The WEATHER SHELTER

Published monthly by the North Jersey Weather Observers

Volume XX Number 11 November 2000

Web Address: http://www.njwo.org

Important Reminders:

This month's meeting is Wednesday November 29th at 7:30 pm. Everyone is welcome. Club members will meet at the Bergen County Museum of Art and Sciences

Please remember to send all correspondence to be printed in "The Weather Shelter" in electronic format to: nick@sussexcountyinfo.com

This month's speaker will be Dave Tolleris, club member and owner of Weather Risk. No one has more enthusiasm in a weather presentation then Dave. His knowledge in forecasting especially winter weather storms days and days in advance is uncanny! Please come visit for an enjoyable evening for everyone. Dave is driving all the way from Virginia to speak to us. Let's give him the support he deserves. Dave promises us much snow this winter. Be there! You won't be disappointed.

Year 2000 Schedule:

Unless otherwise notified - Last Wednesday of every month. Guests are welcome. Please mark these dates on your weather calendar and see if you can make it.

* Please note that the mention of any kind of weather record in this publication is based solely from the period that official weather records commenced. Obviously, no one knows what occurred hundreds or thousands of years ago.

Did you know? To date, Mr. Edward G. Stoll who took weather observations for 76 years in Arapahoe, Nebraska, has the longest history as a cooperative weather observer.

Throughout the nation, numerous families have continued their cooperative weather observer duties for successive generations with some providing a century or more of data.

The WEATHER SHELTER

A Word from the Editor

This is my second attempt in producing the Weather Shelter in electronic format. It can only get better. I encourage everyone to submit articles, facts or any weather related material. Since the club's inception, we have never produced and transmitted this newsletter using any other method then the standard postal service.

This is a tremendous opportunity for the club, as this will allow us to reach many, many more people of all backgrounds who are interested in the weather. In addition, postage will never be a problem since we do not have to worry about the weight of the document to be sent. The computer age is here! Remember, this newsletter will be posted on the club's web site at: www.njwo.org Download a copy for a friend.

Our own public relations Chairman Bob Ziff and his wife Bonnie have volunteered their time and effort in producing the hard copy of the Shelter to those who still wish to receive a hard copy and do not have access to the Internet. Thanks to the Ziff's. The first production looked fantastic!

Please e-mail any articles, stories and weather data you would like published. Deadline is 10 days prior to the club's next meeting. My e-mail address is: nick@sussexcountyinfo.com

Nick Stefano

Electronic Editor

Officers and Committee Chairs

President: Robert Draper 201-394-8525

Vice President: Nick Stefano 973-702-9090

Secretary: Dennis O'keefe 914-255-7374

Treasurer: Albert Manganelli 973-983-0063 adman@bellatlantic.net

Sergeant at Arms: Gregory Petridis 908-352-1876

Standards: Nick Stefano 973-702-9090 nick@sussexcountyinfo.com

Public Relations: Bob Ziff 201-236-1021

Scholarship: Russ Stammer 201-337-8501

Hotline: Gregory Petridis 973-628-6869

NJWO Web Master: Dave Dabour 908-995-7114 dabour@att.net

NJWO Homepage: http://www.njwo.org

Editor: Robert Ziff/ Bonnie Ziff

Electronic Editor: Nick Stefano nick@sussexcountyinfo.com

Send articles to: Electronically nick@sussexcountyinfo.com

Send Club dues to: Albert Manganelli / Treasurer

11 Darlington Drive

Rockaway Township, NJ 07866

Regular …….$25.00/year Student:…….$15.00/ year

The WEATHER SHELTER

NJWO Friends,

We now have an additional, easier to remember web address for the NJWO web site:

http://www.njwo.org

The .org extension was chosen as this is traditionally used for non-profit organizations as NJWO is considered one.

This is NOT a new web site, just another, easier web address to remember and to advertise. The other addresses will continue to work as well. They are:

http://njwo.tripod.com

http://members.tripod.com/njwo

If the new web address does not work immediately for you where you are, give it another day to propagate throughout the Internet. If it still does not work then, please email me back to let me know.

