Watches, Warnings & Advisories for Sunflower Co.

Sunday, February 23, 2014

K5JAW Operating Notes, 2014 Week 8 (Feb 16-22)

On The Air: 
Well I was on the road again this week, so the home station was relatively quiet, and subsequently this week's Operating Notes are brief.  However, I was able to keep up with the QSO-365 project and maintain at least one logged contact each day.  Since the beginning of the year, I've only missed one day in the log!

Top 4 Distances This Week:
FO4BM - French Polynesia - 5256 Miles
PJ6/KB1ZOJ - Saba & Saint Eustatius Islands - 2054 miles
K4PDX - Florida - 815 Miles
W0JH - Minnesota - 809 Miles

International Contacts:
French Polynesia, Saba & Saint Eustatius Islands

States Worked:
Florida, Minnesota, Mississippi

QSL Cards Received this week
W6LSX - Alabama

QSL Cards Going Out in the coming week
No cards this week, I'm waiting on some new QSL cards to be delivered.  I'll catch up as soon as I get them!

Monday, February 17, 2014

K5JAW Operating Notes - 2014 Week 7 (Feb 9-15)

On The Air: 
With no out-of-town work trips this week, I had more time to be on the air, and my log looks better than it has for the past couple of weeks!  I'm continuing to participate in a lot of local and statewide nets, so that constitutes a notable percentage of my logs this week.  A few DX stations were logged, as well as a number of states.

Top 5 Distances This Week:
CT7AEQ - Portugal - 4415 miles
ZZ80CW - Brazil - 3935 miles
CU1EZ - Azores - 3634 miles
NM1JY - New Hampshire - 1255 miles
N7ERU - Arizona - 1251 miles

International Contacts:
Azores, Brazil, Portugal

States Worked:
Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Texas, Wisconsin

Bands Worked this Week:
2 meters - 6 contacts
10 meters - 3 contacts
15 meters - 2 contacts
17 meters - 2 contacts
20 meters - 5 contacts
40 meters - 11 contacts
80 meters - 5 contacts

Around the Station:
This week parts of Mississippi fell under the influence of a complex weather pattern that produced about two days' worth of adverse winter weather.  Total snow & ice accumulation at K5JAW was one-half inch, but that's more than enough to cause havoc for drivers who are more accustomed to the South's more balmy weather.  I worked from home for two days, but was still able to accomplish everything that I would have gotten done at the office.  Being professionally involved in the public health aspect of emergency management, I was expected to monitor and report changing situations and conditions to our administrative personnel so they could make daily determinations on agency operations.  In addition to that, we supply ongoing situational awareness to licensed healthcare facilities, so they can adjust their operations so they can mitigate any impacts they may experience.

At one point, I had two laptops running.  One was connected to our work network so I could have email and file server access.  The second was connected to my personal email, through which I communicate similar weather & situational conditions to a host of friends and family.  Also, it was serving as a live connection to our local National Weather Service office, using a system that allows us to interact directly with the forecasters to report and gain information.  Finally, I had an open chat going with other co-workers around the state, through which we were able to communicate a volume of data rather quickly.  In addition to all of that, there were radios monitoring our statewide networks, our local county fire system, and our local amateur 2-meter repeaters.

At some point in the midst of the winter storm, I recalled being an exercise controller/evaluator for a multi-state hurricane exercise in 1995.  I recalled that in one of the many planning meetings leading up to the exercise, one of the objectives was to "test email as a means of rapidly communicating from forward disaster areas."  Remember, in 1995 the fastest and most accurate means of relaying printed information was via FAX.  We were just learning how this new world of email worked!

How far we have come in some 20 years!  From "testing email" to having two computers up, connected to multiple pathways to share information to both fixed stations and mobile telephones.  Wonder where we'll be 20 years from now?

But what makes it all fun for me is knowing that I can go from that, to talking to someone in another part of the world with little more than a wire and less energy than an average light bulb uses!  Key up, talk on!

QSL Cards Received this week
WQ4S - Florida
AJ4YV - North Carolina

QSL Cards Going Out in the coming week
No cards this week, I'm waiting on some new QSL cards to be delivered.  I'll catch up as soon as I get them!

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Tuesday Winter Weather Update

WINTER STORM WARNING for Bolivar, Carroll, Holmes, Humphreys, Leflore, Montgomery, Sunflower, Washington until 12:00pm February 12, 2014
Accumulations 0.25 to 0.75" of freezing rain and sleet, with 1-2 inches of snow possible late this afternoon through mid-day Wednesday.  Bridges, overpasses, roads, and trees could be coated in ice that will create very hazardous travel conditions on top of those encountered today. Power lines will also likely have ice on them this evening and overnight, possibly causing power outages
 
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY for Attala until 12:00pm February 12, 2014
Occasionall light freezing rain and drizzle could occur overnight through Wednesday morning with a transition to snow tomorrow afternoon.  NWS Will continue to monitor trends for this advisory through tomorrow, and an extension may be needed.
 
