[PHX-Skywarn] SKY WARN RECOGNITION DAY

[Allen Sklar]

Via the ARRL Letter...
Steve Sipple will have more soon
Allen Sklar

==>ANNUAL SKYWARN RECOGNITION DAY IS DECEMBER 7

The fourth annual SKYWARN Recognition Day (SRD)
<http://hamradio.noaa.gov/>is December 7 (UTC). That's when Amateur Radio
operators set up stations at National Weather Service (NWS) offices and
contact other operators around the world. The event is sponsored by the
ARRL and the National Weather Service.

"The purpose of the event is to recognize the vital public service
contribution that Amateur Radio operators make during National Weather
Service severe weather warning operations," said David Floyd, N5DBZ,
warning coordination meteorologist, at the NWS Goodland, Kansas, office.
"It also strengthens the bond between Amateur Radio operators and the
local National Weather Service office."

For several decades now, hams have assisted the NWS by providing real-time
reports of severe weather and storm evolution. The information radio
operators locate near a storm can provide plays a key role in aiding
forecasters. SKYWARN operators in several states activated to spot and
track an outbreak of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes November 10.

Scott Mentzer, N0QE--the meteorologist-in-charge of the NWS office in
Goodland, Kansas, and the creator and annual organizer of SRD--says more
than 90 stations are registered to participate, up from 80 last year. Most
participating NWS stations will operate on 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, and 2
meters using SSB and FM. Mentzer says a number of NWS offices will be
equipped to support Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP) stations.

All contacts will be made utilizing the General or Novice portion of the
bands. Stations will exchange signal report, location and a one-word
description of the current weather at their respective locations ("sunny,"
"partly cloudy," "windy," etc). This is not a contest, so no scoring will
be computed.

SKYWARN Recognition Day will take place December 7 from 0000 UTC to 2400
UTC. Since SRD is being held on Pearl Harbor Day, each NWS office will
transmit a special message from approximately 1800 to 1900
UTC--approximately the time of the Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, attack on
December 7, 1941--to honor the World War II veterans.

The deadline to register an NWS site is December 1. Contact Mentzer to
register: scott.mentzer@noaa.gov. Complete information is available on the
2002 SKYWARN Recognition Day Web site <http://hamradio.noaa.gov/>.