http://www.wrh.noaa.gov

Check the link for update's.

NWS Phoenix Weather Spotter Program

Southeast California, Southwest and South Central Arizona

NWS personnel regularly conduct spotter training sessions at remote locations around the Phoenix

County Warning Area. Severe weather spotter training for new and existing volunteer spotters will

be conducted by the National Weather Service Phoenix Forecast Office at the times and locations

shown below.

Free training classes are held periodically that teach people how to properly identify and report

significant weather phenomena and contribute to public safety. Even with sophisticated technology

like radar and satellites, we still need ground truth information from trained weather spotters

throughout the year. You will learn about how thunderstorms work, how to identify cloud features

associated with microbursts and tornadoes, visually estimate wind speeds, and how your reports tie

in to warnings and advisories issued by the National Weather Service. In addition, you will learn

about all of the services available from the National Weather Service. Reservations are not required

unless otherwise noted.

Schedule updated: Mon May 17 15:20:57 GMT 2010. Check back often for updates.

Spotter Program Overview

www.wrh.noaa.gov

AZ SKYWARN

TM

STORM SPOTTER PROGRAM

(

PHOTOS

/

CRITERIA / SKYWARN^TM TRAINING )

When significant, or severe weather occurs anywhere within the Phoenix County

Warning Area, the Weather Service turns to the Skywarn^TM Spotter Network to obtain

timely and accurate reports. This network is comprised of individuals or groups,

generally associated with the following: 1) Emergency Service Organizations

(Fire, Police, etc), 2) Volunteer Organizations (HAM Radio, etc), 3) Individual Citizens,

4) Cooperative Observers.

Be sure to check out the National Skywarn^TM Homepage to get the national perspective.

The Arizona Skywarn^TM Net (ASN) welcomes trained spotters to check into our weekly

nets on these repeaters:

• • 147.200 mhz -- each Tuesday at 8 pm

  • 442.800/442.850 mhz -- each Wednesday at 8 pm

Storm spotters are specially trained by NWS personnel to be able to recognize and

report severe and unusual weather occurrences. When this occurs, they phone their

reports into the NWS office having warning responsibility for their county. Spotters in

Southern Gila, La Paz, Maricopa, Northwest Pinal, Yuma, Imperial CA and Eastern

Riverside CA counties should contact the Phoenix forecast office. Spotters in Apache,

Coconino, Navajo, Northern Gila and Yavapai counties should call the Flagstaff office.

Spotters located in Southeast Pinal, Pima, Santa Cruz, Cochise, Graham and Greenlee

counties should contact the Tucson office. Finally, spotters in Mohave county should

call the Las Vegas Weather Service Office.

Spotters should tell personnel at the responsible office briefly WHAT they saw or are

seeing, WHERE they are or where they were when it was going on, WHEN it was

occurring and WHAT is/was it doing. They should also include their name, location

and their assigned spotter ID number.

SEVERE WEATHER SPOTTING - DESERT SOUTHWEST STYLE

The following are examples of weather phenomena that commonly lead to or depict

severe weather. In most cases, what is seen below occurs during the Monsoon, or the

summer thunderstorm season which typically runs from July 4 through September 15.

Although tornadoes are rare during the Monsoon, they can and do occur. There is a

misconception that highway underpasses are a safe shelter for those caught in the

path of a tornado. This is not the case! The following presentation "Highway

Underpasses as Tornado Shelters" explains why this is so - this is an excellent

presentation. Check it out!

CRITERIA

The following criteria are what spotters should look for when phoning in their reports.

They should always call the responsible Weather Service Office when any of the below

are noted:

• 1. TORNADO (on the ground) or FUNNEL CLOUD (tail not touching the ground)

  2. ROTATING WALL CLOUD

  3. WIND (estimated or measured at 40 mph or more)

  4. MICROBURST (visually identified)

  5. RAINFALL (1/2 inch (.50) or more in 30 minutes)

  6. FLOODING (of any kind)

  7. DAMAGE and/or DEATHS and/or INJURIES due to the weather event

  8. HAIL (any size diameter, or greater)

  9. VISIBILITY (less than 1/2 mile due to fog, dust, blowing snow or ash)

  10. SNOWFALL

SPOTTERS SHOULD NOT CALL NWS PERSONNEL WITH ROUTINE

WEATHER OR FOR FORECASTS!!

TRAINING

Please visit our Weather Spotter Training Page for scheduled classes.

Adult SKYWARN^TM volunteers are community spirited individuals, who understand

that they play an essential role in providing storm information to the National Weather

Service. Spotters are also hikers, sports and outdoor enthusiasts, and those who

routinely work outdoors. Many volunteer spotters are amateur radio operators and

participate in a special amateur radio network during severe weather.

If you have any questions, please contact either Steve Sipple at 602-275-7002 ext 537,

or Ken Waters - 602-275-7002 ext 223 - at the NWS Phoenix Forecast Office. Please

call during business hours only - 7 am to 330 pm M-F. They will be happy to answer

them for you!

** We especially need new spotters in the remote areas of our County Warning

Area (CWA), which includes Maricopa, northwest Pinal, and southern Gila counties!

For all links on spotter programs goto search.usa.gov