Heat and Fire Weather Concerns in the West; Excessive Rainfall Possible in the South-Central U.S.

Heat will build over the Intermountain West and the Southwest the next couple of days. Lightning from dry thunderstorms can create new fire starts and combined with gusty winds may cause a fire to rapidly grow in Oregon and northern California. Flash flooding will be possible in Arizona and west Texas today, as well as parts of the southern and central Plains due to slow moving thunderstorms. Read More >

Tri-State SKYWARN™ Page

SKYWARN Training Schedule

See severe weather in your neighborhood? Report it to us here.

What is SKYWARN™?

How do I Learn About the National Weather Service (NWS) SKYWARN™ Program?

How do I become a Certified SKYWARN™ Spotter?

SKYWARN Spotter's Field Guide

Weather Briefing:

Here is the latest Hazardous Weather Outlook from NWS Upton, NY
The Severe Weather Outlooks from the Storm Prediction Center

Day 1 Outlook	Day 2 Outlook	Day 3 Outlook
Mesoscale Discussion	Satellite	NWS Upton Radar

SKYWARN™ Reporting

Reporting Format

Identify yourself:
- Provide your Spotter ID and your town/city and county
What have you seen:
- Wall cloud, Tornado, large hail, flooding, etc
Where you saw it:
- The direction and distance from where you saw it.
  - (example: 3 miles south of town)
When you saw it:
- Make sure you remember exactly what time observation occurred
What was it doing:
- Describe the storms direction and speed of travel, size and intensity, and destructiveness. (also include any amount of uncertainty as needed. (i.e., "funnel cloud; no debris visible at surface but too far away to be certain it is on the ground))"

Reporting Criteria

Critical Priority

Any tornado, waterspout, or funnel cloud
Wall cloud (especially if any rotation is seen)
Widespread wind damage
- Trees, power lines, structural damage
Flash flooding
- streams, creeks, rivers or dam breaks
- severe street, car, or basement flooding
  - 1+ inches in an hour in urban areas
  - 2+ inches in 3 hours in urban areas
Any deaths or injury associated with hazardous weather
- this information should NEVER be communicated over radio

High Priority

At least penny sized hail (0.75 inch)
Any thunderstorm wind gusts of 58 mph (50 knots) or greater
Poor-drainage urban flooding which makes roads impassable
- Distinction between poor drainage flooding and overflowing streams is critical!
Snowfall: 1+" in an hour or less

Moderate Priority

Any size hail less than 0.75" in diameter (smaller than a penny)
Thunderstorm wind gusts of 40-57 mph or downed small tree branches
River or stream rises to near bank full
Rainfall
- Event total
Snowfall
- When accumulations reach 2", 4", and 6"
- Event total
Ice jam locations
Freezing rain or freezing drizzle
Change in the type of precipitation (example: snow to rain)

We value your severe weather spotting and appreciate your timely reports. Reports can be made from any location: home, work, school, on the road, etc. However, we do request that you always put safety first. Do not risk injury to provide us with your information. Please relay your reports as soon as it is safe to do so.

REMEMBER...the first rule of severe weather spotting and emergency communications is to protect yourself. Insure your own safety first; then and only then, communicate your observation.

For more information on the Tri-state SKYWARN™ program: