eSpotter

eSpotter is an easy method to send spotter reports online through your computer! You have to be a registered weather spotter for the Inland Northwest to gain access to the system.

• What Kind of Weather Do Spotters Report?
  Most people think weather spotters are only useful to the National Weather Service during thunderstorm season. However, spotters are vital to the year-round operations of the National Weather Service. For example, reports of freezing rain and heavy snow and flooding are equally useful to forecasters.
  NWS Spokane Spotter's Guide
  Latest NWS Spotter Storm Reports

• Where are weather spotters needed?
  The National Weather Service is always recruiting new weather spotters in all parts of the Inland Northwest. There is currently a large concentration of spotters in the bigger cities of the region; like the Spokane metro area, Coeur d'Alene, Wenatchee, Lewiston, Moses Lake, and Pullman. There is a greater need for spotters in many of the data sparse areas of the Columbia Basin and the northern Mountains. For more specific areas, please the following Weather Spotters Needed List.

• So How Do You Become a Weather Spotter?
  Contact the NWS. Please include your name, address, phone number, elevation and distance from town.You can email, send a post card, or call the office:

  National Weather Service
  2601 N Rambo Rd
  Spokane, WA 99224
  509-244-6395
  nws.spokane@noaa.gov.
  
  After the information is processed, you will receive a personal identification number in the mail or email. Then you will be able to provide official spotter reports via our toll free number or with our online spotter reporting system, eSpotter . The most important types of weather to report to the National Weather Service include snow, flooding, heavy rain, wind damage, hail and tornados/funnel clouds. 
  
  All spotters are given a personal identification number so that we may quickly identify them and their location on our workstations. We occasionally call our spotters at home to help assess weather situations -- and give us an 'eyes on' view of the weather in their area. 
  
  Our weather spotters also receive a free paper copy of our quarterly newsletter, The Inland Northwest Weather Watcher or it can be viewed online. We also encourage our weather spotters to send in interesting weather stories and pictures to be included in the newsletter.

• What about Weather Spotter Training?
  Periodically, spotter training sessions are conducted by the National Weather Service throughout the year. It is an opportunity for spotters, in a particular community or county, to meet and review basic spotter techniques and weather safety concerns. You can find a list of the spotter sessions currently scheduled. In addition, an ONLINE Spotter training is available under Current Spotter Training

• Additional Weather Spotter Resources
  Advanced Storm Spotting Guide
  Frequently used contractions in NWS discussions
  Acronyms and Abbreviations used by the Storm Prediction Center