Jasper County Scanner Feed May Go Silent By Years End

Due to the implementation of the new Nexedge digital radio system in the works, the Jasper County scanner feed may go silent by years end.  This move will benefit the public safety community in the area and provide interoperable communications among all agencies in the county.

A lot of the feed listeners log on strictly for weather related purposes. I will look at some options on what can be monitored and would most benefit the listeners concerning severe weather coverage and go from there.  I will update as soon as the change is made.

Joplin NOAA weather radio transmitter

I heard on the radio this morning that Joplin will be getting a new NOAA weather radio transmitter. It will be located on top of the Joplin City Hall and transmit at 300 watts. This will cover all of Jasper county and make for a much clearer signal than we are used to getting here in the Joplin area.  Currently most Jasper County residents receive NOAA weather radio from either Newton County or Avilla. The estimated time of installation will be May or June.
This means that you will need to reprogram your receiver if you plan on monitoring the new transmitter. 

Watch for a PSA push some time in the next few months.

Feed will be all Fire and Medical

The Jasper county feed is transitioning to all Fire and Medical. This will eliminate the use of the feed for malicious reasons but still serve as an excellent source for severe weather information during storm season.

The scanner is scanning Jasper County Emergency Services paging frequency and Cherokee County paging and tone out frequencies.

Inexpensive security camera setup in the "cloud"

I have utilized Sensr.net for a couple of years now and thought I would write a short post on the many uses of the video feed sharing site. The concept is simple. Connect an IP cam to your home network, input a few simple settings, and let Sensr.net archive and notify you of motion activated activity on your cam.

On the Sensr.net website you will find many different uses that feed providers have found for their web cams. I use one for my backyard that is public and one for my garage that is private. The choice is yours on whether you want share your feed or keep it to yourself. For instance my camera was setup on my backyard during the Joplin Tornado and recorded the high winds we received here at my location. See it here The tornado is actually on the ground at around 5:34 about 5-6 miles directly south of my house. All the storms were intense that day. Part of living in the midwest I guess.


You can't beat the price for a security system that alerts you motion and archives video. You can pick up a wireless IP cam for around $70.

Joplin Tornado Victims FEMA Trailer park

After doing some reading on what is called FEMA trailer parks I feel even more sorry for the tornado victims that will be inhabiting them.

The trailer park, currently being built south of the Joplin Airport, is going up quickly and soon will be occupied by homeless victims of the May 22 Joplin,Mo tornado.
However, in past disasters these parks have been plagued with drugs and crime. Due to government "freeloading" some cities have had to force occupants to show progress on rebuilding or move out. Some forced out homeless even after court battles. The trailers themselves are said to be thin walled and not insulated well. Granted, a majority will do their best to look forward, rebuild, and move on. I feel for those with families with kids that will have no choice but to occupy the trailers, not knowing who will living next to them, a thief? a pervert? Just another horrible situation for these victims. I hope some church groups will provide some activities and something to do for the children in the park periodically. The trailers are small and there are no parks close to that area.

Merger of storms added ‘steroids’ needed to form May 22 tornado

Merger of storms added ‘steroids’ needed to form May 22 tornado

Very brave 10 yr old Tornado Survivor

The stories that continue to be told of May 22 are at times hard to believe. Here is one that shows the courage of a 10 yr old, impaled and pinned in a vehicle by flying debris.
Read the story here on the Joplin Globe

Read the Hazardous Weather Outlook. It could save your life.

May 22,2011, like many other days through the Spring, I was routinely checking my radar software waiting for storms to fire up along an approaching dry line from Kansas. The line had already created storm warning towards KC, Mo and the southern end was just reaching south central Kansas. With plans to go eat with my parents around 4 pm I thought we had better move the time up as much as possible due to the impending front. Unlike a lot of people that day I was aware of the possibilities and knew the atmosphere was primed for severe weather. I have been a "weather bug" for as long as I can remember and I consider weather my most enjoyable hobby.  With the humidity in the 70's, dew point in the mid 60's and the temp around 81, I knew this was not a good combination. The first cell formed, if I remember correctly, about 4-5 counties to the west in the early afternoon.

We ate at a local Joplin restaurant and left around 4 pm.  I noticed some friends of our neighbors sitting near us. We had met them a few times and they actually used to live in our house prior to us moving in. Little did she and her children know that in about an hour and half their apartment complex would be demolished around them as they did their best to ride out one of the most powerful and deadliest tornadoes in recent history. Life can change in an instant. It could have been very easily the last time we saw them alive. They were lucky and unfortunately many were not.

I continued to watch the radar and we were put under a tornado warning around 5:10pm. I felt uneasy but not fearful. The storm had kept the distinct shape of a super cell and there had been reports of a wall and funnel cloud 10 miles west of us (Carl Junction). Then another tornado warning was issued to the south near Joplin. A small cell had formed quickly over Cherokee County, Ks, directly west of Joplin. The cell spawned on the southern edge of the cell that was just entering Carl Junction. The next 30 minutes will take the lives of over 150 people that may have had no idea the weather was forecasted to include severe weather and tornado risks.


The HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK (HWO)

The hazardous weather outlook is information delivered from the NWS. It indicates the risk levels of severe or dangerous weather that we may experience in the next 24-48 hours. It's made to check at a glance and is an easy way to decide whether to keep those afternoon picnic plans.  The hazardous weather outlook (HWO) is not candy coated and it is not delivered from the deep voice of your local DJ. Which may only say that it there is a chance of an afternoon storm. I am often irritated that the weather updates from local tv and radio do not go into more detail about the weather forecast. Unless you read the detailed weather forecast text from the NWS then your basically not getting the information you need to be fully aware of  impending severe weather and the chance of tornadoes. I am hoping that this event will make more people "weather bugs" like me. My hobby may have saved my life that day. It kept me aware of the threat and I was able to plan my day around it.

This is the HWO. Make it a habit to read everyday!

Extreme damage to apartment building

Joplin,Mo hit with masssive tornado!

Survivors look through rubble for belongings after a massive tornado struck the area Sunday evening