Wicked weather watccher
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Posted By Allison Peters, The Central Plains Herald-Leader
Posted 1 month ago
Dark skies, strong winds and heavy rains are usually a clue to take cover, but for Bill Simm of Portage la Prairie, they are a signal to get to work.
Simm is an amateur radio operator — ham — and one of Environment Canada's many volunteer severe weather watchers with the CanWarn system.
"I think it's a good way to do it, it's one of the best ways to do it," Simm said.
Simm became involved with amateur radio in the early eighties when he took a radio operators' course at Red River College. Although he had originally considered a career as a radio operator, Simm ended up at the University of North Dakota where the classes he took in meteorology and climatology. That piqued his interest in weather-watching.
"It's just fascinating," he said.
To become a severe weather observer, amateur radio operators complete a course taught by Environment Canada, which teaches them to recognize what types of weather need to be reported.
"Wall clouds, funnel clouds, that sort of thing, How to recognize super-cell storms and where to be and they give you a good idea of the position to put yourself in to observe it so you're safe and can see what's going on," he said.
The course is offered each spring and Simm said he tries to take it every year as a refresher. Simm estimated there were about 75 people at the most recent training in Steinbach this spring.
Simm also volunteers at Prairie and Arctic Storm Prediction Centre by staffing the radio station the centre has in Winnipeg and taking reports from observers when bad weather hits.
"I'd take their reports and then turn around a pass it off to the meteorologists," he said. "And they will use that because they do not like to issue a tornado warning unless they have visual proof that it's actually on the ground."
Simm said he has not spotted a funnel cloud himself, but even to be in the station in Winnipeg when reports of severe weather come in is exciting.
"To be there in the middle of it all when it's happening is quite an experience," he said.
There are a few spots around Portage Simm stakes out when bad weather is on the horizon.
If a storm is moving in from the west, he will go to 18th Street by the railroad tracks, where farmland keeps the sky uncluttered.
If something is developing to the south of the city, Simm will head out to the Southport area to wait and watch. He travels with two radios in his car, one reporting from Winnipeg and on from Kenora.
The CanWarn, Canadian Weather Amature Radio Network, operates in Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan.
It operates from Victoria Day to Labour Day.
The program was established after the Edmonton tornado in 1987.
"It's really one of the best ways Environment Canada has to know what's going on. The radar only shows them so much," Simm said.
apeters@cpheraldleader.com
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