WX1BOX, the Amateur Radio Station at the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Taunton, Massachusetts joined numerous SKYWARN nets across New England in activating for an early-January nor’easter that brought significant coastal flooding, damaging winds — with hurricane-force wind gusts downing trees and power lines — and heavy snow accumulations to the region. The eastern coast of New England experienced high snowfall rates, whiteout conditions, and even “thunder snow.” A dramatic drop in barometric pressure generated a so-called “bomb cyclone.”
WX1BOX was active for 16.5 hours, supporting data gathering for the NWS. Local and state emergency managers, broadcast media, and other agencies also used these reports for situational awareness during the storm and to assess the need for any later recovery efforts.
“A widespread 8 to 18 inches of snow fell across Southern New England away from Cape Cod and the Islands. There were reports of thunderstorms with snowfall rates in the 2 to 3 inches per hour range,” said Rob Macedo, KD1CY, Eastern Massachusetts Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator and NWS Taunton SKYWARN liaison. “Wind gusts between 70 and 76 MPH were recorded over Cape Cod and the Islands, and wind gusts in the 40-70 MPH range were common across the rest of Southern New England.”
Macedo said the severe and widespread coastal flooding in some eastern Massachusetts locations was at the higher end of coastal flood events experienced in the last 10 years or so.
WX1BOX posted a report, with details on snowfall amounts, winds, coastal flooding, wind damage, and photos and videos from the storm on its Facebook page.
Cape Cod Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) was active at the Barnstable County Mutual Aid Coordination Center (MACC), convening ARES/SKYWARN nets and providing wind damage and coastal flood reports from their region. For the most part, Cape Cod and the Islands received rain, which was followed by a period of snow as temperatures dropped. The resulting “flash freeze” conditions led to dangerously icy roadways. Damaging winds causing scattered power outages and coastal flooding were the biggest problems, with an inch or two of rainfall in the area. Staffing the station was Cape Cod ARES District Emergency Coordinator Frank O’Laughlin, WQ1O, and Tom Wruk, KB1QCQ.
The Peabody Emergency Operations Center (EOC) was active on the Massachusetts North Shore, and the EOC served as a net control point for SKYWARN nets in the North Shore area. Coastal flooding reports from the North Shore and surrounding areas and snowfall totals were relayed to WX1BOX and other agencies from their nets. Staffing the EOC station were North Shore ARES DEC Jim Palmer, KB1KQW; Matt Knowles, KC1AEI, and Dave Pais, N1VSI.
At the Eastern Massachusetts ARES section level, ARES went on standby for any agency needs or to support any local ARES activations by Eastern Massachusetts ARES SEC Marek Kozubal, KB1NCG. Local nets were active on approximately 10 different repeaters across the NWS Taunton coverage area. The New England Echolink/IRLP reflector system was also active, with reporting stations from across New England, supplemented by a tie-in to the conference node typically used by the VoIP Hurricane Net.
An offer of assistance came from members of Illinois SKYWARN, including a team member who handles SKYWARN for WX9LOT, the Amateur Radio station at the NWS Chicago/Romeoville office. Debby Gray, WX9VOR, and Joe Perry, K9JPP, assisted by monitoring Echolink and supported data entry of snowfall reports from the region.
“This demonstrated a ‘virtual EOC’ approach to storm monitoring utilizing out-of-area resources to support a storm incident with local personnel providing local perspective.
