For 2025 Kent County Skywarn spotter training, go to https://ottawa-kent-skywarn2025.eventbrite.com/
The National Weather Service is the federally appointed agency in the United States to “provide weather, water and climate data, forecasts, warnings, and impact-based decision support services for the protection of life and property and enhancement of the national economy.”
The NWS aims to develop “A Weather-Ready Nation: Society is prepared for and responds to weather, water, and climate-dependent events.” To help meet this mission, the NWS has created the volunteer Skywarn program to equip amateur weather spotters with the knowledge and skills to identify and report severe weather.
Throughout the United States, various NWS offices monitor, forecast, and warn the public about severe weather in their area. In Kent County, the NWS Grand Rapids office (weather.gov/grr) oversees weather forecasting and severe weather warnings for the West Michigan area.
County emergency managers oversee local Skywarn volunteer programs for NWS Grand Rapids. Skywarn spotters provide valuable ground truth data year-round, from reports of flooding in the spring to wall clouds in the summer to high wind damage in the fall to snowfall totals in the winter.
In Kent County, there are Skywarn spotters and Kent County Skywarn team members who are part of the KCEST Communications unit. Anyone can be a Skywarn spotter! All you need to do is take NWS Skywarn spotter training. To take it to the next level and become a KCEST Skywarn team member, you can go to kcest.org/join.
When severe weather strikes, Kent County Skywarn utilizes amateur radio, the general mobile radio service, Zello, and other communications tools to ensure the National Weather Service and Kent County emergency management receive the critical ground truth data they need for the public warning process.
Interested in learning more? Please contact us at skywarn@kcest.org for more information!