Weather Contingency Planning
First, make sure your own stuff is prepared for the weather. We'll usually get some warning, but it is a good idea to pull down your personal tent and/or remove the fabric in the case of high winds or overnight. NARAM / NAR cannot be responsible and rolling tents can damage cars.
The real purpose of this page is to clearly communicate what we intend to do in case weather does not cooperate with us on a competition day. This can include high winds, rain, thunderstorms, fog, low cloud cover or even a flooded field. Any of these can easily stop competition flying for awhile. Of course, we cannot guarantee anything, but here is our plan in case the worst happens, so you can be prepared:
If the range is shut down for less than an hour, we will proceed as scheduled. For instance, if the range opens 50 minutes late due to early morning fog, we will continue with the normal schedule with no adjustments. Range duty times will not change and the range will still close on time.
If the range is shut down for more than an hour, we will add additional time to the range that day. This could be a cumulative effect (multiple short windows of rain for instance) or a large effect (range opens 3 hours late due to fog). We will add at least an hour to the day's schedule, but we are obviously constrained by daylight and appropriate flying conditions. If you are on duty during the weather delays, your range duty shift will likely be extended (for instance, if rain starts at 8:30 and goes until 10:00, the first range crew will be asked to stay on until 11 and then 2-hour shifts will proceed as normal until the range closes at 5).
If the range shuts down more than 3 hours early and does not re-open that day (for instance, a thunderstorm rolls in at 12:45 and does not let up until after 5 pm), we will extend the events for the current day into the following day. This is an extreme situation and will be handled as best we can, either by having a morning session to make up the previous days flights or by allowing all 4 events to be flown on the following day. We really hope this does not happen but we will try to make the best of it and continue to have a fair competition.
Stopping the range for weather is the call of the RSO on duty at the time or the CD, either person can call a stop for weather. The CD & RSOs have the discretion to stop flying before an imminent storm hits, allowing competitors to secure their belongings and allowing the range crew to secure the range for the storm. The CD will make ultimate calls on how best to make up for lost competition time.
Of particular note are the dangerous situations that are possible during a lightning storm. The goal is to prevent any damage to people in case of a lightning storm. If the CD or the RSO on duty calls for a lightning storm, we expect all range activity to immediately stop. Trackers are expected to secure the tracking equipment as best & quickly as they can (put the scope in the box, leave the tripod, if a tent is there, remove the fabric). Timers will stop timing and record the time. Contestants flying radio controlled models will be expected to land their models and proceed to their belongings. If necessary, flights affected by a lightning storm shutdown will be considered catastrophic failures and can be unofficial (and reflown) or taken as official depending on the contestant's preference. The range crew on duty will secure the range as best as they can (ensuring that flight cards & NARAM equipment like computers are secured). All flyers will secure their personal belongings and leave the field. Staying on the field is extremely dangerous and cannot be tolerated, as a penalty we will be disqualifying flights of those who stay at the field during a lightning storm (see USMRSC rule 11.4 "Disqualifications: Expulsion"). As above, we will proceed as best we can from that point forward. Notices will be posted at the hotel and on the NARAM website (if possible) once the storm has passed and we decide how best to continue. Given the travel time to the hotel or other nearby shelters, we will not restart the range before one hour has passed from the beginning of the storm.
Expect announcements concerning all but the worst weather conditions to be made on the field each day. If the worst scenario happens and we lose a large amount of flying time, we will post notices on the NARAM website, at the hotel "information center" and at the field the following day.