Making Weather Announcements

[W0FM]

Another concern would be potential liability.  We live in a law suit environment today.  If the amateur community near you comes to "expect" you to make weather warning announcements (because you always have done so) and one time you fail to do so, I would assume you could end up on the "uncomfortable" end of a litigation.  Just a thought.

Terry, WØFM

[W8VZM]

I have heard several repeaters who changed their courtesy beep to the morse code "w" during weather alerts. Simple and does not broadcast as someone has to key the repeater.

[NA4IT]

"From what I gather, to officially have a skywarn program, you need to have ARES nets."

This is from the Skywarn Operations Manual produced by the NWS Morristown TN Skywarn Coordinator:

"SKYWARN is NOT a club, but rather a public service organization dedicated to service to the National Weather Service and other local agencies during periods of severe weather. SKYWARN is open to all amateur radio operators, and is an independent group, not directly affiliated with ARES, RACES or any other club, group, or organization."

Scott Duckworth, NA4IT
TN MRX District 3 Skywarn Coordinator (Bradley, McMinn, Meigs, Monroe, Polk & Rhea Counties)

[NA4IT]

A note on S.A.M.E. codes: The National Weather Service divides the United States into states and counties. Each county is assigned a six digit county code. The first digit identifies the county subdivision, the next two digits identify the state and the last three digits identify the county.

There is quite a bit of info on WX radios tied to repeaters at http://www.repeater-builder.com/tech-info/weather-radios.html. Also, you might want to explore CAT Auto's repeater WX products at http://www.catauto.com/wx_products.html.

As far as liability should a net not get called, or repeater failure, I doubt seriously that a judge would even let the case go forward. Could be wrong, but it would be hard for the complainant to prove that they had no other way to get weather info, considering you can get it on TV, broadcast radio, cellphones, email, etc, etc, etc.

As for having a small group doing SKYWARN, every good ground truth report is a help to the NWS. Radars can't see ground level.