Archive for June 1st, 2012
Weatheradio Changes…
Earlier I posted that the NWS is going to start doing a Saturday morning NOAA Weatheradio test each week, weather permitting.
There have been some recent significant changes in the programming on the Weatheradio stations that operate out of the NWS Birmingham. Here is a summary of those changes from John DeBlock, the Warnings Coordination Meteorologist at BMX.
Some of the changes were made earlier this year.
The most significant local change is the addition of Winston and Walker Counties to the Cullman transmitter.
Have questions about Weatheradio? Post a comment below and we will address it!
…SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO…
IN ORDER TO BETTER SERVE THE CITIZENS OF CENTRAL ALABAMA…THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM…IN COORDINATION WITH
SURROUNDING NWS OFFICES…HAS MADE SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO NOAA
WEATHER RADIO TRANSMITTER COVERAGE AREAS ON AN EXPERIMENTAL
BASIS. WHILE SOME OF THESE CHANGES WERE MADE PREVIOUSLY ON AN
EMERGENCY BASIS THANKS TO LISTENER FEEDBACK…ALL THE CHANGES
OUTLINED BELOW WILL BE COMPLETE AND GO INTO EFFECT AT MIDNIGHT
ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 30TH.
THE FOLLOWING ADDITIONS HAVE ALREADY BEEN MADE TO THE
TRANSMITTERS LISTED BELOW.
TRANSMITTER COUNTIES ADDED
————- —————-
ANNISTON (MT CHEAHA) COOSA, JEFFERSON, SHELBY
BIRMINGHAM TUSCALOOSA
DEMOPOLIS CLARKE, WILCOX
MONTGOMERY BUTLER, CRENSHAW, PIKE, TALLAPOOSA
ONEONTA CULLMAN, JEFFERSON, WALKER
SELMA BIBB, BUTLER, WILCOX
TEXASVILLE CRENSHAW, RUSSELL
TUSCALOOSA JEFFERSON; NOXUBEE (MS)
WINFIELD PICKENS
THE FOLLOWING REMOVALS WILL TAKE PLACE ON MAY 30TH. IF THERE IS
A THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER…IT WILL BE POSTPONED UNTIL THE NEXT
GOOD WEATHER DAY.
TRANSMITTER COUNTIES REMOVED
————- ——————
ANNISTON (MT CHEAHA) HARALSON, HEARD (GA)
TEXASVILLE CLAY, EARLY, RANDOLPH, STEWART (GA)
THE FOLLOWING CHANGES TO OTHER TRANSMITTERS INVOLVING CENTRAL
ALABAMA COUNTIES IS SET TO TAKE PLACE BY THE END OF MAY.
TRANSMITTER COUNTIES ADDED
————- —————-
CULLMAN WALKER, WINSTON
WHILE THE ACTUAL COVERAGE AREA OR FOOTPRINT OF EACH OF THESE
TRANSMITTERS HAS NOT CHANGED…THE ADDITIONAL COUNTIES WARNED ON
THESE TRANSMITTERS ARE DESIGNED TO PROVIDE BETTER SERVICE TO
LISTENERS AT THE OUTER EDGES OF THE COVERAGE AREA OF EACH
TRANSMITTER. BY PROVIDING WARNINGS FOR COUNTIES TYPICALLY
UPSTREAM FROM OR ADJACENT TO THOSE LOCATIONS…WE WILL BE
PROVIDING MORE ADVANCED NOTICE OF IMPENDING WEATHER
HAZARDS…WHICH WILL ALLOW MORE TIME FOR LISTENERS TO SEEK
SHELTER. USING THE RESOURCES ON OUR WEBPAGE…WE ENCOURAGE ALL
NOAA WEATHER RADIO LISTENERS TO ENSURE THEIR RECEIVERS ARE
PROGRAMMED PROPERLY TO PROVIDE THE BEST SERVICE POSSIBLE.
ANOTHER IMPORTANT CHANGE TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO ACROSS CENTRAL
ALABAMA WILL BE THE ADDITION OF A SECOND WEEKLY WEATHER RADIO
TEST. PREVIOUSLY…WEEKLY TESTS WERE ONLY HELD ON
WEDNESDAYS…BUT NOW THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM
WILL BE DOING A SECOND TEST ON SATURDAYS. THE ADDITION OF
SATURDAY TESTS IS TO ENSURE THAT MORE LISTENERS ARE ABLE TO
CONFIRM THE OPERATIONAL STATUS OF THEIR WEATHER RADIOS. IF YOUR
WEATHER RADIO RECEIVES THE WEEKLY TESTS THEN IT IS STILL WORKING
PROPERLY. HOWEVER…IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE THE TEST THEN THERE IS
LIKELY A PROBLEM WITH THE RADIO…WHICH MEANS YOU MAY NOT
RECEIVE CRITICAL WATCH AND WARNING INFORMATION FOR YOUR AREA.
ALL TESTS WILL BE DONE BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 10 AM AND NOON. IF
BAD WEATHER IS OCCURRING OR EXPECTED TO OCCUR…THEN THE TEST
WILL BE POSTPONED UNTIL THE NEXT GOOD WEATHER DAY.
YOU MAY VISIT OUR NOAA WEATHER RADIO WEBPAGE HERE.
WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE HUNTSVILLE…PEACHTREE CITY AND
TALLAHASSEE NWS OFFICES FOR COLLABORATION AND ASSISTANCE IN
HELPING US IMPROVE OUR NWR SERVICES.
IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS REGARDING THESE CHANGES OR WOULD LIKE
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION…PLEASE CONTACT JOHN DE BLOCK…WARNING
COORDINATION METEOROLOGIST…AT 205-664-3010 EXT 223.
