the Severe Storm Intercept Team: Net Communications

How to Be a Better

Severe Weather Net

Communicator

I believe that the highest calling for a amateur radio operator is that of performing public service for his or her community. Your participation as a SKYWARN Spotter demonstrates a commitment on your part to provide unpaid professional communications to support your community when severe weather threatens.

You will notice that I used the term "professional." Although our FCC license may say amateur (hence, unpaid), that does not mean that we cannot communicate in a professional manner. Amateur radio operators are not the only ones listening to the severe weather net. Many interested people with scanners and often the local media are also listening in to hear what is happening. The way that the net is conducted and the professionalism (or the lack thereof) of it's participants can make a positive or negative statement about the amateur radio service. Many unlicensed people have been introduced to the hobby and have subsequently obtained their license because of their initial exposure to amateur radio by way of the severe weather nets. To ensure the continued growth of the SKYWARN program and the amateur radio service, it is imperative that the impression we leave with those listening and participating is positive.

What are your duties as a SKYWARN Spotter? That depends on your local organization (SKYWARN, ARES, RACES, EMA, etc.) and the National Weather Service, which originated and controls the SKYWARN program. Regardless of the organizational name your net operates under, your primary duty is to provide accurate and timely reports of severe weather that you observe in your locality, via amateur radio, for relay to the National Weather Service Forecast Office which serves your area. Observe means that you are seeing or have seen the event, or have first-hand knowledge that it occurred, or is occurring. It does not include those things that you have heard on the scanner or seen on television.

How can you perform these duties more professionally? I have a few suggestions:

1) Remember that YOUR safety comes before that of severe weather spotting!

This is the most important point! A injured or dead Spotter is of no value and, frankly, only contributes to the problems which already exist. Think and plan ahead. Lightning and flash flooding are two major killers during severe weather. Stay alert!

2) Be a good listener.

Many times during a net stations break in without realizing a net is operational, ask for weather reports, or just to ask "what is going on?" Please listen before you transmit. Many times the information you seek will be given by the Net Control Station or others on the net. Other sources of information you should use include NOAA Weather Radio and your local TV and radio stations.

3) Learn to communicate your information clearly and briefly.

Have your ever listened to Air Traffic Controllers and Commercial Pilots? If not, do so sometime. They communicate the required information with clarity and brevity. If you are not reporting something of value, please stay off of the radio during the net! Accuracy is very important when you are reporting severe weather or damage so take a breath and think about what you are going to say before you say it. Speak slowly, clearly and wait before responding to someone to provide some room for another station to break-in with more important traffic. And to reiterate what Tom Crismore, KB9JMX said in his paper entitled: "Severe Weather Net Traffic and Communication" always include the 4 W's:

What? (What happened? Hail? Wall cloud? Funnel cloud? Tornado? What damage was done?)

When? (When did it happen? Right now? How long ago?)

Where? (Where did it happen at? What direction is it travelling? Be precise and see number 9 below)

Who? (Who is reporting the event?)

4) Educate yourself.

There are many educational resources available to you. These include the Internet, the National Weather Service (NWS), your local Emergency Management office, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Amateur Radio Clubs in your area, and your local library (including those of colleges or universities). Learn more about emergency communications and net procedures, and especially learn about the Incident Command System.

Learn more about storm spotting and meteorology. Attend SKYWARN training at least yearly. Most people who become SKYWARN Spotters do so because they have an interest in weather, especially severe weather, that ranges from slight to extreme (the author)! I encourage everyone to learn as much about any subject that interests them and to enjoy their hobbies but please remember that the National Weather Service is looking for Spotters and Communicators, not amateur meteorologists.

A great place to start your education is with the FEMA Emergency Management Institute Home Study Courses which are available to everyone for free! These can be taken on-line via the internet, or ordered through the mail.

5) Know your equipment and the frequencies used for SKYWARN in your area.

Know how to operate your equipment. Know how to change frequencies. Know what the backup frequencies are in your area should the repeater stop working.

6) Have equipment on hand should you loose power.

Have backup power for your radio if possible. Have a HT ready and keep all of it's batteries charged. Keep a flashlight handy with fresh batteries. Have a battery-powered AM/FM radio to listen to.

7) Only report that information which is relevant.

The current criteria by the NWS for a severe storm is:

a) Winds in excess of 58 miles per hour (50 knots)

b) Hail 3/4" in diameter or larger

c) Tornado

Report any of these events immediately!

Also report the following:

a) Wall clouds with rotation

i) As someone once said: "if it don't spin, don't call it in!"

b)Funnel Clouds

c) Hail

i) Please report hail size as related to the size of a coin

d) Trees which have been blown down

i) How many trees were blown down?

ii) What is the diameter of the tree(s)?

iii) Was/were the tree(s) healthy or dead?

iv) Was/were the tree(s) uprooted, or snapped off (at ground level, or how high above ground level)?

e) Flooding

f) Measured rain amounts and wind speeds

g) Any other information specifically asked for by the NWS.

Please do not report the following:

a) That it is raining

b) That there is nothing going on

c) That the tornado sirens are going off

d) That you heard something on the scanner or on TV

These reports are of no value and only jam the repeater when someone else may have something important to report.

8) Stay calm.

Severe weather events can be stressful to those involved. However, screaming into the microphone or talking extremely fast will not make the weather change. It only takes one person "loosing their cool" to get everyone else excited and thus cause chaos. Take a deep breath or two, calm down, and think about what you are going to say or report before you get on the radio.

9) Give locations as major (named) street, road, highway, and/or interstate intersections. If this is not possible, give the distance from the nearest town(s).

When possible do not use county road coordinates, such as 400 E. and 200 N. when reporting to the NWS as this slows down the information process while they try to find the location on their maps.

I want to tell you that I have made several of the mistakes listed above. I am not perfect. However, I have tried to learn from my mistakes so that I can become a better radio operator and thus a asset to the SKYWARN program. I hope that the points made in this paper gave you something to think about in your quest to become a better severe weather net communicator.

Keep an Eye on the Sky and 73!