Skywarn (TM) spotter News

Winter 2006 Edition

From the National Weather Service - Seattle

Fall 2006 had a little something for everyone, and then some. November was a record wet month. Sea-Tac received what would be a normal month's worth of rain by the end of the first week and recorded an astonishing 15.63" of rain for the month, the wettest month on record at that location. Several mountain stations got a foot of rain in just two days from the early Nov storm, with major river flooding and significant damage. In the middle of the month a strong windstorm hit most of western Washington. Inland wind speeds along the coast were around 45 mph sustained, and over the water sustained around 70 mph. It was also very windy from Whidbey Island northward. Sustained winds of 45 to 50 mph were reported with gusts to 65 mph. By the last week of the month Canadian air was spilling into the region, and a major snowstorm hit northwest Washington, with heavy snow from Port Angeles to Ferndale, including Whidbey Island.. Snow fall reports were between 6 and 14 inches. Snow and cold northeast winds hit San Juan and Island counties as well. Even Seattle wasn't spared, on the 28th the modified arctic front out of Canada moved south and paralyzed the metro area as roads iced over and up to 6" of snow fell locally. A half an inch of snow even fell on the Seahawks/Packers Monday night football game.

An active weather pattern continued in December, this time punctuated with a windstorm which affected the whole region. Winds generally peaked early in the morning of the 14^th, with 90 mph gusts reported on the coast and gusts up to 70 mph in the interior, almost as strong as the Inauguration Day Storm of 1993. Power went out for 1.5 million customers and a week later, it was still out for about 100,000 people.

The active weather pattern put down a snowpack in the mountains that was around 165% of average, with 113" on the ground at Mount Baker and 60" on the ground at Snoqualmie Pass at mid December.

Our area’s weather is terrain driven and snowfall clearly follows that trend throughout western Washington. Can you correctly match these communities with their average annual snowfall? The answers can be found elsewhere in Skywarn (TM) Spotter News.

Here is refresher on how to measure snow? First, use two pieces (roughly 2’ x 2’) of plywood or the like, to use as snow boards. One piece can be used to measure total snow and the other for ‘new’ snow since the last measurement. Paint them both white in color so they will not absorb the sun’s heat energy.

Place the two snow boards in an open area away from tall obstructions, likely close to your rain gauge. Be sure to ‘flag’ both boards so you can find them once they are snow-covered, and have a ruler or yardstick handy. Snow boards provide much more accurate snow measuring platforms than using your deck, lawn or driveway. You’re welcome to measure snowfall as often as you wish. It should be measured at least once or twice a day, such as first thing in the morning and then the evening, and shortly after a period of snowfall has ended to determine new snow totals. Contact us when you get one inch or more per hour, or 4" in 12 hours per our spotter criteria.

After our November to Remember and the recent wind storms, everyone is asking where is El Nino? The warming of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean tropical waters has been underway since this summer. Yet, recent events again demonstrate that the ocean to atmosphere has lag time. Typically, El Nino kicks in close to the end of the year. It will become apparent when the storm track pushes storms into California rather than our area.

Regardless of whatever the weather pattern brings us, winter is here. So, are you ready to report snowfall, strong winds, heavy rainfall, flooding and all our other winter season weather?

Many spotters have reported all kinds of heavy rainfall, flooding, strong winds and snow amounts already this fall. Keep those reports coming. They are a key element in the overall warning system that entails detection and warning, dissemination of that warning information and proper public response to the event. Spotter reports help reinforce the warning message through media and web dissemination. So, have your spotter criteria sheet handy and give us a call when significant weather occurs in your area. Thanks!

The 2006 Skywarn (TM) Recognition Day event was held on Dec 1-2. This event began in the central U.S. in 1999 and has become a nationwide event, celebrating the contributions volunteer Skywarn (TM) radio operators make to the National Weather Service. This year, over 100 NWS offices again participated in the event.

We had four radio operators work our NWS Seattle amateur radio workstation, operating on VHF with one operator working HF. With permission, we used the K7PP repeater system that reaches nearly all of western Washington. We had a record 107 contacts during the event, our highest number yet in the four years we have participated. We shared current weather conditions and discussed the latest forecasts and other topics.

