Hurricane Awareness Tour, P3 Hurricane Plane at Quonset State Airport, North Kingstown, RI, May 6, 2019

From wx1box.org:

The National Weather Service Boston/Norton Massachusetts forecast office in coordination with the National Hurricane Center will be hosting the P3 Hurricane Hunter Aircraft and the C-130 Aircraft, part of the NOAA/National Hurricane Center Hurricane Awareness Tour, on Monday May 6th 2019 at the Quonset State Airport in North Kingstown RI. Public tours will be open from 200-500 PM. School, Media and VIP tours and presentations will occur between 915 AM-200 PM. This is similar to what was done in 2007 at Quonset State Airport in Rhode Island and 2011 at Otis Air Force Base in Falmouth, Massachusetts and this year’s event marks the first time in 8 years having the Hurricane Awareness Tour in Southern New England. 

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Update on NOAA Weather Radio Outage Since the Office Move

SKYWARN logoRob Macedo, KD1CY writes on SKYWARN_Announce:

NWS Boston/Norton issued a Public Information Statement regarding the NOAA Weather Radio outage and that a couple transmitters are back on air. Details can be seen at the following link:

http://www.wx1box.org/local/PNS_noaa_wx_radio_move_3_28_18.txt

We will provide updates on the NOAA Weather Radio status as time allows. We’ll provide an update on the Amateur Radio station setup at the new NWS office building by this weekend.

ARRL, Citizen Corp To Set Up NOAA Radios In Schools

ARRL flagNOAA logoARRL and Citizen Corp are teaming up to assist local school districts (if they need the help) to set up and register their NOAA Weather All Hazard Public Alert Radio.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Department of Education, and the Department of Homeland Security are partnering to launch a significant nation-wide project to distribute 80,000 NOAA Public Alert Radios to U.S. public schools throughout the nation. The radios are designed to signal different types of alerts ranging from weather emergencies to child abductions, and from chemical accidents to acts of terrorism. The radio acts as a sentry, standing guard 24/7, to sound an alarm when danger threatens.

If you, as an Amateur Radio operator, or an Amateur Radio club member, or ARRL Field Organization appointee would like to assist Citizen Corps in this project, please contact your local Citizen Corps Council to offer assistance. Where there isn’t a Council, please contact local Emergency Management.

Contacts should not be made directly to local schools but, instead, should be made by Citizen Corps and Emergency Management to local school district superintendent’s offices to ensure a coordinated plan. Assistance to schools will be provided at the request of, and in coordination with, the school district.

Citizen Corps

* To locate your State Citizen Corps Council log onto http://www.citizencorps.gov/citizenCorps/statepoc.do

* To locate your local Citizen Corps Council log onto: http://www.citizencorps.gov/councils/find_council.shtm or http://www.citizencorps.gov/citizenCorps/mycouncils.do

Emergency Management

* To locate state offices and agencies for emergency management, you can log onto: http://www.fema.gov/about/contact/statedr.shtm
* To get contact information for local emergency management offices, you can email or call IAEM, The International Association of Emergency Managers, at info@iaem or 703-538-1795×2 to ask for your local contact or you can click on the link for the state web sites at http://www.fema.gov/about/contact/statedr.shtm

The NOAA Web site (http://public-alert-radio.nws.noaa.gov/) (http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/) is the primary location for information and updates for Citizen Corps and associated volunteers for this project.

The following links contain background information about the program including a document on frequently asked questions and answers about the program, Citizen Corps volunteer material for the NOAA Public Alert Radio Program, a copy of the letter that went to the schools along with a descriptive and informational brochure about the radio distribution program.

If you or your club or ARES group take part in this project with Citizen Corps or your local Emergency Management office, please report this activity to Steve Ewald, WV1X, (sewald@arrl.org) at ARRL Headquarters and to your ARRL Section Manager. Thank you very much.

NOAA Frequently Asked Questions

http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/NOAA-FAQ-update-1-9-29.pdf

Citizen Corps Volunteer Information

http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/Citizen_Corps_Volunteer_Info_20062.pdf

Public Alert Letter for Schools

http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/Public-Alert-letter-2006.pdf

Public Alert Radio Brochure

http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/PublicAlertRadioBrochure.pdf