St. Louis Metro Skywarn
Reporting Severe Weather via Amateur Radio
WB0AAF

The monthly Skywarn test net is scheduled
to take place tonight at 7:00 PM on the 147.360 (+)(141.3 Hz) repeater
(146.910 if main repeater is down).
Weather spotters are urged to participate. All Amateur Radio operators are welcome.

Note: The monthly net will be cancelled and replaced by an alert net if there is severe weather in the area.

* * * Severe weather in the area * * *

St. Louis City and County Weather Spotters
please monitor 147.360 MHz (+)(141.3 Hz)
(146.910 MHz if main repeater is down)

There is NO severe weather in the area

This is a test message only

Skywarn logo

Learn to spot severe weather - Free - No obligations!

clouds and lightning

Click to view current weather conditions at the St. Louis County EOC

Sign Up for the 2023 NWS St. Louis Open House Today!

We are very excited to invite you, your friends, and your family to the 2023 NWS St. Louis Open House on Saturday, September 23rd, 2023 from 10am to 4pm at our office in Weldon Spring, MO! All are welcome, so feel free to spread the word.

In addition to an office tour (by reservation only), we will host several universities and partners in booths outside the office. We will also offer booths with activities for kids, demonstrations on how to observe hail and snow, a model that shows how water flows through streams and rivers, and a few weather balloon launches from our friends at the University of Missouri - Columbia! We also hear Owlie Skywarn, the official mascot of the National Weather Service, will make an appearance.

Click HERE to sign up for a tour slot and learn more about the open house. Please reserve one tour spot for each person attending. This will be the first public open house our office has hosted since 2014, and we cannot wait to welcome you all back to our office!

Skywarn spotters in specific locations

We are considering creating a cadre of spotters who we can alert when severe weather approaches their area. These spotters will then report back what they have seen real time and the damage they see after the event.
Please contact Steve Wooten, KC0QMU if you are interested in participating.

Skywarn is a program of the National Weather Service. While the National Weather Service accepts reports from anyone during severe weather, they give more credence to reports that come from trained spotters. You can become a trained weather spotter by taking a free class given by the NWS. Taking the class and becoming a trained spotter does not obligate you to chase storms (chasing storms is actually discouraged), to go to certain locations and watch the sky, or anything else. If you happen to be in the right place at the right time and want to make a report, you'll be better prepared to do so. Click here for information about online spotter training.

Are you a licensed amateur radio operator? Report severe weather over the air!

Amateur radio operators who are trained weather spotters often send in their reports via radio. St. Louis Metro Skywarn is a team of amateur radio operators managed by the St. Louis County Police Department Office of Emergency Management. This team activates a radio net when the National Weather Service indicates that there is severe weather in the area. It takes reports from trained weather spotters in St. Louis City and County, Missouri and then forwards these reports to the National Weather Service and the Office of Emergency Management.

Amateur Radio reports are made by county.

Weather spotters within St. Louis City and County who are amateur radio operators are urged to call WB0AAF on the 147.360 MHz (+)(141.3 Hz) repeater during severe weather to give their reports. (146.910 (-)(141.3 Hz) is the backup repeater should 147.360 be down.) By doing so you will insure that the information reaches both the NWS and the Office of Emergency Management. As the National Weather Service wishes to receive reports by county, this program is specific to St. Louis City and County. Other counties in the vicinity maintain their own Skywarn groups.

Information on weather conditions is made available through other media.

The Amateur Radio service is limited to receiving spotter reports. Other media, such as NOAA weather radio (162.550 MHz), television, and broadcast radio provide the current weather conditions.

Not an amateur radio operator? You can still make reports!

Hurricane Ike

In-person Skywarn classes are back!

List of upcoming in-person Skywarn training classes

Click here to watch a short presentation...

And then click here take a quick Weather Spotter Quiz!

Resources for Weather Spotters

Reporting Procedures
and Criteria

Operator Awareness
Training Guide
(printable format)

Online weather spotter
training course

Map of Municipalities
in St. Louis County

Storm Spotter's Guide
2 page easy to read printable guide to identifying and reporting severe weather

About St. Louis Metro Skywarn

Mission Statement

About Amateur Radio

Contact Information

Administrative
and
Net Controller
Access

Links to other sites

Skywarn icon National Weather
Service
Skywarn page
Skywarn icon National Weather
Service in St. Louis
(LSX)
Skywarn page
OEM icon St. Louis County
Police - Office
of Emergency Management
NWS icon National Weather
Service in St. Louis
forecast page


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