Kentucky Weather Spotter Network

[rdale]

I think the era of printed storm guides ended... Video is your best friend. We have it by the boatloads, and that should be used instead of pictures. A pic does nothing when it comes to determining imposter features.

RE: ICS -- for those not familiar, ICS _requires_ you to follow the chain of command. The firefighter doesn't talk to the fire chief, he talks to his officer who talks to his division command who talks to the fire chief. Spotter reports in this structure would go through several levels before getting to the NWS. If you only have 2 active spotters, you aren't going to fill up the chain and chaos would result.

 

[Keith Hosman]

I think the era of printed storm guides ended... Video is your best friend. We have it by the boatloads, and that should be used instead of pictures. A pic does nothing when it comes to determining imposter features.

RE: ICS -- for those not familiar, ICS _requires_ you to follow the chain of command. The firefighter doesn't talk to the fire chief, he talks to his officer who talks to his division command who talks to the fire chief. Spotter reports in this structure would go through several levels before getting to the NWS. If you only have 2 active spotters, you aren't going to fill up the chain and chaos would result.

Heh, and in some places, the chain of command is broken. I heard one skywarn net last summer, someome called in a wall cloud with rotation, the net control acknowledged the report, called the NWS liasion on the radio and gave them the information, and the liasion person then made the comment "is this something I should report th toe NWS?" Same net, same event, another person came on the net and said "I know we are under a tornado warning, but why are they sounding the sirens?"

 

[Shawn Gossman]

LOL the uniforms bit is really silly, something to consider opting out. However, I wear skywarn t-shirts and hoodies all the time but mainly to plug the program, people ask me what it is and I tell them and many times they get interested and we have more eyes on the sky come next training session.

If your gonna require all the criminal checks and uniforms and all that, you need to pay your staff... if you run it like a business, it needs to be one... IMO

 

[Keith Wilson]

LOL the uniforms bit is really silly, something to consider opting out. However, I wear skywarn t-shirts and hoodies all the time but mainly to plug the program, people ask me what it is and I tell them and many times they get interested and we have more eyes on the sky come next training session.

If your gonna require all the criminal checks and uniforms and all that, you need to pay your staff... if you run it like a business, it needs to be one... IMO

I agree that if you have to meet that many requirements, there would normally be a paycheck involved. They are certainly asking alot from "volunteers".

 

[Grady Joslin]

I guess I live on a different planet when it comes to storm spotting. I live just right across from Louisville, Kentucky and went to the conference where the new Kentucky Spotter Network was introduced. I liked what I saw (the training, uniforms, the plan, etc), it felt like I would be part of an awesome group that really helped the community. So far I haven't seen any of it come to Louisville. In fact a friend of mine and I have been working very hard to train ourselves to join groups like ARES/RACES, Skywarn, etc. It has ended in nothing but frustration after frustration. I can't tell you being at the age 27 years old, wanting to help track severe weather, going back to school for Emergency Management and having what groups (what's left of what they exist) turn my friend and I away, I never have been so frustrated with volunteer groups I ever have been before. I've reported for Skywarn before yet to have my report ignored, applied to ARES so many times and having my application ignored, I've pretty much given up in my area.

I feel like a person on the outside looking in, I see groups on here who have such good and organized groups but yet they want to complain about someone not doing something right, and yet I have to hope to be part of a group that doesn't exist. When Kentucky introduced the new program, I felt there was a sense of hope left of me being a part of Skywarn group. Now the way things are going, I guess Louisville, KY is ignoring the rest of their state and relying on their program called Metrosafe. I have looked for other groups close by and I get the same old answer "Try in your county." When I try to explain my situation to them about how Clark County doesn't seem to want to take new applications from anyone, I basically get the "sucks to be you."

I don't understand if its just the way of thinking of people here, but it seems for wanting to serve the community, they do not want any part of it unless its the usual collecting of money for <insert your favorite charity here>. For right now, I've pretty much just focused to get through my schooling and move out west toward Oklahoma/Kansas so I can do some real good. I only hope my area of Northern Kentucky and Southern Indiana, the groups work themselves out and get where they need to before the next event happens. It just saddens me when I know there are probably others out there like me either young or old, who want to help out but running into the same boat that I have been in.

