The WX5FWD SKYWARN™ team are volunteer radio operator liaisons for the Fort Worth National Weather Service (NWS) North Texas SKYWARN™ Spotters. During SKYWARN events, you are reporting information to our team and the the NWS warning forecasters. Three goals of a storm spotter are to safely observe, identify and report conditions.

Weather spotters provide what's called "ground truth" to the National Weather Service and emergency weather management. Spotters are needed because, while radar is very good at helping the National Weather Service see what's going on in the upper atmosphere, it's unable to detect what's actually happening on the ground because of the curvature of the Earth. Knowing the "ground truth" about a weather event from the location can be the deciding factor to issue a warning.

NWS UPDATE: Rain & Rain/Snow Mix

Submitted by wd5m on Thu, 2015-01-22 17:36
Jan22.png

From: National Weather Service, Fort Worth
Date: Thursday, 22 January 2015 13:35 CST

Good afternoon,

After a night of localized heavy rainfall, tonight will be a little quieter. However, the precipitation is not quite over yet. The precipitation will not end until the upper level storm passes, which should be during the middle of the night tonight. Attached is a short pdf has been attached to show the affected areas, confidence and anticipated impacts.

BOTTOM LINE: Emergency Managers, elected officials, public works departments, and other public safety officials should monitor the specific forecast for their jurisdictions closely tonight and early tomorrow. We are currently anticipating a mixture of rain and snow for much of the area during the overnight hours. Temperatures are critical, yet are currently forecast to be above 32 degrees, even during wintry precipitation. Additionally, the localized heavy rainfall will continue for the rest of the afternoon across Central Texas, which could lead to isolated minor/urban flooding.

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First SKYWARN Class of 2015

Submitted by wd5m on Mon, 2015-01-05 11:48
1stclass

From: The Fort Worth National Weather Service Forecast Office
Date: January 5, 2015

The 2015 Skywarn Tour begins January 6th!

The National Weather Service will be holding a Skywarn spotter training session on Tuesday, January 6th in Marlin in Falls County. The class will be held from 7 to 9 PM at the Falls on the Brazos State Park. The training is free, open to everyone, and there is no registration or sign up necessary. Even if you don't reside in Falls County, you are welcome to attend. Spotting and reporting, identifying storm and cloud features, safety rules, information sharing and planning for a severe weather day will be discussed. Become a certified spotter! We look forward to seeing you there!

For the full schedule of classes and locations visit: www.srh.noaa.gov/fwd

Even if you have already attended spotter training, please considering going again for a refresher, and for new or changed information. Staying current on spotter training may be as important as initial training. Don't be afraid, be prepared!

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NWS Hours

Submitted by WB5QLD on Fri, 2015-01-02 16:42

Attached is a spreadsheet of the 2014 Hours worked and a graph of all years that I have data.

We came up a little from the numbers in July with a couple of long events and some ice work on 12/31.

Michael Heskett
WB5QLD

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2014 SKYWARN Recognition Day QSL Log

Submitted by wd5m on Sun, 2014-12-07 09:42
Thank You

Thank you! Everyone who participates in SKYWARN storm spotting makes SKYWARN Recognition Day a wonderful event. We hope everyone enjoyed themselves.

The W5W/WX5FWD station logged 556 contacts in total, including 51 NWS office and 10 DX stations as far away as Europe.

We have created a log of contacts with a link to display a QSL card for printing. Click on the Read More to display the QSL Log page.

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NWS Special Event 2014 SKYWARN® Recognition Day

Submitted by wd5m on Wed, 2014-11-26 17:47
NWS Special EventNWS Special Event

2014 SKYWARN® Recognition Day

Fort Worth NWS CWA The 2014 SKYWARN® Recognition Day 24 hour event is from Friday evening, December 5th, 18:00 (6PM) CST, until Saturday, December 6 18:00 (6PM) CST. Or in UTC time, December 6, 2014, from 00:00 to 24:00 UTC.

SKYWARN Recognition Day was developed in 1999 by the National Weather Service (NWS) and the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). It celebrates the contributions that volunteer SKYWARN radio operators make to the National Weather Service. During the day, SKYWARN radio operators visit NWS offices and contact other radio operators across the world.

National information regarding SKYWARN Recognition Day is published at hamradio.noaa.gov, and for the Fort Worth office at wx5fwd.org. The national event organizer is Matt Mehle from NWS WFO Monterrey. By the way, Matt and the Monterrey staff do an outstanding job with this event!

As in previous years, North Texas spotters are encouraged to participate in SKYWARN Recognition Day, and log radio contacts with NWS offices and SKYWARN spotter groups.

SKYWARN volunteers may visit the Fort Worth Weather Forecast Office (WFO) on Saturday December 6. Lunch will be provided. Visitors must RSVP before Friday, December 5 via WX5FWD.ORG/RSVP, or send email to SRD@WX5FWD.ORG. Please RSVP including your name, email address, call sign (not required), and county. More details will be provided to attendees via email. Please RSVP if you plan to visit. Note: Due to a remodeling project at the NWS, some limitations on restroom facilities may exist.

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