Alachua County EMWIN Project (AC-EMWIN)

UPS Replaced

2011-09-21T09:22:00.003-04:00

Had to replace the AC-EMWIN system UPS. Past couple days it started acting squirrley. Would have some sort of hiccup which caused it to beep endlessly in one long, unending tone. When I'd go into the room to check, I'd find the red light flashing, and the desktop would be blank - no EMWIN software running.

I'd reset the battery. Red light would keep flashing. I'd turn the battery off and then back on. Wouldn't do anything. Unplugged it for a while. Didn't help, either. Left it alone and restarted the EMWIN software and let it be, to see what would happen.

In subsequent days, same thing would happen. Sometimes, after a while, the battery light would go green again, BUT, I'd find all the EMWIN software unloaded again, and a naked desktop (i.e., just the normal icons and folders, with no programs running), as if the system had been rebooted. Odd.

So, the battery was apparently having some kind of hiccup wherein it would shut down all the software that was running, shut down the computer, and then restart the computer. But in the occasions where it would reboot the computer, there would be no warning. No beep, nothing. AND, mysteriously, you'd find the battery light lit green.

This was not acceptable and obviously the battery was in a non-relilable state so I went out and purchased a new one.

The system is again operating normally.

New AC-EMWIN Facebook/Twitter Feeds

2011-09-07T21:33:00.003-04:00

Spent the past week learning new ways to distribute the bulletins to Facebook and Twitter. Experimented and fiddled and finally got things working.

AC-EMWIN is now distributing some limited bulletins to our AC-SKYWARN and AC-EMWIN Facebook and Twitter pages.

We are ALSO distributing bulletins to the Facebook page of our friends at the Bradford County Office of Emergency Management so that their page can benefit from timely weather bulletins, too. Michael Heeder also advises us that he is receiving lots of compliments on the new weather bulletins being fed to the Bradford EM page, and on their timeliness.

AC-EMWIN "Adustments"

2011-08-26T13:06:00.000-04:00

Downloaded an additional map database for the AC-EMWIN server software which allows painting of the TS/hurricane watches/warnings along the coastline. Had to take the server down very quickly - no one really noticed - in order to implement it.

Also made a few tweaks to the software not really worth mentioning they're so insubstantial.

Added a link to the NHC to the AC-SKYWARN page's side navbar, as well.

Two New Custom Bulletins Added to AC-EMWIN Line-up

2011-05-16T23:55:00.002-04:00

We've added two new custom bulletins to the list of available items from AC-EMWIN...

1) LCHGNVFL - Launch Announcement Bulletin
2) LCNGNVFL - Launch Cancellation Notice

The Launch Announcement Bulletin (LCHGNVFL) will be sent out one hour prior to any rocket launch from KSC or Cape Canaveral to notify users of an upcoming launch. It is set up weeks or months ahead of time and is automatically sent by the EMWIN software one hour prior to launch.

The Launch Cancellation Notice will announce any launch cancellations or reschedulings which might occur. This bulletin, however, is forced to have to be sent manually by the AC-EMWIN sysop at some point after the abort announcement and could be delayed by some time depending upon where I am at the time the announcement is made and how close to the actual launch time it is made. If the announcement is made long before the actual launch date, then this bulletin should be sent out in time. If the announcement come minutes before the launch, I could be out photographing it and sending will not occur until after I have returned home.

To view the last version of the bulletin, see here:

http://alachuaskywarn.org/emwin/products.html

REMINDER: Spotter Training Class!Dec 9, 2010 - 6-9pmAlachua County

2010-12-05T11:19:00.001-05:00

When:
  December 9, 2010
  6:00-9:00 pm

"Bring a friend!" - Dave Donnelly

Location:
  Alachua County Public Health Auditorium
  224 SE 24th St
  Gainesville, FL

To register, contact:
  David Donnelly
  (352) 264-6500
  Email: dad@alachuacounty.us

Instructor will be Al Sandrik.

AC-SKYWARN Web Site's Watch/Warning Map Temporaily Broken...

2010-09-09T12:28:00.001-04:00

Bare with us. We just upgraded to a new beta version of the EMWIN software and apparently there is a bug which prevents the map from being properly transferred to the web site.

