Weather Or Not

It was a bright, sunny day on the Chesapeake Bay, and we were on the last day of our charter. Winds were light, the Bay was flat, and we were in no particular rush to go back to the dock. Some folks were sunning, others were dining. As I reached back from the helm to grab another tray of sandwiches, I looked astern and saw it--a furious wall of white water that was engulfing boats, lighthouses, and everything else in its path. We were, in fact, sitting ducks.

There was no time to secure the sunpads or take down the bimini top. The squall hit with such fury that we went from serenity to chaos in seconds. A stern line blew over the side and fouled the props. The canvas started shredding like paper, and isenglas panels took flight. Worst of all, we were close against a lee shore and drifting right for the beach at about four knots. The mate was just about to drop the anchor and pray for a bite when--miraculously--the sun came out, the wind died down, and the line floated free from the props. It was all over in ten minutes, and though we got off easy, I later heard that three nearby Navy Academy yawls went down in the storm. Simply put, I got caught because I wasn't listening to NOAA Weather Radio.

As "the voice of the National Weather Service (NWS)," NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts 24-hours a day from local NWS offices around the country. The agency's goal, according to NWS Warning Coordination Meteorologist Gary Conte, is to "provide accurate and timely weather warnings, watches, statements, and forecasts so people can save their lives and their property."

Most boaters know that NOAA Weather Radio provides continuous weather updates. But where do they get their information and forecasts from? Who decides if a "severe weather warning" is called for? And how does the NWS notify the public in case of an emergency? I went to the NWS office at Brookhaven National Labs on Long Island, New York, to find out.

First, you should know that NOAA Weather Radio is not just for boaters--it's for everyone. The forecasts and warnings provided by NOAA weather radio are not only heard on your boat's VHF radio, but they also go out to the local radio and TV stations for immediate release when necessary. In fact, if you get the Weather Channel on cable TV, the text-only "Local Forecasts" information comes directly from your local NWS office.

So who comes up with these forecasts? The meteorologists at each NWS office. Who issues the hurricane warnings and tornado watches? They do. And who decides if "Small Craft Warnings" are in effect in your area? Nope, it's not the Coast Guard, it's the National Weather Service.

To keep severe weather from catching us off-guard, NWS meteorologists rely on four primary sources of data, and then it's their job to make sense of it all and broadcast their findings. The first weapon in their arsenal is satellite imagery. Two satellites transmit both visible and infrared images of clouds to monitors at NWS offices. The infrared image measures cloud temperatures, and since brighter colors represent colder, higher cloud tops, that may indicate thunderstorm formation in and around the area.

The next weapon is Doppler Weather Radar. The radar at Brookhaven has a range of 248 miles, and its powerful antenna is 100-feet off the ground and 28-feet in diameter. This radar can scan the horizon from horizontal to a 20-degree elevation, and it not only detects large cloud formations, but it also calculates the rate and direction of movement of those clouds to yield wind conditions in the lower atmosphere. Armed with wind speed and direction data, meteorologists can predict the time when a given storm will hit your area.

On a more local level, each NWS office launches a weather balloon twice a day. The balloon may rise to heights of 60,000 feet, and as it ascends it transmits valuable information about atmospheric wind speeds, temperatures, and dew points back to the local office. A computer graphs the data along a vertical altitude scale, and meteorologists look for a temperature line that's converging with a dew point line. This indicates cloud formation, and it may also spell "TROUBLE."

And finally, the NWS collects local weather observations in the area before issuing a statement of conditions. Surprisingly, Conte says the NWS has no actual data-collecting sites on Long Island Sound, so he uses empirical data and on-water observations from a ferry company to deduce wave heights, wind speeds, and other sea-surface conditions. Then, once all the pieces of the puzzle are in, a meteorologist sits down at the microphone and records five different reports in the broadcast studio. Those recordings cycle in a loop until they're updated, and they include: Regional Weather Summary, Regional Weather Forecast, Hourly Observations, the NOW report which is a short-term forecast good for six hours, and the Marine Report, which provides conditions and forecasts for wind, storms, sea states, and more. In addition, the Brookhaven office issues a special "all-marine" report from 4am to 5am each morning, primarily for the convenience of commercial and recreational fishermen.

When the weather is nice, things are calm at the NWS office as well. But when severe weather threatens, that's when the NWS jumps into high gear. If the NWS detects a strong storm approaching the area, they can send out emergency alerts just by pushing a few buttons on the transmitter control panel. First they choose the area involved (New York, Connecticut), then the type of emergency (tornado, hurricane, flash flood), then the severity (advisory, watch, warning). Then, when the broadcaster hits "Send", a tone-alert goes out, followed by a recorded message describing the emergency. The tone alert interrupts routine broadcasts on all VHF-FM weather channels, and in addition, a new service called the Emergency Alert System (EAS) is activated. This replaces the old "Emergency Broadcast System," and same alert also goes out to radio and TV stations for immediate broadcast.

So what does this mean for boaters? It means you have to have the VHF on to get the alerts, but you don't have to constantly listen to NOAA weather radio. According to Ken Ungar, vice president of Standard Communications, his radios are equipped with a feature called "Smart Scan." In this case, you program the radio to listen to the weather channels in your area (usually WX 1, 2, and 3), but the radio will not get "hung up" or stop scanning on regular NOAA weather radio broadcasts. It will only lock on to the weather channel when it hears that emergency tone, and that's your signal to start taking evasive action.

Before they're given take-off clearance, aircraft pilots must listen to the weather report. We should do the same, but you don't have to go all the way down to the boat to get the latest forecast--Radio Shack sells portable weather radios for about $20. So the moral of the story is this: Monitor your WX channels, weather or not, because things can change at a moment's notice--even on a bright, sunny day on the Chesapeake Bay.