Dave

H David Dabour

NJWO Webmaster

Hello to all. Here are all the NJWO e-mail addresses that I have on my list.

-- Dennis.

adman@bellatlantic.net Albert Manganelli stormwarning1@juno.com Gregory Petridis

Chris_Standal@ziffdavis.com Chris Standal rncakeil@aol.com Dick Keil

dabour@att.net Dave Dabour KeithGalley@scientist.com Keith Galley

mckims@mail.lsc.vsc.edu Scott McKim BBZ@worldnet.att.net Bob Ziff

JHayday1@yahoo.com Jason Hayday weatheramerica@msn.com Larry Cosgrove

jadle@earthlink.net Joe Adams nick@sussexcountyinfo.com Nick Stefano

okeefed@newpaltz.edu Dennis O'Keefe drobins@rci.rutgers.edu Dave Robinson

Weather147@aol.com Steven Nascimento alomar8@aol.com Drew Pizzulo

Petridis@juno.com Art Petridis

Temperature Conversion Formulas

F = 1.8C + 32 C = 5/9 (F-32)

The WEATHER SHELTER

NORTH JERSEY WEATHER OBSERVERS - MEETING –

Wednesday, October 25, 2000

Minutes of last meeting

The meeting was called to order by interim President Art Petridis at 7:50 PM, with an outside temperature of 61 degrees. The head table was full of weather instrumentation provided by Nick Stefano for his presentation.

Thanks to the efforts of Nick Stefano, Bob and Bonnie Ziff, and Dave Dabour, we now have a Weather Shelter. Also thanks to Jason Hayday and Keith Galley for filling in as editors for The Weather Shelter.

Upcoming meetings were discussed and Dave Tolleris will speak in November. (See write-up about Dave in this issue). Our elections will also be in November. The members unanimously appealed for a large turnout for our November to greet our guest who will be coming from Virginia and for our elections. Don't forget refreshments will be served.

It was also agreed upon that our December meeting will once again be our holiday party with food, dessert, and beverages provided for members and their families. Please email Art Petridis at Petridis@juno.com so we can have a head count for the catering service.

Chris Standal announced the slate of candidates as of 10/25/00:

President- Bob Draper

Vice President- Nick Stefano

Secretary- Dennis O'Keefe

Treasurer is an open position. Nick will add nominations as interest increases. We do need someone to step forward as treasurer. The meeting was adjourned at 8:18 PM. Refreshments and break followed.

Nick Stefano was our guest speaker. He had a hands-on presentation with entire wireless weather stations. Texas Instruments and Davis were displayed. Pros and cons were discussed and prices were also of interest. Nick emphasized that wireless is the way of the future. He suggested checking weather32.com.

The meeting came to a close at 9:35 PM. Greg Petridis brought a small black and white TV and kept track of the score of the Subway Series game. It was 3-2 Yankees as of 9:30 PM. Minutes submitted by Art Petridis due to stubborn cold that kept Dennis O'Keefe from the meeting. Feel better Dennis.

Respectfully Submitted,

Art Petridis

The WEATHER SHELTER

MONTHLY SUMMARY - OCTOBER 2000

KING OF PRUSSIA, PA.

October in King of Prussia was milder than usual (54.8 degrees) and the second driest on record (1.34”). Sunny days were numerous. Fog was frequent, occurring on 10 days. The season's first frost occurred on the 9th and the first freezing temperature on the 30th. Late in the month an ocean storm reminiscent of the 1991 unnamed hurricane produced heavy snow, rain & strong winds in parts of New England, especially Maine.

From the 1st-4th, mainly fair skies prevailed with increasingly warmer temperatures. New record highs were established at my station in King of Prussia: 80 on the 3rd & 83 on the 4th. Dense fog greeted the mornings of the 1st & 2nd. Heavy thunderstorms accompanied by frequent, vivid lightning & gusty breezes moved through the area during the evening ahead of a strong cold front, dropping 0.75” of rain. In some sections of the region severe weather was reported. According to news reports, one-inch diameter hail fell in Coatesville & Doylestown, trees were felled in Berks County and there were numerous power outages. There were also unconfirmed reports of tornadoes: one in Pennsylvania & two in New Jersey.

