Skywarn Spotters

[Dispatrick]

SKYWARN

What are the rules for participating in a skywarn net? I haven't taken a skywarn spotter class yet but if I was in an area where a net was activated and spotted severe weather (funnel cloud forming and or touchdown) that hasn't been reported, could I check in to the net and relay my location and information?

Also what are the rules for participation? Can an amateur operator participate in a net in another state? for example, I do have my amateur license, and for question sake lets say I also have taken a skywarn class, If I was in Florida on vacation and spotters were activated in my area, could I participate in the net?

 

[Klentathu]

Amateur Radio Operator Participation

What are the rules for participating in a skywarn net? I haven't taken a skywarn spotter class yet but if I was in an area where a net was activated and spotted severe weather (funnel cloud forming and or touchdown) that hasn't been reported, could I check in to the net and relay my location and information?

Also what are the rules for participation? Can an amateur operator participate in a net in another state? for example, I do have my amateur license, and for question sake lets say I also have taken a skywarn class, If I was in Florida on vacation and spotters were activated in my area, could I participate in the net?

There is no nationwide standard of which I am aware for participation in a SKYWARN net. In my area, you would be allowed to both check in and make reports. The key is to understand that SKYWARN exists to report SEVERE weather to the National Weather Service. Most SKYWARN nets are directed nets, and during a warning, they will only accept severe reports. I suggest you conduct an internet search for SKYWARN for your area as they probably have a website, including contact information.

Also, you can receive spotter training online at https://www.meted.ucar.edu/training_course.php?id=23. You will need to know which Weather Service Forecast Office serves your area so met.ucar can send your training certificate to them. You can also check the web page of your local WSFO for scheduled spotter classes, normally held in the evening on a weekday.

Kevin Heyboer KD4UYR
Net Manager SW Carolina SKYWARN
AEC Cherokee County NCARES/AUXCOMM

 

[AK9R]

PGMAN89, the Tri-State Skywarn Page at the New York NWS web site may provide some answers for your area.

 

[krokus]

What are the rules for participating in a skywarn net? I haven't taken a skywarn spotter class yet but if I was in an area where a net was activated and spotted severe weather (funnel cloud forming and or touchdown) that hasn't been reported, could I check in to the net and relay my location and information?

That depends in the specific net. You would be considered an "untrained observer" but would listened to. There might be trained observers in the area, and their reports will be given more weight.

Also what are the rules for participation? Can an amateur operator participate in a net in another state? for example, I do have my amateur license, and for question sake lets say I also have taken a skywarn class, If I was in Florida on vacation and spotters were activated in my area, could I participate in the net?

Yes. If you have a spotter ID issued, that would be helpful. (Apparently some locations do not issue cards with spotter numbers.) When I received my first spotter ID, it was in another state where I was attending a military school, and I checked in with that ID to my home area net.

Edit: Once again, check with the local people who run the net. If it is run as a RACES event, then only RACES personnel can participate.

Sent via Tapatalk

 

[SteveC0625]

What are the rules for participating in a skywarn net? I haven't taken a skywarn spotter class yet but if I was in an area where a net was activated and spotted severe weather (funnel cloud forming and or touchdown) that hasn't been reported, could I check in to the net and relay my location and information?

Things are changing in the SkyWarn world. Based on actual location of the spotter, it may not be possible or practical to reach an amateur net to make a report. NWS is now relying heavily on social media and cell phones for current reports. In many cases, picking up your cell phone and making a call direct to NWS will be faster and eliminate one or more middle men from the reporting chain.

I just sat in on two SkyWarn classes. The first was in a fairly populous area with lots of cell coverage, internet service, and one or two amateur nets. The class was half amateur radio guys and half folks from outside the radio world. In that class, it was obvious even to the most experienced RACES guys that amateur radio just might not be as primary for severe weather reporting as it used to be. There are too many other methods of reporting that are not dependent on a net being up and running.

The second class was in the middle of the Adirondack park. Cell coverage is limited or non-existent. This time, the class was all amateur radio except for one person. Here the situation is very, very different, and an amateur radio net could well be a reliable and possibly primary reporting means for a spotter. But even there, the spotter's report has to make it from the net to NWS somehow. If the phone lines are down and the net has no HF or other contact already established to someone who can reach NWS, it's all for naught.

