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

Fall 2019 Training Schedule (Winter SKYWARN)

DATE	TIME	COUNTY	LOCATION	ORGANIZATION
Tuesday 10/15/2019	6:30 PM	Oswego	Oswego County Emergency Management 200 North Second St Fulton, NY 13069	Oswego County Office of Emergency Management
Thursday 10/17/2019	7:00 PM	Jefferson	Adams Fire Station 6 North Main St Adams, NY 13601	Jefferson County Office of Emergency Management
Thursday 10/24/2019	7:00 PM	Erie	Erie County Fire Training Academy 3359 Broadway Ave Cheektowaga, NY 14227	Erie County Department of Emergency Services Village of Depew Office of Emergency Management
Wednesday 11/6/2019	7:00 PM	Monroe	Town of Ogden Community Center 269 Ogden Center Rd Spencerport, NY 14559	SUNY Brockport University of Rochester
Wednesday 12/4/2019	7:00 PM	Online	Online REGISTRATION REQUIRED	National Weather Service Buffalo, NY REGISTER HERE!