The 5th & 6th were mostly cloudy with cooler temperatures but humidity remained high. Drizzle occurred during the evening & night accompanied by dense fog. Fair weather dominated from the 7th-15th as high pressure maintained control. Low temperatures ranged from the 30s & 40s and highs from the upper 40s to the upper 70s. Scattered frost occurred on the morning of the 9th, whitening open groundcover, cars & rooftops.

Occasional rain, drizzle & light fog occurred from the 16th-18th as a storm system moved eastward from the Midwest. Temperatures turned cooler but humidity remained high. Fair & dry conditions prevailed for the remainder of the month. Dense morning fog on the 26th & 27th lowered visibility to a 1/4 mile or less, slowing travel throughout the region. On the 28th, strong & gusty NNW winds developed in the wake of a cold front that moved through the area overnight. Gusts exceeding 30mph felled significant amounts of autumn foliage, at times creating leaf storms. Gusty NNW winds continued through the 31st as strong low pressure remained parked off the New England coast. The storm produced significant snowfall in Maine and adjacent regions on the 29th with snow flurries extending southward to New York City. Locally, occasional periods of cloudcover moving north-south accompanied the blustery conditions.

Observer: Michael Cerio

Station: King of Prussia, Pa.

County: Montgomery

Elevation: 185’

The WEATHER SHELTER

NJWO NORTH JERSEY NOTES BY GREG PETRIDIS, ELIZABETH, FOR OCTOBER

October featured slightly below normal temperatures and it was very dry. The month started off very warm, with highs in the mid to upper 70s and lows in the low to mid 50s. A very localized thunderstorm brought 0.55" of rain to the area on the fourth, with much lesser amounts surrounding us.

Changeable weather occurred from the fifth through the seventh, with highs averaging in the low to mid 60s and lows generally in the lower 50s. 0.07" of rain fell on the fifth and 0.01" on the sixth. The eighth through tenth were cold, with highs only in the lower 50s and lows in the mid to upper 30s.

Much warmer weather took hold from the eleventh through fifteenth, with highs in the upper 60s and lows around 50. Once again, no rain fell. The sixteenth through nineteenth saw changeable weather, with highs in the lower 60s and lows around 50. 0.07" of rain fell on the sixteenth, 0.03" on the seventeenth, and 0.36" on the eighteenth.

The twentieth and 21st turned warmer, with highs around 70 and lows in the mid to upper 40s. No rain fell. The 22nd and 23rd featured cooler temperatures. Highs were around 60 and lows were in the low to mid 40s.

The 24th through 28th featured a warm-up. Highs were in the low to mid 60s and lows were around in the mid to upper 40s.

The month ended cooler, with highs in the 50s and lows in the upper 30s. A trace of rain fell on the 29th. A 33 MPH wind gust blew on Halloween.

GREG

Too warm for snow?

How warm can it be and still snow? The absolute record may not be known, but at LaGuarda Airport in New York City, flakes were once observed when the air temperature at the ground was 47°F. Snow falling from colder clouds above with near-surface air temperatures in the upper 30's is commonplace.

The WEATHER SHELTER

Elimination of DIFAX

ATTENTION FAMILY OF SERVICES DIFAX SUBSCRIBERS

SUBJECT FAMILY OF SERVICES /FOS/ DIFAX TERMINATION

THE PURPOSE OF THIS NOTIFICATION IS TO ADVISE YOU THAT THE

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE /NWS/ WILL DISCONTINUE ITS FOS

DIFAX SERVICE EFFECTIVE 1200 UTC... APRIL 30... 2001. THE FOS

DIFAX SERVICE IS NO LONGER REQUIRED TO SUPPORT NWS OPERATIONS.

