I'd never heard of Skywarn until you posted about it, DJ. Looks like an interesting thing to get involved with though.

 

I learned about it through the actual weather advisory text based postings from the NWS. If you look at those, there is always a statement at the bottom about whether or not spotter activation is predicted to be needed or not. I always just knew of obvservers to be called 'spotters' and nothing more. I saw a little writeup in my local newspaper advertising the class, but I didn't attach the SKYWARN name to it. It was only after a quick search on NOAA's website to confirm the class time and location did I learn of the formal name.

I'm really looking forward to taking the class and becoming involved. I've always been fascinated by the weather and this is an opportunity for me to get involved, learn something for my own peace of mind, and hopefully help out my neighbors.

 

i have not taken it, but since i do public safety radio work i know plenty of trained spotters. They say the main point of the class is to learn to distinguish various weather, for example just because a cloud is rotating rapidly does not make it a tornado. from my understanding it is a fairly basic class but is well worth it even if you do not participate in spotting.

if you do decide to participate, check in with your local Emergency Management agency. Often they have monthly meetings and various free training. Plus they will be the ones to coordinate any activities.

are you a HAM? if so, you should check with local clubs as they too often coordinate their own spotting activities. If not, it's a good hobby to get into. I still put off getting my HAM ticket, even though i have been wanting to do it for a few years.

 

Im thinking wiht the weather you have been having this year, you would want to have them guys close at hand!!!!!!

 

Thanks David. I didn't even think about talking to my local OES. I'd bet they have a number of resources for public use. I'll check them out.

I don't have a HAM radio, but the idea does intrigue me. Of course, that would detract from my MTF time and I can't be having any of that.

 

Never heard of SKYWARN, interesting! I will be interested to hear how the class goes.

 

dunno, Brad and many other MTF regulars are HAMs. you can set up a post right next to the computer, if you can multitask then you can browse and talk at the same time. :sidelaugh

 

Don't worry. I'll give a full report on the class. I'm really looking forward to it.

Brad and many other MTF regulars are HAMs.

I knew that part but I didn't know they radio too.

 

Im thinking wiht the weather you have been having this year, you would want to have them guys close at hand!!!!!!

That's exactly the reason that I'm doing this. We had the first tornado warning here that I can ever remember in April of 2011 and then the Derecho of 2012 with numerous strong to severe thunderstorms in between. The storms are getting stronger here and I want to be prepared.

The more of us spotters there are, the better prepared we all can be.

 

My Dad was a Ham for MANY years. He realy enjoyed it.

 

Very handy to have a "weather adept" around when it starts getting ugly. I happened to marry mine. Wife is a meteorologist for an energy company here, and gets "all geeked up" when the storms start rolling through.

 

Amateur (ham) radio is a great help when weather spotting, DJ. I've been a chaser off and on for about 15-18 years now. My wife and I followed the tornado that hit Utica, IL back in '04. We found it about 15 miles from Utica and reported it's progress until it went past Oglesby, IL when another ham followed it along. You want to hear an eerie sound, go around a curve in the road and be staring at 2 tornadoes about 1/4 mile away from you. After I got the Mrs. to be quiet, the tornadoes were pretty loud as well. After it hit Utica, I helped the Salvation Army with cleanup and comm's for a couple of days.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/guano/493082310/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbL3tlz37qs

Anyway, the ham classes are free/close to free for the licensing. If nothing else, it's a learning experience. There's probably a group right near you that goes chasing when the weather turns.

Check this one out:

http://www.swvarai.org/

 

Anyway, the ham classes are free/close to free for the licensing. If nothing else, it's a learning experience. There's probably a group right near you that goes chasing when the weather turns.

Check this one out:

http://www.swvarai.org/

I started taking classes back when I was younger. My dad helped me get things lined up. I was young, and never stuck to it. Back then you needed to know code, and I struggled a bit on it...

 

I fully agree that being a HAM operator would be handy in a crisis situation or during a weather outbreak. I may have to look into it. Thanks for the inks Brad. I will definitely check out my local group and go from there.

 

Good luck DJ! Come this way if you need some extra practice!

 

No more code at the entry level any more. I think you can communicate on all the FM bands and even the 10m (close to CB frequencies) on voice mode without needing the code. Even the higher class licenses have very lax code requirements.

arrl.org can answer most if not all questions. Or, look for a guy with strange antennas on his vehicle/house and a weird license plate number. He/she will be happy to talk radio with anyone interested in becoming licensed.

Think I mentioned this before, but my dad was licensed about 1933 or so, I got mine in '87, and my son became a 3rd generation ham (mostly to go storm chasing) in 2012.

 

Think I mentioned this before, but my dad was licensed about 1933 or so, I got mine in '87, and my son became a 3rd generation ham (mostly to go storm chasing) in 2012.

Very cool!! My Dad got his in the early 70's. I dont know a lot of what the terms and linenses mean..But he served as president of the Schenectady(NY) Amateur Radio Association,one year as president of the Plymouth MA Radio Club and and was a recipient of the Broughton Award for Exemplary Service to Amateur Radio. Now later on in life I wish I had stuck to it. Would have been a great to spend more time with him.

 

No code requirement any more, for any class of license, fequency, or type of modulation. For better or worse.

<---accredited volunteer examiner, Amateur Extra license holder


Our club has sponsored Skywarn training a couple of times now. Very interesting.

 

i didn't even have to learn any code to get my GROL, and that authorizes me for shipboard comms some minor radar. Morse has basically gone the way of the Do-Do bird in all things official. There are still plenty that use it, but no official listening stations are required to be code capable anymore. http://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/02/us/coast-guard-signs-off-on-morse-code-and-an-era-at-sea-ends.html

 

They started offering the class locally here a few years ago. Believe it or not I still have not made it to a single one of them. :duh:

From the newspaper article last year it looked like they were standing room only. I monitor the HAM severe weather nets on 2-meter with my police scanner. The main repeater they use I found is also now being streamed to the internet by a volunteer.

 

I got back home a bit ago from the class. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it contained a good deal of information. The actual anatomy and causes of a thunderstorm was covered and also the different types of clouds were covered. The Roll Cloud, Shelf Cloud, and of course, the Wall Cloud were all covered.

The acronyms were hilarious, especially the SLC: Scary Looking Cloud. :biglaugh: I especially enjoyed that one.

One thing that I would like to see enhanced are the photographs of actual weather events and what they are. Those were rather helpful.

I was surprised to learn that the NWS is sort of particular about the kind of flooding that they want reported. They ask that standing water not be reported. They only want flowing water greater than six inches deep to be reported.

There are a few advanced classes that I'm told will be offered in my area within the next year. I plan on attending those too since I enjoyed this one so much. If you have the opportunity to attend one of these classes, it's worth your time. :fing32: