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 2019 Training Schedule (Summer SKYWARN)

Note: Additional Dates Coming Soon!

DATE	TIME	COUNTY	LOCATION	ORGANIZATION
Wednesday 3/6/2019	7:00 PM	Monroe	SUNY Brockport Lennon Hall Lecture Room 140	SUNY Brockport Emergency Management
Wednesday 3/13/2019	7:00 PM	Erie	Concord Town Hall 86 Franklin St Springville, NY 14141	Springville Kiwanis Club
Monday 3/18/2019	7:00 PM	Orleans	Orleans County Emergency Management Office 14064 West County House Rd Albion, NY 14411	Orleans County Office of Emergency Management
Wednesday 3/20/2019	7:30 PM	Erie	City of Tonawanda Offices 200 Niagara St Tonawanda, NY 14150	ARATS Amateur Radio Club
Monday 3/25/2019	7:30 PM	Chautauqua	UPMC Chautauqua Hospital 207 Foote Ave Jamestown, NY 14701	CCAFMA Amateur Radio Club
Wednesday 4/17/2019	7:00 PM	Wyoming	Wyoming County Fire Training Center 3651 Wethersfield Rd Warsaw, NY 14569	Wyoming County Office of Emergency Services
Tuesday 4/30/2019	7:00 PM	Wayne	Wayne County Emergency Management Office (2nd Floor) 7376 Route 31 Lyons, NY 14489	Wayne County Emergency Management Office
Thursday 5/2/2019	7:00 PM	ONLINE	ONLINE Registration Required	National Weather Service Buffalo, NY REGISTER HERE