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Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Binghamton NY
800 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, Indian 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.

For local weather information...please visit:
https://www.weather.gov/bgm

$$

Mitchell Gaines
Meteorologist
National Weather Service Binghamton, NY