• Listen to the instructions put forth by the Net Control

• Use established Net protocols

• Conform to the reporting requirements of the NWS

• Report the correct information in a timely manner

• Use the proper message format (TEL = Time, Event, Location)

• If you don't know which way to look, 360^o is a good fallback.

• A storm viewed from different directions can be reported as having differing characteristics

• Ask yourself, "if I were the only person making this report, would I change anything?"

• Net Control + Admin screen reports for accuracy and completeness

• NCS/Admin will conform to NWS severe weather liaison repeater plan

• Ensure adequate county coverage

• While spotter reports are important, the National Weather Services estimates that 30% of the reports received are in error

• Poor spotter reports can be due to limited meteorological understanding, poor observations, poor communications or poor communications of good observations

• The source of the report impacts quality

• The most quoted Served Agency complaint is "poor service delivery"

• The more professional our Skywarn Net is, the more quickly we will gain trust

NOAA's
National WeatherService
Chicago Forecast Office
Amateur Radio Page