My point is simply this: Amateur radio nets may not be the fastest or best or most reliable reporting route. Take the class and learn how NWS receives spotter reports and then you can make an informed decision about reporting means.

p.s. The list of reports that they don't want you to call in is much longer than the list of what they do want to know about.

 

[frazpo]

p.s. The list of reports that they don't want you to call in is much longer than the list of what they do want to know about.

That cannot be reiterated enough. And know your cloud types. Don't be that guy who thinks they have to be heard on the radio. The NWS knows it's raining and are assuming there will be a light breeze out of the west. They don't need that reported to them

 

[jaspence]

I have heard way too many trained amateurs call in "just a light breeze and rain" or similar useless info even during a warning. I can't even imagine the general public trying to call the weather service because they see a scud formation and report it is a tornado. Yes, cell phones can increase coverage, but given some of the people I have seen at the meetings in my area, I hope they forget to charge their phones.

 

[KB7MIB]

Hopefully, the instructors are making it clear to the attendees about what to look for, and are doing a mini quiz, "Tornado or not?" via a slide show, like the Phoenix, AZ NWS instructors do

The Phoenix net only takes criteria reports during an activation. General check-ins are not taken. There is a weekly general information net Wednesday evenings, but I usually forget about it until it's too late lol

And we have several methods of reporting. 1) the Skywarn radio nets for those with an ARS license; 2) an 800 telephone number; 3) email to a noaa.gov address; 4) internet to a noaa.gov URL; 5) the Phoenix NWS Facebook page; 6) Twitter with a specific @ and #

John
Skywarn Spotter MAA-503
Peoria, AZ

 

[SteveC0625]

One of the things that I noticed during the first class that I mentioned earlier was a bit of overeagerness on the part of the hams in the club to put up a net at the first sign of rain and be all official and authoritative. They really seemed to think that their net would be the only avenue for reporting severe weather. Remember that was in a populous area with plenty of cell service, landline, internet, etc. available plus a very robust public safety radio system.

I suppose that is generally true of ARES and RACES groups every where.

 

[frazpo]

Remember that was in a populous area with plenty of cell service, landline, internet, etc. available plus a very robust public safety radio system.
.

While this is true there is something to be said about the use ham radio for Skywarn weather reporting. For one it puts a registered name, and face in some cases, behind the reports. The net control, if its a locally organized group, will know who to trust for accurate information.

Dedication - I would say most ham/weather hobbyist keep up with the weather forecasts and consider themselves ready and willing to put themselves out there when needed for storm spotting.

While cell phones and landlines are very dependable they proved unreliable during the Joplin tornado (I live here). You could text at times but no calls were being connected. So a linked repeater system would actually be more reliable.

I enjoy amateur radio and I love watching the weather so what better combination then go out storm spotting and reporting severe weather via ham radio!

I believe amateur radio will always have a place when it comes to storm spotting. The real time communication is there along with dedicated spotters.

I am not saying other avenues are not useful and reliable. This would just be my choice of relaying my info.

 

[elk2370bruce]

A common sense reply would be "If your in a situation where you need a blinking lot (of any color) as a Skywarn spotter, you don't belong there. " That's a quote from the NWS instructors who teach the classes.

 

[MTS2000des]

Things are changing in the SkyWarn world. Based on actual location of the spotter, it may not be possible or practical to reach an amateur net to make a report. NWS is now relying heavily on social media and cell phones for current reports. In many cases, picking up your cell phone and making a call direct to NWS will be faster and eliminate one or more middle men from the reporting chain.

The last Skywarn class I attended at our county EMA, it was mentioned that ham radio operators should contact a fellow ham with internet access to relay the report via email or a webform, EMWIN, etc or call an (866) number.

The Atlanta (Peachtree City) NWS office has stopped using ham operators, the meteorologists found the constant irrelevant radio traffic (people just having to talk, irrelevant reports, constant ham repeaters IDing, kerchunks, etc) was too distracting and thus, they eliminated the use of the radios. I imagine they are still there "should all else fail" but I haven't heard them in over two years.

