Stormy Weather

Well, the storms have come and gone.  We were lucky again, and the tornadoes skipped over us. My prayers go out to the families of those who were taken to God's bosom last night.  It's such a tragedy and the property loss is a terrible thing in this economy.  We had some wind, but if there was any lighting I didn't see it and if there was any thunder, I didn't hear it.  Our concern was that the severe weather was to occur between two and four AM, and we needed a way to listen for warnings.  I started to dig out my old WX radio (I think it's in the dry bag with all the rest of our camping stuff), but then WCNC's weather man suggested that we try this new app for the IPOD called weather radio. http://www.wdtinc.com/pages/imapweather_radio

It was just the ticket.  One of the things I dislike most about my old weather radio is that you get an alarm for every impending disaster.  We don't live in a flood plain and the flood warnings alone are enough to make you turn the WX radio off.  But with this new app, you can tailor it to alert only on storm warnings.  We got about six or eight storm alerts last night, and I can tell you it was nice to hear that they were only tornado watches and not warnings.   We did get to sleep last night, but I can assure you that this afternoon's nap will be much appreciated.

I see that the SFI is 108 and the absorption is down to 1.  Looks like it might be a good day for a little DX.  I've already checked 20 meters and there's a lot of activity there.  I had a great opening into the Caribbean on 10 meters yesterday.  Maybe the nap will have to wait!