Skywarn

SKYWARN^™

SKYWARN^™ is a national effort to save lives during severe weather emergencies with an expanding network of trained weather spotters. The services performed by SKYWARN^™ spotters have saved many lives.

The National Weather Service has a number of devices for detecting severe thunderstorms. Included in these are Doppler radar, satellite, and lightning detection networks. However, the most important tool for observing thunderstorms is the trained eye of the storm spotter.

By providing observations, SKYWARN^™ spotters assist National Weather Service members in their warning decisions and enable the National Weather Service to fulfill its mission of protecting life and property.

Storm spotters are, and always will be, an indispensable part of the severe local warning program.

The National Weather Service office in Buffalo participates in the annual ARRL - SKYWARN^™ special event. For details on the national event, QSL instructions and the rest of the statistics, check out the Special event homepage.

NWS Buffalo SKYWARN^™Training Sessions

SKYWARN^™ is a nationwide program of spotters that report severe weather to the National Weather Service. Anyone can become a SKYWARN^™ spotter for the National Weather Service, all you have to do is attend one of our Spotter Training Sessions. There is no charge for the training.

SKYWARN^™ training sessions are held throughout our area of responsibility based on demand. SKYWARN training sessions for Severe Convective Weather (Thunderstorms, Tornadoes, Flash Floods, etc.) are conducted from March through May. SKYWARN training sessions for Winter Weather are conducted from September through November. The basic training session provides a brief overview to the National Weather Service (the organization and our responsibilities), the equipment we use (including capabilities and limitations), and basic severe weather meteorology (including how thunderstorms, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes form). Training sessions last about two hours.

SKYWARN training sessions for Winter Weather are conducted from September through November.

Attendees are instructed what types of severe weather the National Weather Service is interested in hearing about and are given an 800 telephone number for 24 hour access make reports directly to the NWS forecasters.

For more information, please contact:

Mike Fries -- michael.j.fries@noaa.gov -- WFO Buffalo, Warning Coordination Meteorologist

Jon Hitchcock -- jon.hitchcock@noaa.gov -- WFO Buffalo, SKYWARN Program Coordinator

Spring 2020 Training Schedule (Severe Weather SKYWARN)

DATE	TIME	COUNTY	LOCATION	ORGANIZATION
Wednesday 3/18/2020	7:00 PM	Oswego	Oswego County Emergency Management Office 200 North Second St Fulton, NY 13069	Oswego County Emergency Management
Tuesday 4/21/2020	7:00 PM	Erie	Daemen College Schenck Hall Room 202 4380 Main St Amherst, NY 14226	Town of Amherst Emergency Services Western NY AMS Chapter
Wednesday 4/22/2020	7:00 PM	Monroe	Monroe County Office of Emergency Management 1190 Scottsville Rd, Suite 200 Rochester, NY 14624	Monroe County Office of Emergency Management
Wednesday 4/29/2020	7:00 PM	Allegany	Crossroads Conference Center, Chamberlain Room 6087 State Route 19 Belmont, NY 14813	Allegany County Office of Emergency Management
Tuesday 5/12/2020	7:00 PM	Niagara	Warren J. Rathke Public Safety Training Facility 5574 Niagara St Extension Lockport, NY 14059	Niagara County Emergency Services