What is Skywarn™? Skywarn™ is a National Weather Service (NWS) program of trained volunteer severe weather spotters. Skywarn™ volunteers support their local community and government by providing the NWS with timely and accurate severe weather reports. These reports, when integrated with modern NWS technology, are used to inform communities of the proper actions to take as severe weather threatens. The key focus of the Skywarn™ program is to save lives and property through the use of the observations and reports of trained volunteers.
Accurate and reliable information from the general public is difficult to obtain. The NWS has found that only regular training of weather spotters improves the quality of information. The National Weather Service (NWS) collaborates with Amateur Radio organizations and others to put together training programs. The NWS brings its weather knowledge, the Amateur Radio Service brings its expertise in emergency communications, and together they work
with local government and the Red Cross.
Skywarn™ volunteers donate thousands of hours and the use of their own personal radio equipment and vehicles to give their communities advanced warning of life threatening weather. Since the NWS instituted the Skywarn™ Program, there has been a significant decrease in the death rate due to tornadoes and other
severe weather.
So, you think the Pacific Northwest has
NO
severe weather?
Think Again!
...on the afternoon of April 5, 1972, an F3 (
Fugita damage scale ) intensity tornado rips across parts of north Portland and into Vancouver, Washington, killing 6 and injuring over 300. The tornado takes out homes, businesses and even and
elementary school...
...on the afternoon of July 9, 1995, a supercell thunderstorm with a top of over 50,000 feet pummels north central Oregon with baseball-sized
hail and 70 mph winds. Sixteen people are injured with property damage
over $30 millions...
...in September 1996, two waterspouts develop near the Oregon coast. One moves onshore as a tornado and rips through powerlines and trees in Clatsop county...
...in October 1999, a tornado touches down near Creswell, damaging several building in this small city in northern Lane county...
Need we say more?
How to become a Skywarn™ Weather Spotter The National Weather Service welcomes volunteers with an interest in severe weather spotting. The Skywarn™ program is totally voluntary. You may never call our office with a weather event similar to those listed in the
severe weather spotter's guide, but you may have the opportunity to call several times a month depending on the weather pattern in your neck-of-the-woods. If you agree, we may occasionally call you for a "ground truth" as to what is actually happening near your house. Most likely our phone call will be to confirm an element of potentially severe thunderstorms, like large hail, or damaging wind. Other calls may be to verify heavy snowfall or peak wind speed associated with large winter storms.
Unfortunately, we can not sign-up every person to the spotter program due to budget constraints and/or when we have too many spotters in one location, like major cities along Interstate 5. Our greatest need for weather spotters is in sparsely populated areas in east county regions near the higher terrain of the Cascade Foothills. This includes the Cascade regions of Cowlitz and Skamania counties in Washington, and Clackamas, Marion, and Linn counties in Oregon. Elevations near 1500 feet and higher
are especially useful.
If you would like to be a volunteer weather spotter and you live in one of the following counties of Northwest Oregon
or Southwest Washington, send a written request to:
In Oregon
:
Clatsop, Columbia, Multnomah, Hood River, Tillamook, Yamhill, Clackamas, Marion, Polk, Lincoln, Benson, Linn, or Lane
In Washington :
Pacific, Wahkiakum, Cowlitz, Clark, or Skamania
Please, include your name, mailing address, approximate elevation (if known), weather equipment you own, and a telephone number with the hours you can be reached.
Skywarn™ Spotter's Guide General guidelines have been established by the Portland NWS in the
severe weather spotter's guide as significant weather events that may affect lives and property. The spotter's guide is a reference for volunteer weather spotters when certain weather events occur that are of interest to the forecasters at the NWS. This guide is not a complete listing...if you are not sure about your report, please go ahead and call the toll-free telephone number provided to you.
Another handy reference guide is our link to
Skywarn™ Scales which give you a quick look at hail size, wind speeds based on the Beaufort Scale, and Fujita tornado damage scale. Please refer to these tables, especially if you are estimating
wind speed.
Spotter News Updates and the Weather Spotlight Future editions of
Weather Spotlight
could very well be available
only on our home page. Mass mailings to a growing list of weather spotters is costly and time-consuming, both decreasing commodities at the
NWS. Our plea to you is to take advantage of the internet by
downloading our spotter newsletter for each quarterly issue.
This way we can save money for other Skywarn™ issues, like severe weather training and supplying our spotters with rain gages, by reducing the mailing cost of the newsletter.
Thanks for your help!
National Weather Service Mission: "The
National Weather Service (NWS) provides weather,
hydrologic, and climate forecasts and warnings for
the United States, its territories, adjacent waters
and ocean areas, for the protection of life and
property and the enhancement of the national economy.
NWS data and products form a national information
database and infrastructure which can be used by
other governmental agencies, the private sector,
the public, and the global community."
www.weather.gov 
