Storm Chasing: Where do we get our warnings?

Have you ever wondered how the news channels get their storm warnings? Some people think that the radar they use is strong enough to tell them what is coming. What most people do not know, is that there are dozens of people on the ground that give first-alert warning to civilians in a local area. These people are called storm spotters. These volunteers are trained through a governmental program that is sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association called SKYWARN. These volunteers are dispatched through the Amateur Radio program in the local area to a certain location. Whenever the radar picks up possible severe weather in a location, the spotters give real-time visual confirmation of wind damage, hail, funnel clouds, heavy rain, sleet, and etc. A warning is made when a storm spotter makes a report via radio to the Emergency Network over HAM radio. The radio operator of the Emergency Net then relays the report to the National Weather Service. Then, the NWS reports to local and national news and radio services, which send out watches and warnings for counties. Some of these spotters are equipped with Disaster Kits to help with first-response in aftermaths.

There you have it! Without these volunteers in your community, you would not know if a tornado was barreling right toward your house. If you see a local storm spotter or HAM operator in your community, give him or her a pat on the back for keeping you and your family safe from Nature's fury.

If you want to join the Civil Emergency Service, then find your local HAM radio club, and ask to be a SKYWARN spotter, or you can go to www.noaa.gov and navigate to the SKYWARN page and find your district leader. To be in SKYWARN, please follow me and look to my other hubs to find more information on being in SKYWARN, and how to be a good storm chaser. If you would like to know more about preparing for a disaster with your own home disaster kit, please click here . Thanks for reading, and please remember to comment. ~Ace Critic PW