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Thanks to early eyewitness reports of tornado activity by Skywarn hams, no lives were lost when tornadoes hit the Raleigh, North Carolina, suburb of Zebulon around suppertime on April 15, 1996. The storms damaged or destroyed nearly 100 homes and caused some minor injuries. Eyewitness reports of the tornadoes on the Amateur Radio Skywarn network, intercepted and broadcast by Raleigh TV stations, gave many people the few minutes they needed to take cover.
The Skywarn network is a voluntary effort by Amateur Radio operators and other weather spotters, working in cooperation with the National Weather Service. Because of a severe thunderstorm watch, the Raleigh Skywarn network had been on the air since midday April 15, with an operator at the ham station at the Raleigh NWS office. Just before 6 PM, sightings from hams on the Skywarn system prompted a tornado warning from the weather service. WRAL-TV monitored the Amateur Radio traffic and broadcast its own warning before the official NWS warning.
The Skywarn net stayed on the air late into the evening, as a tornado watch continued until 1 AM. Then, as telephone circuits in Zebulon were disrupted and cellular channels became overloaded, Wake County Emergency Management called in additional Amateur Radio operators to provide communication between the county emergency operations center and several sites in Zebulon, including emergency shelters.--Gary Pearce, KN4AQ, Raleigh Amateur Radio Society; Wake County Amateur Radio Emergency Service
Taken from: The ARRL Letter Electronic Update April 26, 1996
The ARRL Letter is published by: The American Radio Relay League 225 Main St Newington, CT 06111 tel 860-594-0200; fax 860-594-0259 Rodney J. Stafford, KB6ZV, President David Sumner, K1ZZ, Executive Vice President.
Electronic edition circulation: Kathy Capodicasa, N1GZO, e-mail kcapodicasa@arrl.org. Editorial, Rick Lindquist, KX4V, e-mail rlindquist@arrl.org.
The purpose of The ARRL Letter is to provide the essential news of interest to active, organizationally minded radio amateurs faster than it can be disseminated by our official journal, QST. We strive to be fast, accurate and readable in our reporting.
Material from The ARRL Letter may be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form, including photoreproduction and electronic databanks, provided that credit is given to The ARRL Letter and The American Radio Relay League.
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