IT'S HERE! IT'S HERE! A weather update, that is...

 Ever since I was little, weather has fascinated me, between snowstorms and tornadoes. I've had my fair share, and with the recent 3-day outbreak in Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri, that fascination has reignited in my soul. In fact, one of the reasons I became a ham was to help out if the weather ever took a turn for the worse.

With my recent SKYWARN training, I wanted to get involved more than ever on our local town's repeater, and over these past three days, I've used it more than I ever had. I mostly relayed weather information, including impacts, storm type, threats, etc., and in all honesty, I felt like I helped, even if it was in the tiniest amount. And no, I didn't use the 8900 - I used my trusty sidearm, the UV-5R. After over 5 years with me, it still transmits a steady 5W. 

I hope the inevitable never comes, and after this weekend, I'm not so sure. The amount of damage both Elkhorn, NE and Minden, IA suffered was pure horror. In fact, I knew many people who were either on the outskirts or inside of the tornado-warned area. Despite them being both EF3s, both were wide, wedge tornadoes. Now, in my lifetime of 22 years, I've never witnessed a tornado touch down, but never say never. After this weekend, the reality is closer than it ever has been.

I still have not revamped my HF station as the renovation is in a pre-stage. Once it's all done, I'll have my FT-891 paired with my Windows computer and so much more. My antenna will finally be in the trees and not wrapped around my room! I'm looking forward to this and I pray that it gets done this summer so I can come home, go downstairs, and turn on the radio without having to worry about causing any inconveniences at all!

So, at the current moment, we are safe, for now. But in the span of those two long days, my old reliable Baofeng once again never failed me. And that's where I want to begin my tale.

Expecting the Unexpected

I had known about the severe weather threat since Monday of that week. Below is a snapshot from Friday, April 26th:

And below here is a snapshot from April 27th:

In all my years of life and the 6 years I've been a ham, I never thought I'd have to deal with severe weather. We often have severe thunderstorms, but April 26th - 27th will haunt me for years to come. Just to the north of Maryville, in Elkhorn, NE and Minden, IA, two tornado emergencies were issued. I witnessed second-handedly damage thanks to social media outlets, and catastrophic wasn't even the word. Both towns were wiped completely and homes were devastated. One would automatically assume EF5 damage, but both tornadoes were confirmed as large and destructive EF3s. Back here in Maryville, our tornado sirens went off not once, but twice in the span of two days. We didn't have a tornado pass through but we did have about 60 to 70 mph winds and pea to dime size hail. 

So where was I when all this happened? Listening to the local repeater, of course! The eerie thing was is that it was silent - our usual storm tracking person was QRT. Springing into action, I got on the weather radar, and began to track out the storms, letting the fellow ham population know about new warnings, storm paths, and hazards expected. Believe me, my heart was pounding almost to the point of bursting out of my chest! But I wasn't a madman - I kept my calm, stated as much information as possible, and utilized the resources I had around me. 

On May 6th, we had more severe storms rolling through, especially ones with tornadoes possible. To make matters worse, I was the only employee at work that evening. Have you ever been in the middle of a brick building when crap like this happens? It's rather... odd. So I hopped on the repeater and began to relay warnings and hazards expected. 

When it was over, I had a fellow ham text me and tell me that he couldn't get through to me. I wondered why and then it hit me - I had been flipping back and forth between the repeater and the NOAA weather radio! He told me that I did a good job and he hopes I can do it more often, so guys and girls, I think I may have found a place on the airwaves after all!

But in all seriousness, I learned that when scary stuff is happening in real-time, you have to keep calm and collected. I used to be very panicked when stuff like this happened, but as I've grown older and now that I'm SKYWARN-trained, I feel that severe weather events are now more of a science experiment than anything. I also learned that it's best to have at least two radios on you - on for communication, and the other for local information. This is key if someone is trying to relay a message to you or another station.

Do you have a story to tell about SKYWARN, storm chasing, or ham radio during severe weather? I'd love to hear it! Please leave a comment and tell us all about it!

That's all for now! See you in the next article...