Becoming a Storm Spotter

If you have ever thought about becoming a storm spotter? Now is a good time to join the team of Overton/Pickett Storm Spotters. There may be some questions you might have about becoming a storm spotter. One of the first questions you might have is, Do I have to be with an emergency organization to be a spotter. The answer is no. The only requirement to becoming a storm spotter is becoming a national weather service certified storm spotter. This isn't as hard as most may think. It requires taking one storm spotter class given by an instructor of the National Weather Service. This class consist of a few hours, and isn't a very hard class. You learn what to look for and what kinds of information the National Weather Service needs to know. After taking the course you are not restricted to just spotting in Overton County. This class is good for anywhere you happen to be inside the jurisdiction of the National Weather Service. So if you are on vacation in another state and see activity that needs to be reported you will be able to do so.

The next question you might have is why become a storm spotter? Ever listen to the weather on tv or radio and hear that a tornado has touched down? That information usually comes from storm spotters out in the field. Dopplar Radar can detect rotation in the clouds, but can't detect that a tornado has actually touched down. Or have you ever heard a funnel cloud has been spotted in a certain area. That also comes from spotters out in the field. Again Dopplar Radar can detect rotation but cannot detect what kind of cloud is rotating. In the class you will learn the differences in the clouds and what is signs of danger and what is not. This information relayed into National Weather Service may change the type of warning issued for an area, and may save lives. If you are a person who is afraid of storms, I reccomend taking the course, it may help ease your mind during minor storms.

Again the question may rise, Do I have to belong to an emergency organizaion to be a part of Overton/Pickett Storm Spotters? Again the answer is no. Here at Overton/Pickett E911 we do use emergency personel as storm spotter, but we also use amatuer radio operators (also known as ham radio). If anyone is interested in becoming a part of our storm team, you will need to either be emergency personel or a ham radio operator. We require one of the two due to needing to have radio contact with our spotters. We will take members that can phone only, but it makes it harder to keep everything organized. Due to the rise in phone call volume during storms, we preffer all spotters to be able to contact the center by radio. Phone call volume raises tremendously during storms due to trees and other debris in roadways, homes being damaged which can also result in medical calls to those homes, live power lines down, etc. Therefore we try to keep our spotter traffic on radio as much as possible.

We are hoping that in time all Overton/Pickett Storm Spotters will be transmitting storm information on amatuer radio. During storms there is also a rise in radio traffic on emergency band frequencies. Most of our storm traffic is now being transmitted on our local fire net. This causes that channel's transmittions to become very heavy. Fire departments don't only spot for storms but also help in clearing roadways and debris off homes, as well as other various tasks. Not all emergency personel wish to particitate in the storm program, therefore we hope to move the storm traffic to amatuer radio to help clear some of the transmittion volume on the fire net frequency. This will also serve other perposes. One that we have some amatuer radio storm spotters and any information can be shared between all spotters without relays. Another purpose is here at the center we are set up to talk directly into the National Weather Service by way of amatuer radio. Any spotter transmitting on an amatuer radio can be patched right to that frequency to give a direct report to the National Weather Service. We encourage all participating person\s to try to obtain an amatuer radio license.

At the present time there are three levels of licenses for amatuer radio. The first and lowest is the Technician Class, next General, and highest is Extra Class. A Technician Class license is all that is needed for storm spotting. This class will allow you to transmitt on the frequencies that we use for storm spotting. There are several methods for studying to become a Tech Class operator. Of the two most popular, one is online study which can be done by visiting sites that have practice tests. Two of the sites that you can visit to take online practice test are: http://www.aa9pw.com and http://www.qrz.com . Both of these sites have practice test and other various amatuer radio information. Another way to study is by book. You can obtain a copy of a study guide from different sites as well. One of the most used sites for purchasing study materials is http://www.arrl.org . There are different types of study guides as well. The Most popular type of study guide is the Q&A study guide. The Q&A study guide has the question and answers. There is a question pool of over 300 questions to study. When you go to take the test you will have 35 questions on the test. These questions will be either very similar or the same as the question pool you studied. You will be allowed to miss 9 questions and pass. Any other questions you may have, use contact information at bottom of page.