It was a dark and stormy night, Memorial Day evening May 28 – 29, 2019. Montgomery County, Ohio experienced a prolonged tornado outbreak of 15 tornadoes, ranging from EF-0 to EF-4.
The National Weather Service in Wilmington, Ohio activated Dayton Skywarn. Gary Clark, KC8TND, and Don Parker, KB8PSL, responded to our comm center to cover the storms reported to affect our southern region coverage. Dayton Skywarn is responsible for 15+ counties in our greater Miami Valley area. Dayton Skywarn’s area coverage requires a north and a south repeater system.
Gary manned the NWS radio and NWS chat while Don received weather reports from our trained weather spotter ham radio operators. We received tornado reports from several weather spotters who were able to describe the tornadoes only when the sky lit up from power lines and transformers exploding. Montgomery County, Greene County, and Mercer County were declared a state of emergency from the storm damage. Over 130 citizens were injured, and one fatality was reported.
Don Parker covered the first several hours of tornado reports that seemed to stop after midnight. Dave Crawford KF4KWW arrived during the evening and jumped into the hot to give Don a break. The tornado reports fired back up again. Montgomery County received massive destruction with over three hours of nonstop tornadoes. Wilmington NWS used Dayton Skywarn’s ham radio weather spotter’s reports to warn citizens of the dangerous tornadoes. These reports were picked up from NWS to local meteorologists for broadcasting alerts.
On September 17, 2022, Lou Long, KB8TCK, and Don Parker attended the NWS Coordinator’s fall meeting, our first in-person meeting since 2019 due to the pandemic. NWS presented Lou and Don with a plaque and certificate for Dayton Skywarn’s weather coverage during the Memorial Day tornado outbreak.
Dayton Skywarn assists Wilmington NWS with weather spotter training each spring for our 15+ counties. Lou Long and Don Parker are only the third coordinators for Dayton Skywarn since its inception in 1974 after the Xenia tornado. Gary Clark was moved from net control operator to co-coordinator for his dedication and service to Dayton Skywarn.
In the attached presentation photo are; Tom Johnstone Wilmington NWS director, Brandon Peloquin NWS Warning Coordinator, Don Parker, and Lou Long. Dayton Skywarn appreciates the recognition from NWS and wants to thank the ham radio weather spotters for their valuable service. It’s teamwork that makes the Skywarn weather spotter program a success.
Don Parker – Dayton Skywarn Co-Coordinator
