coreyshields.com

Severe weather season is upon us. As much as I appreciate Skywarn and love to help out when and where I can, there are just some aspects that really grind my gears. Most of these pet peeves are a result of people getting so excited about the situation that they forget everything they have heard in training (and sometimes what they just heard from Net Control a few seconds prior). We've had some pretty embarrassing Skywarn nets lately so I thought I'd put together a few pointers. For my ham radio readers out there, feel free to add in the comments below.

For my non-ham readers, here is the short version of what I am talking about (and see this wikipedia article on Skywarn): Skywarn is an organization of amateur radio operators who become the eyes of the National Weather Service when severe weather strikes, and by severe weather I'm talking severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings. Today's radar technology is good (really good in this last decade) but the guys staring into a radar screen can not see the real damage and effects of the storm they are watching. So, a Skywarn "net" (another term for an organized meeting on the air) goes active and one person acts as net control, his job being to control traffic on the air. Nobody speaks without permission from the net control. In the case of here in Indiana, our net has a liason person with the capabilities to talk to NWS in Indianapolis on a different radio. His job is to keep track of reports and quickly relay them, then quickly relay direct requests from NWS as well.

The following come from my 15 years of participating in Skywarn nets. Use this as a reference before you hit your microphone :P

• Do: report tornadoes, cloud rotation, funnel clouds (different from tornadoes), visible wall clouds, and visible shelf clouds.. Learn the difference between all of those (pdf) ahead of time so you don't have to be instructed over the air in order to make an accurate report
• Do: report hail. Use the NWS guide to hail sizes if you can not measure the hail. Don't use obscure references that might not be so obvious (I've seen big malt balls and small malt balls, malt balls should not be used to describe the size of hail!!).
• Do: report heavy winds 50mph and above. Know techniques for measuring these accurately, and when making the report tell if it was estimated or measured with instrumentation.
• Do: give accurate location reports that can be found on a map near a major crossroad intersection. "half mile southeast of hwy 3 and hwy 10" helps NWS more than "my house on sunset boulevard". Got a GPS? Give coordinates, but do so quickly.
• Do: give an accurate time report. "Real time" versus a given time in the recent past is often used. I like to report with the exact time even if it is right this minute, because unfortunately the net control and liason might not get your report to NWS for 10-20 minutes so "real time" loses its meaning.
• Do: watch radar if you are able to (TV, internet, etc) so you have an idea of what is going on outside without having to interrupt the net to ask someone
• Do: learn how to read those radar images so you don't make yourself sound like a fool by misinterpreting them on the air.
• Don't: tell everyone what your radar image is showing unsolicited. Half of us are watching it too, and if Net Control needs to know what radar is showing he will ask for it. In fact, unless of power or network outages, Net Control should have a radar image to look at himself/herself.
• Don't: tell everyone what your fancy subscription based weather program tells you either. We don't care to hear about 4 lightning strikes a minute outside when we can all see it out the window. Besides, it is not information that NWS doesn't already know.
• Don't: play meteorologist with Net Control unless your opinion is asked for, or unless you are a meteorologist. If it is the latter case, maybe you should be at work?
• Don't: report the position of the TV trucks during an active net. Chances are they are heading to the damage we already know about, and we can all expect to see it on the news without the need for your report.
• Don't: tell us when the wind starts blowing at your house. Its going to blow for everyone, and if the trees aren't falling over yet then your wind is not so exciting. Put the mic down.
• Don't: tell us that it started raining at your house either. If the weather is bad enough to activate a Skywarn net, then it will rain and it should be of no surprise to anyone.
• Don't: tell us the rate of rain. Modern dopplar radar does a good job of showing the rate and quantity of rain falling, and they issue flash flood warnings based on that. Save your rain gauge reports for the morning after.
• Don't: hold another net on the same frequency and during a Skywarn net. It causes people to double up on the repeater and adds traffic that prevents timely reports. Either take your net to another frequency or wait until after, however you do it please yield to the Skywarn net. This includes wetnet reports, just hold on to your report and wait.
• Don't: try to pass non-weather and emergency traffic during a Skywarn net. If you pulled over to help a stranded motorist, help them by taking cover until the storm is over, and then call for the tow truck. If you must do something right that minute, take it to a different frequency.
• Don't: check in when Net Control has requested no more check-ins. This makes you look really stupid, especially when you check in right after he makes such a statement (happened twice last week!). The best Skywarn spotters are the silent ones who know when it is necessary to speak up.
• Do: make significant damage reports. Trees blown over, structural damage, roofs blown off. These are all good. Limbs and twigs in your front yard are nothing special.
• Do: get the diameter measurement of trees blown over, and report whether it was a live or dead tree. NWS can get a good estimate of the wind speed based on this report.
• Don't: tell us when the power went out. Chances are half of the people listening have already lost it to. Hearing that your power went out is really of no use to NWS. There is a reason it is called Skywarn and not Powerwarn.
• Don't: tell us when the rain has reached your house. Everyone is going to get wet anyway.
• Don't: simulcast the Skywarn traffic to a third party outlet (like a radio or TV station). If they want to listen to the traffic on a scanner that is their choice. If you call soliciting that information, you are out of line and become a possible liability. Go re-read part 97, sub e, section 403 but don't stop reading before the end of the sentence saying "when normal communication systems are not available." If you are calling a radio station to have them put you on the air, then communication systems are normal enough for you not to make that call in the first place.
• Do: make your transmissions QUICK and BRIEF. I can't tell you how many times I've heard a station calling in to check in, run outside to look at the clouds, and hold the repeater up for a long time all without making it in to the repeater well enough for us to understand him. Meanwhile, another spotter with something important to say has to wait to break in. "This is KB9JHU, reporting nickel sized hail at 10th street and the bypass" takes less than 10 seconds, yet some people can drag it on to a minute. This includes net control operators. Quick and brief, please.
• Do: yield your position to someone with more experience if you jump in to start a net or Liason.
• Do: report on what the net control asks for. If the net control operator asks for stuff in the "Don'ts" above, then he (or NWS) obviously needs it for a reason.

Here is what happens: You learn how to use a radio, how to talk on it, but few people ever learn how to shut up when it is most important to be quiet. Skywarn is not your chance to become a hero, it is just an organization to help spot severe weather for NWS. If we all follow some simple rules and protocol, maybe that goal can be accomplished.

Other resources:
Wikipedia:Skywarn
Skywarn home page
Online spotter training from Indianapolis NWS
Central Indiana Skywarn
Spotter info page from IND NWS

73 de KB9JHU