Monthly Member Meeting – Free SKYWARN Class in May

Join us for an in-person, monthly meeting of the Harford County ARES/RACES Group, at the Harford County Emergency Operations Center in 2220 Ady Road, Forest Hill, MD. Kindly let us know in advance if you would like to attend, via email to Steven Fook, Harford County Emergency Coordinator Callsign: K2EJ send email. Thank you.

NOTE: This month’s meeting will contain a SKYWARN foundation class,free of charge. Please see the information below. You must register for the class if you intend to come. 

The NWS has scheduled a SKWARN Basics class for Thursday, May 7, from 7PM to 9PM at the Harford County Department of Emergency Services in Forest Hill, MD (2220 Ady Road, Forest Hill, MD 21050.  

This course is a prerequisite for all other courses, except Flood. Basics is a good general overview of what it means to be a spotter as well as the basics of the different weather phenomenon that impacts the Mid-Atlantic. Upon completion of the course, you will be registered in the program by the NWS. You will receive a spotter code from the NWS within a couple of weeks. The Basics class includes:

• The Basic Organization of the National Weather Service
• The Role and Importance of the SKYWARN Spotter
• Reporting of Hazardous Weather
• Thunderstorm, Flooding, Tropical and Winter Weather Threats
• The Role of Amateur Short-wave (HAM) Radio in the Spotter Program

This class is offered at no charge but registration is required. A link to register can be found at
SKYWARN Registration Class Link

SKYWARN is an important part of the NWS’s severe weather alerting program and hams are an important part of SKYWARN.

How to join SKYWARN

is a program of the United States National Weather Service (NWS).  It’s mission is to collect reports of localized severe weather.  These reports are used to aid forecasters in issuing and verifying severe watches and warnings, improve weather forecasting, and the tools used to collect meteorological data.  It consists of a network of SKYWARN Spotters who observe weather conditions and make reports of severe weather to their local NWS offices.

https://www.weather.gov/skywarn

Open to All Amateur Radio Operators!

Harford County SKYWARN uses the 146.775 (-) tone 146.2 RACES repeater when activated. You do not need to have SKYWARN training or have a Spotter ID to participate.  All licensed amateur radio operators are welcome to call in your weather reports regardless of training or experience.