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Public Information Statement
National Weather Service State College PA
632 AM EDT Fri Apr 19 2024

...PENNSYLVANIA SEVERE WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK...

This week is Severe Weather Awareness Week in Pennsylvania.

Now is the time to prepare for the upcoming severe weather 
season.

Our final topic is Ways to Become Involved - SKYWARN spotters, 
HAM radio, Weather Ready Nation and StormReady. 

There are many different ways to become involved with your local 
National Weather Service office during severe weather season.

One such opportunity is the SKYWARN program. SKYWARN is made up of
a group of dedicated volunteer weather spotters, who provide 
National Weather Service offices across the country with 
eyewitness information about tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, and 
flooding. SKYWARN spotters are people with an interest in the 
weather, and an interest in helping others. While Doppler weather 
radar can help meteorologists identify severe thunderstorms and 
tornadoes, eyewitness accounts from SKYWARN spotters can help to 
pinpoint places where a tornado may form, even before a tornado 
touches ground. SKYWARN spotters are also essential to confirm 
that tornadoes have touched down, to report on the extent of 
damage, and to provide added details of a threat to a community.

A large number of Skywarn spotters are also HAM radio operators. 
Amateur radio emergency groups and amateur radio clubs are called 
into action whenever Tornado or Severe Thunderstorm watches or 
warnings are in effect. These HAM radio operators collect 
information via HAM radio nets, and then relay that information to
the National Weather Service. 

There are also ways for organizations to become involved in the 
National Weather Service mission of a Weather Ready Nation. 
Weather Ready Nation is an initiative for organizations external 
to the National Weather Service to build community resilience 
during severe weather. Building a Weather Ready Nation requires 
innovative partnerships with other weather information providers 
across the Weather Enterprise, and with organizations in all 
segments of society. Together, we can improve severe weather 
preparedness for communities, businesses, and individuals.

Organizations can sign up to be Weather Ready Nation Ambassadors.
Weather Ready Nation Ambassadors create outreach content, 
collaborate on disaster preparedness, and incorporate weather, 
water, and climate information in decision making. They also help 
share National Weather Service forecasts ahead of severe weather 
in order to get the word out to as much of the community as 
possible. 

Another part of the Weather Ready Nation is a program called 
StormReady. StormReady helps prepare communities with the 
communication and safety skills needed to protect lives and property 
before, during, and after severe weather. StormReady helps 
community leaders and emergency managers strengthen local safety 
programs. StormReady communities, counties, Native nations, 
universities and colleges, military bases, government sites, 
commercial enterprises and other groups are better prepared to 
protect lives from the onslaught of severe weather through 
advanced planning, education and awareness. No community is storm 
proof, but StormReady can help communities save lives.

All the staff of the Central Pennsylvania National Weather 
Service forecast office would like to thank our many friends in 
the SKYWARN program, HAM radio net, Weather Ready Nation 
Ambassador program, and StormReady program for your great help. 
Your volunteer efforts are very much appreciated. Together, we 
will continue to build a Weather Ready Nation. 

Be prepared for the dangers of this severe weather season, and 
consider becoming a SKYWARN spotter, HAM Radio operator, Weather 
Ready Nation Ambassador, or StormReady organization. 


$$