJ (Back Row) Bob Woodson WX4MMM, Stark W4KJS, Randy Stark WN4RSS Not pictured: Frank Pleshe N3FRP, Darin Figurskey KC2IPY, Jose Guzman KD4JWF, Steve Newton KJ4TTU and Steve Newton.
WX4NC SRD Team From L to R
(Front Row) Lauren Petro KF7RCU, Scott Lewis AB4SL, Virginia Enzor NC4VA, Pam Lewis KB4PAM
(Middle Row) Nick Petro WX3H, Scott Lewis AB4SL, Virginia Enzor NC4VA, John Stone K3RHJ
(Back Row) Bob Woodson WX4MMM, Stark W4KJS, Randy Stark WN4RSS
Not pictured: Frank Pleshe N3FRP, Darin Figurskey KC2IPY, Jose Guzman KD4JWF, Steve Newton KJ4TTU and Steve Newton.
L to R Bob Woodson WX4MMM, Jackson Newton, and Steve Newton KJ4TTU
L to R
Bob Woodson WX4MMM, Jackson Newton, and Steve Newton KJ4TTU
NICK Petro WX3H Warning Coordination Meteorologist and Darin Figurskey KC2IPY former Meteorologist-in-Charge
NICK Petro WX3H Warning Coordination Meteorologist and Darin Figurskey KC2IPY former Meteorologist-in-Charge