Home
Announcements
SKYWARN Recognition Day 2018 Participants
An update of the Skywarn Operations manual may be found in the Skywarn Library.
June 30, 2018. The Skywarn Training net will meet only on Saturday evenings at 7:30PM, The Wednesday sessions have been cancelled.
March 23, 2017 is World Meteorological Day. Visit the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) website to learn more about the organization, World Meteorological Day, its work and the new Internatiional Cloud Atlas. As a specialized agency of the United Nations, WMO is dedicated to international cooperation and coordination on the state and behaviour of the Earth’s atmosphere, its interaction with the land and oceans, the weather and climate it produces, and the resulting distribution of water resources.
The GOES-R (now GOES-16) satellite has begun sending images. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series (GOES-R) is the nation’s next generation of geostationary weather satellites. The GOES-R series will significantly improve the detection and observation of environmental phenomena that directly affect public safety, protection of property and our nation’s economic health and prosperity. For more information see the GOES-R web site and a CoCoRaHS WxTalk Webinar from Thursday, January 19, 2017 entitles GOES-R - Going from Black-And-White to High Definition Satellite Observations.
Available in the Skywarn library are the updated Operations Manual (1/2017), the GYX Network Map and as well as the new report form and logsheet for the WX1GYX station. Also new in the library are updated county warning area maps.
Tom, N1KTA, sent along a copy of the GYX Watch, Warning and Advisory criteria that was posted on October 22, 2013 as part of Winter Weather Awarness Week. It is available as a PDF for downloading, GYX Criteria.
Yankee Skywarn has a presence on Twitter. Click the link above and check it out.
From EarthSky. At right an unusual shelf cloud formation in Alabama on June 11, 2012. This is the leading edge of the derecho as it pushes into this area. Image Credit: Mike Wilhelm. The storms that formed June 12 and 13, 2013 in the U.S. Midwest and into the Atlantic states were considered a derecho, but a low-end derecho. Click on the image for more information.
Mammatus clouds on May 20, 2013 by Pam Rice Phillips
Storm chaser deaths in Oklahoma, Friday May, 31st. Matt Daniel's blog on EarthSky.
NOAA pridicts an active 2013 Atlantic hurricane season. More information to be found in the NOAA News aritcle.
Wireless Emergency Alerts are now available from FEMA. Sent to your wireless device they are up to the minute notifications. More information from FEMA. Download the fact sheet.
Through its SKYWARN® program, the NWS recognizes that Amateur Radio operators have assisted as communicators and weather spotters since the program began in the late 1960s. More on this annoncement here.
More Skywarn/CoCoRahs training sessions are in the offing. Watch here for announcements.
Proposed NOAA Climate Service article here.
How to Participate
Who is Eligible?
The National Weather Service encourages anyone with an interest in public service and access to communication, such as HAM radio, to join the SKYWARN® program. Volunteers include police and fire personnel, dispatchers, EMS workers, public utility workers and other concerned private citizens. Individuals affiliated with hospitals, schools, churches, nursing homes or who have a responsibility for protecting others are also encouraged to become a spotter.
How Can I Get Involved?NWS has 122 local Weather Forecast Offices, each with a Warning Coordination Meteorologist, who is responsible for administering the SKYWARN® program in their local area. Training is conducted by the Gray office in the forecast area of northern New Hampshire and western Maine and covers :
- Basics of thunderstorm development
- Fundamentals of storm structure
- Identifying potential severe weather features
- Information to report
- How to report information
- Basic severe weather safety
Classes are free and typically are about two hours long. To find out when a SKYWARN® class will be conducted in local your area,
National Weather Service
Gray Weather Forecast Office
P.O. Box 1208
Gray, ME 04039
(207) 688-3216
SKYWARN® is a registered trademark of NOAA's National Weather Service. Rules for the usage of the SKYWARN® name and logo are available here.