(Louis Gentile) wrote in message . com...
Thanks for the info. I should have realized that my triple A battery
cannot run FAA equipment. The stations I checked had "TSNO" in the RMK
section of the obs as soon as personell were evacuated. Thank you for
telling me about the connections being severed. I didn't think of that
when I posted, because back in our days it didn't make a difference.
SOAs were still logged in, so the climatological record was not
interupted, not to say what the case is today because it's been a long
time if you know what I mean. When the downsizing began I was informed
about what this was going to mean. (1) The loss of vital observation
data, not detectable by satellite, that would no longer be used in
forecasting due to no on sight meteorologist or meterological
technician. Over the past seven years, we have already seen some
situations where timely amendments to the forecast would have been
made had this data been available. (2) The effect on safety at
airports. (3) Increased danger of loss of data during power failure.
The automated system has been valuable in providing us with a
significant increase in sites. However, we still need more stations
with on site personell. Your post was very well written also. Thanks
for filling me in on some important points. Take care, Lou

Most observations are logged into NCDC after communications are
reestablished. Of course, there is the issue of whether the ASOS/AWOS
failed completely (i.e., wasn't even operating). I checked and this
seems to have been the case with the Fort Pierce (KFPR) ASOS during
Hurricane Frances. There are also many cases where much of the
equipment failed, such as Orlando Executive Airports (KORL). Of
course there are many possible explanations of this, including impacts
by flying debris... but again, they did fail, not just lose
transmission capability.

I do agree, we do need more on-site observers. We also need more
reliable automatic systems. Its unfortunate, but I don't think we are
going to get both.

=====
Raymond C. Martin, Jr.
Associate Meteorologist, AccuWeather Inc.- http://www.accuweather.com/
New Jersey Expressways and Tollways - http://www.njfreeways.com/
Ray's Winter Storm Archive - http://www.njfreeways.com/weather/


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