| ARES - Linn County, Iowa |
This document provides specific procedures for Amateur Radio Operators within Linn County to support a Severe Weather Spotter network. Specific services supported are:
All Amateurs are encouraged to monitor the developing weather situation by monitoring local media, including the "Weather Channel" and NOAA Weather Radio (162.475 MHz) for forecasts of severe weather.
If conditions indicate that severe weather will develop within the next few hours, Amateurs should monitor the 146.745 MHz repeater.
EC, AECs and Amateurs that frequently serve as inter-county liaisons or radar operators should periodically make their availability known on 146.745 MHz. Personnel to operate the Rockwell Weather Radar and serve as LCEMA Liaison should be identified.
Linn County EMA should activate Amateur Radio spotters by:
The following steps should be taken to activate an Amateur Radio response to a probable severe weather event:
The net may be operated in STANDBY mode if severe weather is not an immediate threat to Linn County. This mode is used if weather related traffic is necessary but does not warrant full-time occupation of the repeater. Net Control should periodically broadcast that the net is in STANDBY mode, and that stations may call other stations without permission from Net Control. However, extra time (two seconds) is requested between each transmission and long exchanges (more than one minute) should be moved to a different frequency.
The net shall be operated in ACTIVE mode when severe weather is in progress or imminent. During an ACTIVE net, Net Control shall limit traffic to weather and safety related traffic only. This is a formal net and all traffic flows through the designated net control. Net control shall broadcast minimum reporting criteria for each category of severe weather (lightning, wind, hail, damage) as necessary to control redundant reports and limit traffic to manageable levels. Refer to the Severe Weather Net Checklist for suggested reporting levels.
There should be a person located at Linn County Emergency Management (a different person than Net Control) to pass reports to Emergency Management personnel. This person should man the radio next to the radar monitor. Due to the level of activity in the EOC, the liaison should monitor the net and present only relevant traffic to Emergency Management. In the event the LCEMA has not yet been activated, severe weather reports may be relayed direct to the NWS via their 800 spotter telephone number.
Net Control should be run from the CVARC station console at LCEMA if possible. If time does not permit operation from LCEMA, Net Control may operate from any other convenient location until the console can be manned. It is Net Control's responsibility to manage the traffic level on 146.745 by establishing minimum reporting criteria.
A method to pass spotter reports to the NWS office shall be established. A single contact point shall be designated to avoid duplicate reports. The communication method shall be (in order of preference):
The liason function should be reassigned as necessary to utilized the most preferred method available at the time.
Stations should be appointed to serve as liaisons to adjacent counties as dictated by the areas potentially affected by the severe weather. The operating frequencies of liaisons are detailed in the Severe Weather Net Checklist .
Reports to/from adjacent counties should include:
Tactical Callsigns to be used when reporting to Linn County:
Tactical Callsigns to be used on the frequency of the adjacent county (including when using SEITS):
Severe Weather Spotter participants should report:
Observations should include:
Observations should not include "rain stopped here", "clear in the west", etc. reports.
This station's responsibility is to telephone reports of hazardous situations direct to the appropriate public service agency. This station should normally monitor the Linn County Storm Watch Net. At the direction of net control, he should be capable of moving to an alternate frequency with a station reporting a hazard to relay detailed information to the appropriate public service agency (such as accidents, downed power lines, or roads blocked by downed trees). After completing the report, the liaison should ask for any additional incidents that need to be reported (in case additional stations have been sent to the alternate frequency to report a hazard). If no response is heard, he should return to monitoring the 146.745 repeater and advise net control that he is back on frequency.
This station shall monitor the 146.745MHz repeater unless directed by Net control to an alternate frequency. The responsibilities of the Radar Operator are:
For detailed procedures, see the Weather Radar SOP.
Participation is terminated with the agreement of LCEMA. Stations that wish to terminate prior to the closure of an ACTIVE net should notify net control, if traffic levels permit. Net control should confirm net termination with stations with designated assignments (e.g. liaisons) and with mobiles actively engaged in tracking cells.
Both EMA and the NWS office is interested in the history of severe storms, even after the threat of additional damage has passed. Reports can be collected by net control when in STANDBY or ACTIVE mode, or submitted by individual Amateurs. These reports may be submitted by E-Spotter, or via theQuad Cities NWS web page at http://www.crh.noaa.gov/dvn/stormreport.htm. These same reports should also be sent to Linn county EMA at "linnema AT linnema.com".
LCEMA does not specifically request Amateurs to respond to designated locations to watch for severe weather. Amateurs wishing to spot from their mobiles are advised to operate in pairs. Any mobile spotters operate at their own risk. Only locations with near-by shelter from severe weather should be chosen, such as an accessible permanent structure. Your vehicle is not sufficient protection.
ARES members should prepare themselves for Severe Weather Net operation as follows:
This plan was approved at the June 2, 1998 Planning Committee meeting.