We're working on this as we speak.

EMWIN Downlink Frequencies Under Attack By Broadband Interests

2010-06-09T12:36:00.107-04:00

IMPORTANT NEWS FOR EMWIN USERS

[Keep checking back here as I'm constantly adding links and information.]

NOTE! While the deadline for response comments was on Monday the 28th, the ARRL advises that the FCC is pretty good about still taking comments filed after. So if you still think you'd like to file one, go ahead and give it a try. Couldn't hurt.

For those SKYWARN spotter and ARES/RACES groups across the US which make use of EMWIN to distribute weather bulletins to their spotters, hams, and to their local communities, some kinda scary news...

THE PROBLEM

From the EMWIN-Users listgroup: "Of special interest to EMWIN users and vendors is FCC Public Notice DA-1035 (ET Docket No. 10-123) released on June 4, 2010 calling for public comment on the extent and manner of use of the 1675-1710 MHz frequency band by non-federal users."

The FCC is calling for comments on the feasibility of the idea to reallocate/take the current frequencies now used for EMWIN downlink, as well as other services such as GVAR and LRIT, with broadband (cellular) services, which could interfere with (or cease) downlink of these services for many users across the country and other parts of the world...including the EMWIN downlinks that many Emergency Management Agencies now enjoy across the nation and even abroad. Problem is, they've only given us until the 28th to respond...of THIS month. That's right. We have just DAYS to find every possible example of EMWIN use across this country and abroad - and to have each and every one of them respond and make us look legitimitely important. Do you know how to get hundreds of Emergency Management and Civil Defense Agencies - who apparently don't even at this time know that this is even happening much less that they are supposed to defend themselves - to suddenly up and grab muskets and defend the use of their EMWIN systems with comments? But wait! FEDERAL interests aren't allowed to respond to this particular FCC Docket. They have to file using some other docket. I'm trying to find out exactly how they're supposed to file, and where online we can view their own responses if they exist.

EMAs and CD agencies use EMWIN to get weather and emergency information SIMULTANEOUSLY with their NWS kin. The EMWIN data downloaded directly from the GOES satellites is received and redistributed IMMEDIATELY - on the order of a whole two MINUTES faster than the NWR weather radio system does. In severe weather and emergency situations, two minutes is a LOT and allows Emergency Managers and CD agents that much more time to decide what to do. That can save lives.

In the Pacific, and even recently in Haiti where our government just GIFTED an EMWIN ground station, EMWIN is the only source of hurricane and other emergency-related information. They have nothing else.

There are many places around the country that don't HAVE cable or DSL. In these places, EMWIN is much appreciated.

Sharing with broadband could introduce interference problems which could mean loss of transmitted data and the thought that the FCC might even consider this acceptable is kind of ludicrous. What are they thinking?

There's the thought by the broadband interests that EMWIN could be distributed by other means, such as over the Internet. I disagree with this, however. The whole reason EMWIN was originally created was to give Emergency Management Agencies and Civil Defense agencies a means with which to receive the latest weather data as early as possible to give the fastest possible reaction time. Forcing redistribution through the internet is just non-feasible. It introduces likelihoods for serious delays. The more servers you have between the satellite and the end user the more liklihood for breakdowns, downtimes, susceptibility to things like hackings and DOS attacks, or delays from just plain traffic overload. Weather data distributed via the internet could introduce unacceptable delays from hours to days, which would make EMWIN data non-feasible any longer as an Emergency Management tool, a Civil Defense tool, or anything more than a notification method of "convenience" and "curiosity" than anything that could be used to help save lives by giving the fastest possible notification times. Internet distributuion would introduce some of the SLOWEST POSSIBLE notification times.

I realize the broadband people have a dream and they'd like to see it come to fruition; but I don't think we need to knock out all of the greatest ideas that mankind has ever come up with and just abandon them to make room for someone's GUESS that broadband will be the next new saviour of the world.

EMWIN has been around for many many years, and it is not the same itty-bitty thing that it started out as. It has improved greatly, adding more bulletins, more useful graphics, and we were right in the middle of a transition to even FASTER downlink speeds when the broadband companies came along with THIS stupidity.

