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If one of our Skywarn spotters started chasing a storm (which is different from repositioning to another spotting location) they would be gently reminded at first that such conduct is unacceptable and if they continued to do so, they would lose the "blessing" of the County EMA and local LE agencies. Which means they would get "negative attention" from those agencies while chasing.
Our group has the support of the local NWS office as well as the SO and EMA in our county and we intend to keep it that way - none of our spotters have light bars/strobes/etc. on our vehicles. We obey all of the traffic laws and enforce strict safety protocols for our mobile spotters. Bluntly put, we don't want "Weather Whackers" in our group.
Our group has the support of the local NWS office as well as the SO and EMA in our county and we intend to keep it that way - none of our spotters have light bars/strobes/etc. on our vehicles. We obey all of the traffic laws and enforce strict safety protocols for our mobile spotters. Bluntly put, we don't want "Weather Whackers" in our group.
I do Skywarn for my local county, however, if my county is in the clear and the storm is entering a different county, I will check out of my county Skywarn and go chase the storm. The local Skywarn, county, NWS all do not have any issues.
If you do chase and do so responsible, you will gain trust from local agencies and the local NWS office.
If you do chase and do so responsible, you will gain trust from local agencies and the local NWS office.
Since you show to be in Stephenville, you are in the NWS Fort Worth jurisdiction. Here is a list of the frequencies we monitor at the forecast office during severe weather. Now, these will be mainly spotters and not chasers but it's a reliable source of info during severe weather.
NWS Ft. Worth North Texas Skywarn Repeater Directory
We also monitor the NCTC Link system at North Central Texas Connection.
More info regarding the spotting in North Texas can be found at WX5FWD SKYWARN® Team | The SKYWARN® Radio Desk Team for the Fort Worth National Weather Service (NWS) Office
NWS Ft. Worth North Texas Skywarn Repeater Directory
We also monitor the NCTC Link system at North Central Texas Connection.
More info regarding the spotting in North Texas can be found at WX5FWD SKYWARN® Team | The SKYWARN® Radio Desk Team for the Fort Worth National Weather Service (NWS) Office
N0IU
Member
I am 100% in complete agreement with wb0wao on this one. The NWS office serving the St. Louis region does NOT under any circumstances at all whatsoever condone the practice of chasing storms by civilians. Yes, they do love getting "ground truth" reports from spotters, but they don't need them so badly as to recommend that civilians with little or no training actively pursue severe weather systems. This can lead to fatal results.
Taking a SKYWARN class only gives you barely minimal exposure as to the elements that constitute severe weather systems and what indicators to look for. You should NEVER put your own personal safety at risk in the name of reporting severe weather activity.... EVER!
Unless you are a professionally trained meteorologist, you do not know enough about sever weather systems to chase storms!
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Uh, NO you won't. Guess again. :roll: 73, n9zas
Codes? A subscription to RR would be helpful as well. And I love that Google Post; never knew that existed.
Define professionally trained.
Texas may be different. We'll take reports from spotters, chasers or the random ham. Most reports can be confirmed either by radar or another spotter/chaser. There are many areas that don't have organized spotter groups so we have to rely on chasers for ground truth. If they have a ham license and a radio, we'll listen to them. If a tornado is ripping through a neighborhood or we can hear hail crashing through the windshield, we don't worry about training or question their motives for being out in the middle of a storm.
N0IU
Member
At the very minimum, an undergraduate degree in meteorology from an accredited university.
One of the best chasers out there was Tim Samaras who had no college education in meteorology.
N0IU
Member
And now he's dead!
Ok, stop it.
The original post was about frequencies, anything else from this point on will result in infractions.
The original post was about frequencies, anything else from this point on will result in infractions.
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