SKYWARN in Tennessee
SKYWARN in Tennessee| The Eyes and Ears of the National Weather Service in the field |
| SKYWARN is the program developed by the National Weather Service to recruit and train storm spotters. SKYWARN spotters enhance the National Weather Service's storm detection capabilities by identifying and reporting potentially dangerous weather conditions. The SKYWARN program has become an invaluable link in the NWS warning process. Despite all of the sophisticated technology used in a modern NWS office, forecasters still rely on storm spotters. Doppler radar may indicate that a storm may be producing large hail, damaging winds or even a tornado, but it cannot tell exactly what's happening on the ground underneath the storm. Storm spotters, trained by NWS meteorologists, act as the eyes and ears of the NWS. Their reports, radar data and other information result in the most timely and accurate warnings possible. SKYWARN spotters in Tennessee come from all walks of life - law enforcement, fire or emergency management agencies and citizens interested in helping their communities. A large number of storm spotters are amateur radio operators, who volunteer their time and equipment to help the NWS detect and track severe storms. Amateur radio operators, or "hams", will frequently man radio equipment at the local NWS office, gathering reports from spotters in the field and relaying the data directly to NWS forecasters. SKYWARN spotters are volunteers - they receive no compensation for their hard work. They do, however, have the satisfaction of knowing that their reports result in better warnings which save lives. For more information on SKYWARN, or to schedule a storm spotter class in your area, contact the nearest office of the National Weather Service. When severe weather threat is imminent, the NWS needs accurate local weather reports from officially trained observers to identify and report hazardous weather conditions in their area. These reports must be forwarded through authorized communications channels. Amateur radio is ideally suited to make these reports. Ground truth reports are needed to correlate with observations from scientific information gathering tools such as the NEXRAD radar. Official spotters attend an official spotter training session conducted by the NWS at least every 3 years. Accuracy helps guarantee warnings are issued for severe weather, while keeping false alarms to a minimum. Speed is needed to give as much warning as possible to areas in the path of severe weather. Lives can be saved by early warning! |