Do I need to be Skywarn certified to use Spotter Network?

[J Holder]

I've been spotting for close to 30 years now and the current NWS severe weather courses are pretty much a joke.

Most of them in my area are maybe an hour long now and delve more into how to navigate the local NWS website and how to submit a report than what to actually report as far as severe weather. Jon and Shawna Davies "Surviving the Storm" 30 minute Youtube video is more informative on actual weather than any of the last 10 NWS Spotter talks I've attended.

 

[rdale]

Please share that info with the NWS office then. I'm shocked that no spotting is actually being taught. Which office(s)?

 

[Peter Potvin]

@J Holder My CANWARN (Canadian equivalent to SKYWARN) class taught us the different resources to use and how to submit a report, BUT did teach us a little bit on what to report. After the course, they provided us with a couple of documents via email that list the specific criteria that we use to report and a list of books, websites, etc that we could use to strengthen our knowledge.

But I also agree with what @rdale has stated. Share that info with the NWS office that hosted the training so they know what they need to improve during the delivery of their courses. They should be teaching the actual spotting portion of the course. What's a Storm Spotting Course without the spotting portion?

 

[michael beard]

Oh lord not the c word.

 

[Peter Potvin]

What C-word, @michael beard ?

 

[J Holder]

Please share that info with the NWS office then. I'm shocked that no spotting is actually being taught. Which office(s)?

It's my local office.

Suffice it to say I haven't been impressed with the warning coordination from that office for a while now.

 

[Joe Cameron]

It's my local office.

Suffice it to say I haven't been impressed with the warning coordination from that office for a while now.

The local class here out of Shreveport was something like 2/2.5 hours long.
There is a pdf on NWS site of about 70+ pages that it covered.
Didn't really cover that much about the actual reporting, just what to report. The rest was all about weather and storm formation.
Then after class completed had to take the two tests online to get certificate.

 

[Elizabeth Andrews]

I have gone through training both in person and online for SkyWarn. In person did not require a test, however we did have a password-protected certificate for after the course was completed.

With MetED there was a test involved, one for each part of it (there were two parts - role of the spotter and storm spotting scenarios), and I have taken that course twice with the certificates to support that.

I am in progress of completing the course on spotter network to be able to access it, and I will admit that I am learning quite a bit that I have not in the past, but it is also a very good supplement to the training I already had.

So my answer is this: no it is not required. But it does help if you've already gone through training to at least have a basic understanding of what you are learning in the spotter network course.

 

[Robert Wightman]

Peter Potvin, most of the spotters that work with Emergency Management in some cities or counties are required to train with experienced spotters and to be ham radio operators, if they aren't part of the public services like police and fire. I've known people who took the advance Skywarn NWS program and couldn't tell the different from a scud cloud from funnel could. That's why training with some one experienced is best.

Using RadarScope, and looking at other spotters, I’m surprised more aren’t Ham Radio operators.
WD8RAW

 

[Joe Cameron]

Using RadarScope, and looking at other spotters, I’m surprised more aren’t Ham Radio operators.
WD8RAW

Some may not have filled in that part.
If NWS wants to talk to you, they will call you by phone.
I suggest leaving phone num and some other items out of the top of the profile, but fill the bottom which NWS only has access to.

 

[Paul Knightley]

SN may have a test, but it doesn't mean people then make good reporters/spotters - rather like taking a driving test, you learn to pass the test and then get let loose in the 'real world'!

Many SN reports are good, but some of the howlingly-bad ones seen mean that the test, itself, is not a guarantee of good reporting.

 

[Sarah B. Wood]

No. You do not need to be a certified Skywarn spotter in order to be on Spotter Network, but it would not hurt to have the training anyway. I would recommend the courses on MetEd. They are free. Spotter Network requires you to pass their test before you are able to report severe weather on their site. I also recommend watching Skip Talbot's videos on Youtube.

 

[K Nugent]

Also to note, MetEd will send your local NWS office SKYWARN contact a notification of completion. What they do with that notification is a mystery, but I have to imagine they log you in a database of some sorts!

 

[J Keith]

As a veteran storm spotter (some 47 years) I highly recommend using SPOTTER NETWORK .org to submit reports. Most NWS Offices do not "certify" spotters or maintain a spotter database. The NWS hosts "SKYWARN" spotter training classes every year and SKYWARN is actually an outreach program of the NWS to not just train spotters, but the general public as well on how to identify and report significant and severe weather, such as hail, flash flooding, high winds and, or wind damage... wall clouds, funnels and tornadoes. As a former "civil defense" director (before emergency management came along), I was able to retain my NWS Chat account with the National Weather Service and I can tell you that ALL Spotter Network reports are fed into their chatbot. When you submit a report using SPOTTER NETWORK.. the NWS office for your area receives that report almost immediately on NWS Chat.. not only do the NWS Meteorologists see it.. emergency management and the media folks on NWS Chat will also see the report. Like many that have already posted.. the test to get on SPOTTER NETWORK covers the basic information needed to submit a reliable report... but, the MetED courses are also very good. Some of the NWS Offices have recorded both the basic and advanced spotter training segments and posted those on YouTube. Just search for NWS Spotter Training on YouTube. I am also a licensed ham, but over the past decade or two, I have found that most ham (ARES) spotter groups are often too focused on promoting their own agendas and go overboard on restricting reports to meet some ridiculous criteria to a point that most hams have left local nets and use SPOTTER NETWORK and follow THEIR guidelines to submit reports. If you want to be sure that YOUR report gets submitted... use Spotter Network.. don't rely on some ham net control operator to decide if your report meets "their" criteria or not in order to submit it. I can tell you that most NWS Offices are more concerned about getting reports than who or which ham groups are providing the reports. The accuracy or validity of a report is too easy to confirm or verify simply by looking at radar and other reports that have been received..

Joe, KF5S