THE
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Volume 4 Issue 2
February 1999
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LA NIÑA
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La Niña is identified by an unusually cold ocean
temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific, which is a big contrast
to El Niño of last year, which is identified by unusually warm
ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific. In fact La Niña
is the opposite of El Niño in many respects. In taking a look
at La Niña it might help us to review El Niño.
El Niño is characterized by a large scale weakening of
the trade winds and warming of the surface layers in the eastern
and central equatorial Pacific Ocean. El Niño events occur
irregularly at intervals of 2-7 years, although the average is
about once every 3-4 years. They typically last 12-18 months,
and are accompanied by swings in the Southern Oscillation , an
interannual see-saw in tropical sea level pressure between the
eastern and western hemispheres. When El Niño is active an
unusually high atmospheric sea level pressures develop in the
western tropical Pacific and Indian Ocean regions, and
unusually low sea level pressures develop in the southeastern
tropical Pacific. Southern Oscillation tendencies for
unusually low pressures west of the date line and high
pressures east of the date line have also been linked to
periods of anomalously cold equatorial Pacific sea surface
temperatures which we referred to as La Niña.
The Southern Oscillation Index, defined as the
normalized difference in surface pressure between Tahiti,
French Polynesia and Darwin, Australia is a measure of the
strength of the trade winds, which have a component of flow
from regions of high to low pressure. High Southern Oscillation
Index (large pressure difference) is associated with stronger
than normal trade winds and La Niña conditions, and low
Southern Oscillation Index (smaller pressure difference) is
associated with weaker than normal trade winds and El Niño
conditions. The terms ENSO and ENSO cycle are used to describe
the full range of variability observed in the Southern
Oscillation Index, including both El Niño and La Niña events.
So what does all this mean to us? Well we already know
what El Niño did, so let look at what La Niña has in store for
us and recap what it has already shown us.
In the U.S., winter temperatures are warmer than normal
in the Southeast, and cooler than normal in the Northwest. I
believe most of us have had a conversation this January where
we have made note of how wet/warm and spring like the weather
has been. This last week of January feels more like South
Florida than North Georgia. With the exception of a cold snap
early this year where it reached the single digit number, we
have nearly escaped any sign of winter. A dangerous January also
with a all time high in the number of January tornadoes in the US.
This brings me to the main reason for this article is we all
need to be alert to changing weather this spring.
La Niña has/will create warmer weather in the South
which leads to more energy in the atmosphere, these conditions
make hail, strong wind, and tornado formation more likely. This
is why we support the Skywarn certification program. Amateur
Radio Operators can serve your community by helping neighbors
and government agencies such as “the National Weather Service,
FEMA, and local Emergency Management Agency (EMA)”.
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BACKYARD NEWS
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The North Georgia ARC has new call is W4QQ. The old call
W4PYM call its still with the college and Buck (KC4GCK) is the
present trustee.
In mid January the NWS Forecast Office in Peachtree City
introduced its new NOAA Weather Radio System, called NOAA weather
RADIO 2000. The new system will be completely automated and will
be able to do forecasts and warnings faster than the older radio
transmitters. The computer generated voice might take some
getting used to.
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HAM OF THE MONTH
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Ham of the month is William D. Rodgers. We all know him
as Dennis KA4VHP. Dennis move into the Talking Rock community
about a year ago, although they still have a house in Atlanta.
Dennis has been a great help with the local repeater and when
the repeater went down 01/11/99, Dennis came to the rescue the
following Wednesday along with his brother Steve KE4GBR and
cousin Jimmy. Dennis has an application to join the club and we
will be looking forward to him becoming an official EARS member.
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THE WAVELENGTH
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Executive Editor:
David A. Barlitt KF4AWU
Contributors:
Dot Beam K4PPS,
Marsha Rodgers KG4AHV
____________________________________
Ellijay Amateur Radio Society, Inc.
President:
Jack Bramblett K4IVC
Vice-President:
Reed Krenn WW3A
Secretary/Treasurer:
David A. Barlitt KF4AWU
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SKYWARN
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Basic Skywarn Class meet January 21 at Cherokee County Sequoyah
Regional Library 116 Brown Industrial Pkwy. Canton, GA. In
attendance was a large crowed from Cherokee county and our own
Vice-President Reed Krenn WW3A plus Reed's wife Doris KD4ZZT.
Mr. Barry Gooden of the National Weather Service conducting the
class, which included video from Texas and slides of various
cold formations. The class started at 6:30 and ended at
9:00 p.m. even though they had not completely finished. Advanced
Class February 9 at 6:30 p.m. - At same location. For info call
Al Westbrook Ph # (770) 736-2840
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LA NIÑA and EL NIÑO - WHY?
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El Niño was originally coined by fishermen off the coast
of South America as the appearance of unusually warm water in the
Pacific ocean, occurring near the beginning of the year. El Niño
means The Little Boy or Christ child in Spanish. This name was
used for the tendency of the phenomenon to arrive around
Christmas. La Niña means The Little Girl. La Niña is sometimes
called El Viejo, anti-El Niño, or simply "a cold event" or "a
cold episode". The terms La Niña, ENSO cold event, or cold
phase of ENSO are used interchangeably to describe those times
of cold eastern and central equatorial Pacific SST anomalies.
This has brought confusion to the use of the terms El Niño,
La Niña and ENSO by both the scientific community and the
general public.
The terms "El Viejo" and "anti-El Niño" have also been
applied to the cold phase of ENSO. However, these terms are
used less frequently, as the term La Niña has gained favor.
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This Month's Birthdays/Anniversaries & Ham Fests
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This Month's Birthdays are:
February 16 Hugh Beam W4HFB
This Month's Anniversaries are:
none
If your birthday or anniversary is not on the list for Feb. it is
because I have no record of it!
Swap Shop list it here!!!
HAM Fests
February 6 + Charleston ARS, N. Charleston, SC
February 6-7 * SFL Section Convention
("Tropical Hamboree"), Miami, FL
February 12-14 * N. Fl, Convention, Orlando, Fl
February 20 + Hernando Co ARA, Spring Hill, FL
February 20-21+ Sarasota ARA, Sarasota, FL
Feb. 21+ Briarpatch & Foothills ARC Elkin NC
February 27 + Dalton ARC, Dalton, GA
See Wanye W4YNE for tickets/info on Dalton
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VE Corner
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The VE Team meet January 9, and had one attendee take and
pass his advanced test.
The one attendee was not planning to take test but had
come to borrow so media material to teach Ham Radio class Epworth.
The VE team will be administering the exams when the class
concludes. Next regular exam is February 6 at 1:00 PM in the
Gilmer library
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Ellijay Amateur Radio Society, Inc.
...................................
C/O David Barlitt
50 Jones Road
Ellijay, Georgia
30540
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Phone: 706-273-3559
Fax: 706-635-3559
mailto:w4hhh@qsl.net
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