 

[Bart_Comstock]

Grady, you do do realize that you don't have to belong to a local Skywarn group to report severe weather... right? If you want to help your community through severe weather reporting then do so. There are many other ways you can get your report in. The easiest is to call the weather service directly. You can also use programs like Spotter Network if you have data in the field or if it is an absolute emergency you can always just call 911.

 

[Grady Joslin]

Bart, yes I do. In fact there has been times I just called up the NWS directly telling them what I have seen. Now I may reading more into it, but every time I talk to them, I always get the sense as what I am saying is always in question. What is odd though, is that my last Skywarn class the coordinator told us that his boss told him, if they don't get more spotters in the program, they won't hold the classes anymore. I told myself, okay, I'll spot more and report more. Every time I have issued a report via radio, espotter, or even a direct call in, I can never find a record of it on their site. A lot of times it leaves me asking "Did I do something wrong? Was it a good enough report?" , even on espotter I wish there was more feedback. I guess you can say with my experience, I've become a little bit bitter. Now I have had better luck with Indianapolis NWS, but the biggest problem that lies there is I am not always in their warning area.

I guess my point is, that the way things have gone in my area there is really no support for the spotter unless you know someone. Even when you do know someone, its even more frustrating when you have people who love to be in control of the situation but actually do not want to get up and do "anything" about it. I've spotted through ham radio, cell phone, espotter, spotter network, (espotter/Spotter network/cellphone are spotty at times due to coverage area), it just feels like the support even from the local NWS isn't there. However, what I find rather amusing is even though the support isn't there, they also make noise about how they don't get reports what goes on out there at every training I go to. This year when I go, I am actually going to raise the point about the lack of support.

In closing though, I still envy a lot of you guys/gals out in the plains.

 

[Bart_Comstock]

Due to the sheer volume of reports they get they cannot and will not list every report the receive on their site. Also it is common for them to receive multiple reports for the same thing and thus they will not list every report they get for the same reported item. It is also their job to question every report they get. They will do this so that they may weed out false and erroneous reports. If they sound rushed or hurried when you are talking to them it is because they need to take every report they can as fast as they can so that they move onto the next call.

When you are giving your report do you make sure to state in detail:

• Where you are
• What you are reporting
• How far it is from you and where in relation is it to you (i.e. NW, SE, West, etc...)
• Whether or not you are giving an estimate or exact measurement
• Whether or not there are any injuries, fatalities, or damage
• Where the reportable weather is heading and how fast it is moving.

If I were you I would just forget about your local spotter group and just focus on doing your own thing and reporting on your own. It is how I have done since I first started chasing and how I will keep on doing it.

 

[rdale]

I'd highly suggest you get involved with SpotterNetwork and use their interface - the info is fed directly to NWS and plotted on all their screens (and everyone else's) within seconds, and you WILL get feedback every time.

 

[Wes Carter]

Every time I have issued a report via radio, espotter, or even a direct call in, I can never find a record of it on their site. A lot of times it leaves me asking "Did I do something wrong? Was it a good enough report?" , even on espotter I wish there was more feedback. I guess you can say with my experience, I've become a little bit bitter.

In my opinion, you are on the right track if you are concerned about the quality of your reports. As long as your motivation is to make quality reports to save lives and ego does not get involved you will be a good spotter. My suggestion would be to continue making reports via telephone but also watch as many videos as you can and order some DVD's from chasers so you can see some more examples of wall clouds, funnel clouds, and tornadoes. Even if you cannot improve the overall process, you can continue improving your process.

What is odd though, is that my last Skywarn class the coordinator told us that his boss told him, if they don't get more spotters in the program, they won't hold the classes anymore. I told myself, okay, I'll spot more and report more.

The quality of a spotter is not in how many reports they submit, but in the ones they don't submit. I've been a spotter for 5 years now and have heard a bunch of wall cloud and funnel cloud reports from often the same few people. To many spotters here any lowering is a funnel cloud or wall cloud. I'm not accusing you of this, but rather want to help explain why sometimes reports are not taken seriously.

Keep on learning and trying, your efforts will eventually be noticed as long as your reports (and your motivations) are sincere.