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:

Jon Hitchcock -- Jon.Hitchcock@noaa.gov -- SKYWARN^™ Focal Point, WFO Buffalo
or
Judith Levan -- Judith.Levan@noaa.gov -- WFO Buffalo, Warning Coordination Meteorologist

Spring 2017 Training Schedule

DATE	TIME	COUNTY	LOCATION	ORGANIZATION
Wednesday 3/1/2017	7 PM	Erie	Bertrand Chaffee Hospital Cafeteria 224 East Main St Springville, NY 14141	PROS Amateur Radio Club
Thursday 3/30/2017	6 PM	Monroe	SUNY Brockport Lennon Hall room 14 Brockport, NY 14420	SUNY Brockport
Tuesday 4/11/2017	7 PM	Oswego	SUNY Oswego Shineman Science Center Room 380 Oswego, NY 13126	SUNY Oswego Meteorology Club
Tuesday 4/18/2017	7 PM	Erie	Buffalo State College Bulger Communication Center Room West 2 Buffalo, NY 14222 Park in Lot I-37	Western NY AMS Chapter and Dr. Stephen Vermette
Tuesday 4/18/2017	7 PM	Chautauqua	Saint Peter Church 12 Elm St Westfield, NY 14787	Chautauqua and Erie Amateur Radio Club
Wednesday 4/19/2017	7 PM	Oswego	Oswego County Offices 200 North Second St Fulton, NY 13069	Oswego County Office of Emergency Services
Wednesday 5/3/2017	7 PM	Orleans	Orleans County Emergency Management Office 14064 County House Rd Albion, NY 14411	Orleans County Emergency Management
Thursday 5/4/2017	7 PM	Erie	Hamburg Youth Center 200 Prospect St Hamburg, NY 14075	STARS Amateur Radio Club
Monday 5/22/2017	7:30 PM	Chautauqua	WCA Hospital 207 Foote Ave Jamestown, NY 14701	Chautauqua County Amateur FM Assocation
Wednesday 5/24/2017	6:00 PM	Lewis	Lewis County Search and Rescue 7782 West State St Lowville, NY 13367	Lewis County Department of Emergency Management
Thursday 5/25/2017	2:30 PM	Monroe	Edison Career and Technology High School 655 Colfax Ave Room 3B9 Rochester, NY 14606	Edison Earth Science and Environmental Science Dept.