NOAA Weatheradio Tests on Saturday Morning Now, Too!
This is a Test, This is Only a Test…
People who work on weekdays are not home to test their NOAA Weatheradios.
Putting SERVICE in the National Weather Service, our friends at BMX are instituting a Saturday morning Weatheradio test. It will occur between 10 a.m. and noon, weather permitting of course.
The first one is tomorrow. It should occur around 11 a.m. Have your Weatheradios on in alert mode and make sure they are working.
If you are having any problems, post a comment below and we will all work together to resolve it!
NOUS44 KBMX 011852
PNSBMX
ALZ011>015-017>050-021500-
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
152 PM CDT FRI JUN 01 2012
…NOAA WEATHER RADIO ROUTINE WEEKLY TESTS…
REMINDER!
ON SATURDAY, JUNE 2ND…THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM
WILL ISSUE THE FIRST SATURDAY VERSION OF THE ROUTINE WEEKLY TEST.
PREVIOUSLY…WEEKLY TESTS WERE ONLY CONDUCTED ON WEDNESDAYS…BUT
NOW A SECOND TEST WILL BE DONE ON SATURDAYS. THE ADDITION OF
SATURDAY TESTS IS TO ENSURE THAT MORE LISTENERS ARE ABLE TO CONFIRM
THE OPERATIONAL STATUS OF THEIR WEATHER RADIOS.
AS WITH THE WEDNESDAY TESTS…THE SATURDAY TESTS WILL BE DONE
BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 10 AM AND NOON. IF BAD WEATHER IS OCCURRING OR
EXPECTED TO OCCUR…THEN THE TEST WILL BE POSTPONED UNTIL THE NEXT
GOOD WEATHER DAY.
ROUTINE WEEKLY TESTS ARE CONDUCTED TO ENSURE YOUR WEATHER RADIO
RECEIVER IS WORKING PROPERLY. IF YOUR RADIO RECEIVES THE WEEKLY
TESTS THEN IT IS STILL WORKING PROPERLY. HOWEVER…IF YOU DO NOT
RECEIVE THE TEST THEN THERE IS LIKELY A PROBLEM WITH THE RADIO…AND
YOU MAY NOT RECEIVE CRITICAL WATCH AND WARNING INFORMATION FOR YOUR
AREA. CONSULT YOUR RADIO USERS MANUAL TO ENSURE YOUR RADIO IS SET UP
AND PROGRAMMED PROPERLY.
FOR INFORMATION REGARDING NOAA WEATHER RADIO TRANSMITTER COVERAGE
AND COUNTY CODES FOR CENTRAL ALABAMA, YOU MAY VISIT OUR NOAA WEATHER
RADIO WEBPAGE AT:
WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/BMX/?N=NWR_OVERVIEW
IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS REGARDING WEATHER RADIO ROUTINE WEEKLY TESTS
ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA…PLEASE CONTACT JOHN DE BLOCK…WARNING
COORDINATION METEOROLOGIST…AT 205-664-3010 EXT 223.
$$
JD/02
Showers Ending, Great Weather Saturday
The latest edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme Video is available in the player below. You can subscribe to the Weather Xtreme Video on iTunes by clicking here.
The complexity of the weather pattern affecting Central Alabama is decreasing as the cold front we’ve been talking about for several days is finally making its way through the area. The front was located basically along the Alabama-Mississippi line and should be traversing eastward this morning sweeping the showers out of the area by about noon time. This should bring a return to sunshine by the afternoon hours as the clouds move east, too.
With a nice northwesterly flow aloft, we should see much drier and cooler air for the area on Saturday with a gorgeous day in store for the Southeast US. Besides being cooler, the humidity levels will be down considerably with dew points expect to fall back into the lower 50s. Look for a low Saturday morning of 54 with a warm up to a high in the lower 80s. This will actually be a little below average values for June 1st which are 85 and 64 and will feel very good.
The cool will be short-lived as we warm up nicely on Sunday back to the mid and upper 80s. But we maintain a northwesterly flow pattern with the trough located just off the Atlantic coast. This flow will see a number of weak disturbances or short waves moving through that northwesterly flow which will see a return to scattered showers Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. There is some difference in the GFS and ECMWF solutions with the ECMWF being more aggressive with the showers especially from Wednesday into Friday. For now, the ECMWF seems to be overdoing it somewhat so I prefer the less aggressive GFS. But it still means some daily shower chances for us with highs once again approaching 90 degrees or a little above average for early June.
SPC outlooking an area along the Mid-Atlantic Coast for a slight risk of severe storms today along with a small patch in the Texas Panhandle. Day 2 the only severe weather risk is in the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles.
Looking into week two or voodoo country, the northwesterly flow pattern sticks around for a little longer but does get replaced around the 13th with the heat ridge once again.
Don’t forget to listen to our weekly netcast anytime on the web or on iTunes. This is the show all about weather featuring many familiar voices including our meteorologists here at ABC 33/40. You can even listen here on the blog; look for the player on the top left.
And you can follow news and weather updates from ABC 33/40 on Twitter here. Stay in the know by following the whole gang – here’s the list…
| James Spann | Charles Daniel | Ashley Brand |
| J. B. Elliott | Bill Murray | Brian Peters |
| E-Warn (AL wx watches/warnings) |
Looked out from our travel trailer at Cheaha State Park yesterday afternoon and saw 13 deer grazing on the corn we bring along with us. Lots of interesting dynamics among the deer as to which ones got to eat and which ones got driven off. It is so much fun to watch them. Look for the next Weather Xtreme Video to be posted by 8 am or so on Saturday morning. Godspeed.
-Brian-
