Rob Macedo, KD1CY, writes on the SKYWARN-announce list on June 22, 2023 at 10:07 AM:
Hello to all..
..The following is the first in a series of messages on Amateur Radio Field Day Weekend and providing information on the weather during this period. This is a tradition spanning over 20 years for Amateur Radio Operators involved with Field Day and the NWS Boston/Norton SKYWARN Program..
..2023 Field Day weekend, unlike the past few years, will have the potential for showers, thunderstorms and isolated severe weather. Not every Field Day site will see a shower, thunderstorm or severe weather and a widespread washout is not expected. Some Field Day sites could be dry all weekend but other Field Day sites could be quite wet depending on where showers and thunderstorms develop..
..With the thunderstorms, a few of them could be strong to severe with strong to damaging winds, hail, and heavy downpours leading to urban and poor drainage flooding. The severe weather potential is focused on Saturday and Sunday Afternoon and Evening. Any thunderstorms have lightning potential which is a safety hazard for all Amateur Radio Field Day sites. Amateur Radio Field Day sites are encouraged to guard their local Amateur Radio SKYWARN frequency and have multiple ways to receive weather alerts during the course of this Field Day weekend including by cell phone/Internet and NOAA Weather Radio..
..Conditions will be warm and very humid Friday through Sunday. Temperatures will range between the mid-70s in coastal areas to the Upper 70s to mid 80s in interior areas depending upon how much heating occurs each day. Dewpoints in the low 70s will create very humid conditions. Be sure to drink plenty of liquids and guard against heat exhaustion especially during Amateur Radio Field Day setup and takedown..
..Amateur Radio Field Day Weekend is an annual event where Ham Operators across the United States setup at Emergency Operations Centers, field locations, home locations etc. to operate and test their equipment and skills and make as many radio contacts as possible during the weekend..
..SKYWARN Self-Activation will monitor conditions throughout Field Day weekend and activate as needed to guard Amateur Radio Field Day sites to provide weather information as well as to gather reports meeting SKYWARN reporting criteria throughout this weekend..
Here are some links to information on these Amateur Radio Field Day Sites from across the region.
Amateur Radio Field Day Information: https://www.arrl.org/field-day
Amateur Radio Field Day National Locator: https://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator
Eastern Massachusetts Field Day Home Page: https://ema.arrl.org/field-day/
Eastern Massachusetts Field Day Directory: https://ema.arrl.org/field_day/
For Amateur Radio Field Day weekend, unlike past years, there will be thunderstorm potential throughout the entire period particularly in the afternoon and evening period from Friday to Sunday. For Friday, thunderstorms main potential hazards to Field Day sites will be heavy downpours and frequent lightning. On Saturday and Sunday, the thunderstorm potential is increased with the potential for isolated to scattered strong to severe thunderstorms in addition to heavy downpours and frequent lightning. It will be warm and very humid during the weekend. The headlines of this message give the current thinking and coverage area. Here is a breakdown of the hazards by each day:
Friday Afternoon and Evening:
Thunderstorms can occur particularly in Western and Central Massachusetts and Connecticut with heavy downpours and frequent lightning. The threat of severe weather is minimal and coverage will be isolated to scattered in nature and will be monitored.
Saturday Afternoon and Evening:
Thunderstorms are possible anywhere in Southern New England with the greatest coverage and strongest thunderstorms from the I-95 corridor north and west throughout interior Southern New England. The coverage will be more numerous than Friday with the potential for isolated to scattered strong to severe thunderstorms. The activity will be slow moving which could also cause localized flooding in areas where thunderstorms train over the same area. This will bear close monitoring given Saturday is the more active of the 2 days of Amateur Radio Field Day weekend.
Sunday Afternoon and Evening:
Similar setup to Saturday Afternoon and Evening. More details will follow in future coordination message Friday and Saturday.
SKYWARN Self-Activation will monitor conditions throughout Field Day weekend and activate as needed to guard Amateur Radio Field Day sites to provide weather information as well as to gather reports meeting SKYWARN reporting criteria throughout this weekend. Below are links to the NWS Boston/Norton Area Forecast Discussion, Hazardous Weather Outlook and Enhanced Hazardous Weather Outlook:
NWS Boston/Norton Area Forecast Discussion:
NWS Boston/Norton Hazardous Weather Outlook:
https://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.flus41.KBOX.html
NWS Boston/Norton Experimental Enhanced Hazardous Weather Outlook:
https://www.weather.gov/erh/ghwo?wfo=box
Amateur Radio Field Day sites are encouraged to bring a NOAA All-Hazards Weather Radio, monitor various cell phone weather apps where Amateur Operators may have those available and have a dedicated Ham Radio that can monitor their local SKYWARN frequency for their area as a best safety and preparedness practice as there is a threat for thunderstorm development and any thunderstorm can be a threat to the safety of Amateur Radio Field Day sites. Also sites that have mobile Internet capability can utilize that capability as a way to monitor for weather information. With Mobile Internet capability, utilizing Echolink to monitor the New England Reflector system on Echolink Conference *NEW-ENG3* Node: 9123/IRLP 9123 would be helpful as well. Please see the link below for the latest SKYWARN Frequency information for the region:
https://wx1box.org/southern-new-england-skywarn-frequency-list/
During setup and takedown of Amateur Radio Field Day sites and even while operating, be sure to drink plenty of fluids and eat accordingly. The link below features information on Heat Safety:
https://www.weather.gov/safety/heat
With the thunderstorm threat for this weekend, now is the time to remind folks that lightning is a threat to any and all Amateur Radio Field Day sites. Remember your lightning safety tips and details on lightning safety can be seen at the following link and we have also added a link from this week’s NWS Boston/Norton Lightning Safety Awareness Week and Public Information Statements on Lightning Safety. See links below:
https://www.weather.gov/safety/lightning
The next Amateur Radio Field Day weekend coordination message will be posted by 10 AM Friday Morning. We hope the Amateur Radio community participating in Field Day has a great weekend!
