SITUATION
As of 1030 on Monday, 13 March 2023 all Western Massachusetts ARES members are notified that a severe winter storm will impact our area during tonight, all day Tuesday, and into Wednesday. We are expecting a large amount of heavy, wet snow and some high winds that are likely to bring about power outages and other storm damage and infrastructure issues.
MISSION
All WMA ARES members who are able to do so are requested to report any known instances of storm damage, failures of infrastructure as well as winter precipitation types and accumulation totals via their local ARES nets. Unless specifically requested to deploy by local emergency officials or other served agencies, all reporting should be done from your present location. ARES nets will begin on or about Monday evening, 13 March 2023 or Tuesday morning, 14 March 2023 and will run until the storm impacts have been fully reported.
EXECUTION
The Western Massachusetts Amateur Radio Emergency Service will establish ARES nets in cooperation with SKYWARN for the National Weather Service Forecast Offices in Albany and Boston. Reports of storm damage, failures of infrastructure and winter precipitation types and accumulation totals will be solicited from spotters and the reports received will be transmitted to the appropriate NWS office.
ARES nets will begin Monday evening, 13 March 2023 on the Mount Tom repeater. They will begin no later than Tuesday morning, 14 March 2023 on the Mount Greylock repeater. Nets will run until the storm impacts have been fully reported. Monitor the channels below for other net times. All nets times are subject to change based upon local conditions and need.
Net Control Stations will request storm damage or infrastructure failure reports containing:
- Callsign
- Name
- City/Town, County, State
- Location of damage or infrastructure failure
- Type of damage or failure (i.e., power outage, water leak, trees down, roof collapse, etc.)
- Time of the observation
Net Control Stations will request SKYWARN reports containing:
- Callsign
- Name
- City/Town, County, State
- Location to the nearest street intersection
- Elevation if known
- Precipitation Type (i.e., snow, sleet, freezing rain, rain)
- Total accumulation to the nearest tenth of an inch
- Time of the observation
Net Control Stations will record reports and transmit them to their respective Weather Forecast Office using their preferred means of reporting. If NWS Liaison Stations have checked in to the net, the Liaison Station may transmit these reports.
ADMINISTRATIVE AND LOGISTICS
ARES nets will not require travel or deployment. Members should ensure they have essential needs on hand to avoid any need to travel during the impact of severe weather.
SIGNAL
The following VHF analog FM channels will be used for weather spotting nets in the following general areas:
- Berkshire County – Mount Greylock repeater 146.9100/146.3100 Tone 162.2 Hz
- Hampden/Hampshire – Mount Tom repeater 146.9400/146.3400 Tone 127.3 Hz
- Franklin/Worcester – Paxton repeater 146.9700/146.3700 Tone 114.8 Hz
In addition, the following channels may be polled by NWS Boston Liaison Station WX1BOX for any reports:
- Fitchburg repeater – 145.4500/144.8500 Tone74.4 Hz
- Gardner repeater – 145.3700/144.7700 Tone 136.5 Hz
The following HF channels are tentatively established as backups in the event of infrastructure
failures impacting the VHF channels above:
- Western Mass. Emergency Net – 3944 kHz LSB
- New York Stare Phone Traffic and Emergency Net – 3925 kHz LSB
- Eastern New York ARES Net – 3993 kHz LSB
73 de Chuck Chandler, WS1L
WMA Section Emergency Coordinator
chandlerusm@gmail.com