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We activate directed nets any time a severe thunderstorm or tornado warning is issued staffing permitting.

Skywarn is the National Weather Service (NWS) program of trained volunteer severe weather spotters. Skywarn spotters support their local community and government by providing the NWS with real-time severe weather reports. These reports, when received by meteorologists and integrated with modern NWS technology, can then be used to inform citizens of the proper actions to take as severe weather threatens.
 
Cuyahoga County Skywarn is responsible for coordinating the Skywarn spotters who are also licensed amateur radio operators. We ensure the timely collection of severe weather reports via two-way radio.  We are an independent organization that works with the National Weather Service in Cleveland.  Cuyahoga County Skywarn is a service of Event Support Group. Skywarn is not a program of the ARRL or ARES, nor do we have any club affiliations (but we are grateful for the clubs that allow us to use their repeaters).  Amateur radio Skywarn volunteers need not be a member of the ARRL, ARES, ESG, or any club to participate.
 
Cuyahoga County Skywarn is also responsible for providing operators to staff the amateur radio station at the National Weather Service in Cleveland to quickly relay severe weather reports to the forecasters. For more information on our operation at the Cleveland weather office, please visit wx8cle.org.
 
Cuyahoga County Skywarn conducts weekly nets every Wednesday at 8:30 PM from April through September.
 
Frequencies
  • Primary 146.760/R PL 110.9
  • Backup 442.125/R PL 82.5
  • Simplex 146.475

SKYWARN NETS

  • Weekly Practice Net: Every Wednesday at 8:30 PM Eastern Time from April through September.
  • Standby Weather Net: May be activated at the discretion of the net control station when severe weather is expected to threaten Cuyahoga County soon, but no warning has been issued yet. During a Standby Weather Watch, all stations are free to contact each other without permission from net control.  However, they are asked to please keep transmissions short; and yield to breaking stations, as they may have traffic to pass.
  • Directed Severe Weather Net: Activated anytime NWS issues a severe thunderstorm or tornado WARNING for Cuyahoga County. During a Directed Severe Weather Net, the repeater is closed to normal use and all traffic must pass through net control.

SKYWARN REPORTING CRITERIA

Cuyahoga County Skywarn requests that spotters use these criteria during severe weather nets. Always note the start and end time of each event being reported:

  • Tornadoes – Location and direction of movement.
  • Funnel Clouds – Location and direction of movement.
  • Wall Clouds – Location and direction of movement. Rotation visible?
  • Winds in excess of 50 miles per hour – Measured or Estimated?
  • Hail – Size. The duration of the hail.
  • Flooding in progress – Location. In road, or on land? Approximate depth in inches? Area prone to flooding?
  • Storm Damage – Location. If known, what element of the storm caused the damage?
    • If trees are damaged, was the tree healthy or diseased, diameter of broken area; tree snapped, or uprooted; how many trees?
    • If building damage, what was the extent of damage? Are there any injuries?

Please make sure your report meets this criteria before calling net control. Other reports tie up the net frequency and do not provide necessary information. Please do not report anything you have not seen personally.

SPOTTER NETWORK

Please join the Cuyahoga County Skywarn group on spotternetwork.org.

Steps to join:

  1. Register for an account at http://www.spotternetwork.org/account/register
  2. One registered and logged in, go to http://www.spotternetwork.org/networks/join/137
  3. If successful, scroll down the page and look for “Cuyahoga County Skywarn” – you should see a green checkmark next to it.

SOFTWARE

The following is a list of software that we use.  This page is not intended to be an endorsement of any particular software package.

  • Gibson Ridge – Fully-featured radar viewing applications for Windows.
  • RadarScope – iOS, Android, OSX and Windows 10.

Placefiles

The Gibson Ridge software supports “placefiles,” which overlay various data onto the map.  Many placefiles are available for free.

 
 
 
Event Support Group wants to help build a Weather Ready Nation! We have partnered with NOAA to become a Weather Ready Nation Ambassador. We work to ensure the public is prepared for weather emergencies.