Thirteen operators of the WX4PTC amateur radio station at the Peachtree City Weather Forecast Office made 475 contacts with other hams and NWS offices over a 24-hour span last weekend.
Operators made contacts with stations from Florida, to California, to Washington, to Maine and most states in between.
“Our northernmost contact was a station just west of Edmonton, Alberta and our southernmost was a station in Puerto Rico,” according to a participant.
Hams made contacts with 40 other NWS offices and the Amateur Headquarters in Newington, Conn.
Skywarn Recognition Day is an annual event that takes place the first Saturday in December. In partnership with the National Weather Service, local amateur radio operators, operating from NWS offices across the country, take to the air to give fellow amateur radio operators the chance to contact all the NWS offices. Many amateur radio operators, or hams, are also trained Skywarn storm spotters. The ability to provide real-time hazardous weather reports from field locations via amateur radio to the NWS can help forecasters confirm the actual impacts of severe weather.
Information about Aamateur radio can be found at www.arrl.org/. Information about Skywarn and the NWS can be found at www.nws.noaa.gov/skywarn/.
In the above photo, married amateur radio operators Mary Catherine (KI4HHI) and Joe (KI4ASK) Domaleski run the WX4PTC amateur radio station at the NWS-Atlanta office for the 2016 Skywarn Recognition Day. Photo/David Salomon.
