The Spring Tornado Season Is Here

March 9, 2005, 6:59 am
Posted by James Spann in General Thoughts
Rating: 0/5   Votes : 0
Sure looks like we will me making the transition from a cold pattern to a story pattern across Alabama and the deep south during the latter half of March as the spring severe weather season really cranks up. Time to make a few points here as we all need to get ready for our big storm season:

*Every home and business in this state must have a NOAA Weather Radio. Sure, I know you get tired of me saying this, but seems like people are not listening. I figure less than five percent of Alabamians have a Weather Radio receiver in their home. Forget sirens, and remember we cannot help you when the TV is off, when you are watching a national satellite or cable channel, or when you are sleeping. Be sure all of your relatives understand this!

*E-Warn is a great service that sends warnings to cell phones, pagers, and computers. You sign up by county on the ABC 33/40 web site. Most of the time you get warnings within seconds. E-Warn is totally free, but keep in mind your cell phone provider might charge for each text message you receive. We have over 40,000 E-Warn subscribers across north and central Alabama. Sign up here:

http://beta.abc3340.com/weather/ewarnmain.hrb

*Our live Pinpoint Doppler Radar is now broadcast 24 hours a day, seven days a week on our digital channels, 5.2 and 9.2. If you have a digital TV receiver, give it a shot. The 5.2 signal covers Birmingham and points west, and 9.2 is for Birmingham and points east. Cable and satellite systems do not carry this multicast signal; you have to pick it up over the air on a digital receiver.

*Stay informed. Read the discussions here on this blog and our seven day discussion page.. We work long hours updating these sites and detailed information you won't get anywhere else. The more you now, the better off you will be!
Mail this   Printer friendly   
Posted by  
on March 9, 2005, 9:00 am
I would like to drop a note and tell you that I read this and all of the info that you and the other weather guys put up on this blog,I just don't always respond.Please keep up the great work!!

Reply to this comment
Posted by  
on March 9, 2005, 9:44 am
NOAA radios are great, if you want to get jarred out of bed for a flash flood watch for a county 80 miles away. If NOAA radios could be more LOCATION SPECIFIC then I would keep ours turned on more. Unless there is a high probablity for sever weather during overnight hours, then the radio is unplugged. Like severe weather bulletins for specific areas of a county (e.g. North Shelby, West Jefferson), weather radios need to be location specific. This could be done easily by assigning frequencies to specific, limited geographic areas. Until then, I guess we will still be rattled out of bed at 3:30 a.m. in Helena when there is a flash flood watch issued for Lamar County. Remember what happened when somebody cried wolf too many times?

Reply to this comment
Posted by Mike  
on March 9, 2005, 9:50 am
Ben, they make weather radios that you can set to go off only for your specific county.

Reply to this comment
Posted by  
on March 9, 2005, 9:51 am
A follow-up to my previous comment. About 15 years ago when sever weather rolled into the Helena area, a telephone malfunction caused everyone's telephone to begin ringing incessantly. This woke everyone up to realize that severe weather was right on top of them. If 5 percent of Alabamians have NOAA weater radios and over 98 percent of Alabamians have telephone service, wouldn't be more efficient and save more lives if people could voluntarily or involuntarily subscribe to a service that notifies via the telephone about impending severe weather? A distinct ring to the telephone could specify the situation. Once the phone call was answered, then a pre-recorded message could duplicate the NWS warning message that is broadcast via the NOAA radio or scrolled across a television screeen. Sure, the "don't charge me more for my phone bill" folks would be up in arms, but like child seats and seat belts, this WILL SAVE LIVES. Every second counts when it comes to severe weather response in the middle of the night. People in Oak Grove can tell you about that.

Reply to this comment
Posted by  
on March 9, 2005, 9:58 am
Strange- my weather radio never went off for a flash flood watch. Warnings yes- but not for flash flood watches.

Reply to this comment
Posted by  
on March 9, 2005, 10:15 am
Chris, the fact is that NOAA radios are inefficient. What is going to motivate people to buy a $20 radio from Radio Shack when they won't spend $5 on a smoke alarm? The example I used above was hypothetical. When a line of strong storms rolls through, a standard NOAA radio will go off multiple times. Not everyone lives for weather. Most people just want to be notified for their location and get a good night's sleep when it is not.

Reply to this comment
Posted by  
on March 9, 2005, 12:44 pm
What's going to motivate people to buy a $20 [NOAA Weather] radio? For our family, it was working relief when Brent, AL, Guin, AL and a big portion of Tuscaloosa, AL were blown from the face of the earth. Cancelled checks from Brent were found in KY. If they cost $200 or even $2,000 it would be the best money we ever spent. We bought the first NOAA radio in our city when the signal came from Birmingham instead of here in Tuscaloosa. We bought the first weather radio in our area with the new S.A.M.E. feature. We have a three story house and we have a NOAA radio on each floor. We also have a portable NOAA with the S.A.M.E. Alert feature in each of our cars. If you ever work with the people who have gone through a tornado or you work relief in delivering food and other supplies and see what had been a town just a few hours earlier but is only a pile of rubble now, you'll be happy to spend $20 for a NOAA radio. But DO get one with the S.A.M.E. feature and set it for the area or areas that are important to you and your family. And if you are on the road a great deal, the E-Warn system is great.

Reply to this comment
Posted by  
on March 9, 2005, 3:15 pm
I agree so much with Kelvin. My church was blown away in November of 2001. We had damage to 100 homes and it was horrible. You won't be saying why invest in one. After this day, me and my family went out and bought us the NOAA weather radio with the SAME feature and I love it. It only goes off for the counties you program it for.


Reply to this comment
Posted by  
on March 9, 2005, 3:25 pm
Unfortunately most folks need a near-miss before they invest in a NOAA radio. I am going to find one that has the county-specific programming. My previous thought was that since 98 percent of Alabamians have a telephone, that the channel of communication already existed. Apathy is the main problem.

Reply to this comment