The last time I tried to relay a valid damage report, I had to wait a full 15 minutes after long winded simulcasts of weather warnings (which were readily available on local media and NOAA weather radio), loud mouths who were describing non-weather events, and endless cascades of courtesy tones, which at this point the event was over.

So while in some parts of country there may be limited cellphone coverage, in this city on T-Mobile I get anywhere from 50-120mbps down and have no problem making a phone call either.

 

[frazpo]

The Atlanta (Peachtree City) NWS office has stopped using ham operators, the meteorologists found the constant irrelevant radio traffic (people just having to talk, irrelevant reports, constant ham repeaters IDing, kerchunks, etc) was too distracting and thus, they eliminated the use of the radios. I imagine they are still there "should all else fail" but I haven't heard them in over two years.

The last time I tried to relay a valid damage report, I had to wait a full 15 minutes after long winded simulcasts of weather warnings (which were readily available on local media and NOAA weather radio), loud mouths who were describing non-weather events, and endless cascades of courtesy tones, which at this point the event was over.

Must be the same everywhere. Same worthless reports happens here.
The use of NWSchat has been great at creating a buffer between spotters, net controls and the NWS.
We have a great net control for the NWS here in our area that has been doing it for years. He takes reports from area nets via linked systems and the info is relayed on NWSchat. The NWS simply monitors unless its a critical situation. Works very well.

Phones, social media are all great for non critical reports however its hard to beat real time reports from under a storm using a radio. With the changing terrain in my area and the lack of full cell coverage the linked radio system is more reliable. I am sure scenarios are different for other areas.

 

[MTS2000des]

I think it is for the better. As a communications professional, ham radio has no place in the daily operations. I used to keep my analog UHF repeater and Echolink node on at work, but I've found it just adds to the noise level (when there is activity) that can be distracting.

Not that it doesn't have it's place, but as you've said, we have tons of other pipelines of information coming in.

Easier for the ham spotters to be externally managed and funnel the data into the NWS that way. Cuts down on the "clutter" in the command centers and also gives the hams who do run the nets good practice.

I have heard some excellent weather nets here, the county north of mine has a great AUXCOMM unit that is vetted and part of their EMA, and they do an incredible job. They know their roles, they are well trained, and STFU unless they have real traffic to pass.

That's the way it SHOULD be IMO.

 

[SCPD]

Any storm chaser with lights trying to get people to move over is a whacker and impersonating a Police Officer. If I ever see that, it's plate# and dash cam video and a call to the Sheriff's Dept. or the locals, who would love to prosecute anyone attempting this crap. Speeding, unsafe lane changes, forcing people to pull over so they can get their is a fatal accident waiting to happen. Hope those people have lot's of money cause it's gonna cost them in many ways.

 

[frazpo]

Any storm chaser with lights trying to get people to move over is a whacker and impersonating a Police Officer. If I ever see that, it's plate# and dash cam video and a call to the Sheriff's Dept. or the locals, who would love to prosecute anyone attempting this crap. Speeding, unsafe lane changes, forcing people to pull over so they can get their is a fatal accident waiting to happen. Hope those people have lot's of money cause it's gonna cost them in many ways.

LOL. I see most of those things on my daily commute.

 

[madrabbitt]

LOL. I see most of those things on my daily commute.

Yeah, but without the blinky yeller' lights.

 

[frazpo]

So your talking about people like this guy?? Like a civilian driving around a used police interceptor isn't bad enough. LOL

 

[Mojaveflyer]

Skywarn Spotter Ham Radio Nets

I think my biggest gripe since the Skywarn Nets were given over to the county ARES groups in northeast Colorado is that most of the net control people have become very long winded with their announcements. I spent many years running Skywarn Nets from the NWS Office and learned that brevity should be emulated by others on the net... Lead by example, not 'Do as I say, not as I do'.

 

[N0IU]

So your talking about people like this guy?? Like a civilian driving around a used police interceptor isn't bad enough. LOL

Or this guy... who doesn't have enough room on the roof of his car for "blinky lights"!