WX4TAE National Weather Service in Tallahassee, Florida

Please see http://www.srh.noaa.gov/tae for official information from the National Weather Service - Tallahassee office. The information provided on this page is not official and is only intended to provide information about amateur radio volunteering at the NWS office in Tallahassee. Contact the National Weather Service Tallahassee office at 850-942-0872 or 1-800-598-4562.


Amateur Radio/Skywarn at NWS - Tallahassee

by Dave Barton, AI4GF
Assistant District Emergency Coordinator for NWS
Amateur Radio Emergency Service, Capital District (Florida)

Current status:

 

WX4TAE is not expected to be activated

May 8, 2012: From NWS-Tallahassee:

SPOTTER REPORTS OF WIND GUSTS OR DAMAGE...HAIL...AND RAINFALL TOTALS WOULD BE APPRECIATED OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS.

Follow us on Twitter (@ALGAFL_WEATHER) to get immediate notification of station activations as well as a heads-up on approaching severe weather for southeast Alabama, southwest Georgia and portions of northern Florida.

Stewart, KG4GOJ, (District Emergency Coordinator for NWS, Georgia ARES) and I also maintain an email list for amateurs who want to be informed of severe weather threat that may result in the activation of the WX4TAE station:

Subscribe to algafl_weather

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I am always looking for potential volunteers to operate the station during severe weather events. It is a very exciting opportunity for those of you with a General license or above. Email me at my call sign (ai4gf) at arrl.net.

General Information

The purpose of the WX4TAE amateur radio station at the National Weather Service office in Tallahassee is to provide information about approaching severe weather to the amateur community and to receive real-time reports of severe weather from the forecast area.  During severe weather events, either Dan Moniz (KI4HGO), the District Emergency Coordinator for the Capital District of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, or I coordinates with Paul Duval, the Meterologist-in-Charge at NWS-Tallahassee, to determine if a station activation is needed. Upon activation, I will then coordinate staffing the station with amateur radio operators.  I maintain a list of amateur radios operators who have been trained on the station's radios and who are also Skywarn-trained. This list of ham operators is notified upon activation via email or telephone.

If you have a General or higher class amateur radio license and would like to be on the list of volunteer WX4TAE operators for weather emergencies, please email me (Dave, AI4GF) at my call sign at arrl.net.  I will provide the training for you at one of the monthly nets on the first Sunday of the month (see below) or any other time that is convenient for you (but not during a storm event!). 

I will update this page when severe weather threatens and let you know the current status of any possible activations of the WX4TAE station, thereby providing some warning prior to the activation email. This web page may be useful for Skywarn-trained spotters to know when the station is available to accept Skywarn reports via amateur radio.  There are many storm systems that result in Skywarn spotter activation but may fall short of the threat level required for WX4TAE activation and the NWS can be contacted by phone during those situations.

Radio Frequencies

When activated, WX4TAE operators monitor:

The first two stations cover the ARES Capital District in north Florida and reach up into southwest Georga.  During severe weather events, southwest Georgia ARES members often monitor 145.170 and relay reports over to 146.655. 

Echolink node 3950 is conferenced into the 443.400 repeater, which is monitored by the operators at WX4TAE. This capability has proven to be very useful for hams in the southwest Georgia area. Stations in southeast Alabama and the Florida Panhandle should contact WX4TAE on HF (3.950 MHz) or Echolink node 3950. 

If you are a licensed ham, please use one of the above frequencies to report severe weather in your area and also monitor the frequency to receive warnings and storm information for your area. The meterologists at the NWS are very appreciative of reports from citizens "on the ground", which help their interpretion of Doppler radar and other data. Please do not put yourself into a dangerous position to do so! 

Severe Weather Reports

Please report severe weather such as:

Urgent Priority

High Priority

   Lower Priority

Contact the National Weather Service Tallahassee office at 850-942-0872 or 1-800-598-4562.

Monthly Weather Nets

There are two regularly scheduled weather nets held each month from the WX4TAE station.  On the first Sunday of each month, a weather net is held for the ARES Capital District in northwest Florida.  At 7:30 p.m., we have a brief HF check-in usually around 3.815 MHz.  An open frequency is determined by net control and announced at around 7:25 p.m. on the 146.655 repeater just prior to the net.  If you are outside the range of the repeater, you should be able to find us around 3.810MHz to 3.815 MHz.  The HF net is followed by a weather net shortly after 8:00 p.m. and we get a very useful briefing directly from a NWS meteorologist.  The current climatological summary for the prior month is provided, and we also get brief on any potential severe weather such as tornados or hurricanes for the next month.

On the third Thursday of the month, an HF weather net is held on 3.975 MHZ at the end of the Georgia Sideband Net, usually around 7:30 p.m. or so.  At 8:00 p.m., a weather net with a briefing is held shortly after 8:00 p.m. on the 145.195 Thomasville repeater.  This weather net is hosted by the southwest Georgia ARES group.  Kerry, AI4CW, is the WX4TAE operator for this net.

Hazardous Weather Outlook

Monitor the NWS's Hazardous Weather Outlook for spotter activation information.