[PHX-Skywarn] New Mexcio Tornados

[Allen Sklar]

Hello All 

Via the ARRL Newsletter...

Allen Sklar
Tempe AZ USA 

  

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The ARRL Letter
Vol. 26, No. 13
March 30, 2007
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==>HAM RADIO READINESS PROVIDES SAFETY MARGIN IN NEW MEXICO TORNADO
OUTBREAK

Dozens of Amateur Radio volunteers in New Mexico did what they do best
Friday, March 23, when nasty weather threatening eastern New Mexico
eventually spawned 13 tornados, from Tatum to Logan. A day before the
storms, SKYWARN Coordinator and National Weather Service (NWS)
meteorologist
Keith Hayes, KC5KH, at the Albuquerque NWS office (WX5ABQ) warned New
Mexico's Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) district emergency
coordinators and county emergency managers of the potential for severe
weather. ARES teams and SKYWARN weather spotters consequently were
already
in the field and ready for action when the string of tornados struck.
The
early warning, aided by trained spotters' accurate minute-by-minute
reports
to the NWS and local authorities, provided an additional margin of
safety
for residents.

"The teamwork by the ARES teams, support from the surrounding county
emergency managers, the NWS forecasts and real-time radar support,
WA5IHL's
Mega-Link [repeater system] and numerous SKYWARN observations saved
lives,"
Jay Miller, WA5WHN, observed. During the weather emergency, Amateur
Radio
volunteers relayed real-time weather information to NWS offices in
Albuquerque and in Midland, Texas.

After Chaves County District Emergency Coordinator Alf Lindsey, W5ALL,
took
note of darkening skies early Friday afternoon, he opened a SKYWARN net.
More than 30 hams in southeastern New Mexico and West Texas relayed
their
weather observations through the net to the Albuquerque NWS office.
Robert
Tice, W5TIC, reported in with a tornado spotting west of Tatum at about
5
PM. Jim Morrison, KM5BS, observed a large tornado on the ground just
south
of Roosevelt County at about 5:45 PM. That prompted the first of many
tornado warnings for the counties along the Texas-New Mexico state line.

The city of Clovis was especially hard hit. "We have always trained for
a
single tornado, but not eight of them at the same time," Blaine Smith,
KB5UOT, in Clovis commented afterward. The NWS issued the first tornado
warning for Clovis at about 7:30 PM, and a tornado struck the city
about 15
minutes later. Saundra Creiglow, KC5EGP, handled net control duties in
Clovis as the storms approached. The Eastern New Mexico Amateur Radio
Club
had three teams operating in and around Clovis before and after the
twisters.

Using the KK5OV EchoLink node, hams in Clovis established a backup
connection with Jory McIntosh, KJ5RM, at the Fort Worth National Weather
Service Office. McIntosh was able to pinpoint the exact course
destructive
tornados that hit the city.

The New Mexico State Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and the
Bernalillo
County EOC activated. During the tornados, however, the state EOC lost
contact with Clovis, Logan, Texico, Carlsbad, and Portales. Sandoval
County
DEC Mike Scales, K5SCA, was able to relay information from hams in
tornado-stricken areas to the state EOC via the state-wide Mega-Link
repeater system. Scales also kept the state EOC up to speed on localized
flooding in Carlsbad.

The American Red Cross requested Amateur Radio assistance to staff
shelters
in Logan and Clovis. John English, WB6QKF, was on the air from the
Albuquerque Red Cross office to assist in setting up those shelters.

The tornados carved a 4.5 mile swath across Clovis. Thirty-five
residents
were injured badly enough to need hospitalization. In Logan, two-dozen
mobile homes were destroyed. Tatum experienced four tornados in the
span of
a half-hour. Electrical power and telephone outages were reported.
Interstate 70 was shut down between Portales and Clovis.

More severe weather popped across eastern New Mexico and western Texas
over
the weekend. Spotters were active early March 25 near Lubbock, Texas, as
possible tornados were reported. Showers and thunderstorms were in this
week's forecast for West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. -- New
Mexico
PIO Charlie Christman, K5CEC, and other reports