EMWIN doesn't just offer weather bulletins. It offers civil emergency-related bulletins such as warnings for hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, avalanches, road hazards, hazardous materials accidents, telephone outages, law enforcement emergencies, nuclear hazards, national attack warnings, etc. It offers varioius graphics, too, such as satellite and radar and forecast plots.

The EMWIN system costs little to set up and maintain. The software is cheap and can do many awesome things - including starting other programs on issuance of a watch or warning, or setting off external equipment such as flashers or sirens using X10 capability. It's exceptionally portable and quick to set up, making it incredibly useful as an emergency tool.

Some towns across the US actually depend on te EMWIN downlink to set off their sirens during weather emergencies...and broadband people want to turn OFF the downlink that sets them off.

Here is an email from the EMWIN Staff, sent to the EMWIN-Users listgroup.

The FCC Public Notice can be had in both MS Word and PDF formats.
IMPORTANT! Use the FCC Notice's guidelines to also respond with your comments! There are NINE questions to answer in the FCC Notice. Please do your best to answer them! (Number 1 doesn't seem to apply to most of us, so you can simply answer that one with "Doesn't Apply" or "N/A".)

WHAT CAN WE DO?

We need to write our comments to the FCC, and meanwhile get as many other people and orgainzations and agencies to respond as possible. Harp on our numbers - how many of us are actually using the downlink; and on the SPEED with which EMWIN allows us to receive the bulletins - on par with our NWS counterparts, often on the order of minutes before they actually go out over the NWR or are received using internet-based commercial resources. Mention how EMWIN is used in your area. Be specific.

Don't let apathy in. Don't GUESS at how this battle will go and assume that there's gonna be a last-minute cavalry rescue by someone in government who "has to know" and who will take care of the problem for us. That may or may not happen. More I ask around, more it seems NOBODY KNOWS about this in government circles!

Make your comments! You can mail them in, or you can make them online using the Internet by accessing the ECFS: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs2/ or the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Don't just click these links first, though. READ THE FCC PUBLIC NOTICE AND ADHERE TO THEIR GUIDELINES! NOTE: These things MUST be composed in a certain WAY, people, or they won't consider them. So please try to compose these documents in the manner that they describe.
Write, email, and/or visit your local Senators and Representatives. Danny Lloyd's blog site (People To Write Concerning FCC Docket 10-123) lists how you can do this.
Contact the Press,too. If you use EMWIN user (are you an emergency manager? EMWIN sysop or manager? end user of EMWIN who receives bulletins FROM the system? does your University make use of it? your TV station?), let THEM know that we could be losing the EMWIN downlinks. Why not. Couldn't hurt. What's the worst that could happen? Go for it. The more local people who contact their local Press asking them to do a story, the more interested they'll note that people are, and the more likely they'll be to do a story. Contact TV stations, and newspapers big AND small. Tell them how you've been using EMWIN and what good it has done for you. Emphasize it's importance in your community. Hit the NATIONAL networks, too! ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, Headline News, etc. Again, more we request air time, more likely they will. HIT em!
Contact OTHER listgroups such as:
THE RISKS DIGEST - Forum On Risks To The Public In Computers And Related Systems
List people can contact more people, and those people can contact more people, and so on, and so on, and so on... Personally, I've been duping to AC-SKYWARN, GeorgiaSKYWARN, JAXSKYWARN, and PC-SKYWARN, for some examples.
Join listgroups like EMWIN-Users, and WxMesg to keep yourself abreast of the latest.

If you're an ARRL member:

Email your Section Managers so that they know what is going on. THIS IS IMPORTANT. They can spread the word down into their own sections.

