Skywarn is a program of the National Weather Service. Its mission is to collect reports of localized severe weather in the United States. These reports are used to aid forecasters in issuing and verifying severe weather watches and warnings and to improve the forecasting and warning processes and the tools used to collect meteorological data. Reports are also used by local emergency managers and public safety organizations.
NWS holds training classes on becoming a spotter and classes are free and open to the public. Each class lasts about 2 hours and is led by a National Weather Service meteorologist, who will discuss techniques and safety for severe weather spotting. Once you attend a class, you will receive instructions for registering to officially become a trained spotter. You will then be able to report severe weather to your NWS office and participate in local skywarn nets.
The upcoming local Skywarn classes are:
- March 18th @ 6pm – Mayfield Heights Aquatic & Community Center – 6080 Marsol Rd, Mayfield Heights, OH 44124
- March 31st @ 6pm – Wayne Co. Public Library Main Branch – 220 W Liberty St, Wooster, OH 44691
- April 6th @ 6pm – Summit Co. Public Health – 1867 W Market St, Akron, OH 44313
- April 9th @ 6pm – Brunswick City FD – 1094 Hadcock Rd, Brunswick, OH 44212
Visit https://www.weather.gov/cle/SKYWARN_schedule for the list and to register.