Skywarn Recognition Day - December 6th

Newington, CT November 12, 2008 -- Skywarn Recognition Day. When you are unsure about the weather you look to the TV to get a National Weather Service report. When the National Weather Service is unsure of the weather, they look to Skywarn - hundreds of volunteers who are trained to report ground level conditions that radar cannot detect. For 364 days of the year, volunteer Amateur Radio operators, often called "hams," affiliated with the NWS' Skywarn program provide the National Weather Service with critical, visual confirmation of major weather events. But one day a year, ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio, and the NWS join together in recognizing all the Skywarn volunteers and light up the radio waves just for the fun of it.

The annual Skywarn Recognition Day begins on December 6 and will last 24 hours. Hams will be contacting the National Weather Service stations throughout America. But instead of passing tornado, snow and ice warnings, this time the hams will be exchanging reception reports and greetings. Last year, contacts were made in all 50 states and 40 countries during the 24 hour event.

While you do not have to be an FCC licensed Amateur Radio operator to take part in Skywarn, many of the volunteers are hams and they are most appreciated. Amateur Radio messages are able to get through to NWS offices quickly even if the phones and internet are out due to the weather. When minutes count, especially in a tornado, radio is the fastest and most certain way to get emergency messages in to the NWS offices.

The value of these reports is considerable. Skywarn volunteers are trained by NWS staff to spot and report conditions that the weather service needs to know. Because weather radar pulses go in a straight line and cannot follow the curve of the earth, conditions from hundreds of feet above down to the ground may be missed as it is "under the radar." Like the stagehands behind the curtain, the NWS and Skywarn hams quietly do the work that makes many local TV forecasters look good.