What is Skywarn?
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.
What is Kent County Skywarn?
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.
How do I become a Skywarn spotter?
To become a Skywarn spotter, you do not need to join Kent County Skywarn – you can take NWS Basic Skywarn Spotter training, available online or in person throughout the year. The National Weather Service certifies Skywarn spotters after they complete basic training.
Where can I take Skywarn training?
You can take Skywarn training in person when offered, or you can take it online at Comet MetEd here: https://www.meted.ucar.edu/education_training/course/23
What is a “net”?
A “net” is a radio network established to gather and report ground truth weather data to Kent County Emergency Management and the National Weather Service. Any licensed amateur radio or GMRS Skywarn spotter can participate in our nets!
Kent County Skywarn activates nets in two scenarios: first, severe weather, and second, our monthly warning siren tests. Any trained Skywarn spotter is invited to participate in our nets.
Amateur Radio nets: K8SN repeater (442.175 MHz, +5 MHz offset, 103.5 CTCSS)
GMRS nets: WRVE804 repeater (462.600 MHz, +5 MHz offset, 94.8 CTCSS)
How do I report siren information?
Kent County and the City of Grand Rapids test outdoor warning sirens on the first Friday of each month at 12pm. To report siren information, we need to know 1) Did you hear it? 2) Did you see it? and 3) Did it rotate? For your location, please provide either the siren number or your nearest intersection (e.g., Michigan and Monroe, Grand Rapids).
You can report this information online at Spotter Connect or on air during our monthly tests. To get a Spotter Connect account, you can sign up at https://spotterconnect.com/signup.
Kent County Siren Map
Contact Us
Interested in learning more? Please contact us at skywarn@kcest.org for more information!