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Announcements

This link from Jerry. NASA time lapse video from the ISS. Includes the space station "flying" over and through the northern lights. Best at full screen and with the sound turned way up. WOW!

 More information at the NASA web site here. See also NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day and the archive.

Safe Boating Week May 19-25, 2012. NOAA information here.

Hurricane Preparedness Week 2012 runs from May 27th through June 2nd. NOAA web site here.

The spring 2012 issue of The Coastal Front, Vol-III-1 is available and can be downloaded here. The 7 page newsletter features articles on the Central Weather Services Unit, in Nashua; the dual-polarization (dual-pol) radar upgrade at Gray; and a brief article on rain gauge placement. Well worth a look.

Information on the upcoming Skywarn spotter training session in North Conway, NH may be found here.

Tom, N1KTA, has provided GYX forecast area snowfall maps from the unusual October storm. There are two the first is without topography and the second with topography. And a later "fixed" edition from Tom. All are quick loading JPEG's.

A new version of the Weather Spotter's Field Guide, A Guide to Being a Skywarn Spotter. The document is 72 pages and is a 27meg download so be prepared. Its worth the time. Download from here.

The National Weather Service (NWS) has updated its Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the ARRL. The updated MoU serves “as a framework within which volunteers of the ARRL may coordinate their services, facilities and equipment with the NWS in support of nationwide, state and local early weather warning and emergency communications function.”

 

 

Through its SKYWARN® program, the NWS recognizes that Amateur Radio operators have assisted as communicators and weather spotters since the program began in the late 1960s. More on this annoncement here.

More Skywarn/CoCoRahs training sessions are in the offing. Watch here for announcements.

Proposed NOAA Climate Service article here.

 

 Hail

 

 Golf ball size hail in Belgrade, near Great Pond on June 16, 2011. Photo coutesy of Dylan Hawes.

 

 

How to Participate

 

Who is Eligible?

The National Weather Service encourages anyone with an interest in public service and access to communication, such as HAM radio, to join the SKYWARN® program. Volunteers include police and fire personnel, dispatchers, EMS workers, public utility workers and other concerned private citizens. Individuals affiliated with hospitals, schools, churches, nursing homes or who have a responsibility for protecting others are also encouraged to become a spotter.

How Can I Get Involved?

NWS has 122 local Weather Forecast Offices, each with a Warning Coordination Meteorologist, who is responsible for administering the SKYWARN® program in their local area. Training is conducted by the Gray office in the forecast area of northern New Hampshire and western Maine and covers :

  • Basics of thunderstorm development
  • Fundamentals of storm structure
  • Identifying potential severe weather features
  • Information to report
  • How to report information
  • Basic severe weather safety

Classes are free and typically are about two hours long. To find out when a SKYWARN® class will be conducted in local your area, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. your Snow and Storm Spotter Coordinator This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

National Weather Service

Gray Weather Forecast Office
P.O. Box 1208
Gray, ME 04039
(207) 688-3216

SKYWARN® is a registered trademark of NOAA's National Weather Service.  Rules for the usage of the SKYWARN® name and logo are available here.