SIMILAR TYPE PRODUCTS ARE AVAILABLE IN MODERN FORMATS ON

OTHER DISSEMINATION SERVICES. MORE DETAILS ON THE

TERMINATION OF DIFAX WILL BE PROVIDED IN FUTURE NOTIFICATIONS.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS CONCERNING THIS NOTICE... PLEASE

CONTACT

JULIE L. HAYES /W/OPS32/

PHONE 301 713-0864 EXTENSION 120

EMAIL JULIE.HAYES/AT SYMBOL/NOAA.GOV

THIS INFORMATION IS ALSO POSTED ON THE NWS SYSTEMS OPERATIONS

CENTER CHANGE NOTICES WEB PAGE. THE URL IS LISTED BELOW.

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/oso/notices/notices.shtml

LLOYD IRVIN CHIEF

GRAPHICS AND DISPLAY SECTION

SYSTEMS OPERATIONS CENTER

OFFICAL SNOW MEASUREMENTS ONLY PLEASE

The most snow ever to fall during one snowstorm here in New Jersey is 34.0". This occurred in Cape May on February 11-14, 1899

Second most occurred in the town of Sussex on January 26, 1905 when 30" was recorded. This is also a state record for most snow to fall in a 24-hour period here in New Jersey.

The WEATHER SHELTER

The INTERNET is here!

Weather.com captures biggest audience

Are you a weather fanatic? (need they ask) Gotta know what's coming tomorrow before going to bed?

You've got lots of company. People flock to online

weather sites.

The one most people check is The Weather Channel's

weather.com. It boasts an audience more than three

times larger than its nearest competitor, according to

exclusive data from Nielsen//NetRatings (see below).

.

Me, I love weather. The stormier the better. Bring on the snow.

How far away is the Horizon?

The question is deceptively simple. But for an observer at sea, the horizon (in miles) is equal to 1.317 times the square root of the vantage point (measured in feet). Thus, if you are 10 feet above the water's surface, the horizon is 4.16 miles away.

The WEATHER SHELTER

ATTENTION FAMILY OF SERVICES SUBSCRIBERS/NOAAPORT USERS

SUBJECT NEXRAD INFORMATION DISSEMINATION SERVICE /NIDS/

AGREEMENT TERMINATES ON JANUARY 1... 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE /NWS/ IS REPLACING THE

NIDS WITH A GOVERNMENT OPERATED RADAR PRODUCT CENTRAL

COLLECTION/ DISTRIBUTION SERVICE /RPCCDS/. BASED ON

THE SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THE RPCCDS OPERATIONS

DEMONSTRATION ON OCTOBER 18... 2000 /DETAILS ATTACHED/...

THE NWS CERTIFIES THE OPERATIONAL READINESS OF THE

RPCCDS AS THE NIDS REPLACEMENT. EFFECTIVE

JANUARY 1... 2001... THE NIDS AGREEMENT WILL BE

TERMINATED.

ON JANUARY 1... 2001... THE NWS RPCCDS BECOMES THE

OPERATIONAL REPLACEMENT TO THE NIDS. THE RPCCDS WILL

BE ACCESSIBLE TO ALL USERS. IT WILL PROVIDE OPEN

DISTRIBUTION OF RADAR PRODUCTS COLLECTED FROM THE NWS...

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION... AND DEPARTMENT OF

DEFENSE WSR-88D SITES TO USERS WITHOUT DATA

REDISTRIBUTION RESTRICTIONS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT MR. MICHAEL CARELLI...

NWS NIDS ADMINISTRATOR... AT /301/ 713-1724 EXT. 184...

OR E-MAIL MICHAEL.CARELLI/AT SYMBOL/NOAA.GOV.

WALTER TELESETSKY

DIRECTOR... OFFICE OF OPERATIONAL SYSTEMS

Closer to the Sun Colder?

On a sunny day, the air temperature falls about 5.4°F for every 1000 feet above the surface of the earth.