Some other links on the subject:

NOAA/NWS EMWIN Home Page
National Broadband Plan - How the broadband companies see the world.
What'sUpWithThat.com (Colorado State University article) - NOAA/GOES Satellite Communications At Risk Due To Proposed Frequency Spectrum Auction. This site gives excellent description of the problem, and how vastly the auction affects things. Use this to educate yourself.
Potential L-band Frequency Sharing - from NOAA-EMWIN Page
NOAA Public Information Statement (PNS) Regarding - NOAA - Note that the actual FCC Notice is using the word "reallocating", while NWS/NOAA keeps using the word "sharing". This is confusing people.
ARRLweb Article - FCC Issues Public Notice to Seek Information, Comments on Current Use of 1675-1710 MHz (June 14, 2010)
View Current Responses to ET 10-123 (For "Proceding Number" you want to enter "10-123".)
- Example Response: Alachua County SKYWARN
  [HTML] [Word doc] - Rough draft of Alachua County SKYWARN response (Consider this like a "rough draft". The actual document is still under construction and has not been sent, just yet. I'm still working on it. But hopefully others will still find it of some use as a template for composing their own comments.)
People To Write Concerning FCC Docket 10-123 - Please carbon copy any correspondance with the Department of Commerce, NOAA or NWS to your Senator and Representive. Because of the short time span, you will want to consider also calling your Senator and Representative.
StormReady Guidelines - You will notice that EMWIN is the second item listed, with a recommendation to use a satellite dish. The EMWIN service is such a value that it is listed right after NOAA Weather Radio.
Emergency Management Broadcasting Frequencies - courtesy Zephyrus Electronics, Inc. - This could possibly be used as a starting point to show widespread use of EMWIN across the United States. Could also be used as a contact list to notify these groups of the EMWIN issue and to cooperate and put in their own comments - even if they're no longer "retransmitting", but still use EMWIN for other things. I count some 62 sites in here!

We've been given LESS THAN THREE WEEKS to compose comments and submit them to the FCC. That's kinda ridiculous, but there it is. So let's move on this. Spread the word fast. Compose away people. Join lists such as EMWIN-Users, EMWIN Broadcasters, and WxMesg, too, for more information, and for ideas and suggestions on what to mention in your comments.

UPDATE - 06/11/10: Got word ARRL is actually researching to make their own response, but they've got a couple of ham-related frequency fights going on that they want to handle, first. As well, NOAA finally issued a PNS bulletin this afternoon acknowledging the EMWIN problem and advised that they too will be submitting a response.

UPDATE - 06/16/10: Bigger guns taking notice? Noting hits from the following pages to this blog over the past week: ARRL, Naval Oceans Systems Command.

36 comments now submitted to the FCC, up 21 from Friday. Keep it up, people!

Email from Colin Schulz, Pacific Island Meteorological Services. Chris is composing a response, and also making effort to bring other Pacific Island interests on-board.

Noticing many of the filed comments are one-liners and single paragraph entries without any contact information, or information about what locality the comment applies to, of for which organization or agency the individual is associated with. At same time, none of the nine questions requested answered in the FCC Notice are answered. This is worrisome. People not paying attention. Will the FCC take these into consideration? or throw them out instead? I don't think there's an online way to re-submit, either. :( University responses are much-better composed...especially Colorado State, FSU, etc.

UPDATE: 06/17/2010: Email from David Sumner, ARRL. ARRL not sure of ham interest level. Therefore, doesn't know how to make comments.

PRESS ATTENTION:

I think I'll list any kind of Press attention to the matter here.

WVOA / WOUA - University of Alabama
Ham Radio Daily (ARRL News)

INTERESTING OBSERVATIONS

Sudden odd behavior on the part of NWS employees. Emails to NWS (especially EMWIN-related-) employees with questions having anything to do with the EMWIN issue go unanswered. This is highly unusual considering that the employees emailed NEVER ignore an email and are ALWAYS otherwise VERY helpful and anxious to respond. This would seem to indicate that there is some sort of a gag order is in place. Should we contemplate requesting FOIA copies of any internal memoes so ordering employees to keep quiet?
NOAA Public Notice (PNSWSH) put out on the 11th uses the word "sharing", while the FCC Notice uses the word "reallocate". This is confusing. Personally, I'm going with the FCC Notice's verbiage.

Last Updated: June 17, 2010, 11:26am

EMWIN Has Now Transitioned to EMWIN-N On GOES-East

2010-04-29T11:34:00.010-04:00

EMWIN on GOES-East transitioned to EMWIN-N on April 24th. EMWIN users on GOES-East that don't have EMWIN-N capable systems should repoint to GOES-West, now.

