Some amateur radio operators this past weekend took part in an annual, nationwide Winter Field Day aimed to test their communication skills in adverse, wintry weather conditions.
What perfect timing.
“It was absolutely fantastic for that,” said Steve Fazekas, a member of the Skyview Radio Society in Upper Burrell.
On Sunday, 11.2 inches of snow fell in Pittsburgh, marking a daily snowfall record, according to the National Weather Service in Moon. NWS snow reports in the Alle-Kiski Valley ranged from 13 inches in West Deer, to 12 inches in Lower Burrell to 10.8 in Vandergrift.
The Winter Field Day event was scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, but the Skyview crew only worked Saturday in two locations, one at their clubhouse along Turkey Ridge Road and the other at a cabin in Keystone State Park in Derry Township, Fazekas said.
That’s because on Sunday, ham radio operators put in roughly 10 hours reporting weather conditions to the NWS and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency as part of Skywarn, a program of trained, volunteer severe weather spotters who provide real-time reports to authorities via ham radio.
“It gets updated to NWS so they can further refine their forecast and reporting capabilities,” said Rob Mente, a member of the Steel City Amateur Radio Club in Collier. “We also shared with PEMA, that helps with resource allocations as they see fit.”
NWS officials say that Skywarn volunteers are crucial because radar beams sent from its Pittsburgh headquarters in Moon Township cannot follow the curvature of the Earth. Having trained spotters on the ground can fill the gaps, officials say.
Fazekas recorded 13 inches of snow at his Winfield home. From the Skyview society, there were 38 check-ins and 122 total reports within 10 hours on Sunday, Fazekas said. Reports ranged from 5 or 6 inches to 18 or 19 inches throughout Western Pennsylvania.
On Sunday afternoon, the snowfall rate was 1½ to 2 inches per hour, Fazekas said. Precipitation was largely snow, and some pockets of Fayette and Greene counties reported sleet at times, he said.
“As far as snowfall (versus) prediction, you have to be patient and wait for numbers with confidence,” Fazekas said. “The guys in Moon Township, they did a good job. They called things pretty well.”
Mente, of Collier, spent Sunday collecting Skywarn reports from Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Westmoreland, Washington and Lawrence counties. Skywarn spotters report from their homes, he said.
Mente, who is also emergency coordinator for the Allegheny County Amateur Radio Emergency Services, had no issues collecting reports Sunday.
Skywarn spotters are required to have an amateur radio license, a radio and take training courses from NWS, he said.
Although Steel City’s Winter Field Day exercise was postponed, training from events and prior field days pay off in inclement weather events, Mente said.
“This proves the combination of training and preparedness to provide reports,” Mente said. “Things are so sharp for what happened (Sunday,) we did the job quickly and efficiently … preparedness was the key to success.”
But the work also provided a bit of fun. About 1,440 locations were registered for the Winter Field Day, in locations across North America and even as far away as Europe and Africa.
Fazekas said 52 stations were represented in Western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia and eastern Ohio. There were 1,215 reports sent into the NWS Pittsburgh office from within its 33-county warning area, and many of those reports came from ham radio Skywarn spotters, Fazekas said.
“One of the things amateurs love to do is see how far away they can get ahold of somebody,” Fazekas said.
Fazekas recalled making contact with ham radio operators across the country. An Arizona ham operator reported it was 60 degrees and raining, while a South Dakota operator would only tell him, “It’s cold, dude.”
“This was a large event, and fairly multifaceted,” Fazekas said. “It wasn’t the ‘Snowmaggedon,’ but it was a large system with a large impact.
“We’re fortunate in our part of the country, it was a snow event.”