SKYWARN

The effects of severe weather are felt every year by many Americans. To obtain critical weather information, NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS), part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, established SKYWARN® with partner organizations. SKYWARN® is a volunteer program with nearly 290,000 trained severe weather spotters. These volunteers help keep their local communities safe by providing timely and accurate reports of severe weather to the National Weather Service.

All club members are encouraged to join SKYWARN!

Albany National Weather Service Skywarn Net Primary repeater is 147.375 + PL 100    Net Control: WX2ALY

Warren/Washington Counties SKYWARN Facebook Page

Weather Spotter Training Webinars

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 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)

Remember to include the following information:

• WHAT did you see?

• WHERE did you see it? 

  • ​Latitude & Longitude (most preferred)

  • Road/street or nearest intersection & city/zip code

  • Distance/direction from the nearest city (e.g., 4 NE Saratoga)

• WHEN did you see it? What is the approximate time and duration?​

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 (i.e., "I'm 5 miles north of Saratoga Springs. The tornado looks to be about 5 miles to my northwest"). 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.

SkyWarn Info, Training, Software, and Gear:

• Warren Washington Counties SKYWARN Facebook page

• About SkyWarn

• National Weather Service - Albany

• Online SkyWarn Spotter Training

• RadarScope for PC, Mac, iOS, Android

• Spotter Network used with RadarScope

• Spotter Network Training required to submit storm reports via the Spotter Network

• AnythingWeatherStore - SKYWARN

Other Means of Reporting Hazardous Weather:

• NWSChat 2.0 Registration

• E-Mail Albany National Service

• Online Report Form

• Albany Skywarn FACEBOOK PAGE