Want to be a SKYWARN Spotter? Learn More About the Program and View the 2017 Training Schedule!

About SKYWARN®

Training Schedule

How to Report

What to Report

Resources

Skywarn® is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Weather Service’s (NWS) severe weather spotting program with nearly 290,000 trained volunteers nationwide. Since the late 1960s, trained Skywarn® spotters have helped support the NWS’ primary mission of protecting life and property through the issuance of severe weather warnings. These dedicated citizens help keep their local community safe by conveying severe weather reports to their local NWS Forecast Office. Skywarn® spotters are integral to the success of our Nation’s severe weather warning system. Every year the NWS conducts Skywarn® spotter training sessions. The NWS currently has 122 Weather Forecast Office’s across the nation, each with a Warning Coordination Meteorologist, who is responsible for administering the Skywarn® program in their local area. There is no charge and a typical class takes about 2 hours to conduct.

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Spotter reports help the NWS in the warning process. Your report becomes part of the warning decision making process, and is combined with radar data and other information and used by NWS forecasters to improve our ability to notify and warn the public. Your reports also have provide ground truth, real-time information where we have gaps in radar coverage or in remote areas.

For your reports to be the most useful, they should be as detailed, concise, accurate and timely as possible. Your severe weather report should address the following questions:

HOW TO REPORT:

WHAT did you see?
WHERE did you see it?
WHEN did you see it?
HOW MUCH did you see?

Report the location/approximate location of the event. Be sure to distinguish clearly between where you are and where the event is thought to be happening. Be sure that reports that are relayed through multiple sources carry the time of the event, NOT the report time.

Any other details that are important - How long did it last? Direction of travel? Was there damage? etc.

Although reporting criteria may vary slightly depending on the spotter network and local needs, the significant weather elements below (Severe, Hail, Wind, Winter) are ones the National Weather Service (NWS) would like to know about as soon as possible. Again, reports should provide as much detail as possible to describe the where, when, how, etc., of the event.

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Significant Weather Phenomena to Report to the National Weather Service

Or, check out our printable Spotter Checklist