Spotter’s Guide V2.0 Lafayette Skywarn Spotter’s Guide Sponsored by The Lafayette City-Parish Office Of Emergency Preparedness Lafayette Skywarn Group Lafayette City-Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness 5/13/00 Spotter’s Guide V2.0 Preface This is the Second Edition of our Guide. Many members made comments and suggestions as to what might be added or deleted from the original version. This edition is an attempt to make those things easier. The Membership Roster was placed in the Appendix so that it would be simpler to add an updated list. The Membership Roster and Network Control form was omitted from the PDF document placed on the Internet. The Phone Directory was omitted from this addition. It was necessary to do this since no one was maintaining the list. American Weather Concepts was purchased by DTN Corporation. This changed the URLs and appearance of many items appearing in the first edition. We also cancelled the NWS Weather Wire product and purchased a similar product from DTN. References to the new product from DTN are mentioned. Recognizing our dual membership in RACES and Skywarn, more attention was given to the special RACES requirements and adaptations required in some circumstances. Special thanks to Mr. Bill Vincent who has continually given his support and encouragement to our projects. Chester Young, KC5TKT Lafayette Skywarn Group Lafayette City-Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness 5/13/00 Spotter’s Guide V2.0 Lafayette Skywarn Group Lafayette City-Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness 5/13/00 Spotter’s Guide V2.0 Table of Contents Section Title Section A: Skywarn Manual 1 Introduction 2 Charter 3 Membership 4 Available Resources 5 Operations (General) 6 Net Control Actions 7 Operating Frequencies 8 Grab an Go Kit 9 Glossary Section B: Net Control/Observer Information 10 Skywarn Network Controller Quick-Look Sheet 11 NWS Lake Charles 12 The 537 and 715 Repeater Alert Codes 13 Beauford Wind Speed Chart 14 Fujita Tornado Scale 15 Regional Repeater Directory Lafayette Skywarn Group Lafayette City-Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness 5/13/00 Spotter’s Guide V2.0 Section C: Other Net Controller/Observer Information 16 Internet Resources 17 Vehicle Safety 18 FAQ Radar and Satellite Section D: Government Agencies/Support 19 NOAA, NWS 20 FEMA 21 RACES Section E: Back of the Book 22 Radio Shack 7 Channel Weather Radio 23 Appendix Lafayette Skywarn Group Lafayette City-Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness 5/13/00 Spotter’s Guide V2.0 Section A Lafayette Skywarn Group Lafayette City-Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness 5/13/00 Spotter’s Guide V2.0 Lafayette Skywarn Group Spotter’s Guide 1. Introduction The Lafayette Skywarn Group Spotter’s Guide is intended to be a convenient reference for current Skywarn members and it is hoped that it will enable the new member to become familiar with the basics of Skywarn operations in a short time. Included are certain policies and procedures that outline how Skywarn activities should be conducted during a severe weather threat. Important safety outlines are provided that will hopefully make your Skywarn spotting activities safe for you and not endanger the safety of others. The format of this document is intended to provide for easy updates to information contained within and allow the timely dissemination of these new updates. Amateur radio operators have a long tradition of providing communications when disaster strikes. Despite the increasing sophistication of government and commercial communications systems, additional help is needed in a time of emergency. To provide the assistance needed today, we must try to integrate our capabilities within existing government emergency contingencies--try to blend in with the emergency services--and operate without being conspicuous as non-professionals. Joining an organized group like Skywarn is one of the best means of preparing yourself for emergency communications and provide the interface by which our traditional role of providing communications in times of emergency may be accomplished. By training and working with government officials to prepare before the disaster occurs, we become part of the team working to solve the problem rather than outsiders who would like to help but don’t know how. Amateur radio operators provide a unique resource due to the variety of our frequencies, our numbers, and, especially, our skills. Lafayette Skywarn Group Lafayette City-Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness 5/13/00 Spotter’s Guide V2.0 2. Charter A) Lafayette Skywarn exists to serve the National Weather Service (NWS), the Office of Emergency Preparedness (OEP) for Lafayette Parish in the State of Louisiana, and the residents of Lafayette Parish. The group supports the real-time collection and delivery of data regarding meteorological events, especially those events where life or property damage is threatened. The participants in Lafayette Skywarn can hold membership in both RACES and ARES. The group may operate under the auspices of either organization. B) Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services (RACES) is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and operates only for civil preparedness and times of civil emergency. Composed of licensed amateur radio operators, RACES is activated at the request of a state or federal official. Official RACES operation does not allow radio contact with the general amateur population. C) Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) is a group of licensed amateur radio operators who have volunteered their services and equipment for all kinds of public service communications and in time of emergency. ARES is sponsored by the American Radio Relay League, but membership is not a requirement for ARES membership. A valid amateur radio license and a desire to serve are the only requirements for ARES membership. D) Office of Emergency Preparedness (OEP) in Lafayette, Louisiana. The Lafayette City- Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness is mandated to coordinate those actions needed to protect the lives and property of people in Lafayette Parish during major emergencies and disasters. In order to provide the most effective response to a given emergency / disaster situation, all response and recovery operations are directed from the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) which serves as the coordination point for emergency management activities. The Emergency Preparedness Director for the City-Parish of Lafayette is Mr. William R. Vincent. Lafayette Skywarn Group Lafayette City-Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness 5/13/00 Spotter’s Guide V2.0 3. Membership This section describes the membership requirements for participants in the Lafayette Skywarn Group. All members are also approved by the Director of the Lafayette Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness. A. Office of Emergency Preparedness Employed by the Lafayette Parish Communications District Office or Lafayette City-Parish Government or the State of Louisiana, as approved by the Director of Emergency Preparedness for Lafayette Parish. B. National Weather Service Employed by the National Weather Service/NOAA/DOC. C. Skywarn Member 1. The member must be a holder of a valid Amateur Radio License*, issued by the Federal Communications Commission, Technician Class license or higher. The member must have radio equipment capable of operating on the repeaters used by Skywarn. 2. NWS Weather Spotter Training. 3. Lafayette Skywarn Training. *Note: The spouse of a Skywarn member can also become a Skywarn member without being a licensed amateur radio operator. In this case, the membership requirements are approval by the Office of Emergency Preparedness, NWS Weather Spotter training, and Lafayette Skywarn training. Lafayette Skywarn Group Lafayette City-Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness 5/13/00 Spotter’s Guide V2.0 4. Available Resources A. OEP Facilities 1) EOC Communications Room a) HF/VHF/UHF Radios. 1. Kenwood 2550A 2M 2. Yaesu FT-212RH 2M Packet 3. Alinco DR-590 2M/70cm Dualband 4. Kenwood TS-830S HF 5. Icom IC-735 HF b) Personal Computer Network with Internet connectivity. c) DTN Weather Monitor. 2) EOC Operations Room a) Wall Maps. b) Cameo Computer. c) NAWAS (See section on NAWAS). d) DTN Weather. e) TV Monitors. f) Internet Connectivity. 3) Skywarn Pagers. 4) Skywarn Training Tapes. 5) RACES Training Tape. Weather Equipment Provided by Data Transmission Network (DTN) Corporation. Lafayette Skywarn Group Lafayette City-Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness 5/13/00