EMWIN Users on GOES West will be unaffected.

- The main EMWIN web page (http://www.weather.gov/emwin/index.htm) and the EMWIN-N Transition web page (http://www.weather.gov/emwin/transition.htm) has been updated with additional transition and equipment vendor information.
- The EMWIN GOES-East Transition flyer PDF, that describes the transition, is available for download here: http://www.iaem.com/publications/news/documents/NWSEMWINTransition.pdf.
- If you have additional questions, please email: emwin.systems@noaa.gov

Basic & Advanced SKYWARN Spotter Training ClassMarch 23, 2010

2010-02-23T16:00:00.001-05:00

There will be a Basic and Advanced Spotter training class at the below location in Columbia County for those who are near your two-year limit and are due for refresher spotter training.

Pre-registration is requested for this class. They have ample seating so if you've got friends, invite em and have them register, too.

Basic & Advanced Skywarn Training for North Florida

Who: NWS Instructor Angie Enyedi
When: March 23, 2010 (Tuesday) 6:00-9:00 PM
Where: Shiloh Baptist Church
173 SW Shiloh St
Fort White, FL

Contact information to sign up:
Leila Lindsey
Tel: (352) 339-4018

This class is hosted by Columbia County Emergency Services.
Free and open to the public.
Trainees are encouraged to participate as Weather Spotters,
however, continued participation is not mandatory.

What is a Storm Spotter?
The Skywarn spotter program is a nationwide network
of volunteers trained by the National Weather Service (NWS)
to report significant weather. Anyone is welcome to participate.

Why Skywarn ?
The NWS's mission is to protect lives and property.
When weather conditions are favorable for severe thunderstorms
or tornadoes are expected to develop, a severe thunderstorm or
tornado WATCH is issued. A Severe Thunderstorm or Tornado
WARNING is issued when severe weather has been reported by
a Skywarn spotter or indicated by Doppler radar. Skywarn
volunteers become the NWS's eyes and ears, helping to provide
better weather watch and warning services.

Email: Leila Lindsey

TwitterMail is history...Well take it from here...

2009-12-03T10:19:00.004-05:00

After working out some bugs, we've got the Tweets going again from our server - WITHOUT the use of "TwitterMail".

TM was becoming such a pain in the a**. The guy just DOESN'T seem too concerned at all about what happens with his system, and he's not up on keeping people updated with the latest, so everyone would always find Tweets going through TM would just STOP...for DAYS at a time...with NO explanation. Then they'd just start right back up again. And all last night, we discovered that apparently TM was queing bulletins being sent and holding them for later. Only when later came, they BOMBED us with dupes of one particular Zone Forecast Bulletin that lasted from 7:52pm last night until about 5am this morning. That was the last straw.

So with the new means of tweet distribution having been worked out, I have REMOVED TwitterMail from the equation entirely, and we are now sending tweets to Twitter completely of our own. We no longer have the advantage of TM's HTML buffering of our bulletins, which made long bulletins prettier to view, but we can still get them out in multiple 140-character "packets". I would rather deal with this than with TM's LONG-long downtimes and tweet bombings, and reading the owner's stupid comments on his contact page.

The Local Storm Reports were a nice convenience which viewed well with TwitterMail; but unfortunately they don't format well under Twitter's API interface, so I'm going to stop sending those. If anyone REALLY wants them, I can send them to your email.

At any rate, looks like we've solved the problem with TwitterMail.

Barring Twitter itself going down, we look forward to much less downtimes or problems, now.

Looks Promising...

2009-12-02T10:54:00.002-05:00

Noticing some bugs. Some bulletins not making it through because the Twitter API interface completely trashes any messages over the length of 140-characters. Experimenting with some settings. But some bulletins ARE getting through.

Will continue to work on this.

TwitterMail is STILL down. Heh.

Trying something new with Twitter...

2009-12-01T12:19:00.004-05:00

Okay, trying some new stuff on the AC-EMWIN server end. We'll see if this works better with Twitter. If so, we won't have to rely on TwitterMail anymore and the downtimes should disappear - unless twitter itself goes down, which is rarer.

RRR! Twittermail down AGAIN!

