What we Recommend
Net
Control Suggestions
by Chad Rudolph W1CAR
Join our WX4LWX Yahoo Group (link on main page of this website)
Join LWX-Alert - our email system that relays NWS severe weather products as they are issued.
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SKYWARN Net Control - Severe Weather Notification Recommendations
Every net control has a method he or she receives information from the National Weather Service in order to answer questions during the net and to keep net participants and other listeners informed of current severe weather watches and warnings. If you don't, you definitely should. It handicaps the net control position if NCS is not completely informed during a Skywarn Severe Weather Net, and that includes keeping a list of watches and warnings and their time of expiration. One method is to monitor the "Weather Eagle" (the Bluemont repeater's NOAA weather alert radio) and keep a list. The problem with this, is that the Weather Eagle only monitors the Manassas NOAA transmitter, and therefore does not transmit all weather alerts for the entire County Warning Area. The Manassas NOAA transmitter (KHB-36 162.55mhz) only transmits weather alerts for the following counties and cities: In Virginia: Arlington, Alexandria, Clarke, Culpepper, Fairfax, City of Fairfax, Falls Church, Fauquier, Fredericksburg, King George, Loudoun, Madison, Manassas, Manassas Park, Orange, Page, Prince William, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren. In Maryland: Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Montgomery, Prince Georges, and St. Marys. In West Virginia: Jefferson County. and the District of Columbia. Counties and cities not covered by the Manassas NOAA transmitter: In Virginia: Augusta County and Cities of Staunton and Waynesboro,, Albemarle County and Charlottesville, Nelson, Highland, Greene, Rockingham County and Harrisonburg, Shenandoah, Frederick County and City of Winchester. In Maryland: Allegany, Washington, Carroll, Howard, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Baltimore City, and Harford. In West Virginia: Pendleton, Grant, Hardy, Hampshire, Mineral, Morgan, and Berkeley. The Primary Skywarn Net under normal conditions operates on the 147.300 Bluemont repeater. While it is necessary for the Net Control to be aware of every Watch and Warning that is active for the entire area***, keep in mind that the Bluemont repeater does not cover the entire County Warning Area, so the listening audience isn't as broad as the CWA. Subnets are used to cover the outer reaches of the County Warning Area. This being said, there are a group of counties that the 147.300 repeater has coverage into that aren't served by the Weather Eagle via the Manassas NOAA transmitter. These counties in particular may require the Net Control at times to make announcements as the Warnings are issued. These counties include:
Because a competent Skywarn Net Control keeps informed of all watches and warnings for the entire County Warning Area, there must be a reliable method of getting this information. We get our information directly from the National Weather Service. If during a Skywarn Net WX4LWX is manned, the operator there can help keep the NCS updated on current Watches and Warnings by relaying the information directly from NWS. You can purchase a NOAA weather radio and monitor other NWS transmitters in your area, but chances are you will only be able to hear one or two of them, and even then not 100% of the time. In addition, monitoring multiple NWS transmitters at the same time while operating a Skywarn Net would be rather difficult. So, getting all of the severe weather Warnings, Watches, and Advisories for the entire area would be a problem using this method. This is probably best suited while not acting as a Skywarn Net Control. Most, if not all NCS's have a computer and access to the internet in their shack, or operating position. Having the internet available gives NCS's the ability to use computer software to download the severe weather information from the National Weather Service's internet data stream. Most software available today interfaces with and ingests the Emergency Manager's Weather Information Network, or the EMWIN. The software then offers real-time access to the Watches, Warnings, Advisories, and many other NWS products as they go active. Having this kind of information handy in real-time is priceless for a Skywarn Net Control. Below are our recommendations for software and email notification services to use as a Skywarn Net Control, or any other time you need severe weather information.
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Software and Email services - Severe Weather Watches, Warnings, and other information
#1 Pick - used by W4XJ, W1CAR, AI4TD, and others. www.interwarn.com - software (free to try out for 21 days) Interwarn is software you run on your pc that ingests the EMWIN and displays current severe weather products in an easy to read and simple to understand fashion. It's very versatile and fully customizable, and many seasoned net controls swear by it. It notifies you of any and all weather situations in any location of your choosing, including any NWS's entire warning area. It is as close to real-time as you can get. New versions change servers automatically so there's no issue in case one EMWIN stream is down.
Please give it a try. It is the best software for the job. --- For Advanced NCS/Spotters/Weather Hobbyists: Interwarn can be purchased with StormLab -- an advanced RADAR suite that allows you to see the storm from a meteorologist's point of view.
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#1 Pick - best email service www.stormnow.com - StormNow is an email weather notification subscription service with a 2 week free trial. It sends you email when severe weather products of your choice go active, and does so in real-time. If you choose email notification, make sure to set your email client to download every 1 minute. Severe weather can change in the blink of an eye.
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(severe weather alerts - radar - satellite software)
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StormPredator - Personal Weather Radar Software with realistic GIS accurate Map Topography, Multiple NEXRAD Radar products, Storm Tracking, Visual, Audible, Email, Pager, & Cellphone Weather Alerting, plus FREE Weather Forecasts, Data, and Images http://www.stormpredator.com/index.htm
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Advanced RADAR, Storm Tracking, and Severe Weather Alert Software: Swift WX www.swiftwx.com free 2 week trial.
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Assorted Software:
Weather.com has quite a few tools for Severe Weather Notification. See all of them here. Recommend Desktop MAX for software and Notify! for a phone/text/email notification system.
------------------------------------------------------------------------- WeatherBug can be used as well, but isn't as reliable at the pay services and therefore isn't recommended. However, if it's all you have, it's better than nothing. The severe weather info comes from the National Weather Service, which is the only info we should use during Skywarn activations. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weather 1 is free forecast and alert software. Download here: http://www.weather1.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weather Depot is free forecast and alert software. They also offer a premium version with more features. http://www.weatherdepot.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you use APRS, UI-View32 comes with the UI-NWS add-on that automatically downloads severe weather information from a third party site attached to the EMWIN. Set up correctly, it can also highlight county and zone areas with colors that stand for Watch, Warning, or Advisory. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- LWX-Alert is an email reflector which is fed by Interwarn, that sends out severe weather emails to 20-30 current users. Email W1CAR to join.
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Webpages or web-based info
Skywarn Net Control Operations Page
NCA SKYWARN Instawarn real-time severe weather feed
147300.com Net Control Radar, Watch, & Warning Page
NWS IWIN - The Interactive Weather Information Network
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Reporting Recommendations NCS's have a hard job. Taking reports from low-power or portable stations during inclement weather makes it even harder. If you want to give a report and all you have is an HT at your disposal, do yourself a favor and get all you can out of it, and make sure the net control hears you. Operate on an external antenna if you can. Get into a location suitable and high enough to reach the repeater, unless safety dictates your location. For a larger signal, use a Tiger Tail. |
