[warn-news] 2008 SkyWARN "start-up meeting"

[Steve Lewis]

This morning, the "start-up meeting" for the 2008 severe weather 
"season" was held at the NWS office in Wilmington.

Some notes...

- the NWS mets at the meeting did not take a position on the probability 
of an "active" severe weather season.  They did indicate that abundant 
ground moisture (we have this) and storm tracks similar to what we've 
seen, create the possibility of a lot of "activity".

- the "EF0" tornado in Preble County was the first January tornado in 
the CWA (County Warning Area) since 1976.

- this winter was < 1 degree above average at all 3 sites (DAY, CMH, 
CVG), and February was 1-2 degrees below average.

- statewide drills:  KY = 3/4 @ 1007am.  IN = 3/5 @ 1037am and 707pm.
OH = 3/26 @ 950am.  In KY and IN, the drill notification will come out 
as a "TOR" on NOAA weather radio and in print.  In OH, the "hardcopy" 
will be an "SPS", the NOAA weather radio product will be an "RWT".

- The special event station (12/1/2007) yielded 198 contacts in 6 
countries, and 43 NWS offices.

- "baseline reporting" (this is a big deal):  net controls will have 
increased discretion to solicit "borderline" reports.  For example, 
winds to 45mph would be a valuable report in an area that NWS believes 
is prime for development.  ***PLEASE monitor the net to be clear on what 
information is being solicited.***

- "warnings-by-polygon" went live on 10/1/2007.  (Wilmington was a pilot 
office for the year previous.)  It is believed that this will help 
verification rates since verification will require "an event" to occur 
within the polygon, as opposed to within a specific county or counties.

- if you are giving GPS coordinates of an event, please do it in 
"decimal" degrees as opposed to degrees/minutes/seconds.  ***An exact 
street address is better.***

- The NOAA WX Radio transmitter at Otway may be having issues?  If you 
find it off-the-air, please notify the NWS @ 937-383-0031.

- Wilmington is going to attempt to always have 2 net controls onsite, 
instead of 1, regardless of the apparent intensity of the event.

- Dayton's "ham-radio group-sponsored" SkyWARN training is March 8 @ 9am 
at the Berry Women's Health Pavilion at Miami Valley Hospital.

- Cincinnati's is April 4 @ 7pm at the Northeast Office of the American 
Red Cross, 10870 Kenwood Rd. in Blue Ash.

It was agreed upon that participation in the SkyWARN program is waning, 
as the length of time since the last "high-profile" event increases.

And finally this, from Ken Haydu (Meteorologist in Charge):

***The partnership between volunteer spotters and the National Weather 
Services saves lives.***  He and NWS appreciate our coordinated efforts 
to move critical information as fast as possible.  To continue this, we 
need continued participation from our existing base, and we are actively 
seeking new volunteers...both as control stations, and as eyes/ears in 
the field.

-73-