2009-11-29T13:36:00.002-05:00

TwitterMail seems to be down yet AGAIN. This is getting to be a regular thing. I'm going to have to look into alternate means of getting EMWIN messages to Twitter so that we don't have to deal with this kind of stuff.

I have an idea in mind. Looking into it right now.

Looks like TwitterMail is just going to have to be removed from our use. They're just not dependable or reliable enough.

Will keep everybody posted on what we'll be doing to keep things going, here.

ACEMWIN Twitter Page Again Operational...

2009-10-16T13:44:00.001-04:00

Looks like TwitterMail came back up again at about 7am Eastern Time. So things are yet again right.

Twittermail down again...

2009-10-15T20:37:00.002-04:00

Twittermail seems to again be down, so AC-EMWIN tweets to Twitter aren't working, right now. This seems to have been going on for the past two days, now. Twiitermail occasionally does this, with no explanation as to why, and no word as to when it will recover.

New Series of Listgroups - The ACWIN Project...

2009-07-29T11:38:00.001-04:00

ACWIN stands for the "Alachua County Weather Information Network". It is a series of listgroups designed to bring weather bulletins to Alachua and surrounding counties. It will cater not just to Alachua County, but now to other surrounding northern Florida counties as well.

The following counties are included, so far: ALACHUA, BAKER, BRADFORD, CLAY, COLUMBIA, DIXIE, DUVAL, FLAGLER, GILCHRIST, HAMILTON, LEVY, MARION, NASSAU, PUTNAM, SUWANNEE, and UNION.

Each county will have three lists, created to cater to: general weather bulletins, severe weather bulletins, and civil emergency bulletins.

Users will be allowed to subscribe to each bulletin they want individually, without being forced to take everything we offer at once.

Before, users in surrounding counties were on their own. Alachua County had a SKYWARN program, and a bulletin distribution system which catered to them; but the surrounding counties had nothing, because they were smaller and there just wasn't any interest or support. We've tried to help them out by supporting them. That is what this new suite of email lists is designed to do.

For more information about the ACWIN Project, see alachuaskywarn.org/acwin .

New means of subject line handling in listgroups...

2009-07-29T10:57:00.005-04:00

Working with Danny Lloyd this week, I convinced him to add a new feature to WxMesg software which allows concurrent use of both Product identifier abbreviation and full product name in the subject line. Before this, subjects either had to use the product name only (such as "ZFPJAX") or the full product name (such as "Zone Forecast Product"), but they couldn't do both at the same time. This new feature facilitates listgroup usage. Now we can send bulletins that can be sorted by the "topic" name (which happens to be the product identifier, such as ZFPJAX), while still identifying the bulletin. For example:

"ZFPJAX: Zone Forecast Product"

The listgroups are only concerned with finding that topic name in that subject line. That is, they hunt for the topic name in the first few characters of the subject. Once found, anything AFTER that is ignored. So we can get away with adding the full bulletin name after the "topic"/product identifier. Note that we were even able to throw in a colon (":") after the product ID. :)

We can also include product/watch/warning issuance/expiration times, now, if we want to. Example: "ZFPJAX: Zone Forecast Product [00:00Z - 08:00Z]". For right now, this feature will only be used, however, for special situations.

This new feature is now being utilzed in both the ACEMWIN-HURR-L and ACWIN-* listgroups.

For more information on ACEMWIN-HURR-L, see alachuaskywarn.org/emwin/acemwinhurrl .

For more information on ACWIN, see alachuaskywarn.org/acwin .

HUGE Changes to ACEMWIN-HURR-L Hurricane Bulletins List

2009-07-10T21:05:00.006-04:00

The ACEMWIN-HURR-L list was created on July 16, 2005, The list serves the latest hurricane bulletins to the public. Yesterday, after many weeks of researching Listserv and EMWIN software documentation, major changes were finally implemented to the listgroup, now allowing users to pick and CHOOSE which hurricane bulletins they want. Before, users were forced to have to receive them all. When the season got busy, the listgroup would often end up ovewhelmed. No longer. Using a Listserv software feature called "topics", users may now turn on or off bulletins at thier own WILL. Users will greatly appreciate this new capability.

