[PHX-Skywarn] Minn Skywarn

[Allen Sklar]

Hello All 
Via the ARRL Letter  
Jun 10 2005...

Allen Sklar, W7AS
Tempe AZ    
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NWS meteorologist praises ARES, SKYWARN: ARRL Minnesota Section
Emergency
Coordinator Don Franck, AD0F, says he was grateful that Amateur Radio
Emergency Service (ARES) and SKYWARN teams were on the job this week
when
severe weather struck his area. Franck, who's also an ARRL Emergency
Communications Course instructor and mentor, says it got personal for
him
after a severe storm dropped a wall cloud right into the field next to
his
home and later spawned a tornado. "Through it all, local ARES members
gave
freely of their time and vehicles," he said, "driving many miles across
three counties to get the best spotting of the super cell
thunderstorms."
Observers endured one-inch diameter hail, 70 MPH winds and 7 inches of
rain.
Franck was at the Olmsted County emergency operations center for the
occasion. The work of ARES and SKYWARN also drew praise from National
Weather Service Warning Coordination Meteorologist Todd Shea in La
Crosse,
Wisconsin, who offered another example of how storm spotters made a
difference during the severe weather June 4. "A storm spotter in Clark
County, Wisconsin, correctly reported to us a rotating wall cloud from a
cluster of storms moving across central Wisconsin," he said. Shea says
the
report enabled NWS radar to focus on that storm, leading directly to the
issuance of tornado warnings. "We were able to warn the rest of the
downstream communities and neighboring county during the approximately
20-mile intermittent tornado path," he said. "A spotter can make a
difference. Be proactive, organized, correct, and timely. I can't tell
you
how much it does make a difference and how much we appreciate the
information."