The WEATHER SHELTER

Craig Allen gets what He Deserves

A Cold Morning in New Jersey

Back on January 21, 1994, the air temperature in Hainesville, Sussex County dropped to -32°F

With a deep snow cover as occurring on this day, lower lying areas or valley locations radiate incredibly. The difference between a valley location versus a hilltop during clear, cold winter nights with snow cover can be as much as 35°F

The WEATHER SHELTER

Down slopping Winds

By Christopher Duvall

"Downsloping Winds and Thermal Elevation Effects"

Many North Jersey Weather Observers play a crucial role in the operation of the New Jersey Home Network, or NJ HomeNet. The NJ HomeNet provides hourly weather data in real-time via the Internet for free as part of the New Jersey Weather and Climate Network, or NJ WxNet, a "one-stop internet resource for NJ weather and climate data".

(http://climate.rutgers.edu/njwxnet/)

The Office of the New Jersey State Climatologist, or ONJSC, operates the NJ HomeNet in cooperation with the NWS offices in Mt. Holly, NJ and Upton, NY. Phone calls are made every hour to weather stations in the backyards of volunteers throughout mostly the northern half of New Jersey. Many of these dedicated volunteers are also NJWO members.

NJWO member Nick Stefano has developed the Sussex County Weather Network, or SCWN, which is also available in real-time via the Internet. (http://www.sussexcountyweather.net) Data from the SCWN, as well as local NJ HomeNet stations owned and operated by Nick, recently recorded what appears to be a significant downsloping wind event in Sussex County.

On a synoptic scale, the weather pattern was very dry and stable through much of October and into the first week of November 2000. According to ONJSC climate records, NJ HomeNet data, and my own personal weather journal, Halloween in central NJ was quite mild with a few altocumulus clouds during the day and a light yet persistent wind out of the northwest.

However on a mesoscale, or countywide scale, there were significant differences in wind speed and temperature throughout Sussex County. Under calm conditions, one would expect the lower atmosphere to convert from warm air at the surface to cooler air at the surface overnight, since in the absence of solar heating the cooler, more dense air will want to sink. This pooling of cold air in the lower elevations can be seen by comparing overnight temperatures between the Walpack (Delaware River Valley) and Wantage (elev. 1020 ft.) HomeNet stations for almost any day in October 2000. For example, here's the minimum values in degrees F for 8-10 Oct 2000: WAL: 26, 25, 24 WNT: 32, 29, 29. (note: no significant downsloping effect these days) These are significant temperature differences for cloudless evenings between two Peet Bros. stations installed by the same person within about 15 miles of each other! This is evidence of the difference in elevation affecting the temperature over time.

The NJ HomeNet site at Wantage, on Nick's property about one mile east and 700 feet below High Point, recorded hourly winds around 10-15 mph coming from the northwest on 31 Oct 2000. This wind died out a few hours after sunset, once the nocturnal boundary layer was in place for the evening. Yet overnight the winds began to pick up again, out of the northwest. Hourly wind speed values from Walpack and other area HomeNet sites were mostly calm through sunrise yet Wantage reported a peak of 24 mph out of the northwest between 1am and 2am on 1 Nov 2000, with hourly winds in the teens out of the northwest, maximizing just before sunrise. Additional data from Nick's SCWN over the next few evenings of virtually identical, stable conditions with synoptic-scale winds flowing out of the northwest, show maximum wind speeds at Nick's location in Wantage, directly to the lee of the Kittatinny Mountain, or High Point:

Before sunrise on 1 Nov 2000:

Max: 28.5 mph @ 04:54 am Wantage (as confirmed by hourly HomeNet archives)

Max: 15.5 mph @ 01:40 am Sparta Mountain

Max: 18.0 mph @ 02:01 am Mountain Creek

Max: 12.4 mph @ 05:21 am Newton

Max: 10 mph @ 12:11 am Hamburg

Max. 8 mph @ 12-1 am Walpack (as confirmed by hourly HomeNet archives)

Special test site at Nick's home down the street from the WNT station:

Max: 34.0 mph @ 01:51 am Wantage

Before sunrise on 2 Nov 2000:

Max: 27.3 mph @ 06:31 am Wantage (as confirmed by hourly HomeNet archives)

