The Southwest Missouri Regional Skywarn Weather Net is sponsored by the National Weather Service Office in Springfield, Missouri and the Amateur Radio Clubs of Missouri and Southeast Kansas. It is affiliated with the ARRL, ARES and RACES organizations. Member stations of these groups provide emergency tactical communications for the American Red Cross, the National Weather Service, and any federal, state, or local emergency management agency. The primary repeater for the Skywarn system is the 145.490 MHz Repeater with a PL tone of 136.5 Hz. If this repeater is unavailable, the secondary system will be the Southwest Missouri Linked Repeater System (otherwise known as the SMLRS).
When is the Skywarn Net Active?
The Southwest Missouri Skywarn Net is activated at the request of the National Weather Service office in Springfield, MO any time there is an imminent threat of severe weather in the Springfield office forecast area covering 37 counties in the region. When a warning is issued a Skywarn Emergency Communicator (also known as Net Control) will “tone” the primary repeater from a single “courtesy tone beep” to what sounds like a dual beep to signify we are in weather mode and that the net is active. This is a controlled net ran by the net control and non weather related chat should change to another of many frequencies available locally.
Reports needed during these active Skywarn nets are:
- Hail the size of a Quarter or larger
- Winds in excess of 58 MPH or breaking tree limbs 3 inches or larger using anemometer
- Property damage
- Continuous cloud-to-ground lightning
- Sighting of a wall cloud, funnel cloud, or a tornado
- Also, other reports of “current conditions” may be requested by the meteorologists whether they are of a severe nature or not.
During a period of severe weather activity
During threatening weather conditions, identified watches, or warnings, or other emergency conditions in the area, all stations are encouraged to monitor NOAA Weather Radio, Local Radio or TV Broadcasts,to keep abreast of the situation until it no longer exists. It’s also preferable during these times that normal conversations cease so that stations reporting severe weather conditions may acquire the repeater. Also, stations are advised to make needed preparations for protection of your family, home, and station equipment and to prepare for possible activation of a Skywarn or other emergency services net with little or no advance notice. During severe weather warnings Skywarn storm spotters across the Ozarks are watching the skies for signs of severe weather events like tornados, damage to buildings, hail and large tree limbs down. They notify our net controls who in turn notify the weather forecast office. The “ground truth” is then factored into warning products the WFO issues. This is why spotter reports are so important.
If you are not near a radio use theSW Missouri Skywarn Active Netweb stream to listen in. You can also listen to Greene County Skywarn 146.64 Springfield repeater at this link: www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/13991
Greene County SkyWarn
Greene County SkyWarn consists of a group of volunteers with their amateur radio license. We have training from the National Weather Service so that we can go into the field or spot the storms from home. When we observe severe weather, we report back our “ground truth” observations to the weather service through amateur radio.
In Greene County we prefer that you have already been through the Spotter Training from the National Weather Service. We can accomodate training for you until they offer classes again but prefer that you have been through a recent course offered free by the agency we serve.
Greene County is one of 37 counties served by the National Weather Service in Springfield Missouri. We have a regional radio net that occurs on the 145.490 repeater whenever severe weather is forecasted to impact the area. Individual counties run their own nets on separate repeaters and their Emergency Communicators (Net Controls) pass information directly to the National Weather Service via proprietary chat communication software.
In Greene County, our spotters operate on the 146.640 repeater with a pl tone of 162.2. We have several Emergency Communicators, also called net controls, that take turns running the nets. Regular net controls include myself, Franklin (KD0RSJ), Lewis (KD0KNL), Rodney (K0FZ), or Billy (N0SRO). Sometimes you may also hear Steve (KA0SPM) on the repeater as well. We are always looking for additional people to be net controls. Net controls have the responsibility of turning spotter reports into the regional net and providing radar information to spotters in the field. They are also responsible for spotter safety. If you are interested in spotting, we can make arrangements to have you join an experienced spotter in the field. You MUST have a reliable 2 meter radio that reaches our 146.64 repeater in Springfield that can operate for an extended period of time as well as a broadband connected computer to monitor weather products issued by the National Weather Service and watch radar products for the safety of your field spotters.
We discourage self-deployment, especially without training. We want you to be safe while out in the field. Our spotters have credentials and we only give those out when we are certain those spotters are well trained in spotting and spotting safety. Typically, our spotters monitor for potential severe weather before it occurs. We will also be making use of our Greene County SkyWarn Spotters Group to spread word on weather, forecasts, and to receive storm reports. Of course, reports on the nets are strongly encouraged.
SPOTTER TOOLS: Use the below forms to help you determine what to report to Skywarn Net Controls at both Southwest Missouri Regional and Greene County Skywarn.
