Skywarn Information Net: Fill & Download for Free

If the Storm Chasers are Hams, use of a repeater may involve Skywarn. Its a app used by Hams for reporting weather issues. Many Skywarn nets function daily for information about storms.Frequencies used are Ham repeaters and require a valid license. Many serve their community with info and events. Repeaters are owned by clubs and or individuals are regulated by FCC rules. The actual frequencies can be anywhere on channelized repeater pairs and during a event, controlled by a Net Control Station. w2hp

I have to leave out hunting as I have always done that. Amateur Radio is probably the one. I got to work in real disasters by supplying communication for shelters and individuals. This was mundane stuff like Aunt Minnie is ok and more toilet is needed at the Rec Center Shelter. You may laugh but we were taking a load off the pros’ communications systems by handling the mundane but necessary. Health and Welfare inquiries are one of the oldest Ham services and were much appreciated by families. I worked at the Special Needs Shelter where people who need things like oxygen concentrators and nebulizers kept running and I looked after the generator as well as a couple of times when someone needed a catheter or the like. The best and scariest was being Net Control of our local SKYWARN network during several major tornado outbreaks and a couple of hurricanes supplying realtime ground truth information about road conditions and storm locations directly to the National Weather Service. This was very effective for getting people in the storm path a few more minutes of time to take precautions. The first responders started keeping scanners with our frequencies in them to tell them where to go. They especially appreciated knowing exactly which roads were passable and where trees and powerlines were down. Good stuff.

Yes, it’s critical, assuming you mean ‘Emergency Operations Center’. NOAA / NWS has a HAM station connected to each regions SkyWarn network; the SkyWarn network collects reports on storms inbound, rain, hail, damage, tornados and such; the net controller passes the information to the NWS EOC for them to use to make actionable reports. That’s the most common and organized use of Amateur Radio in Emergency Communications. SATERN (Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network, SATERN.ORG runs operations in all 50 states to assist in emergent situations, relying on amateur radio operators to provide essential radio communication services in countless disaster situations, including:•Hurricane Andrew•Plainfield, Ill. tornado•Mississippi River floods•Oklahoma bombing•Hurricane Marilyn•North Dakota floods•Northridge earthquake•Florida wildfires•Hurricane Mitch•Oklahoma City Tornado•Hurricane Keith•New York City Ground Zero 9/11/2001•Hurricane Katrina•Hurricane Harvey•Hurricane Maria (Puerto Rico & USVI) 22 days•Hurricane Florencecite: SATERN.ORGMARS, the Military Auxiliary Radio System, Military Auxiliary Radio System > Home provides contingency communications support on behalf of the men and women of the Department of Defense and other U.S. Government users in support of their important and diverse national security missions whenever, however and wherever required. (cite: Military Auxiliary Radio System > Home )For private business, it’s much less common, as the business will rely on their own paid or contracted assets; as well, the FCC prevents commercial traffic on the amateur bands.Amateur radio has a long and storied history of supporting local, state and federal government emergency response efforts, as well as supporting local, state and regional large event command centers - marathons, festivals, bicycle races and more. You can find a large amount of reference and news information about the public service sector of amateur radio at the American Radio Relay League (ARRL): Public Service website.I hope this answers your question! Thank you for asking!Will England, 15 year licenced General Class Amateur Radio Operator