Operators at WX1GYX, the Amateur Radio station at the Gray, Maine, NWS Office, were active all day on January 4, gathering reports from various sources via 2-meter FM, DMR, and HF. Tim Watson, KB1HNZ, and Eric Emery, KC1HJK, handled net control duties, with support from Waylon McDonald, KC1HJN, and members of Mt. Washington Valley ARES. — Thanks to Rob Macedo, KD1CY, and Tim Watson, KB1HNZ
Source:ARRL
Review
“S-Units” is the topic of the episode of the “ARRL The Doctor is In”
S-Units” is the topic of the current (August 17) latest episode of the “ARRL The Doctor is In” podcast. Listen…and learn! Sponsored by DX Engine… Read more
Introducing the Icom IC-7850 50th Anniversary Edition [ Video ]
Introducing the Icom IC-7850 50th Anniversary Edition Read more
Comparing the RFinder H1and M1 Devices
In this episode, I talk about the 2 RFinder devices – the original H1, and the new M1. The M1 is now my daily carry Smartphone and 2-way radio…. Read more
Ham Radio HF Stealth Dipoles ON-AIR Test and Review
Here is a video on some micro HF dipoles i found. Under 5 ounces, and multiple versions. They work exceptionally well, and will be in my go-kit video…. Read more
Icom IC-7300 Morse Code and Display Overview [ Video ]
Icom revealed their first Software Defined Radio (SDR) HF transceiver, the IC-7300, on Saturday, August 22nd 2015, at the Tokyo Ham Fair… Read more
Equipment
CW decoder CWD2014M
CW decoder The kit has been developed in the meeting A1 Club’s CW enthusiast I was commercialized GR301A / er When the paddle and vertical swin… Read more
Radiosport RS60CF Deluxe Headset
Radiosport RS60CF deluxe “dream” edition Headset – $289.00 Stereo headset supports Dual-Watch/Dual-Receive rigs, 24dB Noise Reductio… Read more
Heathkit ® Precision RF Meter – HM-1002 – pre-order
Finally, affordable laboratory-grade accuracy. And a whole lot more. For about fifty years, SWR/power meters haven’t really changed at all. Un… Read more
Automatic Semiconductor Analyser
Connect any way round to automatically identify and measure a wide range of semiconductor devices. The DCA55 will automatically identify the type of t… Read more
Elecraft KPA500 Compact 160-6 M Solid State Amplifier
500+ Watts in a compact package the size of the Elecraft K3. We are proud to introduce the KPA500: A 500-watt solid-state amp that inte… Read more
Antenna
40/20/10 Meter Fan Dipole Attic Antenna by KD2GOE
40/20/10 Meter Fan Dipole Attic Antenna by KD2GOE Read Full Article on http://www.worldwidedx.com : Read more
2m Yagi Beam Antenna | 144 MHz 10 Element Super-Light High Gain OWL G/T
OWL G/T Yagis Beam Antenna are specialized, ‘hot rod’ versions of the already high-performance OWL – Optimised Wideband Low impedan… Read more
TORNADO TUNER 80D – MOTOR TUNE DOUBLE COIL FOR 80 METER ROTATABLE DIPOLES
Tornado Tuner 80D being fitted onto a Force 12 Magnum 80 meter rotatable dipole as seen from underneath Price 659,95 – USD See More : Lin… Read more
Metrovna modern antenna analyzer
Metrovna and ‘a modern antenna analyzer designed for amateur radio.It allows you to measure all the parameters of an antenna as SWR, R, X, Z,Phase,RL,… Read more
ARRL’s Portable Antenna Classics
Portable Antenna Classics Antennas for Operating On the Go! Portable operating is gaining popularity in the Amateur Radio community. For amateurs who… Read more
Digital Modes
JTDX – Videos and Guides – FT8- JT65 – JT9 – T10 – WSPR
JT DX JT65 – JT9 – T10 – FT8 – WSPR Guides JTDX_User_Manual_EN_2018_01_08.pdf – (English language by VK7YUM with… Read more
JT-DX 18.1.0.30 with FT8 mode ! Released
JT-DX Download JTDX means “JT & T modes for DXing”, it is being developed with main focus on the sensitivity and decoding efficiency,… Read more
New Digital Modes Changing Complexion of Bands and Perhaps of Ham Radio
The wave of software-based digital modes over the past several years has altered the atmosphere of the HF bands. Some suggest the popularity of modes… Read more
Everybody’s Trying the New FT8!
“FT8 is the newest weak-signal mode from Joe Taylor, K1JT, and friends. It operates very much like JT65 but is four times faster and more automa… Read more
Goodbye FT8, Hello Olivia, The Magic HF Digital Mode
“So many people have started using FT-8 on HF, but they leave all the other modes to die off, like Olivia. Olivia isn’t new, but it offers… Read more