***Second round of more significant freezing rain expeted this evening into Wednesday morning***
- Main are impacted: NE Louisiana, SE Arkansas, MS Delta
- Accumulations 0.25" to 0.75" of freezing rain
- Some isolated locations could have close to 1.0" of icing
 
*Freezing rain could transition to snow/sleet on backside of precipitation axis as colder moves in across north half of region
 
Expecting precipitation to start in west Delta late afternoon/early evening (4-6pm).  Shield of precipitation may last until noon Wednesday for some areas.
 
PRECIPITATION POTENTIAL
Bolivar-Washington-Sunflower counties: snow more likely with some freezing rain further east/south; 1-2" snow totals in some areas, 0.25-0.75 freezing rain/sleet further south/east for these counties
 
Leflore, Carroll, Holmes, Humphreys, Montgomery counties: mostly freezing rain, with 0.25-0.75" freezing rain/sleet
 
Attala County: Rain/Freezing Rain/mix with 0.10-0.25" rain/freezing rain mix
 
***NOTE: This is only a general idea, it could change***
 
IMPACT SUMMARY
All but Attala: Greatest potential for freezing rain/sleet accumulation, heavy icing of trees, elevated surfaces and roadways.  Power lines could be downed due to ice weight
North of a Greenville-Minter City may see more snow, as previously indicated, mixed with some sleet/freezing rain.  South of that line will see more sleet/freezing rain than snow.
 
Attala County: More freezing rain/sleet with lighter accumulation amounts, which will cause travel hazards on bridges and overpasses
 
************************************************************************
As we've mentioned earlier, don't focus on precipitation estimates.  For driving safety, there's practically no difference in the amount of ice under your tires.  Also, power outages may be more likely with this second winter weather threat.  Be careful, and stay safe!!
 
You can find all of this information and more at www.srh.noaa.gov/jan.  Additionally, multimedia video briefings can be accessed at http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jan/?n=multimedia_briefing


***DO NOT USE THIS WEBSITE AS YOUR SOLE SOURCE OF WEATHER INFORMATION, ESPECIALLY WATCHES AND WARNINGS. THIS WEBSITE DELIVERS FOCUSED INFORMATION FOR A SPECIFIC GEOGRAPHIC AREA AND IS NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE TIMELY WEATHER WARNING INFORMATION***

Sunday, February 9, 2014

WINTER STORM WATCH

***WINTER STORM WATCH*** Monday evening through Tuesday afternoon

Confidence is increasing for an impactful winter storm Monday night into Tuesday morning.  Take time this afternoon to review you family's plans, and be prepared to deal with potential power outages that may last several hours.

A few things my household does, as suggestions for you to consider:
  • Check food & water supplies, resupply as needed
  • Top off fuel tanks in vehicles
  • Maintain at least a half-tank of gas in vehicles until storm threat passes
  • Keep cell phones charged (as well as spare batteries)
  • Contact out-of-state points of contact who may be able to relay messages to friends/family if local telephone service is affected
  • Contact out-of-area friends/family who have been identified as "shelters" to go to, should local conditions persist beyond a few days.


URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
349 AM CST SUN FEB 9 2014

...WINTER STORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE
ARKLAMISS REGION FOR MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY...

.AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE COMBINED WITH A SERIES OF SURFACE WAVES
ALONG A FRONTAL BOUNDARY IN THE GULF COASTAL AREA WILL BRING A RISK
OF A MIX BAG OF WINTER PRECIPITATION FOR MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY.
THE WINTER PRECIPITATION WILL BE IN THE PRIMARY FORM OF FREEZING
RAIN...LIGHT SNOW...AND SLEET. ICE ACCUMULATIONS WITH THE FREEZING
RAIN WILL BE AT LEAST ONE QUARTER OF AN INCH. THIS WILL LEAD TO ICING
OF BRIDGES...OVERPASSES...ROADWAYS...TREES AND ELEVATED SURFACES FOR
HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS. THERE MAY ALSO BE SOME POWER OUTAGES
DUE TO THE ACCUMULATION OF ICE ON POWER LINES AND SOME FALLEN
BRANCHES ON POWER LINES.

THIS IS ESPECIALLY TRUE FOR LOCATIONS ALONG AND NORTH OF THE HIGHWAY
82 CORRIDOR WHERE SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS OF SNOW AND ICE ARE MOST
LIKELY. FOR LOCATIONS SOUTH OF THE HIGHWAY 82 CORRIDOR...THE PRIMARY
CONCERN COULD BE FREEZING RAIN...WITH SIGNIFICANT ICE ACCUMULATIONS
POSSIBLE FROM LATE MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY MORNING.

