Help save lives—become a Storm Spotter!

With severe weather season nearly upon us, the call is going out from the National Weather Service for trained Storm Spotters—lookouts for tornadoes, flooding and other severe weather. SKYWARN, the nationwide Storm Spotter program sponsored by the National Weather Service, holds trainings every spring.

Gary Garnet, Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the NWS Cleveland office, leads the trainings. "Our Spotters provide us with real-time information as to what's going on," he says. "They are really our eyes and ears."

Most, if not all, of the 88 counties in Ohio have an active SKYWARN program. Cuyahoga County SKYWARN supports Spotters in six counties: Cuyahoga on a primary basis and Lake, Geauga, Summit, Medina and Lorain counties on a secondary basis. Considering these counties are populated by more that 2.8 million people, this is no small undertaking.

The Storm Spotter is the most important person in SKYWARN. Spotters normally communicate via Amateur (HAM) Radio, although this is not required. Many Spotters submit reports via telephone and eSpotter, the National Weather Service's online reporting system. Via Directed Severe Weather Nets, Spotters communicate weather events as they are happening to the Net Control Operator. The NCO collects the reports, organizes them and relays the reports to the County Liaison. The County Liaison passes the reports to the District Net Control, which then go on to the National Weather Service office at Hopkins Airport. Watches, Warnings and Advisories are also relayed to adjacent counties and Spotters in the field.

Spotter training is critical and required by the National Weather Service to participate in SKYWARN, and to be able to recognize severe weather as it is happening. Various Amateur Radio groups (notably the Lake Erie Amateur Radio Association), public service organizations and emergency management offices host the training sessions. The next training sessions are April 4 at Lorain County JVS in Oberlin, and May 3 at Moreland Hills Elementary in Moreland Hills. All training sessions are open to the public. You do not need to be an Amateur Radio operator to volunteer as a Spotter, but it is encouraged.

For more information, or if you are interested in becoming a Spotter, visit Cuyahoga County SKYWARN on the web at www.ccsw.us or email info@ccsw.us. For information on becoming a licensed Amateur Radio operator, visit www.arrl.org.