National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Extreme Cold and Winter Weather Expected for Portions of the U.S. This Week

Arctic air will spread across much of the central U.S. into New England this week resulting in record-breaking cold and life threatening wind chill temperatures. Heavy snow will move from the northern Rockies to the central Plains by early Tuesday. A swath of significant snow and ice will likely move from the central Plains to the Mid-Atlantic states Tuesday through early Thursday. Read More >

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 SKYWARNTraining 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 2024 Training Schedule
 
Note: Fall training courses focus on winter weather, snowfall and ice measuring, and reporting to the NWS.
 
Note: Additional classes are in the process of being scheduled, check back later for more locations and times!
 
All of the scheduled training sessions will cover the same material
 

 

DATE TIME COUNTY LOCATION ORGANIZATION

 

   

No Training currently scheduled

 

 

 

 

 

Other links

Western and Northern NY SKYWARN frequency map


An illustrated SKYWARN spotter guide
 

Other SKYWARN Sites:

NWS Binghamton SKYWARN Homepage

NWS Cleveland SKYWARN Homepage

NWS Albany SKYWARN Homepage

NWS Burlington SKYWARN Homepage