Date & Time
The date and time units will be tied to your
location. If you were in Sioux Falls, SD, the date and time you enter
would be in Central Daylight Time (CDT). If you were in Rapid City, SD, the
date and time you enter would be in Mountain Daylight Time (MDT). The key?
Make sure you location is correct.Enter the Month, Day, Year, Hour and
Minute using the pull down menus. Please be sure to select "Estimated" or
"Exact" depending on your certainty of the time of your report. This is very
important to us. Remember, the date and time is for
the weather event, not the current date and time.
Location
Again, we come to location. If you have specified your
location properly and are *not* mobile,
the default location that comes up will be correct. If the default County,
State and City / Town entries are not correct, change them to the
appropriate County, State and City / Town. Again, this section is very
important to us.
A Note About Location
The location defined should be the weather event location.
Normally, your location and the weather event location will be the
same. However, when reporting things like funnel clouds or tornados, the
weather event location will likely be different.
Weather
The weather section is where you enter the details of your report. Check
out the different types of weather you can report, including their
definitions.
- Tornado
A rotating column of air extending from the parent cloud to the ground.
- Funnel Cloud
A rotating column of air extending from the parent cloud, but *not*
reaching the ground.
- Wall Cloud
An isolated lowering of the cloud free base. It may or may not be
rotating.
- Hail
Frozen rain that comes in many shapes and sizes. Make sure you fill in the
drop down menu box that indicates the *maximum* size of the hail
you saw. You can mention the predominant hail size in the comments
section.
- High Wind
The speed at which wind becomes high varies from person to person. The
official National Weather Service definition of high wind is 58 MPH or
greater. Make sure you enter the speed of the wind you observed and
indicated whether the speed was estimated or measured.
- Flood or Flash Flood
Water where it should not be that causes a threat to life and / or
property.
- Other
Let us know about anything that you feel is significant weather. This
could include lightning damage to a house, wind damage to a structure or
trees or any other unusual weather that is generally associated with
thunderstorms. Include the details in the Narrative section.
Damage, Injuries, Narrative
Please indicate whether there was damage or whether anyone was hurt by
selecting the appropriate radio circle. In the Narrative, please add
as much detail to the report that you feel necessary to fully describe your
report.
Submit Report
When you are satisfied with your report, hit the "Submit Report" button.
Reset
If you wish start over, click the "Reset" button. Beware, any
information you have already type will be lost.
Lets take a look at the Winter Weather Report form. |