PERSONS PLANNING TRAVEL OVER NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE ARKLAMISS
REGION SHOULD PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE FORECAST CONCERNING THIS
POTENTIAL WINTER WEATHER EVENT. FOR MUCH MORE INFORMATION FROM YOUR
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON, MS...VISIT WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/JAN.

...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM MONDAY EVENING THROUGH
TUESDAY AFTERNOON...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM
WATCH...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM MONDAY EVENING THROUGH TUESDAY
AFTERNOON.

* TIMING: MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY LIKELY PERIOD OF SIGNIFICANT
  ACCUMULATION OF ICE.

* MAIN IMPACT: ICING OF BRIDGES...OVERPASSES...ROADWAYS...AND
TREES...WHICH WILL BRING HAZARDOUS TRAVELING CONDITIONS AND SOME
POWER OUTAGES.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT
SNOW...SLEET...OR ICE ACCUMULATIONS THAT MAY IMPACT TRAVEL.
CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS.
 
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
410 AM CST SUN FEB 9 2014

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

FOG
RISK...LIMITED
TIMING...THIS MORNING

AREAS OF FOG WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS MORNING DUE TO RESIDUAL GROUND
MOISTURE...GRADUALLY CLEARING SKIES AND LIGHT WINDS. VISIBILITIES
COULD DROP TO LESS THAN A MILE AT TIMES. PATCHY LOCATIONS MAY SEE
VISIBILITIES REDUCED TO A QUARTER OF A MILE OR LESS AT TIMES. THERE
IS ALSO THE POTENTIAL OF SOME PATCHY FREEZING FOG GENERALLY ALONG AND
NORTH OF THE HIGHWAY 82 CORRIDOR. THIS COULD CAUSE SOME SLICK SPOTS
ON BRIDGES AND OVERPASSES THROUGH EARLY THIS MORNING.
(WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/GRAPHICAST.PHP?SITE=JAN&GC= 1)

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

THE RISK FOR ACCUMULATING ICE AND SNOW IS INCREASING FOR MONDAY NIGHT
INTO TUESDAY. DIFFICULT TRAVEL CONDITIONS AND POWER OUTAGES ARE
POSSIBLE FOR EXTREME SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS...PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST
LOUISIANA AND NORTH CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI. LOCATIONS ALONG AND NORTH OF A
RAYVILLE LOUISIANA...TO YAZOO CITY...TO DE KALB LINE HAVE AN INCREASING
POTENTIAL FOR THIS WINTRY PRECIPITATION.

LIGHT ICING OF BRIDGES AND OVERPASSES IS POSSIBLE FOR PORTIONS OF
NORTHEAST LOUISIANA AND CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI...GENERALLY ALONG AND NORTH
OF A JONESVILLE LOUISIANA TO JACKSON TO MERIDIAN LINE LATE MONDAY NIGHT
THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING.

LIGHT ICING OF BRIDGES AND OVERPASSES WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE
NORTH AGAIN ON TUESDAY NIGHT.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...
THE ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS...HAM RADIO OPERATORS...AND
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IN SUPPORT OF SEVERE WEATHER
OPERATIONS IS NOT EXPECTED THROUGH NEXT SATURDAY. 

***DO NOT USE THIS WEBSITE AS YOUR SOLE SOURCE OF WEATHER INFORMATION, ESPECIALLY WATCHES AND WARNINGS. THIS WEBSITE DELIVERS FOCUSED INFORMATION FOR A SPECIFIC GEOGRAPHIC AREA AND IS NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE TIMELY WEATHER WARNING INFORMATION***

Saturday, February 8, 2014

A Small World On-Air

You just never know who you'll meet on the air.

I spent about an hour tonight calling CQ on 40 meters, and picked up 10 contacts, including two stations who were working QSO parties in their area.  One station that responded to one of my CQ's was a friendly voice from the state of Georgia, WX4R, Mr. Johnny.  He told me he replied when he heard me say "Mississippi" after a CQ, because, in his words, he knows some real nice people in Mississippi. 

Mr. Johnny had deployed to Pearl River County in 2005 for Hurricane Katrina.  At the time, he was an emergency management director in Georgia.

What a small world.

My entire adult/professional life has been in emergency response/emergency management.  I was deployed to Hancock County, Mississippi, a neighboring county to Pearl River County, as part of my duties with my job.  Of the hundreds and hundreds of contacts in my log, Mr. Johnny makes the second "Katrina connection" that I've had. 

