Posted on 03/26/2007 11:24:12 AM PDT by Professional Engineer
They have them in Montana, usually on the weekends during the spring, summer and fall months of the year, somewhere in the state.
SKYWARN is not a club or organization, but in some areas of the country, where emergency management programs do not perform the function, people have banded together to form SKYWARN groups that work independently of a government agency, but they feed valuable information to the National Weather Service.
I don't have a SKYWARN number, but I'm not part of an organized group, yet when I call in my spotter report to the NWS along with my number, they immediately know where I am located because each person is in a database at their location, along with my name, and exact coordinates of my house (since I volunteered that information when I signed up).
I attended spotter training several years ago. It was free. They usually are.
I prefer being a part of the Storm Spotter Network rather than SKYWARN, because in most cases that I know of, those who belong to the SKYWARN network, refer their reports to the local law enforcement, which they in turn refer to the NWS, which issues their reports over the NWS Weatherwire and the media is then informed to inform the general public.
The immediacy of your information then becomes dependent on how quick the LE agency reports to the NWS.
By reporting directly to the NWS, I eliminate that step of reporting to the law enforcement agency.
I still have not found out how the heck you sign up for one. All I have taken is the regular storm spotting classes.
Probably the best thing to do is to ask the person responsible for setting up spotter training courses at your local NWS office, or better yet, find someone in your area who is a part of SKYWARN.
The testing fee is $14.00, charged once, no matter whether taking any one, two, three or all four test elements, one time. Failure to pass an element requires an additional fee if retaking that element.
BZZZZZT! WRONG!
Cars are safe because they are so well grounded! The 'rubber' in tires is synthetic and contains carbon (that's what makes 'em black) which makes them very effective conductors. Lightning will take the path of least resistance which is through the tires and the steel of the vehicle....and not through you.
Try this http://www.skywarn.org/weblist.php
or
www.arrl.org
All one has to do is show up for the NWS Spotter class and earn the certificate. We run two classes a year. One is the basic class, the other the Advanced Weather Spotter class.
Both are done under the SKYWARN program.
This thing saves lives, no doubt about it.
L
Bull. I'm surprised to see a trained spotter repeating this old myth. Airplanes aren't "grounded" either, but they're struck by lightning all the time. A car can easily be struck by lightning, and it happens on occasion. Cars - full metal-body cars - are indeed safe places in lightning, but not because they aren't "grounded." They are Faraday cages, which cause the electrical energy to go *around* their contents. Because of this, convertibles are not safe in lightning, and neither are leaning against a car or sitting in one with your foot out the door and on the ground.
Well, not quite. You are right about the steel of the vehicle, but the tires have essentially no affect on the process. Are airplanes struck in flight safe because they're so "well-grounded" by their very black tires? No, they're Faraday cages, just like cars. After traveling thousands of feet through air to hit you, the few inches between your car and the ground do not pose a significant barrier, even though (contrary to your assertion) the tires are extremely poor conductors. A person inside is safe only because of the metal cage.
I am an amateur radio operator and belong to Skywarn :)
Thanks for posting this.
Rick, N0NJY
YES!!!!
Try the local NWS office. I took my course through them.
Usually. I know a fella who got struck by lightning while he was driving his car and he had problems for a while from it. And it was not a convertible.
Actually that was also part of *my* message. If you'll go back and read it, you'll find that we are exactly on the same page; my post even included a link to the Wikipedia article on Faraday cages. I also mentioned that convertibles aren't safe, and that you don't want to be sitting in a car with your leg hanging out the door and your foot on the ground. The tires statement was exactly the myth to which I referred; cars are indeed quite safe if they're primarily made of metal.
So I want to hear more about the lightning strike to your Jeep; that sounds a little exciting! Any damage? What was that like?
lol
Same here. All but one NWS official (there are about a dozen) at the local NWS office (which has it's own callsign and ham station) are hams. They conduct a weekly SKYWARN net. I also have a ham radio license (I've been licensed since 1992, and have held the Extra class license since 1993, going from Novice to Extra in one year) and tested one of the NWS officials.
Not all cases are like ours.
The only prerequisite of being a member of SKYWARN is that you have to have a ham radio license.
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