In conjunction with the National Weather Service (NWS), Wayne County Emergency Management Division and the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES), Skywarn Spotters work diligently to provide information to disseminate the earliest possible warning of severe weather. Although the NWS has improved their ability to detect severe thunderstorms over the past twenty years, the human eye is one of the most valuable resources to local emergency management entities and the NWS.
Since April of 1965 the NWS, RACES, and local emergency management officials have worked together to train tens of thousands of SKYWARN volunteers. These individuals are trained to understand the characteristics of a storm system that could become become severe, and cause injury to person and peroperty damage.
Public Safety, RACES, or concerned citizens who want to raise their level of awareness regarding severe weather should consider attending Skywarn training courses. These classes are are usually held in late winter and early spring. Dates and locations of "Spotter"classes can be found here. The Advanced and Basic spotter guides are available for download.
NWS White Lake MICON Frequency
442.175 + 123 Hz
County Skywarn
Frequencies
OTHER TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTING OPTIONS
Packet Reporting
MSYS-BBS 145.76 K8DTX
Online Reporting
SPOTTER REPORTING GUIDELINES
Condition RedRed
Under Condition Red spotters should only report sightings of:
Spotters should otherwise maintain radio silence. Check-ins and other less serious reports are not permitted under Condition RED.
Condition Yellow
Under Condition YELLOW, spotter reports are restricted to RED reports plus other extreme storm effects such as:
Spotters should otherwise maintain radio silence. Check-ins and other less serious reports are not permitted under Condition Yellow
Condition GreenGreen
Under Condition GREEN, spotters may report any storm effects, at the discretion and directions of the net control station, such as:
SPOTTERS REPORTING PROCEDURES
The most simple method of reporting is called the "TEL SYSTEM":
T = Time of Observation
E = Effect (Hail, Winds, Etc.)
L = Location
TIME of the observation is very important in the spotter's report. For example, a tornado moving at 50 MPH will travel over 4 miles in 5 minutes. The time of the sighting will help national weather service officials determine the properties of the storm. All reports should use "local" time.
EFFECTS of the storm system can include such things as hail, heavy rain, wall cloud, a funnel cloud or tornado. Description of the effects should be brief and concise.
LOCATION of the storm should be indicated as closely as possible, using reference to the nearest town (i.e. 2 miles east of Ida) or the nearest major road or street intersections, including an estimate of the direction that the storm is traveling. Give your location with every report.
Here are some examples of how a report might be made:
3:47 - Gust front with 50 mph winds at Secor and Morocco heading to the northeast.
3:50 - 1/2 inch hail at Secor and Morocco moving to the northeast.
3:56 - Wall cloud 1 mile south of Ida moving toward the northeast at 20 mph.
4:05 - funnel cloud at S. Custer and Strasburg heading to the northeast.
If a SKYWARN net is not already in progress when threatening weather appears, call 911 or use the unpublished 800 number you were given at the SKYWARN training session.
Estimating Wind Speed