Max: 17.3 mph @ 12:27 am Sparta Mountain

Max: 16.1 mph @ 12:31 am Mountain Creek

Max: 11.8 mph @ 12:03 am Newton

Max: 9.2 mph @ 6-7 am Walpack (as confirmed by hourly HomeNet archives)

Max: 3.1 mph @ 03:32 am Vernon (valley location)

Remember, just as with a hot air balloon, warm air rises and cold air sinks. In this case, the air is being forced up and over the mountain, above its equilibrium level, or the point at which the air becomes cooler than its environment, and therefore wants to sink (negatively buoyant). The more it wants to sink, the faster the winds will be to the lee of the mountain- in this case, Wantage. You would also tend to have a warmer temperature than the other sites, since the air warms and compresses as it descends on the leeward side of the mountains. "Warmer" would be relative, i.e. perhaps the WNT site cooled more slowly, since it was a clear night and there was some decent radiational cooling overnight... but that's besides the point, back to winds! :-)

Note that all maximum wind speeds at Wantage occurred well after midnight, yet before sunrise. Once the sun rises after a clear, calm night, solar heating begins to "turn over" the atmosphere by warming the ground and therefore the air at the surface, which would serve to reverse the stable, nocturnal pattern of cold air pooling in lower elevations. The localized, downsloping winds would be somewhat interrupted by this common, synoptic-scale event, thanks to temperature differences translating to pressure differences which in turn creates wind to balance the difference in pressure.

These events can be observed in a stable synoptic situation, i.e. no fronts moving through to change the air mass, etc. Mesoscale effects are allowed to occur whenever the larger-scale, or synoptic-scale pattern is weak but favorable. The weak northwest wind and clear conditions on a synoptic scale allowed for the mesoscale downsloping effect to "take charge" of the weather experienced at Wantage. The same is true for the occurrence of localized, thermal elevation effects, or temperature differences between mountains and valleys enforced by the nocturnal boundary layer, itself. So the next time we encounter a long period of "boring" weather, think of it as a rare opportunity to watch for interesting, localized phenomena such as downsloping winds... trust me, the weather is *never* boring!

Here is an informative link about downsloping that's semi-technical... if anyone has any questions, please let me know and I'd be happy to explain anything that I don't understand, myself! :-)

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ftproot/topics/attach/html/ssd99-6.htm

Many thanks to Nick Stefano for providing data from his network and for inviting this article to explain these phenomena occurring every day in our own backyards right here in New Jersey. Events like this help to prove the need for hourly, real-time data from across the state to be made available to all NJ citizens, which has been the goal of the ONJSC's NJ WxNet initiative from Day One. We appreciate all of your help in our quest to fulfill this goal.

If you have any questions, comments, or ideas, please do not hesitate to contact me at the information listed below.

Christopher Duvall

Meteorologist, Office of the NJ St. Climatologist

Rutgers University

cduvall@rci.rutgers.edu

(732) 445-4746

Photo of High Point Monument from my home. Monument is exactly 1 mile away as the crow flies. Image is much closer then it appears. Photo courtesy of Dave Duvall from last winter's visit.

The WEATHER SHELTER

More links

If you wish to keep track of how the weather unfolds in upcoming months, you are invited to visit the State Climate web site (http://climate.rutgers.edu/stateclim). For precipitation totals you can surf through this site to view state long term averages and totals for individual months and years (http://climate.rutgers.edu/data/index.html) , county estimates for a variety of intervals (http://marfchp1.met.psu.edu/Maps) , long term monthly averages for selected stations (http://climate.rutgers.edu/norms/precip.html), totals for weekly and longer intervals at selected stations (http://climate.rutgers.edu/njclimatewatch.html), and station observations as frequently as every hour (http://climate.rutgers.edu/njwxnet).

Sussex County: http://www.sussexcountyweather.com

Remember to send those reports in electronic form to: nick@sussexcountyinfo.com

High Point Weather Cam to be Activated

If you like snow (don't we all?) sometime in early December you will be able to click on the link below and see real-time images from High Point, New Jersey. Although not at the highest elevation in the park, it certainly is an interesting location because of the changes in weather, especially during the winter. The elevation you would be observing is: 1,520 feet. When the map is pulled up, click on the upper most weather icon. Please visit.

http://www.sussexcountyinfo.com/traffic/mapcam.htm

MAKE UP YOUR MIND!

