Weather notifications are available from our Weather Message Server by way of the ntfy App. Notifications are available for the entire FWD County Warning Area (CWA) or geographic areas that are based on the Council of Government (COG) Regions. The COG areas are for those who are not interested in receiving every notification in the entire CWA.

You can use either the ntfy app or a web browser to receive notifications. The app is available from both the Apple Store and the Google Play Store. Both the app and web browser versions are configured by subscribing to a topic. Note: Topic names are case sensitive

The WX5FWD SKYWARN® Team is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The WX5FWD SKYWARN® Team organization is entirely supported by volunteers and donations. Although the NWS facilitates us to operate from the forecast office and their tower, the radio desk equipment and time are provided by volunteers and donations.

The NWS Spotter Training program provides the basic information spotters need to safely observe and report severe weather information. Below are links any spotter can reference.

NWS Fort Worth Spotter Cheat Sheet
www.weather.gov/media/fwd/skywarn/Spotter%20Handout%202022.pdf

How to Submit A Report to NWS Fort Worth, What We Need to Know, What to Report (Our Wishlist)

SKYWARN Storm Spotters should attend the annual training sessions provided by National Weather Service (NWS). Those sessions give spotters the basic information they need to safely and effectively provide severe weather reports. You are considered a trained spotter by attending a training session. Attending annually also gives you updates on the latest training information. Safety is the primary concern of the training. If you missed the scheduled training sessions, there is spotter reference material and training on the Internet. This material is useful to the trained spotter as well.

• Annual Training Schedule starting in January
• Preparedness and Storm Spotter Information
• An Introduction to Storm Observation and Reporting
• Basic Spotters Field Guide by NWS – PDF Format
• The Storm Spotter Checklist Handout (2022) - PDF Format
• Storm Spotter Guide - PDF Format
• Training Videos - Norman OK - YouTube
• Basic Radar - Norman OK - YouTube
• Radar Fundamentals (free registry required)
• Warning Decision Training Division Courses
• Dual-Polarization Radar Training for NWS Partners

The Storm Spotters Checklist handout provided by the National Weather Service (NWS) includes a sub-section titled "SKYWARN Reporting Methods" www.weather.gov/fwd/skywarn-report. "Amateur Radio: WX5FWD" is at the top of the list.

From time to time we are asked to provide details about using amateur radio for storm spotter activity such as methods,frequencies, repeaters, or local storm spotter groups. The WX5FWD.org web site attempts to provide some of this information on various pages. Hopefully, this brief page will help organize and reference this information.