As amateurs, we share a common hobby.  Occasionally we find that we share other interests, or even professions.  I think it's very rare to have an on-air discovery of common disaster experiences.

So, if you read this Mr. Johnny, you again have my thanks as well as the thanks of the citizens of this great state.  Mississippians owe a huge debt to so many others across the nation for their support in those dark and trying days in late 2005 and early 2006. 

K5JAW Operating Notes - 2014 Week 6 (Feb 2-8,2014)

On The Air: 
Well a week on the road for work and training silenced the home station for K5JAW, but it didn't deter portable 2-meter operations!  I'd previously mentioned taking on a QSO-365 project for 2014, and committed to having at least one on-air contact each day of the year.  So far, I've only missed one day, but in the spirit of things, it wasn't a complete loss.  Attending a hamfest and having a few "eyeball" contacts was good enough to count for the missed day.

Having said all that, I'd wondered about being able to make contacts while on work trips.  Well, it takes a little planning, but it can be done.  A handheld 2m/440 radio, and a roll-up J-pole antenna in the hotel window fixes part of the problem.  I've looked up the date and times for local 2-meter nets in the areas I've been to, and have participated in those to gain at least one logged contact per day. 

It's been said by those who have completed a QSO-365 project that beyond logging a contact each day, the project makes you a better operator.  You'll find time, and ways, to get on the air!

Around the Station:
As I mentioned last week, I had a meeting planned with some other amateurs from central Mississippi to discuss amateur radio MESH networks.  While I don't want to steal their thunder, I'm happy to learn that amateur operators in Rankin and Scott counties are moving forward with experiments to "light up" one or two small towns with MESH networks, then try to link those networks together.  Their ideas and tips were helpful as we begin experimenting with MESH in my part of Mississippi.

QSL Cards Received this week
KD8TJB - Ohio
N2CJO - New Jersey

QSL Cards Going Out in the coming week
No cards this week, as all contacts have been in-state on repeaters or nets.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

K5JAW Operating Notes - 2014 Week 5 (Jan 26 - Feb 1, 2014)

On The Air: 
It's been another relatively quiet week at Station K5JAW this week, with 17 contacts logged for the week.  The vast majority of those contacts were for participation in various public service nets in Mississippi, such as the Mississippi Section Phone Net, the Delta Amateur Radio Association Net, and the Yazoo County Amateur Radio Club Net.  As a matter of fact, all of my contacts this week were in Mississippi, except for one, K4EET in Maryland.

Around the Station:
I'm proud to report that I've qualified for the ARRL Public Service Honor Roll for the month of January, 2014, and have submitted the documentation to the Mississippi ARRL Section Manager, W5XX.  The Public Service Honor Roll recognizes those Amateur Stations who are active in various aspects of public services.  Qualifying activities include participation in public service nets, actively using the National Traffic System, serving in an ARRL Field Organization volunteer appointed position, participation in short-term public service events, participation in unplanned emergency activities involving Amateur Radio operators, and hosting an automated digital traffic system, email list server, or web page related to Amateur Radio.

Many stations likely meet the monthly points total needed for PSHR qualification.  If you're involved in the activities listed above, click the ARRL Public Service Honor Roll link and report your activities to your section manager.

I'm looking forward to the coming week, as I've got a meeting scheduled with a few other Mississippi amateurs to discuss MESH networking.  I'd referenced this topic in an earlier Operating Notes, but you can find a wealth of information at www.broadband-hamnet.org.  There's a lot of potential for Amateur MESH Networking.  The possibility for linking Emergency Operations Centers, hospitals, fire stations, shelters, command posts, etc., complete with video, Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) phones, and file serving is a great concept that needs  further exploration in this area of Mississippi.  But first, a lot of experimentation in building systems, linking them, maintaining links, and lengthening the link distances is needed.

January Month Review
166 contacts logged
30 days of on-air activity, 1 day attending hamfest
6 new DXCC entities worked
30 States Worked
DXCC's Worked: Azores, Bahamas, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, Columbia, Cuba, England, Finland, Hungary, Isle of Man, Italy, Jamaica, Lithuania, Mexico, Namibia, Poland, Puerto Rico, Venezuela 

QSL Cards Received this week
NS0D - Missouri (a #WATwitter contact from Twitter!)
N1HCE - Massachusetts
NR1D - Connecticut
K2YNY - New York
WA2BOB - New York
WJ3O - Pennsylvania
KG4ZFV - North Carolina
KK4ODQ - Virginia
K5VGS - Texas
N5ZGT - New Mexico
N6VI - California
AE7KI - Washington
KD7ATL - Nevada
K8BZ - Michigan
KC9NVN - Illinois

QSL Cards Going Out in the coming week
AK0AK
N5DSR
WQ4S
K4EET