Did you know? 32°F is not only the freezing point of water, but the melting point as well?

The WEATHER SHELTER

ASSISTANT SECRETARY ROHDE HOSTS DEMONSTRATION OF

INTERNET-BASED WARNING SYSTEM

Submitted by: Dave Dabour

WASHINGTON ---Gregory L. Rohde, assistant secretary of commerce for communications and information, hosted a demonstration of a new Internet-based system intended to warn the public of dangerous weather conditions or other events.

Rohde, who is administrator of the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), said the demonstration is a follow-up to the July 17 roundtable hosted by NTIA and an interagency working group dealing with all-hazards warnings. The July roundtable discussion, attended by representatives from broadcast, cable, wireless and Internet industries, was intended to spark a dialogue between industry and the government on how to "bring the best of technology to the highest purpose -- protecting the public in dangerous situations by providing emergency warnings," Rohde said.

At the July event, industry was challenged to come up with new ways to use technology to help deliver warnings. The first product from that challenge is the prototype system demonstrated today, by Front Range Internet of Fort Collins, Colo., a member of the ISP Business Forum (ISPBF), one of the groups that participated in the roundtable. Following the roundtable, ISPBF asked its membership for a volunteer to come up with a new service to respond to the government challenge, and Front Range Internet took up the task. Under the version of the product shown today, if a local hazard warning is issued by the Commerce Department's National Weather Service, people using

Front Range's connection to the Web will hear an alarm over their computer and see a pop-up window displaying the warning. (continued)

The official coldest temperature ever recorded in New Jersey is - 34° F.

Unofficially, in David Ludlum's New Jersey Weather Record book, there is s a report of -38° in Lake Owassa on January 22, 1961. There were also unofficial reports of low temperatures dropping to -38° in Layton on January 21, 1994, the day Hainesville reached -32°F

The WEATHER SHELTER

See http://home.frii.com/community/weathercontrol.html

Rohde said: "The prototype is a wonderful example of an industry group and one of its members rising to the occasion and helping to fulfill its public responsibilities by putting technology to work. We encourage other industries to take a similar pro-active approach to using their technologies to help people. I hope others in the Internet industry will join in."

Jamison Hawkins, National Weather Service chief of programs and policy, said, "The National Weather Service issues all official severe weather and flood warnings for the nation, but we depend on the communications industry to help us get warnings to the right people on time. What we've lacked is a means to get these warnings to the growing population of web-surfers. This demonstration is a great public service that other Internet service providers could easily offer to their customers. It can help save lives." The Weather Service is a participant in the inter-agency working group.

True North?

When you use a compass for calibrating wind direction, don't forget it points toward a magnetic north rather then true north. The difference can be 15° or above. Actual is about 11.5° here in Northern New Jersey. The earth's magnetic north pole lies about 200 miles north of the Boothia Peninsula in Canada. The south magnetic pole is in South Victoria in Antarctica.

The WEATHER SHELTER

COMPUTER CORNER

By dabour@att.net

Weather Screensavers?

Looking for some great weather related screen savers for your computer? Or how about some great weather related photo's you can use as your wallpaper on your PC? These and more are available at:

http://computingcentral.msn.com/guide/weather/default.asp

Other interesting downloads there include programs to track the weather. Enjoy!

So How Fast Are You?

Did you ever wonder how fast your Internet connection is? Does it seam fast on some days and slow on others? Now there's a quick web site that calculates you connection speed and displays it on an easy to understand chart. Check your speed at:

http://computingcentral.msn.com/topics/bandwidth/speedtest.asp

H David Dabour

dabour@att.net

Future Weather Observer?

We're happy to announce the birth of Emma ___ Hayday! Daughter of club member Jason and Karen Hayday weighing in at 7 lbs. 3 oz. Born Sunday, November 11, 2000 @ 7:10 am. Word on the street is that she looks like her dad (she must be cute).