🚀 go-pugleaf

Hi everybody,

I wonder what relationship the National Weather Service actually has with
"ham" radio operators.  When I lived in south Florida we had a "net," or a
specified time of each day on a specific radio frequency, where several
Amateur radio operators gathered to report weather observations (high and
low temperatures, precipitation, other observations) which were then sent
to the Weather Service.

Other than keeping records on the information gathered, we hams didn't
seem to play any other role in south Florida, except during a hurricane
warning and during the storm and it's aftermath.  SKYWARN, at least in
Broward county, Florida, seemed to be nothing more than another way for
the Weather Service to gather data.  We were not trained in storm
spotting, nor told how to alert the Weather Service if we observed
hazardous conditions - nothing!  We just reported high and low
temperatures and precipitation amounts, period.

Now I've moved to a new community upstate and I'd really like to hear that
SKYWARN does more than just gather historical data in tyhis part of the
state (north central Florida).  I suspect that in different parts of the
country, ham radio and the Weather Service have different roles to play.

Can anyone tell me more about SKYWARN - and can anyone tell me if ham
radio operators still have a role to play (we darn well should, since
we're able to communicate accross vast distances in the worst conditions)?

Thanks,
Robin Arnaud KD4ELI
Ocala, Florida

internet:  robin@juno.com                          MajorNet:  Robin@SUN