NWS Greenville-Spartanburg
SKYWARN Storm Spotter Program

⚠ Important Note About Spotter Numbers

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg has discontinued the issuance and use of spotter ID numbers. Spotters who wish to obtain some sort of identification number are encouraged to consider becoming a CoCoRaHS observer to supplement their SKYWARN service.

About
SKYWARN™ Training
Schedule Becoming a
Spotter How/What
to Report Frequently Asked
Questions Resources &
Organizations

SKYWARN is the National Weather Service (NWS) program comprised of trained volunteer weather spotters. Storm spotters come from many walks of life, including fire fighters, law enforcement, amateur radio operators, and the general public. SKYWARN spotters coordinate with local emergency management officials and send reports of weather based phenomena to the NWS. Skywarn spotter training is FREE, open to any member of the public, and sometimes based on location spacing, may require registration.

Storm spotters not only serve the community, but they provide important information to warning forecasters who make critical warning decisions. SKYWARN storm spotters play a critical role of giving the NWS vital ground truth data, which helps the NWS perform our primary mission, to save lives and property.

If you have any questions about the NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC SKYWARN Storm Spotter program, please contact Trisha Palmer at Trisha.Palmer@noaa.gov.

Information on this page is relevant to our network of SKYWARN^™ spotters and ham radio reporters. If you are interested in becoming a spotter, please email us.

Remember, you DO NOT have to be a licensed, amateur {ham} radio operator to attend and/or participate in Skywarn^™.

Upcoming SKYWARN Storm Training Events

Date	Time	Type	Registration Link
January 29, 2026	6:00-7:30 PM EST	Basic (Virtual)	Click here to Register
February 18, 2026	6:00-7:30 PM EST	Basic 1 (Virtual)	Click here to Register
March 19, 2026	7:00-8:30 PM EST	Advanced (Virtual)	Click here to Register

Check back frequently for updates to the schedule.

To become a NWS SKYWARN Storm Spotter, you will need to attend one of our free, Basic Spotter training courses. If you are unable to attend one of our training sessions or are already a NWS SKYWARN Storm Spotter, but would like to refresh your knowledge, you can take the online SKYWARN^™ Spotter Training Course.

This training is through the COMET website, and you will need to register to gain access the training. Follow the instructions in the Course Description section for how to become an official Storm Spotter for the NWS in Greenville-Spartanburg, SC.

Why Your Reports Matter

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 used by NWS forecasters to decide whether or not to:

Issue a new warning
Cancel an existing warning
Continue a warning
Issue a warning for the next county
Change the warning type (from severe thunderstorm to tornado, for example)

In addition, spotter reports are an integral part of our verification program and our national storm data database for damaging weather events.

What to Include: The "3 Ws" of Reporting

For your reports to be the most useful, they should be as detailed, concise, accurate, and timely as possible. Please address the following:

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

Location Details:

Be sure to distinguish clearly between where you are and where the event is thought to be happening.

Example: "I'm 5 miles north of Concord. The tornado looks to be about 1 mile to my northwest."

Timing Details:

Be sure that reports relayed through multiple sources carry the time of the event, NOT the time you are submitting the report.

How to Submit a Storm Report

If you have a storm report that you need to pass along to us, please use one of the following methods:

Hotline: Use the phone number provided during your Skywarn Spotter training.
Online: Send your report using our Submit a Storm Report form.

Frequently Asked Questions content coming soon.

Online SKYWARN Spotter Training Course

You must first register on the University Center for Atmospheric Research's MetEd website.
Once you've accessed the above website, select "General Users" and fill out the form.
Once you've submitted the form, you will receive an email containing a verification link.
After you've verified your email, you will be able to log in to MetEd.
You can access the spotter training via this link.

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