Friday, April 18, 2014

Weather and Other Warnings on Your Cell Phone and E-mail

Dalhart Weather Review
By Aaron Graves

It has been an interesting week for the weather geek! Storm spotter training was held over the weekend. There was a total lunar eclipse in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. And we enjoyed a mid-April snow. 

More on that below. First, something very important. What follows in this article is a bit technical, but please read the whole thing. It could be life-saving! 

Dalhart residents are able to receive text and e-mail alerts when severe weather or any other hazard is threatening the area. It is important for you to know about this service and to sign up for it. Why? Tornado sirens, while effective, may not be within hearing range. Dalhart is unable to receive the All-Hazards NOAA Weather Radio. Thus, the only thing that might wake you up in the middle of the night in a life-threatening emergency is your phone going off.  


The service, called “Resolve To Be Ready”, is made available thanks to the Panhandle Regional Planning Commission. The purpose of this column is to walk you though the online sign-up process. I have included screen shots of the website to help you, so as you read through the steps below, click on the embedded pictures to get a closer look. 

What follows is for the first-time user. Go to the website www.r2beready.com. Your browser will redirect to i-INFO.com, so don’t worry. Notice it says “Resolve To Be Ready” at the top of the web page. 

The Resolve to Be Ready Home Page
Towards the bottom of the page, you can pick the counties you want to receive alerts for. Select the counties where you live and work. For example, click on the box next to “Dallam/Hartley Counties”. When you have done that, click “NEXT” at the bottom of the page. 


The second page choices.
A new web page will load. On this page, you can fine-tune the type of alerts you want to receive. For example, click the box next to “National Weather Service Notifications” in order to receive tornado warnings. You can also select other types of alerts and advisories. For example, click the box “City of Dalhart Notifications” if you live within the city limits. 


Since you are a new user, click the box at the bottom of the page “New i-INFO Registration”. A new web page will load that says “Mass Notification Registry” at the top. Here is where you will set up your account and choose how alerts will be sent to you. 

On page 3 you enter your cell
phone number and e-mail address
to receive alerts. 
Enter your personal information. Note where it asks you for a cell phone number. Enter your cell phone number and then click the box that says “I want to receive text messages”. If you enter an e-mail address, you will also receive alerts by e-mail.    


After scrolling down, you have
further choices.
Scroll down. Here you can further fine-tune the alerts you receive. For example, if you clicked “City of Dalhart Notifications” on the previous page, you now have a choice to receive emergency notifications and public safety warnings, or just general announcements. Select those that interest you. 

Scroll down some more. Here is where you set up your user name and password so you can save your settings with i-INFO and change them later if need be. Below that, you have to accept the terms of service and type in a validation code. Finally, click “Submit” at the bottom of the page. 

To change settings in the future, go back to www.r2beready.com. If you want to change the counties you receive alerts for, you basically have to go through all the steps above, except on the second page. Instead of setting up a new account, you click the box “Enter my i-INFO Login”. 

If you just want to change your profile settings, including your e-mail or cell phone number, click the link on the first page http://www.i-info.com/MiProfile. Type in your user name and password. Note, by using this link, you have a couple of new options, including one to fine-tune the type of weather alerts you receive from the National Weather Service. (This is the only way I found to do that with the weather alerts.) 

Again, this service is provided free of charge. Of course, any cell phone costs are yours, so be aware if you have a limit on free text messaging. Please, take the time to sign up for it.

In future columns, we will talk more about the lack of NOAA Weather Radio coverage in this area, as well as look as some smart-phone apps that can deliver weather alerts. 

***

About an inch of snow was recorded in Dalhart Sunday night, which equaled 0.06” of moisture. It was all but melted off by Monday afternoon. The cold front, however, bumped us from daytime highs in the 70's and 80's back into the 50's and 60's. 

UPDATED: Rain chances, although slight, are in the forecast for Saturday and Sunday. Temperatures will finally warm back into the 70's this weekend. 

If you missed the total lunar eclipse during the early morning hours Tuesday, another eclipse is set for October 8. In fact, this was the first of four back-to-back total lunar eclipses over the next 2 years. For a detailed explanation, check out this video from NASA.  

High and low temps the past week: 

Apr 8: 73, 31
Apr 9: 85, 35
Apr 10: 75, 45
Apr 11: 82, 39
Apr 12: 88, 45
Apr 13: 63, 28
Apr 14: 44, 26

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