[KYHAM] Ky Amateurs Respond as Storms Cross State!

[Ron Dodson]

On Saturday, Nov. 9, 2002 the Severe Storm Prediction Center
issued a hazardous weather outlook with Kentucky in the
Moderate to High Risk category for the following day.  This
proved to be accurate as severe storms moved across this
entire portion of the nation all day and evening November
10th bringing damage and in many neighbor states, injury and
death. More than 70 severe storms took the lives of at least
30 people and injured dozens more in what is being called
the largest tornado outbreak in years. 

Amateur Radio operators from Paducah to Louisa responded as
always by putting their equipment and skills at the service
of the National Weather Service offices which serve the
Commonwealth.  

In the western Ky area, amateurs gathered information using
several repeaters for the NWSFO at Paducah.  Among these
were; 146.880- (Southern Count Amateur Repeater, Mt Herod,
IL - cross linked for most of S IL), 147.000- (Dexter, MO),
147.060+ (W4NJA, Paducah, KY), 146.940- (Murray, KY) and
147.285+ (Salem, KY).

In Area 4, amateurs in the Mammoth Cave Area made good use
of the 146.940 MCARC repeater to gather and disseminate
weather info to and from the NWSFO in Louisville.  Likewise,
nets in Areas 5 and 6 fed the Louisville office with reports
from all over southern Indiana and Kentucky counties.  The
Wide Area Repeaters Net (WARN) operated over the linked
repeaters 146.625 in Payneville and the 443.350 in SW
Jefferson County on two separate occasions feeding info from
counties west of Louisville to the NWSFO.  The Louisville
NWSFO amateur radio station KF4EKR operated for over 6 hours
over the Bullitt ARS' 146.700 repeater and also gathered
info from these machines in its service area; 147.000+
(Shelbyville); 146.850- (New Albany, In.) 147.105+
(Lawrenceburg); 146.760 (Lexington) and the WARN lined
repeaters.

Scott County in Area 7 reported an active weather net on the
146.685 machine. Area 9 reported a net in operation over the
Louisa repeater and in Areas 12 and 13 nets were active in
Boyle/Mercer (146.655- ), Harrison and Fayette (146.76 -)
Counties.  Ky Army MARS also reported 24 man hours of
activity during the outbreak. All these amateur radio
operators and spotter networks provided real time
information to the National Weather Service and in many
cases to local Emergency Management officals.

A total of more than 300 man hours were expended by Ky
amateurs over the period as storm spotting efforts supplied
NWS staffers with valuable ground level input on radar
indications thus making their warning info more accurate and
effective. Our neighbors in southern Illinois and Indiana,
Cincinnati, Oh., Tennessee and West Va. were also active as
these severe cells threatened the region.  
   
My heartiest congratulations to all who took part, on a job
well done.

73, 
Ron Dodson, KA4MAP 
SEC Ky