SKYWARN - STORM SPOTTING
What is SKYWARN?
SKYWARN consists of volunteer storm spotters that provide timely and accurate reports of severe weather to the National Weather Service for their local community.
For the Rural Iowa Amateur Radio Club, SKYWARN consists of NWS Storm Spotter Training and running a net to report weather conditions and/or damage to the NWS in La Crosse, WI and to Fayette County Emergency Management.
There is no requirement to be mobile for storm spotting. We will take reports from wherever you are. (Home, Work, Friend's House, Neighborhood Establishment, etc). If you choose to go mobile, it is up to you to remain safe and in an area where you will have communications back to Net Control.
There are many places on the internet where you learn about SKYWARN and view weather information, get forcasts, and watch the radar. Some are free, some cost money. Below are the sites and information we find valuable for our area.
RESOURCES
Introduction
- RIARC SKYWARN SOP - Provides details on how we run our SKYWARN program and net.
- Weather Net Preamble - Script to start a weather net.
- NWS La Crosse Spotter Page - Learn about the SKYWARN program for the local NWS office and how it's administered. You can also find the calendar of upcoming spring spotter training sessions.
Training
- Spotter Training - Training schedule for spring spotter training put on by NWS LaCrosse
- MetED - Role of the Skywarn Spotter - Introductory online course on becoming a weather spotter.
- MetED - Skywarn Spotter Convective Basics - Additional online course on becoming a weather spotter.
- Spotter Network - Excellent resource for storm/weather training and provides for multiple methods of location tracking.
Prior to the storm
- Current Day Outlook for storm chances - You can look at the forcasted risks for the current day. Outlooks for further out -- Day 2 Outlook Day 3 Outlook Days 4-8 Outlooks
- NWS La Crosse Severe Weather Monitor - Allows you to have a user customizable screen with outlooks, watches, warnings, radar, etc.
During Storm Spotting for an approaching storm
Radar Apps
- NWS Radar - Free web based radar direct from NWS
- Radar Scope - PC, iOS, Android - $9.99 for base app with subscription for higher levels
- RadarOmega - PC, iOS, Android - $8.99 for base app with subscription for higher levels
- GRLevel3 Radar Application - Many of our members use a computer program called GRLevel3. The cost is a $79.95 one time fee. We like GRLevel3 because it allows us to see Spotter Network spotter locations on the radar map.
Storm Reporting Tools
The methods below are typically used for non life threatening repoting by the general public. The RIARC SKYWARN Team has additional methods of reporting directly to the NWS ARX that you can learn about by joining our team or attending our meetings.- IEM Bot - Allows you to see weather alert messages by NWS forcast offices.
- Storm Damage Reports Map - Interactive map for damage reports coming into National Weather Service stations nationwide
- How to submit storm reports - methods to submit to NWS LaCrosse
- mPing - iOS, Android app for collecting public weather reports.
Weather Resources for daily use
- NWS - Op Product Viewer - Allows you to view compsite radar and other products at a nationwide level.
- NWS - Forcast Points - Allows you to select and view forcast information for any location.