Thanks go to Jim Hicks (K7BDL), Bill Dockstader (W7LSK), Brian Daily (WB7OML), DeWayne Sennett ((W7DWC), Alan Norwood, Jim Prange and Ted Buehner who worked the NWS Seattle radio (WX7SEA).

Whether or not your next door neighbor wears a lab coat to work, he or she could be responsible for the next big scientific breakthrough. Ordinary people are making increasingly valuable contributions to the work of professional researchers by collecting data. These volunteer hobbyists or ‘citizen scientists’ as some call them, have discovered this kind of hands-on work can have benefits that extend way beyond science. Here is one personal story - in his own words.

I was 14 when I saw my first tornado. My parents and I drove out to a gas station and were watching a storm for fun. Suddenly, a funnel cloud popped out, went down and touched the ground, and then popped right back up. It was scary to see how powerful weather could be. I became fascinated and began to do research.

I found Skywarn (TM) on the Internet. I was so excited that something like this exists. Skywarn (TM) trains volunteers to spot and report storms and was looking for storm spotters in my area. At that time I was only 16. A year later, I built my own website, iowa-skywarn.org. Now at 19, I help coordinate the volunteers. I have my own little spotter group from that website.

Before I got involved, I had no idea what an important role spotters play in keeping their communities aware and safe. Weather technology is extremely good, but in some cases, radar can’t pick up a rotating cloud. With no spotter out there, the National Weather Service may not know anything about a cloud and whether to issue a warning. Spotters also report flooding. We’re potentially saving lives.

I just finished high school. In college, I most likely will pursue weather-related activities. I know one thing: I will be storm-spotting until the day I die.

AMS Meetings / Pacific NW Weather Workshop - The Puget Sound Chapter of the American Meteorological Society meeting sequence is well underway. Several more meetings with key local speakers addressing local weather issues are planned for the first half of 2007. Please visit the chapter web site for all the details at www.atmos.washington.edu/ams/. One of the key meetings will be the annual Pacific NW Weather Workshop coming up on Mar 2-3. Registration for the workshop will soon be open. Look for the registration news at our web site: www.wrh.noaa.gov/seattle

Spotter Training Update - Skywarn (TM) Weather Spotter Training was held in Grays Harbor, Snohomish, Thurston, Lewis, and King counties this fall. Over 130 people attended these sessions. For new spotters, welcome aboard the Skywarn (TM) Weather Spotter team!

More spotter training is planned for early 2007. The postponed Pierce county session will be announced soon, as well as sessions in south King county. Look for spotter training announcements either in your mailbox or via our web site at www.wrh.noaa.gov/sew/SpotterTrain.php or on the front page headline.

Enhanced Fujita Scale Debuts on Feb 1^st - The Fujita Scale, used to classify tornado intensity, is set for a makeover early in 2007. The revised scale is based upon years of wind damage research involved with tornadoes. Our weather spotter training will describe the revised scale beginning in 2007. For more information about the Enhanced Fujita Scale, visit the NWS Storm Prediction Center’s EF Scale web site at: www.spc.noaa.gov/efscale/

Weather Education Slide Shows Debut - We have begun a new program via our web site educational link. They are weather educational slide shows. Only a few are available now, but more will be developed over time. To see those already on-line, visit the educational link at www.wrh.noaa.gov/sew/educational.php. If you have topic ideas for other educational slide shows, please provide your input via the email address provided at that link.

Web-Based Spotter Reporting Update - There is some news on spotter reports via your web browser. Security from hackers is the big issue. Yet, those working on the problem are making progress. It is not clear when a nationwide weather spotter web-based reporting program will be on-line, but those working on the program are well aware of the need from spotters across the country

Want To Go To The Seattle Boat Show? -Would you like to assist us at our Seattle Boat Show booth and gain free admission for the event? The Boat Show runs from Jan 25- Feb 3 at the Qwest Field Event Center in Seattle. We run two shifts per day, a midday shift and a late afternoon/early evening shift, both about 4 or 5 hours in length, depending on the day of the week.

This is one of our key outreach events of the year, providing information to area mariners . If interested in assisting, please contact our marine program manager at dana.felton@noaa.gov or ask for Dana via our spotter phone numbers.