The list receives the latest hurricane-related bulletins from the Alachua Co. EMWIN Project's EMWIN server. The EMWIN server receives weather bulletins hot off of the GOES-10 weather satellite located high above the earth in geosationary orbit. As soon as weather bulletins are issued by NOAA, the NWS ,the SPC, the NHC, and other various weather centers, they are immediately transmitted to the satellite, and then bounced back down to the earth for other ground stations to receive. The Alachua County EMWIN Project owns such a ground receiving station. Whenever the NHC issues hurricane related bulletins, they will appear in this list as soon as they are sent down from the satellite. Subscribers to this list will receive Atlantic-region hurricane-related bulletins.

Testing of the new changes is complete and everything seems to be working fine, and the listgroup is again ready for public use.

Here are the "topic" areas that are now available to choose from within the ACEMWIN-HURR-L listgroup:

PWSAT: Tropical Cyclone Surface Wind Speed Probabilities
SPFAT: Storm Strike Probability Bulletin
TCANT: Tropical Cyclone ICAO (Aviation) Advisory
TCDAT: Tropical Cyclone Discussion
TCEAT: Tropical Cyclone Position Estimate
TCMAT: Marine/Aviation Tropical Cyclone Forecast/Advisory
TCPAT: Public Tropical Cyclone Advisory
TCPSP: Public Tropical Cyclone Advisory (spanish)
TCUAT: Tropical Cyclone Update
TCVAT: Tropical Cyclone Watch/Warning Product (VTEC)
TWDAT: Tropical Weather Discussion
TWOAT: Tropical Weather Outlook and Summary
TWSAT: Monthly Tropical Weather Summary
CHGHUR: Tropical Cyclone Objective Guidance
STDCCA: Satellite-derived Trop. Disturbance Summ. (C. Carribean)
STDECA: Satellite-derived Trop. Disturbance Summ. (E. Carribean)
STDWCA: Satellite-derived Trop. Disturbance Summ. (W. Carribean)

All new users are automatically subscribed to ALL of the above bulletins. However, you can turn some OFF at any time if things seem to get just a little too "busy" for you.

For a detailed description of each of the above bulletins, see the NHC's Text Products Description page at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutnhcprod.shtml.

Another new addition to the listgroup is the archiving feature. The listgroup is now being archived. This means that users can now also peruse past hurricane bulletins. To view these archives, see: http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/acemwin-hurr-l.html.

ACEMWIN-HURR-L IS A READ-ONLY LIST. In other words, users may not post to the list. This list is for the dissemination of hurricane-related bulletins only. The list owner/moderator is Todd Sherman (acemwin@alachuaskywarn.org).

For more information abnout the listroup, see http://alachuaskywarn.org/emwin/acemwinhurrl.

Enjoy!

Todd Sherman / KB4MHH
ACEMWIN-HURR-L Listgroup Owner
Email: acemwin@alachuaskywarn.org

COMING SOON! ...USER CUSTOMIZABLE LISTSGROUPS!

2009-06-28T10:54:00.002-04:00

Two things regarding new lists at the UF Listserv that the AC-EMWIN Project will be creating:

First: The currently existing ACEMWIN-HURR-L listgroup has been running for a while now. We've been sending the latest Gulf & Atlantic-related hurricane bulletins to it. At this time it is set up to receive all bulletins in the one list. SOON however, this will change, and we'll set up the list with a few "default" bulletins for people to receive when they first subscribe, and quite a NUMBER of OTHER hurricane-related bulletins that users can turn on or off at their OWN command.

Second: We'll soon be adding quite a NUMBER of new listgroups - one for every county in the North Central Florida area. Each group will receive bulletins for that county ONLY, and the user will be able to choose from a NUMBER of various weather related bulletins that they can turn on or off at their own will.

The counties will include:
Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafeyette, Levy, Marion, Nassau, Putnam, St. Johns, Suwannee, and Union.

Weather bulletins to choose from (in EACH LIST) will include:
Area Forecast Discussion, Coastal Waters Forecast, Hazardous Weather Outlook, Short Term Forecast, Surf Forecast, Zone Forecast Product, Special Weather Statements, Severe Weather Statements, Thunderstorm Watches/Warnings, Flood Watches/Warnings, Tornado Watches/Warnings, Red Flag Warnings, Local Storm Reports, etc., etc.

