About Skywarn

SKYWARN, founded in the early 1970's is made up of a group of trained, dedicated amateur weather enthusiasts who work in conjunction with the National Weather Service by observing and reporting adverse weather conditions to promote public safety and minimize property damage. In the advent of Doppler Radar and other technologies, the science of weather forecasting has made great strides, but even with all the technology, the National Weather Service still is in need of 'ground truth' observers. It is through training that the NWS teaches interested volunteers to be safe, effective and accurate weather spotters who provide them with the needed ground truths.

SKYWARN, generally speaking, is placed on stand-by when a severe weather watch is posted by the National Weather Service. Once that watch is upgraded to a warning, SKYWARN becomes activated, and spotters are asked to make severe weather observations. After making an observation that is reportable, there are several ways to relay the information to the National Weather Forecast Office: telephone, amateur radio, social media, and an online storm report form. Some of the reports are used to send out statements, warnings, and short-term forecasts to the public via the media. The reports also go into "Storm Data", which is a publication that documents severe weather across the country and can be used to create a severe weather climatology database of a specific county, city, or region of the country.

Becoming a Spotter

You must be at least 18 years old, be able to observe weather (though no instruments are required), and have access to a telephone or be an amateur radio operator so you can relay your reports. Note: You do not have to be an amateur radio operator to be a SKYWARN SPOTTER. You also must take a SKYWARN class which is a free, informative, fun filled 2 hour seminar that teaches you the basics of how SKYWARN operates, how to spot and report severe weather. After completing the class, you will receive a spotter ID number. All SKYWARN Spotter Training Courses are free and are held in the Spring and Fall. We are currently only offering webinars due to safety and health concerns, but we hope to eventually return to being able to offer in person training at various sites through the 34 county Mount Holly Forecast Coverage Area within most of New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania, Eastern Maryland and Delaware. If you are interested in obtaining training, please go to our Training Page where a list of training sessions will be posted as soon as they are scheduled.

Training Schedule

Thank you for your interest in the Skywarn program! We have finished all live webinars for this year, and will be scheduling additional live training sessions in the Spring. If you would like to be notified when we schedule new training, you can fill out this form. Alternatively, you can view a recorded (YouTube) version. To do so, please fill out the form here to be sent a link with the latest version (updated as of Fall 2020).

Coordinator Structure

Purpose

The National Weather Service Mount Holly SKYWARN Program migrated from a county to regional based structure in January 2017. This framework consists of the Delmarva (Delaware/Maryland), New Jersey, and Pennsylvania Regions. The goal of this is twofold: to increase the number of severe weather reports and to address a number of counties in which there were no coordinators in place.

The SKYWARN Team recognizes that local knowledge is vital. To that end, both Coordinators and Assistant Coordinators from the county system are strongly encouraged to participate in the regional structure. Ultimately, their roles will be determined based upon the expertise and location of each individual, as well as the need in each area (spotters). Additionally, members of the former county based structure that are not interested in participating in the regional structure are asked to contact only NWS Mount Holly (see table below), so that we may update our records.

This is a very exciting time to be part of the Mount Holly SKYWARN Program. Those who would like to contribute to the bright future of this program, whether you’re a former, prospective, or existing member, may contact the Regional Coordinator in your respective area.

Contact Information

Regions

There are three regions within the NWS Mount Holly County Warning Area (CWA):

• Pennsylvania Region (blue)
• New Jersey Region (orange)
• Delmarva Region (green)

SKYWARN Recognition Day

This event, observed since 1999, gives us an opportunity to thank SKYWARN volunteers for the important contributions they make!

Amateur radio operators made numerous contacts using WX2PHI on December 5, 2015.  In addition to other National Weather Service Offices, they also made contacts in Austria, England, and Ukraine!  More recently, they also participated in SKYWARN Recognition Day on December 3, 2016.

More information on SKYWARN Recognition Day is available at this link.

HAM Radio Frequencies

Frequencies by System and Group

Training Resources

• Weather Spotters Field Guide
   
• NWS Cloud Chart

Submit a Report!

What to Report?

Note: Lightning is not a reportable phenomenon, but lightning related damage and casualties are.