I think people will like this arrangement. As for the AC-SKYWARN Email Alert List, depending upon what users think, that list can either keep distributing the bulletins that it is, or we can cut it down to news and announcements regarding SKYWARN and AC-SKYWARN only, and let these new lists handle the bulletins task. We'll tackle that when we get there.

Let us know what you think of this new idea.

Added additional bulletins to Twitter feed...

2009-06-10T18:30:00.002-04:00

Added the following bulletins to the Twitter feed:

AFDJAX - Area Forecast Discussion
FTMJAX - Free Text Message - Radar outages, weather radio transmitter outages, etc.
PNSJAX - Public Information Statement

Local Storm Reports

2009-06-06T15:57:00.003-04:00

Does anyone think LSRs (Local Storm Reports) would be useful in the AC-EMWIN Twitter feed? I CAN send those.

Found source for 1-minute refresh for Twitter...

2009-06-04T12:30:00.004-04:00

Thanks to Charles Roop for this...

One of my worries over Twitter being useful as a weather bulletin dissemination tool was the fact that you don't see new bulletins unless you manually refresh the screen, which kinda forces you to sit there at the computer.

Thanks to Charles Roop for mentioning TweetDeck, which is an application you can use to see new posts by setting the application to refresh up to once every minute.

To download the application, go to http://tweetdeck.com.

(Thanks, Charles.)

AC-EMWIN Twitter Account Created

2009-06-04T10:18:00.000-04:00

Created Twitter account for the Alachua County EMWIN Project. The hope is to be able to send severe weather-related bulletins to the AC-EMWIN Twitter acct so that people can make use of them there, too. Currently, we send bulletins to cellphones, pagers, and even web sites.

I've just set up the EMWIN software to send some bulletins there, now. I've set it up to receive the following "products": ZFPJAX (Zone Forecast Product), NOWJAX (Short Term Forecast or "NowCast"), DAY-ONE SEVERE and SPOTTER ACTIVATION statements from the HWOJAX (Hazardous Weather Outlook), SVRJAX, TORJAX, SPSJAX (Special Weather Statement), and SVSJAX. Bulletins will be sent using shorter abbreviated text to fit more on the screen at a time.

The DAYONE SEVERE statement is a line from the Hazardous Weather Outlook which gives spotters a heads-up as to what the day's expectations are for severe weather. The HWO gets sent out multiple times a day.

The SPOTTER ACTIVATION STATEMENT is another line from the HWO which let's spotters know whether or not spotter activation might be called for in your area. Again, being attached to the HWO, the notice is sent out multiple times a day, as thoughts change and are updated.

I sent a test message from Outlook last night. Twittermail received it okay. A few bulletins were sent by the EMWIN software, too, overnight. They were received, as well.

There is a 160 character text limit with Twitter. HOWEVER, the rest of the messages are not truncated and permanently lost. The rest of the message can still be viewed by simply clicking on a URL link right there. So that's a plus. Looks good so far. Seems to be working.

This IS an experiment, though. I'm doing it to test the usefullness of this idea. There ARE a few downsides so far that I am noticing:

1. Seems Twitter must be manually refreshed. Bulletins are time sensitive. To be useful viewers have to be able to see them as soon as they come in. I don't think Twitter has an auto-refresh on incoming bulletin. I think you have to do it yourself. Still researching...

2. There seems to be a delay of a number of minutes from time of issuance from our EMWIN software (which issues the bulletins often faster than the weather radio does). That could matter. Bulletins are distributed faster on the ACSKYWARN Email Alert List faster than they appear to be being issued, here. Then again, I may be being too critical. Ultimately, it's up to the end user and what HIS OR HER ideas are for the usefulness of this. Maybe they PREFER these kinds of things to email. Who knows.

Hopefully people will find some usefulness for this and if there appears to be enough interest then I will continue it. I'm already also entertaining ideas for doing this for all nearby counties surrounding us, as well.

I welcome user thoughts, comments, and ideas.